Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.
As a rule, I do not accept late work. If the assignment is worth a large number of points, I will accept the work with a 10% deduction for each day late. If there is a family situation, parents should write a note explaining the issue. I will usually award full points for those assignments, depending upon the frequency of incidents and the nature of the issue.Back to Top
I do not provide extra credit often. If I offer any, it will be for the entire class and it should never be depended upon to raise a grade much. I do not believe in "bail-out" extra credit.Back to Top
Could a parent be notified regarding missing work?
Unfortunately, I do not have time to track individual students. Please check the daily agenda to learn what was done in class and what is due. If there is a specific question, please feel free to email or telephone me. If you believe your student requires additional monitoring, I am willing to assist in this process with the homework tracking document (see the link from the homepage). Please cut and paste this document into your word processor or ask your student to request his/her first homework tracking document from me. Then please make copies for continued use. Students will write out what homework is due and I will initial when the homework is presented to me with the homework tracking document at the beginning of class. Please also compare this document with the daily agenda available on this site to be sure that nothing was missed. No system is fool-proof or can replace hands-on parental participation. I am willing to work with parents using the homework tracking document for a couple of weeks to establish a routine. After that, students (with continued parental guidance in some cases) should be able to manage independently. When parents stop signing, I will consider that a way to tell me that this particular system is no longer necessary.Back to Top
What can parents do to support learning?
Naturally, checking the website to see what is happening in class and engaging your student in dialogue about the assignments will be helpful. If there is a concern, ask to be shown work rather than accepting at face value the response that homework has been done. You may be surprised that the work is not completed or is done poorly. If your student says that there is no homework, it may mean that there is nothing due tomorrow. If you have verified on the website that there is no homework due tomorrow, offer to quiz your student on vocabulary words. All class levels have word banks. At most times, outside reading is required in all classes. Try to read at least one book with your student each semester or quarter and engage him/her in conversation about the book. Doing so will enhance reading comprehension.Back to Top
What can be done for reluctant readers?
Please help your student find books of personal interest. I do not assign any specific genre for outside reading for the 9th and 10th grade classes. It is my hope that students develop a love of reading and the only way that can happen is if there is choice. Seniors will choose a book within the genre specific to the topic for that semester. Additionally, most people enjoy reading more when they have someone with whom to discuss the book. Try reading along with your student and engaging him/her in conversation about the story. Discourse helps stimulate interest and develop comprehension.Back to Top
I post a daily agenda. For the most part, what was not finished in class becomes homework. When there is no specific homework, students can read in his/her independent reading book and study vocabulary. Word banks grow quickly; students need to study vocabulary regularly.Back to Top
Can parents get a weekly progress report?
Because we now have on-line grades, weekly progress reports are unnecessary. If you do not have regular internet access and would like to have a weekly progress report, I would accommodate your request; however, a progress report does not give a true understanding of a student's progress. So many projects in my class have pieces that I will collect as a packet of work after considerable time. Students' grades will remain the same for many weeks until a packet is collected and graded. A weekly progress report does nothing to tell parents about work that was supposed to be done that week. If parents would like to monitor students, they need to check the daily agenda on my website and ask their student to show them the work. Relying on the progress report system without also monitoring daily assignments on the web can be a road to disaster. I would prefer that parents get their students to do their work rather than find out after the fact that they haven't. When I send out computer-generated progress reports, I provide a list of work students should have in their binders. Parents should ask their students to show them all the items listed on the progress report in order to know that work is being done. If any work is missing, I recommend daily monitoring. I send out progress reports to everyone at the 5-6 week mark and at the end of the quarter. Parents are notified about progress reports being sent home on the daily agenda on the website. To assist with the monitoring of homework, students can fill out the Homework Tracking document available in class and on this site (see Forms). Students will fill out the form with the assignments due each day. They will submit this form at the beginning of each class period when they also submit their homework. I will initial that they have done their work and then expect a parent to sign that they have checked this document. I will be happy to work with families in the use of this tracking document for a couple of weeks. Beyond that, parents and students can use this system without my assistance. Usually, parents find that establishing this rhythm and spot checking works well enough.Back to Top
What is the purpose of a Book Log and how is the packet graded?
