Class Expectations and Rules

Virtual Expectations for Online Classroom

• Be Prepared:
  • Have a charged Chromebook.
  • Meet deadlines/responsibilities as a part of a team.
  • Students must use their school accounts (sparta.org) to access instruction. This account will give students unfettered access to all instructional materials, resources and breakout rooms. These functions would be restricted if using an outside account.

• Late work: 1 day late: 10% deduction/NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED AFTER 1 DAY.

• Be Original: As defined in our handbook, “Plagiarism is to steal and pass off as one’s own the ideas and words of another. It is to use, intentionally or unintentionally, without crediting the source, to commit literary theft and present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.” It does not matter if it is A SENTENCE or work FROM A FRIEND. If you do plagiarize, here is the school policy from the handbook that will be followed:
  • First Offense:
    • A grade of “0” will be issued for the assignment/report
    • “U” in conduct will be written on the student’s report card / and student who receives a “U” for conduct will be removed from Honor Roll for that marking period
    • The student’s parent(s) will be contacted

• Be active: PARTICIPATE!
  • Students will have opportunities within each lesson to demonstrate understanding through planned and unplanned assessments. Students should anticipate that any lesson activities could be graded. Therefore students should be attentive and responsive to all classroom discussions and assignments.

• Follow the district’s virtual code of conduct.
  • Students will conduct themselves virtually in a way that is civil, respectful, and professional. This encompasses all verbal and written communication and work.
  • Click here to see the Code of Conduct, or here for the SHS link to the Code of Conduct.

Attendance and Tardy Policy While Virtual

Whether virtual or in person, the tardiness and attendance policy remain the same. Attendance will be taken at the start of class. Any student reporting 10 minutes late will be documented as a cut.

There will be assignments and tasks throughout each lesson to also verify and document attendance and participation.

If a student is absent, it is their responsibility to get the notes from a student that was able to attend class and ask for clarification during office hours. If there are extenuating circumstances and the teacher is notified, the student may be eligible for access to recorded lessons

Materials Required for Course

All our assignments and readings will be online via Google Classroom, so a charged Chromebook is required. Any readings not available online will be scanned and shared with students via Google Classroom.

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TRADITIONAL CLASS:

Classroom Materials

My class operates completely online with Google Classroom and Google Applications. Students will need to have their computers charged for each class. Students will not be permitted to charge their laptops during class periods (tripping hazards, not enough outlets, frequent loss of chargers). Again, as in real-life, this is showing-up-prepared-for-work practice. You would not show up to a meeting unprepared, a shift without your uniform, etc.; so take this student profession seriously and come prepared. Disciplinary action for refusal and defiance are listed below.

Attendance (with work deadlines)

Meeting a deadline is a real world requirement and a skill that needs to be practiced now, in high school, when the stakes are lower and your job isn’t on the line. Because of this, I’m a firm believer in meeting required deadlines...EVEN IF ABSENT!

Regarding written assignments or projects made five school days or more in advance of the deadline (e.g., assigned Friday 9/12; due Friday 9/19), the following policy is in place in the English Department: No late papers will be accepted regardless of student attendance. Students will receive a “0” for a late paper/project or for a paper/project that is not submitted. I say this because your work will be submitted through Turnitin.com IN CLASS. I don’t like midnight submissions.

If something is assigned, and there is less than a 5 day turn around (i.e. it was assigned when you were out and it’s due the next day), you get the same amount of days you were out to make up the work and that is all. For assessments, students will be expected to complete the assessment the next class day they are in attendance.

Tardy Policy

Like meeting deadlines, being on time is imperative to entering the real world and being an adult. Want to be taken seriously? Take yourself and your education seriously by showing up on time. By showing up late, you’re subliminally telling me, your classmates, and yourself that their time does not matter to you...and that’s what future employers will see, as well. Be on time. If you know you will be late, you need to obtain a pass--that is a school wide policy.

Cell Phone Policy

I can’t compete with Snapchat and Instagram and TikTok and building villages and whatever else you youths are doing on those pocket computers. Also, it’s 42 minutes of your life; studies are proving that the “plugged in nature” of your cell phones is heightening your anxieties. So, it’s simple--albeit painful for you--you will be “parking” your phones in their spots at the cell phone charging station. Your phone will be parked in the space that corresponds with your seat number. The teacher, nor is the school, responsible for your cell phone while “parked” in this class. Disciplinary action for refusal and defiance are listed below.

Disciplinary Protocols

Tardiness

• After 3 late marks: Lunch detention
• After 6 late marks: Email home (from you) and another lunch detention
• After 9+ late marks: consistent write ups which often lead to a Saturday or after school detention and an email home (from you).

Unprepared for class

• First offense: take class notes by hand, you will need to transfer to computer and warning.
• Second offense: take class notes by hand, you will need to transfer to computer and an email home (from you).
• Third offense: administrative documentation (a.k.a. write-up) and an email home (from you).

Cell Phones

• First offense: verbal warning and phone confiscation.
• Second offense: verbal warning, contact with administration and an email home, from you.
• Third offense: Write-up and email home from you.

PLAGIARISM: As defined in our handbook, “Plagiarism is to steal and pass off as one’s own the ideas and words of another. It is to use, intentionally or unintentionally, without crediting the source, to commit literary theft and present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.”

It does not matter if it is A SENTENCE or work FROM A FRIEND. If you do plagiarize, here is the school policy from the handbook that will be followed:

● A grade of “0” will be issued for the assignment/report

● A “U” in conduct will be written on the student’s report card / any student who receives a “U”

for conduct will be removed from Honor Roll for that marking period

● A Detention or a Saturday Detention will be administered to the student

● The student’s parent(s) will be contacted

School policies for the above classroom procedures and how to prevent plagiarism can be found: https://www.sparta.org/Page/1079