Technical Literature

CLASS DESCRIPTION

This senior-only English elective is a one-semester class designed especially for those who are fulfilling a graduation requirement and would like additional career and life based literature experiences.  Students will read a variety of materials, from contracts to memoirs, from handbooks to personal growth guides, and more.  

CLASS LINK:  

https://classroom.google.com/c/ODM3OTM4NTE4MzEx?cjc=4na6rkk6

Expectations:  

1.  Engage!  Students need to participate in their own education.  This means students will be both speaking & listening during class discussions, as well as taking notes.  

2. Be responsible:  Students are to charge their chromebooks at home, write down assignments & due dates, notice the items on the board, listen to & follow instructions, attend regularly, and do their own work.  Students should include first & last name, date, and class period on all submitted work.

3. Be respectful:  Students are to honor one another in word & deed.  So, students need to be mindful of what they say and what they do.  

4. As a teacher, I am engaged and passionate about learning, education, and my students.  

5. As a teacher, I am responsible:  The teacher should grade & provide feedback in a timely fashion, communicating regularly with students.

6. As a teacher, I am respectful of my students as valuable & unique human beings.

Extended Absence:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PDbg23bsZielRQrPqu4AIGkibD3JB5osF_OXP8k1o8w/edit 

SYLLABUS

TECHNICAL LITERATURE:  

This one-semester course is designed to provide nonfiction literature that focuses on both the present and the future for each of the students.  The class will do at least two book studies from author’s who guide the student toward responsibility and accountability. The content of these books is comprised mainly of the growth and development of key life skills.  Additionally, students will review a variety of the written word encountered in various employment settings to help them be more prepared for both the world of work and independent adulting.  

Materials  (Please notify me privately if you cannot acquire these items for yourself.)

-- chromebook (charged daily)

-- one college-ruled spiral notebook for class notes

-- class folder to keep handouts and returned papers

-- writing utensils (black/blue pen and pencil)

-- (optional) An actual planner is the best tool to help you stay organized.  I know there is more to you than just being a student in an English class, so this strategy helps you efficiently and effectively balance the roles in your life

Missing/Late Work

I realize you are required to attend, but I intend to create a classroom environment where you will want to be.  I can guarantee that if you are absent you will miss something and be missed.  If something is not in on time, I will issue you an “M” in the Infinite Campus gradebook, so you are alerted.  Due to the primarily project-basis of this particular course, meeting deadlines along the way will be a priority because so many steps must be accomplished to reach an effective final project.  As a professional, I believe it is my responsibility to grade your submissions and provide helpful feedback in a timely manner.  So, late work will be accepted until the end of the quarter.  Truly, after the assigned week has passed, you will not receive full credit for the daily work as it loses the timeliness of purposeful feedback.  I do, however, expect you to do all that is assigned; you get to do these things to help you learn, practice, master, and apply some very important lifeskills.  

Assessments/Credits

Assessments are 70% of your total grade, so, yes, they matter.  These “tests” may be literally a written exam, and other forms of assessment -- like speeches, final drafts, skill demonstrations, etc -- will also be used.   An assessment for this class might include an interaction with an elder in the community, an interview with a human resource director of a local company, or an interview with an employee of your choice.   I do expect your best effort, and I will give you mine, as well.  

You must re-take / correct assessments where you score below a 60%, and you may retake (or correct) passed assessments in an attempt to raise your score.  However, you must take the initiative to come and talk to me about this.  It’s your education, so you are in charge of scheduling re-teaching and re-taking as needed.  I will gladly help you understand the concepts to do well on the assessments.  Life is busy, of course, so we’ll need to plan a time that works for both of us, which may involve the Media Center or even Saturday School.  NOTE:  You can retake assessments until the end of the assigned quarter.

The other 30% of your grade is acquired through classroom participation, practice, daily assignments, and discussion.  I hope you’re all in!

The grading scale will be the same as all SHS classes:  A=90-100%, B=80-89%, C=70-79%, D=60-69%, and F=0-59%.  

