• A COMPUTER/DEVICE - this is essential to have in every class this semester! 

• A PLACE FOR NOTES - A binder, notebook, iPad, computer. Whatever works for you, just make sure you bring it! 

• WRITING UTENSILS - pencils, pens, erasers, and highlighters.

• POST IT NOTES - We will use post-it notes or tabs for annotating. I would suggest you buy/bring your own! 

• TEXTS - Whatever text we are studying, ensure you have it with you for class. 

• SHOW UP - Attend class every day ready to learn. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of class - be on time (and if you're not, a large cream no sugar coffee is an excellent bribe). If you are absent, YOU are responsible for checking Google Classroom for updates. 

• BE PREPARED - Be prepared when you come to class. You should come everyday with a computer, writing utensils, and any other supplies or textbooks that we are using at the time. 

• DO THE WORK - This is English 30-1, a course that are required for high school graduation. You will be expected to do work and assignments outside of class time. 

• RESPECT - Treat me and fellow classmates with respect. Everyone has a right to be heard and to learn in a secure environment. Critical analysis and questioning ideologies is encouraged, but intolerance, bigotry, bullying, and insensitivity will not be tolerated. 

• RESPONSIBILITY - Be responsible with your use of technology, assignments completed, and your work ethic.  

Absences:

• It is ALWAYS the student’s responsibility to determine, and complete, any evaluative activity has been missed. 

• Please check Google Classroom for any updates or missing work for that day. All assignments and information will be available there. 

Excused Absence:

• An excused absence occurs when a parent or guardian phones the school at 403-948-3800 (24 hours a day) to report an absence. Telephone calls from students are not acceptable, unless the student has “adult status” confirmed by the administration of BCHS. Parents are requested to phone in advance of the absence if possible. If that is not possible, parents must call the day of the absence, or no later than the day after the absence (i.e. within 24 hours) if it is to be excused. Notes received from parents within this time frame are also acceptable.

• If a student is excusably absent from class on days during which an assignment, quiz, examination or other evaluation activity occurs, the student shall be given the opportunity to make up the missed work through either the original or replacement work at the teacher's discretion.

Unexcused Absence:

• An unexcused absence includes those absences for which no phone call or note has been received within 24 hours following the absence. If the student misses a class where there is an assignment due or a quiz or exam written, the work will be awarded a designation of “NHI” (Not Handed In), which constitutes a zero for the purpose of calculating grades. (Chapter S-3, Part 1.14, School Act, 2000).

Late Arrival:

• Please arrive to class on time. The portable doors will be LOCKED as soon as the bell rings. If you arrive late, students will be required to go to the office for a late slip and be escorted out to the portables. This is a new safety procedure at all Rocky View Schools. 

Bathroom Policy:

• Sadly, we do not have bathrooms or water fountains in the portables. The portable doors and school doors are locked during the day. As such, all students are to use the QR code to sign out AND back in when leaving the classroom.  Please take the purple FOB to get access in and out of the portables and school. Be mindful of your classmates and return to class promptly. I would suggest coming to class with bladders empty and water bottles filled. 

Google Classroom and Digital Submission

• All assignments must be submitted through Google Classroom.

• If you have a paper copy, please take a digital picture of it and upload it. Ms. Brandford has no organizational skills and will lose your assignment otherwise ❤️

• Sloppy or illegible work WILL NOT be accepted.  If it can’t be read, it can’t be graded.

Assignment Policy

• ON TIME: Assignments submitted on time will be graded with priority and ample feedback! Deadlines will be communicated in class, on the board, and on Google Classroom. I will do my best to get assignments (essays, exams, projects) back to you with feedback within three weeks.  

• LATE: Students will have two weeks to submit work through Google Classroom, graded in accordance to when they have handed the assignment in. Feedback may be limited if work is submitted after the original deadline. 

• AFTER DEAD DATE: After two weeks, students will no longer be able to hand in the assignment and will be awarded a zero. Students are able to redo up to three of these assignments at the end of the semester. 

Extensions:

• Life happens. Extensions on assignments will be considered if a you make arrangements at least one (1) day prior to the due date. 

• Don't ask me the day of or when I'm collecting the assignment! Be proactive and time manage.

Rewrites and Intervention:

• Reading comprehension corrections will be allowed on all reading comprehension tests in the course. Including the baseline. 

• Essay assignment rewrites are not permitted, however, if you take the feedback I give you and apply it to the next assignment of a similar calibur, I will replace the grade. 

• Intervention week is during exam break. If you would like to rewrite an assignment, I welcome you to come to intervention week at the end of the semester. You can do a maximum of three rewritten assessments! 

Please bring a computer every day to English Language Arts! We will be reading and/or writing every single day, and technology is a huge asset. If you do not have your own, please take out a long-term loan from the Learning Commons. 

Phones are a part of our daily lives. However, they are a MAJOR distraction (I can't compete with TikTok/Snapchat/Instagram, and I don't want to). In this class, I would expect my students to be mature enough to practice responsible use. However, for clarity: 

When You Can't Use Them:

• Exams/tests/quizzes 

• During lecture 

• When Ms. Brandford is speaking at/to you 

• Group discussion 

When You Can Use Them: 

• Independent work time 

• Group work time 

• Breaks 

If your tech becomes an obvious distraction, Ms. Brandford will communicate with your parents a plan 

We have had an influx of plagiarism and cheating at Bert Church High School since the pandemic. 

Plagiarism: 

• Plagiarism is taking someone else's ideas (writing, thoughts, perceptions) and claiming them as our own. 

• This could look like copying and pasting an essay from online, taking sentences from Sparknotes and pretending you wrote it, or using an AI generator to write your work. 

• By plagiarizing, you are also doing yourself a disservice by not practicing important writing techniques that can help you in the future and on your diploma exam. 

• This is highly unethical and a very serious academic offense, which will result in a 0 on the assignment and an email home. 

Cheating: 

• Cheating is having access to or using information during a summative assessment when it is not permitted. 

• This could mean searching for the answers on your phone during a test, sharing an exam with a student from another class, or working on an in-class essay after it is due. 

• This is highly unethical and a very serious academic offense, which will result in a 0 on the assignment and an email home. 

Artificial Intelligence:

• Work completed by Artificial Intelligence (Chat GPT, Microsoft Bing, Chatbot, Quillbot) is not permitted. 

• The BCHS English Department runs all suspected AI essays and assignments through an AI checker, and Google Classroom has a built in plagarism detector. 

• This is highly unethical and a very serious academic offense, which will result in a 0 on the assignment and an email home. 

The Bert Church High School cheating/plagiarism policy is as follows: 

• • First Offense

    • Email/call home to parent and a 0 on the assignment. The assignment can only be made up during intervention week at the end of the semester. 

  • Second Offense 

    • The case will be taken to the school administration. This could result in a suspension.

On Fridays in English, we will have FLEX and Reading Comp Practice.  

• READING COMP: The first half of class will be reading comprehension practice passage. This will help you build stamina and practice for future exams and the diploma exam. 

• FLEX: Students can work on ENGLISH 30-1 assignments from the week, annotations, essay writing development, and thesis building. If all assignments for English are complete, other assignments for other classes may be permitted.