CLASSROOM CULTURE/ CLASSROOM RULE

A positive culture of kind and humble, yet eager and energetic learners is so important to me. Hence, I trust in my classroom rule as much as when I first introduced it back in 2000:

Ms. Karst's Classroom Rule is:

Thou Shalt NOT Steal

I will talk about this with the class in great detail so that you can teach this to new students entering or others you know who just don’t get it. Stealing in my classroom is basically disrespect in ways like (but not limited to):

1. Wasting Time - Doesn’t matter if your wasting class time or your own time, it is stealing! This is the worst kind of stealing. Time wasted is time we will never get back! Do NOT steal time away from us in this class.
2. Poor Self-Talk / Put-Downs / Bullying - This is stealing dignity from our classroom community, making for an uncomfortable space and poor learning environment (to say the least). Moreover, you will NOT maintain friends or gain any new ones this way! This will be address immediately when heard by the teacher. Issues of repeated putdowns that boarder on the line of "bullying" will be referred to the counseling office or principal depending on the nature. Do NOT steal anyone's dignity in this class.
3. Cheating/Plagiarism - It is NOT “critical thinking” to copy others’ work and pretend like it’s your own - it's fraud. You are just a glorified Xerox machine. If you copy from others you’ve wasted your time because Xerox machines are available everywhere, and without a doubt do a faster and more accurate job than you can. Do NOT steal anyone else's words or ideas and pretend like they are your own.
4. General stealing or destruction of a classroom member’s “stuff” - This is something that is certainly disrespectful and unkind, but at least there is restitution. We owe it to the tax payers of this community, and we owe it to each other to be in a place where we can trust that there is care in using, sharing or borrowing materials or items. Do NOT carelessly take items without permission, and use care when given permission.

PARTICIPATION, TIME MANAGEMENT, AND BEHAVIOR (PTMB)

Active participation is vital to success in the classroom. Daily attendance and active participation (completing assignments, bringing supplies to class, engaging in group/classroom activities and keeping a positive attitude) will help ensure successful learning and maintain a positive learning environment. (These things were just expected of previous generations, and should just be expected of you and future generations as well.)

Depending on the course, classroom participation will be worth at least 15% of the final grade. (Public Speaking courses and/or semesters which rely on more: group discussion / interpersonal communication / peer-teaching activities / formal presentations will have a higher expectation for participation - often with a larger grade tagged to the assignment or presentation.) In most general courses, however, PTMB will have a 15% weight, which usually equals that of one (1) to one and a half (1.5) of a letter grade for the course.

Being that PTMB is expected in the classroom on a daily basis, it is expected that each student attempts to try to improve their skills in those areas. Because I think most students initially plan to give their best efforts and plan to follow procedures and use time wisely, I usually assign these points at the beginning of each grading term. The goal is to keep these points.

A student may lose points for the following reasons:

Excessive Tardies or Absences: A student may have four excused tardies or absences without any penalty. After that, up to twenty (20) points will be deducted from the participation grade for each absence and ten (10) points for each tardy. Note the following exceptions:

• In case of serious illness or long-term illness, special considerations will be made.
• Students will not be deducted PTMB points for school related absences, but each student must make sure that the absence is mark accordingly either by a coach or by the administrative offices.

Other reasons to lose PTMB points would be: to have a negative or disruptive attitude that has been addressed and yet continues, to deliberately mismanage class time, sleep in class, and/or to constantly misbehave in such a way that is distracting, disruptive or disrespectful the students or the teacher.

In some cases, PTMB points may be made up by completion of additional assignments related to the information covered during that period of absence. However, work must be made up by the agreed due date and before the completion of the unit test relating to the current topic. *In rare cases, I have allowed extraordinary students the opportunity to fulfill enrichment assignments and/or have allowed for some classroom community tutoring or mentoring in order to achieve points beyond what is expected in this category. (Similar to what one may call "extra credit".)