J. Lee

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

• Personal​
  • Taiwanese, immigrated to NYC at age 8. Fluent in Mandarin and Taiwanese
  • ​Married with 2 kids (ages 12 and 14)  and a BWD (big white dog 120lb)!
• Educational
  • ​Bronx High School of Science (Specialized Math and Science NYC)
  • B.S. degree in Chemical Engineer from UCLA
  • Masters degree in education
• Professionally
  • ​Teaching at Hopkins JHS for 15+ years
  • GATE Certified
  • GLAD Certified
  • Volleyball Coach for 5 years

Questions:

1. What is the best way to contact Ms. Lee?
2. Will my child get a home copy of his/her textbook?
3. I know it’s early in the year, but why isn’t the gradebook reflecting the same percentage breakdown you gave on your syllabus?
4. Can Ms. Lee give me a breakdown of where my child is weak at?
5. How can I help my child do better in this class?
6. Can I get a copy of the test so I can help my child review? (Test Corrections Procedure)
7. Can I see what my child is doing incorrectly for HW/CW?            
8. How do I know what kind of work my child needs to show?
9. Where can I check my child’s grade? (Grade Corrections Procedure)
10. Can you give less/more HW?
11. How do the quarter/semester grades work?
12. What are the grade requirements for this class?
13. What does the state common core (Smarter Balance) test at the end of the year look like?

     

    Answers:

    1)The best way to contact me is via school's internal email system. Another email to reach me at is jlee@fusdk12.net  Emails are the most convenient way and the most efficient way as long as you state specifically what your questions are.

     

    2) Starting 2014-2015 School year, the district has adopted a new publisher: Spring Board. Textbooks are no longer hardback and each student will receive only ONE copy of the consumable textbook. CC3 mathwill be using SB Course 3. Students are expected to CARRY textbook to school or LEAVE at home if they tear out and file in math binder for our current Unit. 

     

    3)Please check grades online on a regular basis. The breakdown is explained in the course syllabus. Early on in the year when there are limited data in the gradebook, the grades are skewed. They don't reflect my percentage break down exactly because when there are no quizzes or tests, the gradebook program will take the ratio of just my CW versus HW and disregard the quiz and test categories. Once there are sufficient data, the grades will make more sense and have a better reflection of student progress. I don't make any calculations; the gradebook program does it all after I input the parameter of my percentage breakdown. I MAY make few entry mistakes and this is why you should keep a record of all graded work until you have verified that it has been logged in correctly.

     

    4) Unfortunately, as a JHS math teacher, I can't give you a detailed breakdown of your child's weakness and help target exactly where to improve (it’s not quite as simple as it was in when they only had 25 students). In elementary school, your teachers had software to help print out areas of weakness based on single arithmetic task or topic. In my class, we test on topics that will require a combination of these skills. This is why I set up my class to promote, self-check, self-analysis, and self-corrections. In JHS we want our students to be held accountable for their own education. However, I do include a quarter sheet with the results of each unit test and district benchmark that provides analysis of mastery based on common core standards.

     

    5) There are several ways to help your child succeed in my class. Check for my “Tips to Succeed in Ms. Lee’s class” in the locker of my website. Check my useful links on my website for additional resources. We will be using Deltamath.com and mathgames.com to work towards our state standards.

     

    6) Unfortunately, department policy forbids us from letting students remove our test papers from the classroom. Your child can come in during lunch if he/she needs to copy questions again. Once again, we would rather have your child come in to copy questions rather than the parents because we want your child to be accountable for his/her own education. After each chapter test, I have students do a test correction for HW. In class, they are given time to copy down the questions and given the correct answers that they’ve missed on the test. At home, they need to redo the problem (use the answer to work backward can help) and explain their mistake or have a “note to self” what to do or what not to do for the next test. See my Test Correction Requirement document on my website locker.

     

    7) Ask your child for his/her work. I don’t keep any student work. I check HW based on effort and give them back to have them check against the answers on the same day. The turn around time for me to correct quizzes is 1-2 days. The turn around time for tests is usually 3-4 days. HW solutions are posted daily (this is why I don’t accept late HW) on the due date. Model Student Work is posted on the overview page of my website.

     

    8) Refer to his/her notes. I don’t keep student work (only test corrections). I would not be holding them responsible (deducting points on exams) for something that I have not shown or explained.

     

    9) iCampus/Google classroom has announcements, news, and grade information posted. I try to update on a daily basis, latest would be within the week. In case of an entry mistake, please have the student come in during lunch to show proof (assignment with my signature/grade) and I’ll correct it by the next posting.

     

    10) District policy restricts me from giving more HW. Unfortunately, our newly adopted math curriculum (Spring Board) has very limited practice problems. Please realize that math is similar to music that the best way to master it is with plenty of practice. Since I’m bound by district guidelines, feel free to give extra HW when you see fit. Feel free to check my website locker for additional resources.

     

    11) Each semester consists of 2 quarters, the gradebook will be continuous through out the semester. Therefore Quarter 1 and Quarter 3 grades are meant to be indicators. Grades will reset after the semester. 1^st quarter ends around the beginning of November and the 2nd quarter will end towards the end of January. There will be a 1^stsemester final which is worth 2 test grades and this assignment will mark the end of that grading period. The second semester will run in the similar manner.

     

    12) Please contact the Vice Principle (ex 38101) if you want to know the current district grade requirements and common core math pathways. http://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/Page/25037

     

     

    13) Smarter Balance Test will be administered on computers only. Scratch paper will be provided but there is NO paper test. There are 2 parts, non-conventional multiple choice (more than one possible answer) and performance tasks (free response) that involve typing, dragging items and entering equations. After the first few weeks of school, I start to assign weekly tenmarks.com assignments on current topics covered in class and this will mimic the computer skills that are involved in SBAC in order to better prepare our students for this new standardized testing.