Mrs. Phinney
MESA Algebra
4 A
jphinney@graniteschools.org
My web page will give you our assignments and testing schedule. You can
connect to it:
Evergreen Home Page www.graniteschools.org/jr/evergreen/
or go to www.teacherweb.com and follow the prompts. Check your students’
grades on-line. PT Conferences come so early that grades are not yet
established, so parental checks on grade updates is crucial for student
success. E-mail will be the quickest form of communication for us.
Classroom Rules
1. Act in a manner that will not embarrass yourself or your family
by respecting yourself and others. If you do cause a
problem, YOU are responsible for solving it in an acceptable
way to all parties involved.
2. No cell phones or any type of electronic devices in our room.
3. Bring your planner everyday. It is your hallpass.
What you need:
A notebook for your learning log where you take notes and also keep
assignments. An envelope section is helpful to hold handouts, etc. Spiral
notebooks with an envelope section would be most excellent. Assignments will
be checked each block but kept in the notebook. Notebooks will be turned in
periodically and will greatly impact your grade. Students will need their
math book and their notebook each class period. Remember notebooks are
turned in, so they should be detachable from a larger binder. Assignments
are given daily and returned completed the next class.
The block schedule makes it imperative for us to maximize our class time. We
will employ multiple strategies, including VAK: visual, auditory,
kinesthetic pathways. Cooperative learning is a valuable tool to access and
build these pathways. Therefore, learning teams have been included in my
repertoire of teaching strategies. Also, I encourage water bottles, as
hydrating the brain helps the thought processes.
Assignment Policies: Block schedule makes attendance absolutely critical.
If your student misses one day, they are actually missing 2 periods which
makes catching up even more difficult. Check my web page to see what was
missed. If sick, they will have one day for each day missed. Work coming in
late will have half credit within 2 weeks. After that, 1/4th credit is
given. Each student corrects their own homework the following class period
from when it was assigned with a marker provided by the teacher. It is
checked off by the teacher, but kept in the notebook. The notebook
(including the learning log of daily notes) is turned in for grading about
every 2 weeks.
I consider the process of greater importance than the answer. Therefore,
points can be lost in the process isn’t evident.
After school tutoring: Tutoring is available everyday M-TH after school
from 3:00 to 4:00 free of charge for all subjects. My tutoring session is
Weds.
Grades are earned by accumulating points from self-starters, daily
assignments, quizzes, team activities, class participation, daily planners,
learning logs and of course, TESTS!! Tests and quizzes are 50% of the total
grade, the other half comes from everything else. The breakdown for grades:
100 - 90 are A's, 89 - 80 are B's, 79 - 70 are C's, 69 - 60 are D's, and
below 60% are F's. D.E.A.R time, our school wide literacy program, have a
required D.E.A.R. logs and participation is required. Points for the logs
are included on the term grade.
Extra credit is not usually available as assignment problems must be
completed to build new concepts upon.
Citizenship credit: All students are responsible for appropriate classroom
behavior and prompt, consistent attendance. I follow the district policy
which
states:
1. Students will be required to earn a 2.0 cumulative CPA
(Citizenship Point Average) on a 4.0 point scale in grades 9-12.
2. On the fourth tardy, the student will not receive a grade higher
than a 1.
3. Sluffing ONCE will result in a grade no higher that a 1.
4. Students may receive a 1 or 0 for any inappropriate classroom
behavior and excessive absences as well as tardies.
My tardy policy includes motivation for students to be on time including the
possibility that they may be asked to stand through part of the period.
Special Needs: Please send a written note to me if there are any medical or
special needs for your student as provided by a physician.
You can e-mail your notification at jphinney@graniteschools.org with your
student’s name and period in the subject line so I can identify your student
correctly. Otherwise sign the signature form and return by Aug. 28th.
THANKS!!!!!!