and make sure you have (or start developing) a growth mindset...
Many of the works we read in class may be somewhat confusing, and that's OK. You are not expected to understand everything you read the first time through. Confusion is natural and necessary when we learn something that is challenging.
The best part of my job is seeing students succeed on their own and knowing that I played a small role in that. As much as I would like to say I refuse to let you fail, there is only so much I can do. I'm your teacher, not your savior. Your success in the class depends mostly on the attitude and effort you bring every day. In the end, these are the only two things in life you can control. Choose to show up with a great attitude and give maximum effort, and this class will be a breeze.
There are two ways to get extra credit in my class: The Extra Credit Writing Assignment and the Best Book Blurb. These are optional assignments. You can do either (or both) once every nine weeks. You can read more about them on the Assignments page, but in a nutshell, they work like this:
The Extra Credit Writing Assignment requires you to write a short paper of some sort. It’s a bit more involved for an extra credit assignment, but it counts for more as well (worth 100 points upon successful, satisfactory completion of the assignment).
The Best Book Blurb is an easier assignment to tackle, but it only counts 50 points. Basically what you’re doing with this assignment is picking a book you like (and would recommend to your peers) and then writing (in your own words) a creative book blurb promoting the book (kind of like the descriptions you see of books either on Amazon or on the inside of their dust jackets).
Every nine weeks you’ll be expected to read a total of 500 pages of NONFICTION on your own (i.e., outside of what we read together in class). You’ll get credit for this (to the tune of 100 points, which is a big deal) by writing about the books you read on the “Independent Reading” page of your class website portfolio. For more details, go check out the Independent Reading assignment on the Assignments page.
You're responsible for knowing (and following) all of our class policies. Make sure you visit our Class Policies page and familiarize yourself with everything there.
Be respectful (of the other students, of yourself, of me, of the rules, etc.)
Make a good faith effort to be a good student
That’s pretty straightforward and easy. If you do those things, you’re going to have a smooth (and fun) year with me. If you struggle to do those things, I’m going to help you do a better job of them (gently at first, less gently over time).
If there’s ever anything you need me to know (but for whatever reason you don’t want to tell me in person), you can let me know by completing the Do Tell Form. The great thing about the Do Tell Form: it’s completely anonymous. There’s a place to put your name if you’d like, but you don’t have to. And if you don’t, none of your personal information (i.e., e-mail address, name, student ID, etc.) is collected. Is there a dangerous situation you need to report? Is there someone who needs help from a counselor? Do you have constructive criticism about the way my class works? These would all be good reasons to use the Do Tell Form. You can always find a link to the form at the bottom of the home page of my site.
Students are expected to be in class when it's in session. That being said, obviously, there will be times when someone might need to use the restroom. In general, I don't mind students doing this given a few things: don't go during the first 15 minutes of class (as they might miss valuable information), and don't go if I'm in the middle of explaining something to the class (again, it's probably information they need to hear). If this becomes abused (e.g., taking longer than reasonably necessary, leaving class every day without a valid medical reason, etc.) then students will have to stay in class. In this case, students should be sure to use the restroom between classes throughout the day so as not to find themselves needing to do so during the time designated for instruction.
Passes to see another teacher or go to the counselor (except in certain circumstances) and the like will not be given. Schedule those visits outside of class time.
We’re going to use technology in class on virtually a daily basis. You’re expected to have your school-issued Chromebook with you (and fully charged) every day. You’re not allowed, however, to have your phone out in class.
Plagiarism is just a fancy word that means presenting someone else’s words, thoughts, or information as your own. It’s a severe problem. I don’t take lightly any instance of plagiarism (i.e., You should expect that I’ll be referring you to an administrator if this happens), so please, please, please make sure you’re never stealing work from some other source (e.g., a book, a website, a friend, etc.) when you know that I’m expecting you to come up with something on your own (and just so you know, plagiarism is super easy to spot and track down). There will be times when it’s appropriate to quote someone else’s words (or talk about their ideas). When you do use someone else’s words or ideas as a part of your own work, make sure you give that person credit. If you’re not sure how to do this, see me and I’ll help you out with that. I've made some information available to you (click here for that info) to help you understand what plagiarism is and how you can avoid it. I suggest you take some time to look through those materials to make sure you know your stuff in this area. Remember, saying you didn't know the rules on plagiarism won't keep you out of trouble if you've broken those rules.
And when it comes to acceptable and unacceptable uses of A.I. in our class, as a general rule, the following is true:
Using A.I. tools to fine-tune and edit minor details about the writing you’ve already done is acceptable (e.g., correcting minor/basic technical, grammatical errors).
Unless otherwise (and specifically) indicated, using A.I. to generate ideas and or writing that will then be incorporated into your work for my class is not allowed. Likewise, having A.I. rewrite and or make substantive changes to the way your own work was written or worded is also not allowed.
Furthermore, in order to help assure academic integrity, all work for my class (including any drafting for papers) must be done using Google Apps for Ed. (e.g., Google Docs) that are then properly filed in the student's official folder for my class on the student’s official school account. Any failure to comply with this policy will be presumed as an indication of a breach of our class's academic integrity policies.
I expect you to turn things in on time. My due dates are well publicized, and everything you need to complete your assignments (whether you’re at school or not) is available on my website. Please do your work and turn it in on time, and please know that if you don’t, I’m going to bug you about it until you do.
When a student misses work that can (and should) be made up, a score of 0 will be entered into the grade book until the work is completed. (Note: a score of .01 in the grade book signifies that either the student has completed the work/assessment and, unfortunately, failed to earn any credit for it or a crucial deadline of some sort has passed beyond which a student cannot receive partial credit for late work.)
NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED THE LAST WEEK OF A GRADING PERIOD.
Nobody’s perfect, and there might come a time when you don’t do as well on a major assignment or test in my class as you might have liked. Good news: I’m not opposed to giving you a second chance to do a better job. See me if you find yourself in such a situation, and we’ll come up with an action plan to make sure you have a chance to learn the concept/material more thoroughly and then raise your grade accordingly.
This is the page where you can get detailed information on exactly what we’re doing in class on any given day.
This is the place to go to find important due dates, test dates, etc. Add this calendar to your own Google calendar to be sure you’re on top of everything that’s going on in English 12. (See me if you don’t know how to do that.)
This is the place to go to find any important documents and resources you might need while working on an assignment or studying for a test in my class.
This page of my site gives you detailed information about the major assignments we’ll be completing this year. This is also the place to go to find the turn-in forms you need to submit your work for our various assignments.
Are you finished with your work before everyone else? Have some free time on your hands during class? This is the page to go to in situations like these. Here you’ll find the approved list of things you can be doing with any free time you have during English 12. Just as important as what is listed here is what’s NOT listed here (e.g., working on homework for some other class, playing a game on your Chromebook, getting out your phone, etc.).