Welcome to this school year. I'm very excited to be here at Post Falls Middle School, and I hope it will be a great year for all of us!
show respect for property. Mine, the school's, other students'.
Math Bucks
You Earn Math Bucks By:
You earn math bucks by turning in assignments on time (70% or better), during reviews for tests, good behavior, courteousness towards your classmates, helping your classmates understand their math, being ready for class when the bell rings, and in general assisting Mrs. Rust when she asks for it.
You Can Spend Your Math Bucks On:
You can spend your math bucks on free homework passes, raising your tests by 1 letter grade, hall passes, classroom supplies, and other fine merchandise I buy along the way. Please see the "Math Bucks" explaination sheet for more details.
Supplies
Students need to come to class every day with their math book, notebook, math dictionary, calculator(?), homework, pen/pencil, and paper. Any other supplies needed I will inform students of ahead of time.
Grades
PFMS Grade Scale
A: 93-100%
B: 83-92%
C: 70-82%
D: 60-69%
F: 59% and below
Your grade will be composed of homework, quizzes and other activities I create. I do not give grades in this class, I record the grades students earn.
Homework Help
For your benefit, I offer you three ways to receive help on your homework (outside our regular class time):
- I encourage you to call classmates for help. Take this opportunity to write down the names and phone numbers of two of your classmates around you:
classmate name: | | phone#: | |
classmate name: | | phone#: | |
- I am on school grounds by 9 every morning, and after 2:03 at least 3 days a week. I also have 4th and 6th period planning, you can probably catch me at this time.
- Because of my restrictive schedule I encourage you to call me at home (before 9:30 p.m. please) I have given you my phone number at the top of this syllabus. I will not tell you over the phone what the homework assignment is, you may call the bulletin for this. But I will help you with specific problems on your homework.
Late Work
The school has policies pertaining to excused absences and prearranged absences when it comes to make-up work, which I follow. But for any other reason, homework is accepted late at half (50%) credit. I really don't like grading late work, so let's keep it to a minimum. And no assignments will be accepted late during the last 5 days of any grading period. This will keep students from bombarding me with an entire semester's work at the last minute.
Quizzes
Quizzes customarily follow the conclusion of a chapter. Their actual date will be announced a mimimum of 3 days in advance but usually a week in advance. They will normally cover the material in the current chapter but occasionally they will contain a few questions on previous chapters. I do not give the same quiz as a make-up quiz, so I appreciate students' efforts to attend quizes the first time to save me from creating another quiz. I reserve the right to give unannounced quizzes as necessary. My quiz retake policy is as follows:
- You earn less than 75% on your quiz.
- Turn in at least 75% of your assignments.
- You come in once for an extra help session.
- The highest score you can earn on a retake is a 75%.
Disciplinary Policy
I expect students to follow my expectations (listed above.) If they do not...
- They will be warned.
- Three warnings means they must fill out an accountability form which one of their guardians must sign.
- Six warnings means they will be referred to Mr. Boyk or Mr. Koulentes, where they may discuss with him why they cannot follow the classroom expectations.
- Every 3 warnings thereafter is another office referral.
- The "slate" will be wiped clean every week.
**Any offense I consider to be SEVERE can result in a forfeit of the three warnings and an immediate office referral.**
Miscellaneous
Food/Drink Policy: I follow PFMS's guidelines and allow no food or drink in my classroom. Gum is okay as long as it is not noisy or distracting in any manner. Gum will NOT be allowed the first time I find it in a place it should not be. (Under a desk, stuck to the floor, etc...)
Let's have a GREAT YEAR!!!