Geometry—Class Information

Fundamental Duties:

First of all, do your best!

All students are expected to act respectfully and courteously towards others in the classroom. Name-calling, put-downs, insults, and interruptions have no place in this classroom and are not tolerated, nor is there any place for racist, sexist, homophobic, or ethnic slurs. Students who practice these behaviors will hurt both their citizenship and scholarship grades.

You must be punctual and ready to start class on time. This means that you arrive in class, are seated, and have your materials—notebook, sharpened pencil, homework, and other supplies—out when I begin class. Whenever this is not the case, you will be marked tardy.

Be prepared when you come to class. The following materials are essential for the class and should be brought to class every day (or you will not receive credit for homework): textbook, three-ring math binder with dividers for math only, paper, 4 colored pencils, a ruler, a protractor, and a compass. Calculators are suggested but optional.

Respect the facilities. This means that you should not bring food or drink into the classroom, that if you arrive with any, you will place it in the trash before class starts, that you will not chew gum in class, and that you will clean up after activities done in class. Help keep the room, 47A, neat. Leave any personal listening devises (earphones included) in your pack. If I see it, you lose it.

Attendance:  (you are responsible for reading and remembering these guidelines)

Your presence in the class is essential to your success. Much of the material for the course is presented through class-based activities, and if you are absent you will miss out significantly. While you can make up your written work, you cannot make up the class participation. If you are rarely absent, this will have no negative impact on your grade, but frequent absences will hurt your grade.

Prearranged absences—If you know that you will be absent from class for an out of school appointment or school activity, please notify me ahead of time (not on the day you will miss). If you need to leave class before the end of class, please show me your pass from the attendance office before the beginning of class. I will not excuse you to get the pass.

Make up work—At all times, I expect you to keep up with the content of the course. If you are absent, I suggest that you call a classmate and find out what you missed. You will have as many days to make up missing work as you were absent from class. Homework due on the day you were absent must be turned in on the day you return. You are responsible for making sure I see your work when you return. If I don't ask to see your work, make sure to show it to me before or after class.

Projects must be turned in on the day they are due regardless of your absence from the class. If you are unable to attend class on that day put it in my mailbox that day or have a friend deliver it to me—if you know about the absence in advance, you should turn it in early. If I do not receive your work, you will be graded down one grade for each day you are late for projects.

Unexcused absences—I follow the faculty citizenship standard. If you have three or more unexcused absences from class during a semester , you will automatically receive a U in citizenship. If you have two cuts, you will get an N in citizenship. Your scholarship grade will also be affected. I will also subtract ten points from your participation grade for each cut.

Tardies—If you are tardy five or more times per semester, you will receive a U in citizenship for the semester. If you are never tardy during a quarter and have no unexcused absences, I will drop the lowest of every four (grouped chronologically) quizzes/POWs taken during the quarter. I will also subtract five points from your participation grade for each tardy.

Grading:

Academic grade—Your quarterly academic grade will be based on your performance on assignments, projects, quizzes, and tests. The daily assignments are the backbone of the course. In order for you to earn the best grade that you can, you must complete each assignment by the due date, and ask questions when necessary. The total points accumulated on evaluations (including tests, quizzes, projects, POWs, homework, notebook, written assignments, and classroom participation) with respect to the following grading scale will determine your grade:

GRADE

PERCENT

  FROM        TO

GRADE

PERCENT

  FROM        TO

A+

         100  –  98

C+

         76  -  78.9

A

         92  -  97.9

C

         70  -  75.9

A-

         90  -  91.9

C-

         68  -  69.9

B+

         87  -  89.9

D+

         65  -  67.9

B

         81  -  86.9

D

         55  -  64.9

B-

         79  -  80.9

F

           0  -  54.9

You should keep track of your grade at all times. I will post them on-line. Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent in order to determine your letter grade.

Your grade for the semester will be a weighted average of the letter grades from each quarter (40% each) and the letter grade of the final exam (20%).

Notebook—The notebook will be collected and graded as a test based on your ability to keep your papers organized. Your notebook should be set up with sections for

1)     Definitions List

2)     Conjectures List

3)     Homework (completed, dated, and in order),

4)     Daily, Dated Classroom Notes,

5)     Returned tests with corrections and explanation of errors, followed by returned quizzes with corrections and explanation of errors,

6)     Miscellaneous (anything not covered by the first 4 sections). 

Quizzes—Quizzes may be given at anytime with or without warning (usually without). A quiz will usually focus on a specific topic or concept, but can cover anything students can reasonably be expected to know from this course or from previous courses. For students who are not tardy during a quarter, I will drop the lowest of every four (grouped chronologically) quizzes taken during the quarter. There will be no make-up quizzes. A quiz missed is a zero, but will be the quiz that is dropped in that group of four. A quiz missed for absence will be the dropped quiz. A quiz missed for tardiness cannot be dropped.

Citizenship grade—Your citizenship grade will be based on how consistently you demonstrate a positive work attitude during class, your contribution to the daily lessons, and your attendance (tardies and cuts will hurt your grade). You may also receive a U for excessive talking in class, disruptive behavior, eating in class, or misrepresenting your work.

Cell Phones—Cell phones must be turned off (or silent) during class . They must not be out at anytime during class. If your phone rings during class or if I see it during class, I will confiscate it for the remainder of the class, will subtract 5 points from your participation grade, and if it happens repeatedly, contact home.

Academic Integrity—Please refer to pages 8-10 in the Piedmont High School Organizer. Dishonesty on tests, quizzes, or assignments will result in zero credit for that work, and I will report it to the administration. Please take special note of the long-term consequences (college recommendations!).

Suggestions—Come to class prepared, physically and mentally. Ask questions, always! Be self-reliant and make sure that you finish all work. Don't be anonymous—speak out in class, talk to me and let me know what I can do to help you. The more you show me of your work, thoughts, and concerns the more clearly I can evaluate your work. Come to class willing to learn something new and ready to have some fun in doing so.

Office Hours:

I am usually in Room 23 by 7:00 Tuesday through Friday mornings (unless Tuesday is the first day of the school week). If you have questions, you may come in and see me then. I will give priority to students who make appointments. I am also willing to meet with you during lunch or after school if you schedule it ahead of time. All make-up tests will be given before school.

I maintain a website with information relevant to my classes. Information sheets are available there and later in the year students will be able to check their grades on-line.  (Be aware that I only update them every week starting at about the 4th week of the school year.) You can get to the website through the school website. Go to Faculty and Staff Directory, then scroll down to my name and use the website link there.

If you need to contact me, use email (preferred) or phone. Email address is bmarthinsen@piedmont.k12.ca.us.

My voicemail number is 594-2761.