For each passing semester, you earn 5 credits.

Attendance/Tardy Policy 

We will follow the SHS policy that governs all high school students.  It is your responsibility, of course, to come to class and to report on time.  You are first given the opportunity to take care of business.  If the evidence shows you cannot and you have multiple offenses, I will then reach out to your parents/guardians for assistance.  Please be in your seat, phone in the caddy, and ready to learn when class starts.  

PED

Every classroom is a Red Zone, so there is to be no cell phone (or Smart Watch) use during the class period.  Phones and other PEDs are to be placed in an assigned slot at the beginning of each class period.  This gives you 45 minutes in each class to really engage in the experiences at hand; you get to be completely present!  PEDs are returned to the owners at the end of each class period.  Your cooperation is both expected and appreciated.  

Chromebooks

Let’s hear it for technology!  (I know you have been born into it, and I am grateful you are willing to help me continue upping my game.)  We will be using them often in class -- but not always. I will let you know when you are to be on your chromebook.  Notes in class will be taken in a notebook as chromebooks can be both an attraction and a distraction.  I will help you manage both. Chromebooks should be turned off and closed unless I have provided specific instructions for use.  You are expected to come to school every day with a completely charged Chromebook.  Knowing this, you need to plan and set aside time and a location to plug it in every night.  (I don’t have enough outlets or electricity for everyone to plug in in the classroom.) 

Restroom/Drinks

Because you are human, I realize there are basic bodily needs that require your attention.  I expect you to know what yours are and respond accordingly and appropriately in the educational setting.  You may have a water bottle with a closed lid with you in the room.  You are to use the facilities as you pass from class to class, but if an emergency arises, I expect you to communicate that privately to me, so you can take care of things.  You are required to sign out when you leave and sign in upon your return.  I believe you can take care of yourselves with maturity and respect for others; you can do so without creating an interruption.  Please know, you will be missing something if you are gone.  

Plagiarism

You are always expected to do your own work.  I would rather see your best efforts, so I can learn the truth about what you know and can do, and we can grow together.  And, yes, there are times when you’ll be quoting someone else or referencing another person’s ideas; I will help you use proper citation methods, so you can give the credit where it belongs.  

Plagiarism is theft of ideas and words and claiming them as your own.  It is not only unethical; it is illegal, and there are serious consequences here and in college, as well.  This cheating includes papers, assessments, assignments, and even test/assignment answers:  the one who provides the answers and the one who submits them as their own are equally guilty.  

Please see Scottsbluff Public Schools Board Policy 6288 regarding AI.

Us

Each class is unique.  It is my hope that we get to know each other -- not just as teacher and student, but simply as human beings.  I believe respect is mutual, and I value the trust placed in me by you and your family.The nature of this class helps us tap into our giving nature, so it does require a commitment from you, to each other, and to the program.  I’m all in; I do not expect you to do anything I am not also willing to do.  I will be working right beside you.  I believe in your greatness -- even if you haven’t found it yet.  I am here and available for you about Technical Literature, of course, but more importantly, about life.  I got you.  

ATTENDANCE:  

Please note:  students with 15 or more No Contact Absences may lose credit for the class.

AVAILABILITY:  

Please let me know if you need me.  I am most readily available before and after school, AND I have 3rd and 8th open for preparation and planning.  

AVAILABILITY:  

Parent/Student Square

sherdt@sbps.net -- the BEST way to reach me during the day!

emergency:  SHS Office 308.635.6230

6:45 - 7:30 AM -- Usually available.  Please schedule an appointment if students or parents have needs because sometimes there are IEPs, 504s, or staff meetings that require my attendance.

10:00 - 10:30 AM -- Usually available.

2:45 - 3:15 PM -- Usually available.  Please schedule an appointment if students or parents have needs because sometimes there are PLC meetings that require my attendance.

3:30 - 4:30 PM -- Usually available.  Please schedule an appointment because sometimes there are IEPs, 504s, or other meetings.