Annex Humanities: Rinkema and Williams
Making of the Modern World and English 10
Standards-Based Grading Policy
Standards-Based Learning and Grading FAQs
Welcome to our class! We are excited about the year and about getting to know all of you. This website is a place to come for information and links. We will update it regularly and have pages for each of our units. Here is some general information about our class:
Course KUD: The KUD is what we want students to Know, Understand, and be able to Do as a result of our class this year. We have a general KUD for the entire course, as well as individual KUDs for each unit. These will be posted at the top of each unit page, and you will also receive a paper copy in class at the beginning of each unit.
This year, we will be an entirely standards-based class. That means that we will instruct, assess, and grade based on specific and articulated learning targets (LTs).
In order to provide clear targets and to provide specific feedback about learning, we use rubrics that we call scales--these are student-friendly, grade leveled targets for standards, and you can find the course target scales at the following link: Course Scales. Additionally, at the beginning of each unit, we will provide a copy of the unit KUD (what students will be expected to Know, Understand, and be able to Do at the end of the unit) as well as the applicable scales for that unit (which are often more specific than the course scales).
Teaming: Think of these classes as a single Humanities class. You should have a single binder and notebook which you should bring to school every day. We will use a variety of class structures throughout the year, the most common being the following:
Open = all students mixed up but working on the same subjects—not necessarily all in the same room.
45s = half-classes—you’ll be with one of us for the first half of class and the other for the second half.
Full = “traditional” English and social studies classes—one day you’ll be with Emily for the full class and the next day you'll be with Stan.
Our Philosophy about Learning: This is a heterogeneous class and students are beginning at different places with skills and background knowledge. We will spend some time pre-assessing this information in order to set goals with each student around the above Learning Targets. Success in this class depends on achievement of the targets, so everyone needs to work hard this year. There are many times when students will be working on different work, activities, and skills based on individual goals and interests—fair isn’t always equal, in other words.
Also, learning means discovering what you don’t know and then trying to improve (whether through new knowledge, deeper understanding, or improving skills). Therefore, we will embrace what we don’t know, and work together to figure it out, rather than reward what we already know or know how to do.
Herding Cats