Policies, Procedures, & Curriculum

I am a tough math teacher and have very high expectations of my students. Being successful in math class this year will require additional work, studying outside of class, doing extra practice problems from the book, ...etc.

My goal is to teach students to be proactive about how they can improve their grade, rather than being reactive to a poor score due to not being prepared. Please encourage your child to ask questions during class if they are unsure, use their class time more wisely, stay on task and be productive.

Positive Promises:

  • We promise to teach each other with respect and kindness!

  • We promise to be positive, do our best, and work hard everyday!

  • We promise to respect and love Mr. Mach, he is the best!

  • We promise to be ourselves!

  • We promise to never hate math!

Attendance Policy for Distance Learning:

The Middle School and Junior High School distance learning attendance policies can be found on this document -> Attendance Policy

Grading: (I do not give students a grade, students earn their grade through hard work and learning)

A student's grade is broken down into the following weighted categories, totaling 100% of their total grade:

  • Practice (Classwork, Homework, Exit Slips) - 20%

  • Formative Assessments (Fiestas, Quizzes, CFA's) - 40%

  • Summative Assessments (Celebrations, Tests) - 40%

Corrections / Remediation:

Students will always have the opportunity to correct their homework assignments, quizzes, and tests to earn points back. It is my belief that the most valuable learning comes from evaluating, correcting, and learning from our mistakes!

Make-up Policy:

It is the student’s responsibility to get any missed assignments. All assignments will be posted on the board (and my website) and worksheets/handouts will be in the absent basket blue folder. All students have the amount of days they were absent plus one day to make up the assignments. If you miss the day before the test you are still required to test on the following day. If you miss the day of the test it is your responsibility to schedule an appointment to make up the test in a timely manner.

Retake / Redo Policy:

Philosophy: As a teacher the most important aspect of the learning experience is that students fully grasp and master each concept being taught. I am highly invested in the learning of each student, I have a strong belief in learning from our mistakes, getting second chances in life, and fostering growth mindsets in our students. While retakes are an option, I do not want students to rely solely on the ability to retake and redo assignments. It is vital that students put in the effort necessary to learn the material, take time to practice the skills, and seek out help or additional resources when necessary to be successful the first time! Abuse of the retake / redo policy (repeated guessing, no effort, cheating, …etc.) will result in loss of retake privileges for that student.

Big Ideas Textbook Assignments & Other Practice Opportunities:

Students can simply redo any problems that they did incorrectly or did not show work for and resubmit to Google Classroom by un-turning in the assignment, attaching the new work, and re-turning in the assignment. Google Classroom will automatically notify Mr. Mach that a new submission has been made. The answers to all odd numbered problems can be found in the back of the student’s Big Idea’s textbook. There are also detailed solution keys posted in Google Classroom under Answer Key’s that walk students through homework problems step-by-step and the lecture videos posted for their repeated review as necessary.

Exit Tickets or Fiestas (CFA’s, Quizzes, Formative Assessments)

To Retake an Exit Ticket or Fiesta, students must first complete at least one of the following activities and submit the Retake Request Form before they will be allowed to retake a formative assessment:

• Attend Mr. Mach’s office hours to get additional help or

• Complete additional practice problems from the Big Idea’s textbook, or

• Complete additional practice on Khan Academy or Big Idea’s Online Skills Trainer or

• Other Ideas with Mr. Mach’s Approval (Outside tutor, help from another teacher…etc.)

The request ticket will ask that you attach a picture demonstrating proof that you completed one of the above listed activities. After review, Mr. Mach will send the student a link directly to a new Exit Ticket or CFA for the student to retake, to the students SPS Gmail account.

Retake Request Ticket Link: https://forms.gle/Yc74by94HCHQUMZL7

Rational: Exit tickets and Fiesta’s are given to students after they have had multiple opportunities to interact with the math material. Doing poorly on these activities, indicates a deeper misunderstanding of the material, and as I teacher I feel that some student self-reflection, reteaching, remediation, and additional practice is necessary before a student is allowed to retake a formative assessment.

Summative Assessments (Celebrations, Unit Tests, Semester Final Exams)

These are the final assessment for a given set of math content standards and students are not allowed to re-take summative assessments. (Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the teacher, Mr. Mach)