Students are required to create a book report reading log every week and it is due on Friday, unless otherwise noted. The log is to be about the independent reading book that each student has chosen to read during SSR for that week. Students are required to read at least 50 pages per week, which should result in the completion of at least one book per quarter, usually more. Novels and biographies are appropriate. Collections of short stories or poems and self help or informational books are not. All students are given a hand-out explaining how to do this assignment: step-by-step instructions on one side and an example of a properly created book log on the other. Students get a stamp on every log that is turned in on time with 50 or more pages read, the correct number of words (200-250 - demonstrated by computer highlighting every 50th word) and the correct word count at the top of the page. They also must bring the book they are reading to class with the book log. Then if there's a problem with the works cited entry, the book is there and I can be of assistance. When the log is returned, students must keep it in order to get credit for the stamp when the packet is collected. They should store their book logs in the Book Log section of their binders. If students do not get a stamp or failed to do the log for a week, they are still required to turn in a log for that week. Students have the entire quarter to make any final drafts but final drafts are not required. Near the end of the quarter, book logs are turned in as a packet. Book Logs are worth 100 points. The grading is broken down into two main areas: stamps and a graded book log. Students with all their logs stamped get 50/50 points. They lose 10 out of 50 points for every log that isn't stamped, all the way to 0 but not to negative points. Then I randomly select a number and that is the log that is graded for every student. If a student does not have that log, it is a 0/50 for the other part of the 100 points. If the log I grade lacks a stamp, there is no additional penalty. They are also required to create a cover page, for which they have an instruction sheet. They will also lose a few points for other less significant problems with not following directions. The purpose of this grading system is to motivate students to value doing all assignments and to be consistently accurate and punctual. The book log packet can be an excellent point builder for students who are willing to put in a little work every week. Most of the 50 minimum required pages can be read during Silent Sustained Reading (SSR), so the only homework would be some reading (if they didn't get in the 50 pages) and the creation of a one-page log. If your student is not given SSR in 3rd period, please contact the teacher or principal to create that change. The book log assignment is a relatively risk-free experience since students have plenty of time within which to perfect each log and all of the quarter to make final drafts. We go over these logs extensively, especially initially and increasingly less as the year progresses. Students benefit from this project by practicing summary/commentary and balancing paragraphs, working quotes into their own writing, and using proper MLA citations and MLA format, which has been adopted by the English department as the format style for all English classes. All these activities provide practice for single- and multi- source essays and research projects. Additionally, the California Content Standards states that students should be working toward a daily habit of reading so that "by grade twelve, students [will] read two million words annually on their own." The book logs are a way of creating and/or reinforcing that literacy habit.Back to Top
Why is the grading scale for sophomore honors different?
The elevated grading scale should not adversely impact students who are doing all of their work and following directions. Subjectively graded assignments (like essays, stories, poems, presentations) will be given the higher point values to represent the corresponding grades. Therefore, a student whose writing falls into the middle A range will earn scores at the elevated level rather than the standard middle A, a 95. The grading scale makes a difference regarding projects where there is simply a loss of points for noncompliance or a failure to study (as in the summer reading assignments, spelling and definitions quizzes, other tests and quizzes, and collecting signature stamps to demonstrate work being accomplished on time). Honors students should stay on top of their homework and regularly commit vocabulary to memory. The grading scale makes it harder to increase one's grade with the simple and rote tasks of the class, which pushes students harder to do all their work completely and on time.Back to Top
What is the reasoning behind the summer reading choices for sophomore honors?
The theme for the sophomore honors class is man's universal journey. The sophomore honors teachers selected these works for their diversity of writing style and compliance with the theme. Their Eyes Were Watching God demonstrates poetic writing, giving students a sense of wonder in language. The 13th Warrior plays with the Beowulf story (a standard in the English canon), which students will likely read in the future (probably in college). The dry, journalistic style and interesting use of footnotes exemplifies verisimilitude and presents much fodder for discussion. The Chosen explores the duality of the monomyth and demonstrates how the journey can be so much more than physical. The major study of sophomore honors is the concept of the monomyth, the journey that forms the universal basis for story telling. These books were selected for their diversity of topics, settings, and characters as well as writing style. English II Honors summer reading provides students with purposeful variety and rigorous complexity for sharpening analytical teeth.Back to Top
What are the California Content Standards?
The California Content Standards provide a guide to concepts and skills required of the varying grade levels. Teachers will vary their approach and literary selections; however, all teachers will use these guidelines to structure curriculum. Please return to my homepage and click on "links" and then click on "California Content Standards." Or enter the web address.Back to Top
Students who fail to return a progress report will receive a Saturday School Detention through a referral to the dean's office. They will also be assigned a U in citizenship. Communication between home and school is that important. Teachers do not have time to make individual phone calls and send out personal emails as often as would be helpful. Progress reports are the most efficient way to communicate. When students fail to do their part, they rob the class of the teacher's time that could be much better utilized in other ways. I cannot possibly provide the kind of feedback to parents that I deem necessary without the cooperation of my students, which is the reason for the consequence. Every time I issue reports, I spend considerable time choosing the textbox information and then organizing and tracking the reports. Sometimes this is a task requiring my attention for a week or more as I track absent students and stragglers. A parent only has to keep track of one student in my class. Whereas, I have approximately 170 students that all get progress reports at about the same time. I try to get reports out at the half and at the quarter. And this doesn't even include other little mini-reports sent out when I do a homework check sweep or there is a behavior problem. When a regular progress report is not returned, I have to go back into the grade program, select the student, back date the report, re-establish the textbox and print various copies. I stamp them and one goes to the counselor, one to the office for it to be mailed home and one is for me. Then I write the referral, which takes another considerable chunk of time. If I have to do this for several students, I have now spent the equivalent of grading half a class of book logs or easily more. When students cost a teacher time away from grading and planning, they must have consequences, or the problem will not be resolved and the next progress report will likely create the same unnecessary waste of time and resources. Please reflect on a teacher's workload and the importance of keeping parents informed when considering the consequence for noncompliance. If serving a Saturday School will make a student more likely to return the report within the required timeframe, everyone wins, including the errant student. Having consequences teaches students to pay attention to their obligations and helps them develop follow-through. Additionally, students will also come to understand the importance of home and school communication. Parents play a huge role in this lesson.Back to Top