Mr. Michael O'Loughlin
Middle School Science
moloughlin@blessedsacrament.org
Extra-help: Please give me notice before planning on an extra help session in case my schedule has changed, but in general, I am available Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday before school (Wednesday and Friday, there will be other extended day students in the room), Monday, Thurday, and Friday after school, and during lunch any day but Tuesday. Please bring your questions and any topics you would like to review when you come. The more specific you can be the more effective the review will be.
Re-take policy. I will allow any student who scores under 90% (45/50) on a test to re-take it. However, the maximum grade on a re-take is 45/50. If a student brings their grade up from a 30/50 to a 40/50, they will receive a 40/50, but if they brought their grade up to a 49/50, they would still only receive a 45/50. If they score lower their second time, they can keep the first score. The student is responsible for scheduling the re-take. Parents can ask about it, but I will not print out a new test until the student has approached me, asked if they can re-take it, and attempted to scheduled a time. Anyone can decide to redo the essay portion of the test if they are not satisfied with their grade on that section.
-Re-takes are the same for quizes, except now we are talking about raising your grade to a 9/10 instead of a 45/50.
ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING ABSENCES: If a student is out of school, they should still be reviewing the suggested materials online and preparing for class when they return. Nearly all of the graded work takes place in class, so students are expected to check the calendars in the back of the room and ask about any graded work that they missed (quizes, labs, etc.). Since labs rarely if ever can be made-up at home, any students who miss a lab should replace that grade with an independent investigation of the same topic submitted in essay form (~3 paragraphs). For example, if a student misses a lab on the effects of immigration and emigration on gene frequency, I would expect them to research this topic and write a short essay on the effects of immigration and emigration on gene frequency. Make-up essays should be turned in within a few days of the student's return to school.
Super-insanely-incredibly-wicked hard take-home QUIZ
This website is intended to be a study resource for my students. Notes, files, and grade specific announcements will be posted on each class's individual page. Nightly homework will not be posted, but suggestions for independent study will be posted regarding each unit. Links to useful web resources are on the main page below.
Useful Websites:
Infotrac: research database to which Blessed Sacrament Subscribes. Ask for the password.
http://quizlet.com/ :this website allows you to make flashcards and review them through several easy games. Sets made in class are acccessible by search. They begin with BSS-
http://scholar.google.com/ :this search engine is the academic version of google
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/index.html :this is the website for the NY Times Science News Section
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/ :this website is online writer's reference book to help with citations
http://www.brightstorm.com/ :this website provides free tutorial videos for science and math topics
http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia/Search/Kids%20Favorites: educational games and research through the Smithsonian
Click Here to go to the new, highly under-construction, class website