COURSE SYLLABUS

HSPE Math Preparation Course

Instructor
Name:
Email Address:
Phone Number:
AIM:

Live Help
Schedule:

Class Connect
Time:

Mr. John Mullin

Please Use K-Mail
(702) 407-1825 ext. 7033 (Las Vegas Area)
jmullinnvva
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

After CC
Face to Face (Pahrump) by appt.
2:00pm 4:00pm
Face to Face (Pahrump) by appt.
2:00pm 4:00pm

Monday Main Session (REQUIRED) 3:00pm

Tuesday - Thursday (Breakouts) 3:00pm

Welcome!
My name is Mr. Mullin, and this is my third year at Nevada Virtual Academy. I taught in a high school
classroom in Pahrump, NV for five years prior to joining NVVA. I currently hold a Bachelors Degree in
Education from Central Michigan University and a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction in
Education in Mathematics.
On a personal note, I am a hockey fanatic: I have been following the Detroit Red Wings, my hometown
team, for years and have been an on-ice official for the past fifteen years. I am also an avid video gamer:
I love to play Xbox One and Xbox 360 in my spare time and have hosted video game events at my old
school. I enjoy hiking and geocaching when I have time to get outdoors.

Why you need to read the rest of this syllabus

You should consider this syllabus as a contract between you (the student) and me (the teacher). It
includes all of the policies and procedures you need to know to successfully take this course, as well as the
behavior that I expect of all of my students. For my part, I will honor all of the specifications laid out in
this document. While I reserve the right to make changes to the course policies and procedures, I will try
to give you as much notice as I can when those changes are needed. Students with documented IEPs or
504 plans will be given accommodations appropriate for their individual plans. Contact the schools Special
Education department for more information.
Click the links below to jump to the section of the related section of the syllabus. Click the <Back to
top> links to return to this list.
Edmodo
Contacting the Teacher
A Little about the Course
Course Activities
Course Policies
Getting Help with Class Work

Communication with Classmates

Due Dates
Academic Integrity (Cheating and Plagiarism)
Attendance
Teacher Availability and Communications
Expectations of Difficulty, Participation and Time Commitment
Course Scope and Sequence

Course Website
This course was designed and created by the remediation team at Nevada Virtual Academy and is not
affiliated with the K12 system. There is no Course Home Page for this course in your LMS. Because of
this, you will be required to use an outside website for links, documents, and other course-related
information. Mr. Mullin will make the website for the course available to you as soon as possible.
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Contacting the Teacher

Online learning requires students to be very self-motivated in terms of teacher contact. If you are
experiencing problems with the course, I may not know it unless you contact me with your questions.
Dont wait until your question impacts your ability to learn in the course when a question arises, ask it
early. When you have questions about course content or assignments, post them to Edmodo and I will
answer them as fast as I can. If you have private questions for me for example, regarding a grade you
received on an assignment submit those to me by k-mail. You can always visit me during Live Help or
call my office phone see the top of the syllabus for this information if you have any questions on
course content.
If technical difficulties prevent you from contacting me online, please call my office phone (listed above).
If my number is long distance for you, leave me a message and I will call you back as soon as possible so
I can pay for the call.
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A Little about the Course

HSPE Math Preparation Course
The HSPE Math Preparation Course is designed to improve student abilities in mathematics by targeting
the 36 most tested mathematics topics. All of the coursework for this class will be performed in the A+
Learning System and students will work on an average of two assignments per week to ensure completion
of the course. For each topic, instructional videos will be provided in advance of a topic, and a class
connect session will reinforce the topic through direct instruction.
Course length: One Semester
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Course Activities
Course activities may include:
Completing a pre- and post-test on an
Completing hands-on and virtual activities
assigned topic.
Teacher announcements
Reading online text and transcripts
Completing online self-check exercises
Viewing moving and static images and
Reading and completing teacher-created
streaming video
instructional materials
Watching linear and interactive animations
and simulations

Graded assignments will include:

Course Topic Mastery

Students will master a set number of topics to receive a grade in the course
Proof of attendance or asynchronous viewing of recorded session.
Students will be required to gain attendance through live attendance of a class connect session
or through proof of watching a recorded class connect session.
Attendance will comprise 10% of the final grade for the course.

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Course Policies

Attendance

In order for this course to be engaging and fun, I need you to come to the live CC sessions.
This course will ask you to participate with other students and develop your mathematical abilities.
You cant do that if nobody shows up. This course only meets once per week, so I feel it is
imperative that you are there live with the rest of the group. If you cannot attend live, you should
watch the recorded session to gain your attendance credit for the course.

