Ana McDonald's Academic English I & II
San Marcos High School
Language Arts Classroom Building, Room 214
Syllabus Part 1: Classroom Policies
Behavior
Click here for the classroom discipline policy.
Quarterly Grades
- 60% - Major Grades: Tests, Major Writing Assignments, and other activities
- Students should keep back-up copies of major assignments.
- For penalties for cheating, see "Cheating v. Honesty," below.
- 25% - Daily Grades: in-class activities and notes are kept in the student's SpringBoard book. Handouts should be taped into this book. It will be graded periodically throughout the quarter.
- Participation and completion grades will be taken randomly throughout the year. You may participate by...
- actively doing assignments in class
- speaking up during class discussions -OR- writing notes to Ms. Mac with your ideas and opinions
- responding with an idea other than "I don't know" or "I don't care" (or the like) when called upon
- 15% - Homework (special assignments)
Assignments are due during the class period.
- It is the student’s responsibility to turn in assignments, whether the teacher asks for them or not. When entering the classroom, deposit homework in the "Put Homework Here" basket.
Semester exams are given on the last three class days of the semester and are worth 20% of the semester grade. Please do not schedule vacations during this period!
Parent's are informed of grades through "Ms. Mac's Progress Reports," issued every third, sixth, and ninth week. The third- and sixth-week reports must be signed by the parent and returned for an automatic 100 as a daily grade. Parents may also access student's grades on-line. Please email Mrs. McDonald at ana.mcdonald@san-marcos.isd.tenet.edu to request this service.
Academic honesty is a basic, non-negotiable requirement.
- Students complete their own work. Written work must be in the student's voice.
- Copying from another student is cheating. Students involved in cheating will split a grade with the person (or people) they cheated with.
- Copying from a textbook without using quotation marks and a citation is plagiarism.
- Changing some of an author's words is NOT a paraphrase. It is a sloppy quotation and subject to the plagiarism rule. For information about how to copy without cheating, see below.
- Paraphrasing is understanding so completely that the author's idea comes out entirely in your own voice.
- Talking during a test is cheating. The assumption is that you are talking about the test. This applies even if you have finished the test and turned it in!
- Students who talk during a test will split a grade with the person they spoke with. So...
- Find paper and pen before the test begins.
- Questions? Ask Ms. Mac, not your friend. Your friend doesn't want to split a grade with you.
- The test is over when Ms. Mac announces that it is over.
- Because some people need silence to think, when you are done with your test, you may sleep, read, work on another assignment, or pass notes to the person next to you, but you must remain silent.
Students must write in their own voice. Just as you know the sound of your friend's voice, your writing also has voice. Voice includes:
- the words you choose
- the order you put them in
- the way you put your sentences together
- the things you choose to write about
- the order you chose to write them in
- the examples and descriptions you use to make your points
- the explanations you choose to explain your ideas
- the ideas you choose to write about
- the evidence you use to support your ideas
Opportunities to Improve Grades
Tutorials: Students who do not understand an assignment or who make a failing grade on any major assignment should attend tutorials. These are held before school daily or after school by appointment.
Extra credit is based on volunteer work.
- Volunteer work must be done with a reputable agency.
- Volunteer work must be approved by Ms. Mac, the student's parent or guardian, and by a representative of the agency for which the student will work.
- An application must be on file with Ms. Mac.
- Grades for volunteer work are based on a special set of observations and writings the student will complete.
- Extra credit writings will be accepted or rejected at Ms. Mac's discretion. If accepted, they will receive a letter grade.
- Extra credit grades may be substituted for a major grade OR for a score of 70 on the homework portion of the Quarter's Grade.
Unused Ms. Mac's Tickets may also be redeemed on the last progress report of the quarter.
Late Work and Absences
Late work DUE while a student is on campus may turned in...
- One-day late - deduct 10 points
- Two days late - deduct 20 points
- Three - five days late - deduct 30 points
- Students in SAC or visiting with a teacher, counselor, principal, nurse, or other school official must submit work on the day it is due to avoid late penalties.
Absences are no excuse for missing assignments!
- Students are responsible for obtaining and completing make-up work.
- Agendas and handouts are located on the "Late Work and Absent Board" at the back of the room.
- Notes should be copied from another student.
- Ms. Mac will be happy to explain these after the student has collected the handouts and copied the notes.
- Major, in-class activities missed because of absence will be made up before or after school, by appointment, at the teacher’s discretion. Students are responsible for making appointments and arranging their own transportation.
Work ASSIGNED during an absence is due
- For full credit for up to three (3) days after the student's return to school or on the due-date, whichever is later.
Work DUE during an absence must be turned in
- On the date of the student's return to school. If not, it becomes subject to these penalties:
- One-day late - deduct 10 points
- Two days late - deduct 20 points
- Three - five days late - deduct 30 points
- If the student returns after the grading period has ended, the Quarter or Semester grade will be "Incomplete" and special arrangements must be made with Ms. Mac.
