Policies & Expectations

POLICIES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENTS

  • ​When you come to class, please immediately sit silently and do the Warm Up that is posted on the board or TV. On the first day of the week, check the job list to see what your job is for the next few days. After we go over the Warm Up, we will officially start class.
  • Please arrive on time and be prepared for class with your binder, folder, pencil, colored pencils, highlighter, and agenda book.
  • If you are absent, find out what you missed by checking my website and/or by asking me. Get any papers you need from the "What did I Miss?" board.
  • Late work: Do your work on time! When your work is late, you are expected to pass it in the next day. Multiple late assignments will be reflected in your effort grade.
  • Poor Grades: You can correct anything that has a grade below 90%. I will average the original grade and the retake grade to replace the old one.
    • Example: You got a 76% on an test. Since 76 is below 90, you are allowed to correct it. You fix it, pass it in, and this time you get a 96%. I will change your grade to be 86 points, an average of the two grades.
  • Do your work in pencil so you can neatly correct mistakes. When re-doing an assignment, erase the wrong answers and replace them with the correct ones in the same spot on the page.
  • You may only correct a particular assignment once. Corrected work is to be passed in the next time you have science class.
  • If you finish a late assignment on IQWST, please let me know when you are finished. IQWST does not notify me when you have edited an assignment, so it is your responsibility to do so.
  • Late assignments, make-up work, letters signed by your parents, or anything else that needs to be passed in is to be placed in the appropriate slot of the paper organizer. Please don’t personally hand me anything because I will probably put it down somewhere and forget where it is. Also never place anything on my desk because it may get lost in the clutter!
  • You are required to have a dedicated binder and folder for science. Sometimes these will be collected so you can’t keep material for other classes in them. You need to have a few sheet protectors in your binder to hold on to certain pages, such as your monthly Warm Up calendar.
  • Check your grades on PowerSchool frequently!
  • If you need extra help, please come see me and we’ll arrange some help time.

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

Sick Days: When a student returns to school after being absent, they will need to check with me to see what was missed. Almost always, I will work hard to catch students up on the content they missed and will not hold them accountable for that day's classwork. If you wish to pick up work for your absent child, please make the request in the morning, before school, when you call the office to report that your child will be out. This will give the teachers the necessary time to collect their assignments so you can come pick them up after school. Please understand that not all teachers may be able to provide homework or make-up work for reasons such as missed instruction/directions, required use of school materials, ongoing class projects, etc. When this is the case, we will take care of it when your child is back in school. This is especially true for science!

  • Call before school to report that your child will be absent. If you want to pick up work, mention that in your voicemail.
  • E-mail your child’s teachers to ask if there is a need to come for work.
  • If you determine that there is work available that can be picked up, please come after 3:30. It will be on the front desk in the office.
  • Ask your child ahead of time which supplies they will need you to retrieve from their locker.

Missing School for Family Vacations: Due to the hands-on nature of science, we will not be able to provide work in advance for students who will miss school for family vacations. When your child returns to school, we will figure out what alternative work can be done individually.

Homework: Written homework is infrequently assigned in 6th grade science. There will be many grades based on classwork, assessing science skills (for example, the ability to prepare a slide for the microscope), projects, tests, etc. When there is homework, I will designated it clearly by indicating "HW" on the What's Up This Week page. Most homework assigned in science is to finish up unfinished classwork and is available through the IQWST program online.