My Classroom Philosophy

Positive, Productive Classroom Atmosphere
Expect to be treated with kindness and respect. Please treat others and me in the same fashion. Respect is a big word in my classroom. Let’s treat everyone, our learning materials, and our facilities with great respect.

Absences and Make Up Work

You have two days after an absence to get make-up work completed. You’ll have additional time for longer absences. After that time, makeup work will be accepted only at my discretion. Make-up work will not be accepted for unexcused absences. It is your responsibility to find out your homework and get it turned in.

Cell Phones

Please limit the use of cell phones to the hallways between classes. If you have an urgent call coming in, please let me know. You may be excused to take the call in the hall.

Punctuality

Students are expected to be in class and in their assigned desks when the bell rings.
  • Two tardies a quarter – no penalty
  • Third and additional tardies – after-school detention with public service

Behavior with a Substitute Teacher

I expect everyone to be respectful and get to work on assigned tasks when I have a substitute teacher. If your name ends up in a sub report for misbehavior, expect after-school detention.

Standards Based Grading

Your academic work in my class will be evaluated against the Spokane Public School’s Common Core Power Standards for this course. While work ethic is very important and critical to success, your grade in the class will be mostly based on how your work is assessed against these standards, which will be presented to you in the form of learning targets (standards), models and rubrics. Work ethic will be reported separately in the form of a personal responsibility/ academic preparation score, which will be 10 percent of your final semester grade.

 In order to improve the clarity of communication with students, scores will be on a 4-point scale:

  • 4 = Exemplary (I understand this standard so well I can teach it to others.)
  • 3 = Proficient (I understand this standard well enough to work independently.)
  • 2 = Emerging (I need some help with this standard.)
  • 1 = Rudimentary (I show some evidence of understanding but need major help.).
 
To transfer a 4-point score to a grade (for assignments or course grades), please follow this key:


Note: Failure to turn in work that is used to determine standards can severely impact a grade.