- Special arrangments for major illnesses or maternity leave may be made at Ms. Mac's discretion.
All Late Work may be turned in...
- Up to one week before the end of the grading period for an automatic F if accepted (50 - 65 points, depending on the quality of the work).
- Late work may or may not be accepted, at Ms. Mac's discretion, depending on the quality of the work.
- Late work must be submitted in the proper folder with proper cover sheet. These are on the "Late Work and Absent Board."
Your Presence in the Classroom
Students are expected to arrive to class on time. If you are tardy without a tardy slip, Ms. Mac will issue it herself.
Students are expected to remain in class throughout the period. But sometimes you really NEED to leave. That’s what “Ms. Mac’s Tickets” are for.
- At the beginning of each grading period, students will be issued three "Ms. Mac's Tickets." These may be exchanged for the hall pass, at Mrs. Mac's discretion. Use it for nurse’s visits, locker runs, water fountain, or bathroom. It's entirely up to you.
- Better yet, do these things on your own time and save your tickets.
- At the end of the grading period, unused tickets may be taped to the ninth-week progress report and returned to Ms Mac.
- Individual tickets may be exchanged for excused daily or homework grades.
- All three tickets (in their original condition) may be exchanged for one excused test grade or for an automatic 70 on all homework.
- No student may use or exchange more than three tickets during a grading period.
- Students will answer questions about the missed assignment when they redeem their tickets.
- Tickets are good ONLY during the grading period for which they are issued. After that, they're trash.
Students will tape notes, in-class activities, dialectical journal entries, and other daily assignments in their SpringBoard book. This will be graded at random. The SpringBoard book is a Major Grade.
- Notes: The ability to take good notes requires careful listening and the ability to write fast. Both of these are skills that take years to develop.
- Notes should not be neat. If they're neat, you're writing too slowly.
- Notes should not include every word that was said. Take down the main ideas. Good note-taking is actually a paraphrase. This means that you understand what is said.
- Notes should not be in paragraphs! Use graphic organizers to organize your thoughts!
- I use bullets to organize this page & break the ideas into smaller chunks that are easier to read and remember.
- Bullets also show
- main ideas (written without bullets) and
- ideas that are related to the main idea (written with bullets).
- Put a ? on the side of any information you didn't understand.
- Underline or circle important information.
- Write KEY IDEAS in All-Caps (all capital letters).
- (I use bold print on this page instead of All-Caps.)
- Draw arrows to show the relationship between ideas.
- Put information that you must remember in boxes.
- Use stars or ! to show important ideas.
- Notes should include your own ideas about what the teacher is saying.
Work submitted for homework or major grades will be written on your own paper (i.e., not in the Composition Book).
- It must be written on one side of the page only and
- headed in the upper, right-hand margin of the first page with
- Your first name (the one you go by) and last name spelled completely
- all on ONE line.
- Ms. Mac will file your work by the word in the upper right-hand corner; make sure it's your last name!
- Your class color. The class period is not necessary but may be included if you like.
- The DUE date. Ms. Mac files grades by due-date. Putting the wrong date on the assignment (for example, the date you completed the assignment instead of the date it is due), may cause you to lose credit for an assignment.
- In such cases, it is the student's responsibility to prove that the assignment was actually submitted on the date due. For this reason, it is wise (but not required) to keep photocopies of major grades.
- additional pages should be
- stapled in the upper left corner
- include your name, due date, and page number
Word-processed assignments must be submitted
- With the proper headings for first and additional pages, one side of the page only (see above)
- In 12-point Times New Roman font
- Double-spaced (everything!)
- With a separate Works Cited sheet, if applicable
How to Copy Without Cheating
You may copy if you use quotation marks.
- You must copy the author's words exactly as they are written, word for word, including punctuation but not including font, size, or graphics.
- Each quotation must include a citation: It must indicate who you are copying from and where those words may be found.
- ex: According to Shakespeare's Romeo, "Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, / Having some business, do entreat [Juliet's] eyes / To twinkle in their spheres till they return" (2.2.15-17).
- ex: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
- ex: Our textbook's author says "blah, blah, blah" (#).
- ex: "...The serious time planner will take many and frequent shots of his plans. What begins as a fuzzy, ill-defined jungle of conflicts gradually comes into focus" (Alan Lakein, How to Get Control of Your time and Your Life, 26).
The parenthesis goes outside the quotation marks, inside the period.
Miscellaneous Policies
In accordance with school policy, students may not eat in the classroom. They may drink water in transparent bottles with lids. Do not bring cups into the classroom.
In accordance with school policy, cell phones, CD players, laser pointers, or other forbidden devices will be confiscated and turned in to Mr. LeBuhn.
Students may not do homework for other classrooms without permission, nor may they play with calculators or other devices in English class. Such homework, calculators, or other devices will be confiscated and placed in the appropriate teacher's box at Ms. Mac's convenience.
These policies are subject to change.