CJH Weekly Update
Staff - The Week of May 20th
All the Things You Need to Know...
Thank you!
Thank you to all of you that stayed on Friday night to chaperone the dance. It went smoothly because we had plenty of chaperones. A special Thanks to Mrs. Pazera for planning and organizing the event! Also thanks to Mrs. Sarabyn, Mrs. Miltibarger, Ms. Rocca, Ms. Wyatt, Mrs. Oles and Mr. and Mrs. Churchill.
Make-up Testing
I will be pulling the last few students to make-up their M-Step testing this week.
5th Grade Transition
Celeste and I have begun meeting with 5th grade students to start their transition to our building. We will return to meet with them again this Friday to help them pick classes. They will be touring our building on 5/29. We will have 2 classrooms walk through at 8:30 and a second group of 2 classrooms at 9:30. We have also scheduled the Parent meeting for 5/28 at 6pm. Teachers are welcome to attend to meet and greet parents, but are not required to attend.
8th Grade Transition
Our 8th grade students will be walking over for lunch in the HS cafeteria after seniors are out of the building. Once I have a date I will let you know, as this will impact 4th hour classes.
Teaching Assignments and Final Evals
Final Evals are well under way. We will finish up our meetings this week! Thank you for making sure that you make the meetings on time, it's a busy time of year and it is hard to reschedule. During our meeting we will discuss teaching assignments for next year. Some teachers have already received their tentative assignments, please keep in mind that everything is very fluid at this time. We have only been able to place sections at this time, we have not yet created the master schedule by hour. We are working hard to make the schedule to meet student and teacher needs.
Resource you need
Here is the link for the District Provided Professional Development List (DPPD). Remember this must be entered exactly as listed into your MOECs account through the State of Michigan. Be sure to select the same categories as we have provided. Otherwise if you are audited there may be issues if your information does not match ours exactly. This form is also available in our Team Drive.
Week at a Glance
Monday
Regular Schedule
Tuesday
ICE Schedule
Wednesday
Regular Schedule
8th grade LMC Tour
SE Field Trip
Thursday
ICE Schedule
Seussical Jr. Performance 7pm
Friday
Regular Schedule
5th Grade Transition Meeting - Celeste and Wendy T out AM
6th Grade Field Trip
Seussical Jr. Performance 7pm
Fair and Unfair Grading Practices
In this School Administrator article, Joe Feldman (Crescendo Education Group) says he often asks groups of educators what the final grade should be for two students who received these grades (in sequence) for assignments and homework during a curriculum unit:
- Student A: 64, 70, 78, 90, 98
- Student B: 94, 97, 96, 100, 97
Most people get out their calculators and find the average, saying the first student should get an 81 and the second a 97 – in other words, a B- and an A. But averaging the grades is a problematic approach, says Feldman. The first student started the unit at a much lower place, perhaps because of prior instruction or home disadvantages, but by the end of the unit, had achieved mastery (assuming the final assessment was cumulative). Looked at this way, both students deserve an A.
“It should be clear,” says Feldman, “how averaging performance over time would discourage students who struggle early and who are daunted by the challenge of salvaging their low initial performance. When students receive poor grades early on, they may see the hill to redemption as too steep and simply give up.”
Averaging grades is one of a number of unfair grading practices Feldman sees in his work with schools and districts. Some others: major variations in the grades that different teachers give for the same test or assignment; teacher-to-teacher differences in how tests, homework, effort, extra-credit work, participation, and other factors are counted; grades that don’t show students’ progress, mastery, or areas of difficulty.
Feldman advocates for practices that he believes will level the playing field and improve both teaching and learning:
- Grade on a zero-to-4 scale.
- Weight more-recent performance more heavily in final grades.
- Base final grades on summative, not formative, assessments.
- Base grades on individual achievement, not a group’s work.
- Base grades on required content, not extra credit.
- Don’t include class participation and effort in grades.
- Allow students to re-take assessments.
- Use rubrics with which students can self-assess during instruction.
Feldman reports that implementing these ideas results in major decreases in students receiving D’s and F’s (especially students of color and students with disabilities); less grade inflation; grades that more accurately reflect student achievement; overall improvement in grades; less stress in classrooms; and improved student-teacher relationships.
“Equitable Grading: Tales of Three Districts” by Joe Feldman in School Administrator, May 2019 (Vol. 76, #5, p. 38-41), https://bit.ly/2Y9kEAg; Feldman can be reached at joe@crescendoedgroup.org.
Upcoming Dates
5/27 - No School
5/28 - 7th Grade Medieval Times Trip
5/28 - Incoming 6th Grade Parent Meeting 6pm
5/29 - 5th Grade Tour of our Building
5/29 - 7th Grade Incentive Lunch
6/3 - Staff Meeting
6/3 - 6/5 - 8th Grade Mackinac Trip
6/5 - 6/6 - Honor Club working Field Day (Rain Date 6/7)
6/10 - Year End Awards
Inspire to Achieve - Empower for Success
Wendy Tremblay, Principal
Email: wtremblay@ccs.coloma.org
Website: https://cjh.coloma.org/
Location: 302 West St. Joseph Street, Coloma, MI, USA
Phone: 269-468-2405
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colomajh
Twitter: @colomajhs