About Our Classroom
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In our third grade classroom, students will be participating in a mini-economy. Students will be earning (play) money, managing a checkbook, shopping at Mrs. Martin’s Market, and creating stores of their own.
Students can earn “money” in the following ways:
1. Performing classroom jobs.
Everyone in the classroom will have one of the following jobs:
Distribution Manager, Messenger, Door Holders, Technology Specialist, DJ, Gardener, Teacher's Assistant, Sanitation Engineer, Inspector, Nurse, Librarian, Substitute
Students must apply for a job at the beginning of each marking period. Every job will have a set salary. Student will receive a paycheck each month and will be responsible for adding this amount to their checkbook.
2. Following classroom and school rules.
Students will earn 30˘ each day they are in school and are able to work productively without causing classroom disruptions. A 5˘ bonus will be given for each unsolicited class compliment given by other teachers (specials teachers, teachers on recess/lunch duty).
Classroom Rules
During the first two days of school, the students created the following list of third grade laws:
1. Listen when someone else is talking.
2. Raise you hand if you have something to say.
3. Use polite words.
4. Pay attention.
5. Use a quiet voice inside.
6. Walk silently in the hall.
7. Do not throw objects indoors.
8. Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
9. Take care of school materials.
10. Do you best.
Classroom Consequences
1. Warning
2. Lose 5 minutes of recess and 10˘ fine.
3. Lose 10 minutes of recess and a second 10˘ fine.
4. Check, lose15 minutes of recess, and a third 10˘ fine.
5. Sent to the office.
6. Check.
(When a student has received three checks, a detention will be given.)
After creating the list of third grade laws, the students decided that all of the laws except number 7 & 8 should have a ten-cent fine. Because breaking law numbers 7 & 8 could result in injury, the students have decided that this should carry a twenty-cent fine.
Students will be able to spend their money twice a month. On the second Friday of the month, Mrs. Martin’s Market will be open for students to purchase items such as stickers, bookmarkers, pencils, folders, small toys, and other products. On the last Friday of the month, students may set up their own stores to sell inexpensive items that they have made.
Before students are able to shop at Mrs. Martin's Market or the Student Stores, they will need to pay a few bills. Students will need to pay $2.25 for desk, textbook, and locker rent each month as well as 50˘ for utilities.
This program is intended to teach students principles of economics, strengthen math skills, and foster a sense of responsibility.
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Students will be given homework assignments on Monday through Thursdays. These assignments are used to reinforce concepts, to provide further practice, and to help teach responsibility.
In our classroom, the homework assignments are written on the front white board and left there all day. Students are to write them down when they first come into the room. Then during class, we talk about each assignment -- pass out the papers, go over the directions, etc. When students receive any homework papers, they are told to put them in their homework folder. Most of the time we also review homework directions at the end of the day.
The next morning, students are to turn in their homework. I check off each paper that is turned in and give full credit (2 points). After all assignments have been collected and recorded, I talk with each child who did not turn in an assignment. They are given one more day to turn it in and their name is usually on the board underneath a description of the assignment they need to turn in. The next day, I check with the student to see if they have the assignment. If they do, they receive half credit (1 point). If an assignment is not turn in the next day, students do not receive credit for that assignment.
Long-term projects will lose 10% for each day late. If it is not turned in at all the grade will be 0%.
A few extra credit questions may be added to tests or quizzes. However, extra credit assignments or projects will generally not be assigned or accepted.
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I believe that children's accomplishments are linked to the richness of their experience and self-esteem; therefore, I use a variety of evaluation procedures in my effort to identify students' learning gaps and assist them in overcoming their cognitive processing errors. Using the information that I gain from a variety of evaluation strategies, I am able to provide the instruction necessary for students to achieve mastery and succeed in my classroom.
I am committed to providing authentic learning for my students and to searching for meaningful and useful assessment systems that provide the kinds of information that allow students to move ahead and develop their skills and knowledge base. I continually assess student progress and achievement during every learning experience to verify that the teaching strategy that I have selected is working or to alter it if I find that students are not accomplishing the objective for the lesson.
I have found that varying evaluation procedures is beneficial. No single evaluation strategy works well for all subjects, grade levels, or student learning styles. For that reason, I believe that students should have a variety of ways to earn their grades.
Some of the ways I assess include the following:
* Rubric grading - I evaluate each student's work by comparing it to a set of pre-established learning levels
* Authentic assessment - I allow the students to demonstrate what they have learned and evaluate the thinking processes the students employed in completing the task.
* Portfolio - I use a collection of student products to determine the student's progression of accomplishment from early undertakings to more recent and advanced efforts.
* Observation - I believe that informal observations are one of the most powerful assessment devices a teacher can use to gather new information about a student's learning patterns and needs.
* Quizzes - These allow me to measure a student's progress during a set of lessons or learning experiences so that I can provide appropriate feedback and help the student correct errors in understanding or skill.
* End of unit tests - I use these tests at the end of a set of learning experiences to measure the progress a student has made over time.
Assessment of student accomplishment is a complex and multifaceted undertaking. I do not believe there is one best way to access what students have learned or accomplished in school. It is the responsibility of educators to create a balanced method of assessing whether students are meeting the teacher's objectives and the state's standards.
Grading Scale:
100-93 A
92-85 B
84-77 C
76-70 D
69-0 F
Class Participation Rubric
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