Ms.

Schoeck 2009-2010
English II & Reading
DanielleSchoeck@gmail.com
English Course Syllabus

*It is your responsibility to read the entire syllabus and will be assessed on its contents.

I. Introduction and Greeting

Welcome to your new school and the 2009-2010 school year. I expect great participation,
behavior, and effort from all of my students throughout the school year. This class is not about
passing the FCAT. It will be about making sure every student understands the value of reading,
and appreciates literature as vital to becoming an accomplished young adult. This class is the
beginning of your preparation for college and your future. Every test you take and project you
work on will be part of that college preparation and therefore should be taken seriously. I will be
here to help you every step of the way as a guide and mentor, but it is your responsibility to take
learning and the material seriously.

II. Student Expectations and Conduct

1. Be prepared to work every day. Students must come to class with all their necessary supplies
and be ready to work when the bell rings.
2. Producing quality work. Please be advised that simply completing an assignment does not
merit a passing grade. In other words, just doing the work is not enough. Students need to show
comprehension by producing work that is accurate.
3. Respect each other. This means that when the teacher or another classmate is speaking, she/he
demands everyone’s attention. It also means that students should maintain personal space and
boundaries at all times.
4. Be alert in class. Sleeping and daydreaming is not allowed. Students who are ill cannot remain
in class with their heads down.
5. Turn in completed assignments on time. If assignments are not completed on time I will not
grade them. Students will receive a Z for work not turned in or presented on time.
6. Teacher dismisses the class. The bell does not.
Conduct

• Carry yourself with class when you are in my room and in the hallways
• Sleeping, day dreaming, and/or working on other assignments not related to this class
will not be tolerated.
• Excessive tardiness to class will affect conduct grade.
• No student will receive an “A” in conduct if they never say anything. Being quiet does
not mean that comprehension has taken place. Students need to participate actively in
their learning process in order to be successful.
• No student excessively talking, using profanity, having loud outbursts, which disrupts the
learning environment will be tolerated will receive a conduct grade higher than a “C”.

III. Classroom Procedures

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 A. Maintaining Order: When entering the classroom I expect the following:

• Look on the board to determine the focus of the day.

• If this requires you to obtain a book, you must do so before the bell rings.
• Take out paper, pen and be attentive.
• If notes are written on the board, chances are, you should write them down!
• If you have homework, it should go in my tray before the bell rings.
• Do not ask me to borrow my stapler. You lose 10 points each time your work is not
stapled.
• If you can type your work, you can type your name on your paper. If you forget and you
write it in, you also lose 10 points.
• Take excellent notes and study every single day.
• During group discussions I expect active participation from all students. If students don’t
participate, alternative individual work may be assigned.
• In each 9 week grading period every student will have 2 bathroom passes available to
them. They will be marked in a log and monitored closely. If a student chooses not to use
either of these passes for the 9 weeks, I will drop one of their lowest quiz grades for their
commitment to classroom attendance.

Substitute Teachers: If for any reason I am not able to be in the classroom on a given day, I expect
proper classroom behavior as if I were present for the substitute. If the substitute has any negative
for me upon my return, I will weigh the severity and give an appropriate and stern punishment.
Never submit your work to a substitute. Always wait upon my return to submit work .

B. New Student

• If you walk in and you see work on the board, do not just sit there and wait for me to tell
you what to do. Follow the instructions on the board.
• Become an active participant in your own learning!
• Establish a professional email address quickly and email me with your new email
account. Regardless of when you enter my class, you must still create this email account.
By professional, I do not mean pookeybaby305@yahoo.com. This is not a professional
email account. You will receive weekly updates.
• When you email me, be sure to put your name and period in the subject line. If you
fail to do so, I will simply delete your email.
• Do not send me any attachments. If there is something that you would like me to
read, copy and paste in within the body of the email.

C. Missing Days due to Extra Curricular Activities or Absences

• I will not tolerate tardiness.

• I take attendance everyday.
• When you are absent due to YOUR activities, it is YOUR responsibility to obtain the
work.
• Do not barge into my room, when it is convenient for you to ask for make-up work.
• Network! Get email addresses of peers who take great notes and ask them for
clarification.

