Participation Grade

Explanation and Example

Making every effort to be engaged during class time will result in a better/deeper understanding of the content/material, the opportunity to earn better grades as a result of having a better/deeper understanding of the content/material, and a better “overall” experience for everyone.

Assessing Participation:

Weekly: During daily class time, I will be observing each student’s level of participation by assessing his/her FATE: follows classroom rules and procedures, has a positive/respectful attitude and behaves appropriately, uses time wisely, and his/her level of engagement*. Essentially, to get a good participation grade, students need to be responsible and accountable for their materials, actions, words, and work ethic. Students will be assessed daily according to the criteria detailed below. This assignment will not be added into the grade book as an individual assignment. All data gathered from the weekly participation assessment will contribute to the quarterly participation grade.

• F = Follows Classroom Rules and Procedures
  • Student adheres to the rules and procedures for this class as outlined in this packet.
  • Student is prepared for class with the necessary and required materials.
• A = Attitude, Behaves Appropriately
  • Student approaches class/material/assessments with a positive attitude.
  • Student is respectful to Miss Muhlbaier and to his/her peers and is respectful of Miss Muhlbaier’s classroom materials and his/her peers’ belongings.
  • Student uses appropriate language in class and refrains from general tomfoolery/horse play.
• T = Time on Task/Time Management
  • Student immediately engages him- or herself in any assignment given and remains on task until he/she is finished or unless he/she requires assistance. Students requiring assistance should not simply stop working until he/she has been helped!
  • If the student has left the room (lavatory, Nurse, or another office visit), the student takes his/her seat without disrupting the learning or engagement of others and immediately engages him- or herself in the class session or assignment.
• E = Average Level of Engagement (Students may add up to 3 points onto their weekly grade here.)
  • 1: Student is awake and alert. Student does not verbally participate, but he/she is taking notes, reading/following along with the group/teacher, listening while others are speaking, etc.
  • 2 (+1): Student contributes significantly to classroom discussions/lessons by asking questions and/or sharing original ideas (making connections, inferences, predictions, etc.).
  • 3 (+1 & 2): Student actively listens while others are speaking in order to build off of the ideas of others.

Quarterly: Using the data gathered as part of the weekly participation, students will earn points toward the quarterly participation grade. Though described as “participation,” this assignment will be entered into the grade book as a test. It will be updated weekly.

• Each student will begin with a 72/100 for the quarterly participation grade.
• Dependent upon his or her individual performance on the weekly participation rubric, students have the opportunity to add up to 6 points per week (3 for F-A-T, and up to 3 for E) to the quarterly grade.
• Students cannot lose points from this quarterly grade; however, contacting home or disciplinary consequences may occur for extremely disruptive behaviors or for actions that demonstrate a blatant disregard for the expectations of students in my class according to the policies outlined in this packet.

Example: In the following example, J. Smith would earn a total of 2 points for the week for following procedures and using her time wisely and 2 points for her average level of engagement.