Welcome to Mr. Kleinberg's class!
Hello, my name is Tom Kleinberg. This will be my 10th year working in the Pickens County School System and my 8th year teaching 6th-grade math. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Middle Grades Education from Kennesaw State University with an emphasis in Mathematics and Social Studies. I am also certified to teach Special Education. I was voted the 2017-18 Jasper Middle School Teacher of the Year. I also am the head coach for the Pickens Junior High School volleyball team.
With Tammy Duncan, I developed and implemented Standards-Based Grading and Personalized Learning Programs for Pickens County Schools. We presented both of these programs to The Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference in October 2018.
My wife, Mary, is a Speech Therapist for the Pickens County School System. We have two daughters, Tori, who is a sophomore at the University of Georgia, Go Dawgs! and Addi, who is in 11th grade at PHS, as well as a freshman at Young Harris. I look forward to the 2022-2023 school year and working with you and your child.
2023-24 Team 6b Daily Schedule
7:55 - 8:30 Homeroom
8:30 - 9:00 Thinking Maps
9:00 - 10:25 1st Block
10:25 - 11:05 1st Connections
11:05 - 11:45 2nd Connections
11:45 - 1:10 3rd Block
1:10 - 1:35 Lunch
1:35 - 3:00 4th Block
Email:
tomkleinberg@pickenscountyschools.org
Phone:
(706) 253-1730 ext. 107
Weekly Reviews
As a class, we have discussed the expectations of how to complete this assignment (attempt each question, show all work, complete in pencil only, square paper). There are 8-9 questions per day to be completed, and the questions should not take a lot of time to complete. Students will have some time in class to work on the questions; however, if not completed in class the questions should be finished at home. Each day students will have the opportunity to correct their mistakes when we check and correct the previous day's review. On Fridays, students will be allowed to use the corrected work to complete a short quiz over the same questions we discussed throughout the week during class. Students will receive a paper copy each week. A digital copy will be posted in the student's It's Learning.
Standards-Based / Personalized Learning
Math classes this year will have standards-based assessments utilizing a more personalized learning experience. Students are held to high expectations and are responsible for their continued learning. Math is taught through a variety of models, some direct instruction, some student-led, and some interactive real-time technology programs.
What is Standards-Based Learning / Grading?
Standards-based brings a new depth of understanding to grades and places importance on what students learn over how much work students do. Standards-based describes student progress in relation to standards, allowing students to recognize both strength and growth areas. A student can demonstrate mastery of a set of standards and move on to a more challenging set of standards.
How are grades earned?
Standards-based grading brings a new depth of understanding to grades and places importance on what students learn over how much work students do. Standards-based grading describes student progress in relation to standards, allowing students to recognize both strength and growth areas. A student can demonstrate mastery of a set of standards and move on to a more challenging set of standards.
Unlike traditional grading systems that average grades, a standards-based grading system measures a student’s mastery of standards by prioritizing the most recent, consistent level of performance. Thus a student who may have struggled at the beginning of the unit may still be able to demonstrate mastery of the content/concepts by the end of the unit.
Unlike traditional grading systems that average grades, a standards-based grading system measures a student’s mastery of standards by prioritizing the most recent, consistent level of performance. Thus, a student who may have struggled at the beginning of the unit may still be able to demonstrate mastery of the standard by the end of the unit. Students are offered multiple opportunities and ways through which to demonstrate proficiency/mastery and earn a higher grade.
Since the goal of standards-based is to determine a student’s mastery of standards, students have the opportunity to improve a low quiz grade. If students can demonstrate they’ve reached a higher level of mastery, the new, higher TEST grade replaces the low QUIZ grade they earned initially. It is imperative that students practice the standard prior to taking the test.
Students will be given an assignment sheet divided by standards for each unit of study. These are kept in the classroom in student folders. Using these sheets, students monitor their own progress toward the mastery of the specific standard and determine goals for how to improve their scores.
Each standard will be assessed using a quiz and a test. The initial quiz grade will be entered into Infinite Campus for parents/guardians to view. However, the highest level of mastery (quiz, test, or the remediation grade - green dot) will be the final grade entered in Infinite Campus at the end of the unit.
Each grade in Infinite Campus will be referenced by the standard number (ex. MGSE6.NS.1 – which stands for Math, Georgia Standards of Excellence, Grade 6, Number System Fluency, standard #1). The highest grade for each standard will be averaged for a Unit Summative Grade (test grade).
If the quiz AND test grade are both low, how can my student earn a higher grade on a standard?
If students score below what is acceptable, they still have the opportunity to improve the grade for that standard by earning a green dot on USATest Prep. There will be deadlines for standards to be completed; however, students can still work on previous standards to improve their grades until the end of the semester.