[House] Math Grade Update - Currently receiving a "D" or "F"

[He, Amy]

Hello Ruth Anne,

Thank you for working with Kai this weekend, and following up with some
missing assignments.

1. ALEKS is not synced with Google Classroom or StudentVue. I have to
manually input when students finish their ALEKS assignments into the
gradebook. The gradebook now reflects that Kai has completed their initial
knowledge check. That said, they have missed the last 3 weeks worth of
ALEKS homework. Students are assigned 15 topics per week, due every Friday
by 11:59 PM. I have decided to excuse Kai from 2 out of those 3 weeks worth
of ALEKS homework. If Kai can complete 30 topics by this Friday (to
complete this week's 15 required topics, as well as last week's 15 past due
topics), I can update their ALEKS grade. I typically do not allow students
to make up their ALEKS homework. I have warned students many times that
once Friday at 11:59 PM passes, the topics they finish "late" will count
for the following week.

2. I have graded Kai's revisions for Quiz #1, and it is reflected in the
gradebook.

3. Kai could not find this quiz because they never attempted the quiz. I
gave 20 minutes of class time for students to complete the quiz. Kai wrote
their name on the quiz, and left every single question blank. I decided not
to pass the quiz back out to Kai because I didn't want the 0/15 score to
demotivate them. If they want to make revisions to this quiz, they can
complete every question of one version of the quiz on a separate sheet of
paper and turn it in tomorrow or Monday, 10/16. There will be a substitute
this Thursday and Friday.

*All this to say, Kai's lack of work completion is becoming a concerning
issue in math class, because over 95% of the assignments given to Kai to
complete in class are left entirely blank by the end of the class period. *

I frequently check in with Kai to offer support, and to get them started
with a question. However, no work is produced when I walk away to check in
on other students. Even when I am prompting them one on one, they rarely
get started with their work. For example, we have spent 2 class periods
working on our milestone project. They are the only one who has not
finished part 1 of the project. I checked in with them multiple times today
offering assistance, but they did not want my assistance. On my last
attempt towards the end of class, Kai asked if they could do part 2 of the
project online instead of on paper. I quickly thought of a way for them to
do their project online, even though it was intended to be a paper project.
I showed them how to use the online website to plot points, and hope to see
this project come to fruition either online or on paper. I am willing to
make accomodations for Kai as needed, but most times when I ask them what
they need, they don't have a response for me. Furthermore, I'm not sure how
to best support Kai to increase work completion in class. Typically, I can
do behavior charts and reward incentives for students. I'm not sure how
that will be received by Kai as motivation to stay focused and increase
work completion.

4. I did grade the pages that Kai turned in today. Typically, students lose
points for turning in assignments late. They can only get full points if
they turn it in on time. I made an exception for Kai's assignments, and
have graded them as if they were on time.

Thank you for following up regarding accommodations for Kai. If you need a
recommendation for an outside tutoring service, I can provide information
on one company that I work closely with.

Regards,
Ms. He

On Tue, Oct 10, 2023 at 7:58 AM Ruth Anne <raladue at digitalkingdom.org>
wrote:

> On Wed, 4 Oct 2023, He, Amy via House wrote:
>
> > This is Ms. He, your child’s math teacher at Hoover Middle School.
> > You are receiving this email because your child is currently failing
> > math class (receiving a D or F) for the P1 grading period.
>
> Hi Ms He,
>
>
> > 1. ALEKS [www.aleks.com] Initial Knowledge Check (www.aleks.com
> > [www.aleks.com])
>
> > This assignment was due on Friday, September 22nd. Students were
> > instructed to answer 25-30 questions to the best of their ability.
> > ALEKS is an adaptive learning software. The purpose of the Initial
> > Knowledge Check is to determine what the student already knows, and
> > what the student is most ready to learn. Students are not allowed to
> > ask for help / search up the answers. If they don't know the answer,
> > they were instructed to click "I don't know." This assignment is
> > graded for completion!
>
> Kai spent 90 minutes on this assignment, and it does not show up
> completed in Google Classroom.
>
> > 2. Unit 6.1 Formative Assessment 1: Number Lines [REVISIONS]
> >
> > Answer key and detailed instructions on how to complete revisions
> > for the formative assessment (quiz) was posted on Google Classroom
> > under “Unit 6.1” on September 18th. The final grade for the quiz
> > will be an average of their original score and their revisions
> > score. Students are encouraged to use the answer key to help them
> > understand and fix their original mistakes.
>
> Kai did find this test, and corrected at least some of the answers.
>
> > 3. Unit 6.1 Formative Assessment 2: Absolute Values + Coordinates
> > [REVISIONS]
>
> > Answer key and detailed instructions on how to complete revisions
> > for the formative assessment (quiz) will be posted on Google
> > Classroom under “Unit 6.1” on October 5th. The final grade for the
> > quiz will be an average of their original score and their revisions
> > score. Students are encouraged to use the answer key to help them
> > understand and fix their original mistakes.
>
> Kai cannot find this test. I have asked them to look in the classroom,
> but unless they can find it, the original score will stand.
>
> > 4. Any and all other missing assignments. Students are expected to
> >    complete 15 ALEKS topics per week, graded every Friday at 11:59
> >    PM. Missing or incomplete ALEKS topics cannot be made up. Please
> >    check to make sure that your child is completing all their weekly
> >    topics on time. A video tutorial on how to navigate the ALEKS
> >    website can be found here [drive.google.com].
>
> We will make sure that Kai keeps up with the ALEKS assignments going
> forward. Kai did finish the 6 workbook pages of homework currently
> missing.
>
> We are very aware that Kai is struggling with math. A recent learning
> assessment shows that they have significant difficulties with math,
> and that they can not take notes while someone is talking. Therefore,
> maintaining the notebook may not be possible. We are currently setting
> up appointments with the social worker and other school staff
> regarding accomodations for Kai. We are also looking for a tutor, but
> that progress is slower than we'd like given that a tutor for Kai
> needs specific experience with ADHD.
>
> Please contact us if you have further questions. The email address
> above reaches all the parents.
>
> Regards,
>
> --Ruth Anne Ladue  650-576-3199
> Robin Powell 650-296-8094
> RJ Johnson 650-296-2967
>
>

-- 
*Ms. He*
*she/her/hers*
6th Grade Math Teacher
Herbert Hoover Middle School
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