Welcome New and Returning Students!! Below are the general requirements
that apply to the courses American Literature, English
Survey, and Advanced Composition.
EXPECTATIONS:
- You are expected to attend all classes unless you have an excused absence.
- You are expected to come to class prepared. This means you should always
have your book, pen, and paper with you as well as any assignments that may
be due.
- You are expected to cooperate, participate in class, and respect all
classmates.
- You are expected to be in the Pendleton uniform, no exceptions.
- Do not bring lunches or snacks to class.
REQUIREMENTS:
In addition to the required reading for each class (refer to the appropriate
syllabus), you will also be assessed in the following ways each quarter:
TESTS:
You will have two tests each quarter. Together they will account for 20-30%
of your grade for the quarter. Each test will be returned to you with both a
letter grade and a number grade. These tests will incorporate content taken
from both the literature and classroom discussion as well as vocabulary.
ESSAYS:
Each quarter you will be assigned essays. The essays will be worth 15-25% of
your grade for the quarter, except for Advanced Composition wherein essays
account for 80% of the grade. Essays will be assigned both a letter and a
number grade. There are certain essay format requirements to which you must
conform if you expect to be considered for an "A." Fulfillment of these
requirements does not guarantee an "A," but if you don't fulfill these
requirements, you will not get an "A."
The ESSAY requirements are:
Your name, the course name, My name, and the date of the
assignment should be placed in the upper left corner. Your last name
page number in upper right hand corner of each page.
- the essay must be a minimum of 3, maximum of 5, complete pages. This means
that the 4th page should be at least be as full as the heading on page 1.
- the essay should be typed in 12-point Times New Roman and double-spaced.
Do not double double-space between paragraphs.
- your margins should be standard, preset default margins: 1" top and
bottom, 1 1/4" left and right.
- your essay must be turned in on time. If your essay is late, you will lose
5 points for every day that the paper is not turned in. If you have an
excused absence, please refer to your Planner, pages 8-9; therein are the
school rules for make-up work, and I will conform to those rules.
- in-class essays must be written in ink only
- my grading rubric for essays are different for each level and will be made
available in class.
- any instances of plagiarism will be met with a 0% for that assignment, no
exceptions.
PARTICIPATION:
This will be worth 20% of your quarterly grade. Each student will begin the
Quarter with a set amount of points which will be subtracted from if there
are any violation of the employability code such as:
- arriving late to class or without your book(s), including your planner.
- coming to class unprepared to discuss the reading or answer questions on
the reading.
- coming to class out of uniform
- inappropriate classroom behavior. (For example, if I have to
ask you to keep quiet or pay attention, I will take away points.)
- not taking notes or not using your Planner.
GRADING:
Pendleton uses a 4-point system: A (4 points), B (3 points), C (2 points),
and D (1 point). Numerically, A = 100-90; B = 89-80; C = 79-70; D = 69-65;
F = 64 and below. At the end of each quarter I will not round up any grade.
The maximum number of points you can earn in the 1st quarter quarter is 40.
If you wish to calculate your grade, a minimum A = 3.6; a minimum B = 3.2; a
minimum C = 2.8; a minimum D = 2.6; anything below 2.6 is a failing grade.
Different grading periods or quarters may have different expectations, thus,
the percentages may break down with some variation.
ABSENCES:
You are expected to attend class. If you know you are going to be absent,
Pendleton has a leave of absence procedure. If you are unsure of this
procedure, please refer to your Planner. Any lack of communication about
what may be an excused absence will result in an unexused absence. This is
important, since makeup work and participation points depend on why you were
absent. If something is due or you are absent without a legitimate excuse
during a test or quiz day, you will not be given a makeup. If you fail to
show up at Directed Learning after we've made arrangements for you to make
up a quiz, test, or essay, the result will be a zero, no exceptions.
