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Welcome to the 2011-2012 SchoolYear Marine Team

**My name is Mrs. McDowell and I teach 7th Grade Math A, 8th Grade Pre Algebra A and Study Skills. I am also one of the SUCCESS team members. I look forward to helping you improve your math skills this year. Please don't hesitate to come and see me before or after school for help.**

==== This semester I am striving to better measure my student’s mastery of the material and I am implementing the following grading policy: I will no longer be collecting “Homework” for a grade. I will be giving one to two assessments each week to evaluate the level of my student’s learning of the material that week. These assessments will be for a grade. I will also take a grade on the Summative tests that we have for each Power Standard. This will constitute the bulk of your child’s grade in math this semester. I believe that this will give us a better understanding of your child’s mastery of the math concepts being taught. ==== ==== The assessment given may be a quiz, project or performance event. If the student gets at least an 80% on this assessment, they have proven mastery of that concept. However, if they receive less than an 80% they will attend at least 2 small group re-instruction sessions with me during advisory, and then be given the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery again. If at this time they receive an 80% or better, they will have demonstrated mastery at that point. I will record the better of these two grades in the grade book. If they still do not demonstrate mastery, I will then assign one- on- one tutoring with me after school on the next Tuesday or Thursday available. ==== ==== I believe that this will increase my student’s mastery and understanding of math, while cutting down on the traditional “Homework” assigned every night. I will be giving students many opportunities to practice the skills addressed each week. We will be doing interactive and group activities to support that week’s material. It is the student’s responsibility to stay focused and engaged in class during these instructional/practice sessions. I will give them a list of the resources available for additional practice on each skill. I will also list these on my website on each grade level page. I will be available before school each day from 7 to 7:30 am to help any student that needs my assistance and comes to my room. ==== ==== Please discuss this with your child. We have been doing this for two weeks now, and I think most of the students are thriving. They know if they don’t “get it” the first time, they will have the opportunity to be retaught until they “get it”. If you have any questions/concerns please feel free to contact me. ====

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**__ TUTORING __** Math is a subject that builds on itself. If your student gets behind, or doesn't understand a concept, it will effect their success in math. Tutoring is available for any student that needs help. Tutoring is held every Tuesday and Thursday in the library for 8th grade and in the 7th grade computer lab for 7th grade.Plese contact me if you or your student feels like they need some additional help in Math. I will get them signed up at the next available tutoring session. If these sessions don't fit your schedule please contact me and we will try to work out another time. =====

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**__PARENTS:__** Here is a link to the Power Point I showed the 1st day of class to introduce myself and my classroom to your student. This includes a list of necessary materials and my classroom procedures and rules. If you have any questions please call me. =====

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In addition to the supply list on the Powerpoint (pencils, calculator, lined paper, erasers, 2 inch 3 ring binder, 5 tab dividers, graph paper, ruler and colored pencils) I would appreciate anyone that would like to donate a box of kleenex, bottle of germx or clorox wipes. We will be heading into the cold and flu season and these items will help keep our students healthy.=====