Caption: Students and parents can log into Plus Portals to see the weekly grades as they are posted by teachers on this program. [Dr. Cristina Meier]
by Marianne Meikle
Midterm grades have come and gone and the impact has been felt by teachers and students alike. For students doing well, this is a chance for them to celebrate their hard work in the form of official grades being processed by all their teachers. For the students that are struggling, it is an opportunity for them to see what they need to do to improve their study habits in order to bring their grads up to a more acceptable number.
Teachers at PACA (Pan American Christian Academy) can also feel the stress of trying to show a clear picture of what students are learning after completing the first four weeks of school.
Renata Okamoto has been a secondary math teacher at PACA for one month and says that it has been a good learning experience because of how different it has been from the other three schools she has taught at.
In the beginning it was hard for her to know how much homework to give out, and what tests are appropriate. As she got closer to midterms, she started getting used to the system.
“I want homework to be an opportunity for students to individually interact with the material, this way they can identify specific questions,” said Okamoto.
To Renata Okamoto, her teaching does not change around midterm time and will continue that way for the remainder of the first semester.
Junior Priscila Fray is a 16 year old student that has been at PACA since the second grade, except for the years her family was on furlough. Her grades so far have been really good and this is how she’d like them to be. She still tries to make them better by paying attention in class and turning homework in on time.
However, she has been really stressed because she keeps receiving homework and doesn’t have time to finish it all. Even though she has been stressed, she’s proud of how she’s been doing so far because she has been doing her best.
Vitor Silva is a freshman in high school, and has been here since Pre-K 1. Vitor has been playing two sports and has found it challenging keeping up with all his work. Something he’s trying to do is be more organized by using an agenda, unfortunately that hasn’t been working out because he misplaced it. Vitor Silva thinks his grades could be better if he was more expressive in class.
Whatever the reasons students have for receiving midterm grades, now is the time for them to make some real changes that can impact their grades for the better in the next four weeks of school before their grades become permanent at the end of the first quarter.
