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Tests and important dates. Track all assignments, exams, quizzes, and other dates and deadlines in your planner (or enter them into your electronic calendar if you use one.) Include recurring events too, like your English teacher’s infamous Friday morning quizzes. For assignments or projects that will take extra time and effort, note the date you should begin working, as well as the date the project is due. Grading plan and policy. Heads up! This is probably the most important part of a syllabus. The teacher’s grading plan reveals key details about grades and score calculations. In the grading plan your teacher tells you, straight up, what their learning and assignment priorities are, and how to get a good final grade in the class . Method - The grading plan identifies the method for grading assignments, quizzes and tests (numerical scores vs. letter grades.) Formula - The grading plan tells you the formula for converting numerical scores to letter grades , such as 87% = B+. Categories - Homework, papers, projects, tests, quizzes, class participation – basically anything that gets graded or scored, is categorized in the grading plan . Weights - For purposes of calculating a student’s final grade in the class, weights are assigned to categories . For example, a teacher who places a high priority on homework will assign a heavier weight to homework completion scores. That tells you a good homework completion score is important to your final grade in a class. PRODUCT PREVIEW Consider your teacher’s grading plan as a workload and time management guide . If a teacher weights a test as 40% of a student’s final grade in a class, and homework as 20% of the final grade, is it more productive to spend your time studying for a test, or making up a missing homework assignment for which you will receive 50% credit? Do the math! That doesn’t mean you can skip your homework, but in a time crunch, put your effort into the categories your teacher values most. Synching your time and effort to your teacher’s priorities helps you successfully balance your workload and manage your time.
Here’s another tip: By using your teacher’s grading plan, you can actually calculate the exact score you will need to achieve on any remaining tests and quizzes in order to earn your desired final grade in a class . Give it a try: Go to www.conquercollege.com (Amazing Grade Calculator) and plug in your teacher’s categories and weights. Plug in your current scores, and calculate the score you must achieve on any upcoming graded assignment or quiz in order to earn your desire final grade in a class. Knowing how to calculate your grade is a good study skill because it helps you gauge your progress in a class, and tells you how much time and effort you need to apply to an upcoming assignment or test to achieve or maintain a desired final grade.
Using a grade calculator, you can target the exact score you need on a test or quiz to get your desired grade in a class.
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Chapter 10 | Syllabusted!
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