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 • You will have 36 hours following an excused absence to submit work to me.
• The only work I will grade will be on time or from an excused absence.

IV. Student Supplies

1. Loose leaf paper.

2. Black and blue ink pens for all class work and homework assignments
3. Pencils and small sharpener (For testing writing only!!!)
4. Access to a computer.
5. Professional Email Address
6. New binder (at least 3 inches) plus dividers (You will need an FCAT section, a
vocabulary section, a writing section and a notes section). You should have your
notebook at all times. You can have a notebook check at any time and this is not when
you should remove papers from other classes from there. Additionally, if you are tardy or
late and there was a notebook check, your notebook may not be graded.
7. Highlighters, colored markers, crayons and construction paper
8. Personal stapler (you cannot use my stapler) Unstapled work will be downgraded.
9. Personal dictionary
10. This syllabus should be the first document in your folder at all times.
11. A box full of creative items, such as yarn, construction paper, etc. to always make your
projects stand out.

V. Grades

Grades are being kept on the electronic grade book. Attendance is also monitored using grade
book. All Z grades indicate areas where students failed to submit assignments. X grades indicate
that the assignment did not negatively affect the grade of the student. Grades are assigned based
on A+ to F. Grades can be affected drastically if assignments are not submitted on time, and if
poor effort is used in completing assignments. Students, I will be using the 100 point scale to
grade all of your work.

Grading Scale is as follows:

A+ 4.0 B+ 3.4 C+ 2.4

A 3.75 B 3.0 C 2.0
A- 3.5 B- 2.5 C- 1.5

Students who are in jeopardy of earning a failing grade will receive a progress report
indicating their unsatisfactory performance and failure notice.

• You must take notes and study every single day, as you may have a POP quiz
• Projects can really help or hurt your grade
• You will/may have a daily quiz, you can not make up a Pop Quiz under any circumstance
• Everything is done online. That means I will even add your attendance online. If you do
not submit assignments on time, I will insert it as a “Z” for zero, and you will be
penalized because each “Z” hurts your grade even more
• All other rules will be given in class.

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 VI. Assignments/Homework

• All assignments will primarily be typed. The standard format is Times New Roman, size
12.
• Do not procrastinate in doing your work.
• Journal Entries are to be completed on a weekly basis. Students must respond critically to
the given text. Students must choose 10 excerpts from the weekly text and respond to
them. They may not all begin with “I think” or “I feel.”
• Journal entry format will vary each marking period.
• Vocabulary Stories are due, often every other week. The purpose is to create a story,
which makes sense, using the given words for the week. Often, a genre will be given to
be followed. Your goal is to define the words, provide the parts of speech in parenthesis,
and then write the story. Words should be underlined or highlighted within the story.
Again, story must make sense.
• Class work can be in the form of teacher observations, written assessment, oral responses,
or visual feedback.
• Each 6-7 weeks, the teacher may change homework assignments.
• All assignments must include the proper heading in the upper right hand corner:
First/Last Name
Date
Period #
Title of Assignment

Other Changes
• As changes become necessary, I will inform you. I look forward to having a very
wonderful, challenging and productive year.

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SIGNATURES OF STUDENT, PARENT/S AND/OR GUARDIAN/S

To acknowledge that you are your parents have read and discussed the
information provided in this syllabus; please sign in the given location,
indicating that all parties:
 Accept the terms of the curriculum as offered
 Understand how important it is to be present and on time
whenever class is in session
 Understand that all papers must be turned in during the specified
dates and times
 Understand that delaying the amount of time given to complete
each assignment could result in unpleasant results
 Understand that make up work will be modified at the discretion
of the instructor and will be allowed only for excused absences
(not tardiness)

Please return your signed syllabus to the instructor by the first week of
class to be stored in your classroom folder for future reference.

Student Name_______________________________ ID Number ___________

Student Signature___________________________ Date__________________

Name of Parent/s Guardian __________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Parent Contact (cell, email, etc)

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Signature___________________________ Date__________

PLEASE RETURN THIS COPY SIGNED BY YOUR PARENT

OR GUARDIAN TO BE PLACED IN YOUR CLASSROOM

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FOLDER. This will be your first grade and you will be
graded based on the condition of this form upon its
return.

PERIOD ___________

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