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School success for middle school students
Successful students...
Write their homework down in their agenda or use their Google Classroom To-Do List and Calendar functions
Bring home all of the materials they need to do their homework
Plan ahead for tests, quizzes and long-term projects
Study over the course of a few days
Do the study guide if the teacher provides one
Learn the material well enough to teach it to someone else
Break projects down into small pieces and do a little bit every day
Plan homework around outside activities, sports, family obligations and chores
Get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night
Take responsibility for asking for and completing make up work if they’re absent
Have a back up plan if something goes wrong
Ask a friend, check the teacher’s website, or look at Google Classroom to find out what the assignment is if they forgot to copy it down in their agenda
Use resources such as class notes, the textbook, a friend, Khan Academy or YouTube to learn material if they are stuck on their homework
Have a growth mindset! Don't give up when something is challenging. Your brain is a muscle. It gets bigger when you exercise it!
Homework and Assessments
Middle school students generally have an average of about 30-60 minutes of homework per night. Homework makes up 10% and classwork makes up 20% of their grade. Homework is graded on completion, not correctness. Homework completed with effort earns 100%. Teachers accept it a day late for 50%. Any work not turned in after two days earns a 0.
Each marking period, your child will also have at least two tests and four quizzes in each core subject. Some teachers give a project instead of a test. These assessments add up to 70% of students’ grades.
Resources provided by BTMS
Homework Hotline is an opportunity for students to get homework done after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is meant only for studying and homework completion. Math and language arts teachers are there to supervise and provide help each day. To enroll your child, sign this permission slip and have your child turn it in to their homeroom teacher. Students can also pick up a paper copy in the school counseling office.
The district provides virtual tutoring from 5:30 to 6:30 Monday through Thursday. The schedule for the 2024-25 school year can be found on this link. Check the schedule to identify which subject you would like tutoring in, and on which day it's offered. Then join the Google Classroom for the virtual tutoring session, using the code written in red. You can attend as many or as few times as you like.
PowerSchool provides up-to-date information about your child’s grades. You can log in via the middle school website or the PowerSchool app on your phone. PowerSchool allows you to request daily or weekly email summaries if you like. To start a PowerSchool account, go to the BTMS website and click on PowerSchool Parent Portal. You can find step-by-step instructions here. If you have difficulty with PowerSchool, please contact Colleen Fee at x4001 or Diane Kumpel at x4015.
Parents can receive daily or weekly summaries through Google Classroom. Google Classroom sends invitations to parents at the email address that parents provided in PowerSchool. When you open the invitation and accept one teacher's invitation, you automatically accept all of the invitations for your child's classes. Like PowerSchool, you can opt to receive daily or weekly summaries about homework, classwork, and content. You can read this summary from Google in order to learn more.
Please reach out to your child’s teacher or counselor if you have any questions or concerns. Teachers are best reached via email. A directory with staff names and emails is on the BTSD website under “staff”. Colleen Fee can be reached through email or at x4001.
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