Coursework

You are expected to maintain the pace of the course and complete coursework according to
given deadlines. While the length of time that students spend working on assignments may vary,
the expectation is that you will spend approximately 60 minutes per week on this course.
Daily Student Responsibilities
Check the Website for any updates to course information.
Read any announcements in your k-mail regarding the due dates and information about
the course.
Complete at least 2 lessons per week in the A+LS. You will be allowed to pick and
choose which lessons you wish to work on.
Attend Live Help for struggles with content because this is a remediation course. You
need to get help on the things that you do not understand.
Attend Class Connect sessions or watch recordings as this is a critical part of your
grade.

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Getting Help with Class Work

First: Watch the instructional video provided to you to see if your question is answered
there. Also check the recorded CC session to see if your question may have been addressed
there.
Next: Post your question to Edmodo to see if I (or other students) can answer it.
Next: Visit me in Live Help, held at various times during the week (See my schedule at the
top of the syllabus).
If it is urgent or private: Send me k-mail or contact me using the phone number or online
screen name at the top of this syllabus.

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 Communication with Classmates

Although you wont be able to send k-mail to other students, you will be communicating with other
students through class connect sessions and message board posts. Students often form friendships
while in the course together. When this happens, students often share email addresses or instant
message names.
Some things to keep in mind when communicating with other students:
Respect the privacy and wishes of your fellow students.
Flaming, spamming, bullying or other unwanted contact including inappropriate message
content or attachments will be considered a breach of this policy. Infractions may result in
disciplinary action by the school administration.
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Due Dates

A lot of what you will do in the course is self-paced. You will have access to every assignment in the
course from the first day, and my expectation is that you will work as hard as you need to keep a
good pace in the course. Staying on schedule allows you build time management skills and
prioritize work for this and other classes. Each week, I will send you a beginning-of-the-week
checklist so you know what is expected that week, and an end-of-the-week checklist so that you
know what you should have completed.

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Academic Integrity (Cheating and Plagiarism)

Students who submit work as their own, when it is not wholly and completely their own, are guilty
of cheating and/or plagiarism and will receive no credit for the entire assignment.
Assisting other students in cheating or plagiarism is also considered academic dishonesty and
students who do this will receive no credit on their assignment submission as well.
Students who are found guilty of cheating or plagiarism more than once will be referred to the
school administration for breach of the schools Behavior Code.
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Attendance

Weekly attendance is required for this course:

You must attend the class connect session each week, or provide proof that you have watched the
recording of the session. You will use Edmodo to log your attendance, and this will be the only
proof that I will accept.

 If you know you will not be able to log into the course for an extended period of time, please
contact me immediately by k-mail. If you encounter technical difficulties, contact me by
phone.
Students who continually fail to enter the course and show progress will be referred to the school
administration.
Please view the student handbook for attendance policies and progress requirements.

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Teacher Availability and Communications

Most of my day is spent responding to student k-mails and phone messages. Feel free to contact
me when needed, but please understand that I might be in the middle of one of these tasks, or
helping another student at the time. You may need to leave me a message if you call, or wait for a
short time to receive answers online. Of course, I am always available during my Live Help, which
are listed at the top of this syllabus.
I will read and respond to questions on Edmodo several times throughout the day. You can expect
an answer to a question posted in this area in less than one school day. Email questions and phone
messages will be returned no later than one school day.
If you would like to schedule time for a private conference, please request these at least three to
five days before the day you are available. The more notice you provide me, the more likely I can
be available at a time that is best for you and/or your parent/mentor.
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Expectations of Difficulty, Participation and Time Commitment

Students often find that going to school online takes longer and is more difficult than going to
school in a traditional setting. Be prepared for this course and online schooling in general to be a
little more difficult than you might expect. If you are not spending at least 60 minutes on this
course each week, youre probably not doing enough to pass the class. If this is happening, make
an appointment to meet with me or visit me in Live Help so we can review what you are doing each
day.
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Course Scope and Sequence

Expressions and Equations

Exponents and Factors
Properties of Algebra
Order of Operations
Absolute Value

Like Terms
Evaluating Expressions
Solving Equations
Eliminating Fractions
Solving Word Problems
Slope of a Line
Slope-Intercept Equations
Equations and Polynomials
Factoring Out Monomials
Factoring Trinomials
Factoring by Grouping
Solving by Substitution and Elimination
Ratio and Proportion
Graphing Inequalities
Solving Inequalities
Absolute Value Equations
Square Roots and Irrational Numbers
The Pythagorean Theorem
The Distance Formula
The Quadratic Formula
Points, Lines, and Planes
Segments, Rays, and Angles
Angles
Transversals
Parallelism
Congruent Triangles
Triangles Inside and Out
Areas of Polygons
Similar Polygons
Circles and Angles
Trigonometric Functions

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