Ms. Zolnowski
9th grade English
English office telephone 626-8536 School fax 626-8597 e-mail: Zolny@aol.com
URL: http://geocities.datacellar.net/Athens/Ithaca/5818/default.html
Class Policies and Procedures
The WNHS English curriculum is designed to help students meet and exceed the NYS Standards
for English/Language Arts. The Standards focus on four main areas:
Language for Information and Understanding
Language for Literary Response and Expression
Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Language for Social Interaction
In order to achieve these goals the following policies must
be observed.
I. ATTENDANCE
: Student attendance is necessary for the class to progress as a whole and is therefore
MANDATORY
.
A. If you are legally absent you must have it verified through the attendance office.
It is your responsibility to find out what you missed in class and to make arrangements
to make up any class work you have missed in a timely manner.
B. If you are truant you have forfeited the right to make up any work due on that
day. Your grade for that work will be zero.
C. Do not schedule guidance appointments or attend extra curricular activity meetings
during class time. Any time you are scheduled to miss class because of a music lesson,
field trip, testing, or early dismissal you must notify me in advance. You are responsible for the lesson and homework for the days you miss.
D. The school attendance policy will be strictly enforced. Absences or tardiness
not legally verified with the attendance office within 3 days will be considered
illegal.
II. HOMEWORK:
Homework is a necessary part of the learning process. It is the practice you need
to determine whether you have understood the lesson. Homework time shall also be
used to complete reading and journal writing assignments.
NOTE: EXPECT HOMEWORK EVERY NIGHT!!
A. All nightly homework assignments will be evaluated based upon an assigned point
value. Assignments will be accepted up to one day late with a 50% penalty. No assignments
will be accepted more than one day late unless by PRIOR
arrangement.
C. Assignments must be brought to class the day they are due. No student will be
allowed to go to her/his locker to get homework once the bell has rung.
D. If the student is absent from school, homework should be turned in the day she/he
returns. In the case of an extended absence the student and I shall meet during
clinic time to arrange a schedule to bring the missed assignments up to date in a
reasonable amount of time.
E. All homework must be done in ink with the exception of working drafts of pieces
of writing.
F. Students should expect an average
of three graded homework assignments per week and one or two large projects per classroom
study unit. Be aware that according to the new district Summer School Policy students
must complete 70% of these assignments in order to be eligible for summer school. (See the student handbook for further details.)
III. EVALUATION
(grading)
A. Quarterly evaluations will result from dividing the total number of points earned
on tests, quizzes, homework, class work, journal/log entries, notebooks, writing
projects, oral reports, et cetera by the total number of possible points. The final
average will be calculated using a 4/5+1/5 ratio. Each marking quarter shall be worth
1/5 as will the final examination.
B. It should go without saying that cheating of any kind (including plagiarism) shall
not be tolerated. Such action will result in a zero (to be shared equally by all
parties involved) and parents will be notified.
C. Extra credit may be earned by students who have no late/incomplete assignments
or unexcused absences. No student may use extra credit to raise a final average
more than 5 points in a marking period. Extra credit will be accepted until the
8th week of the quarter only. This will allow time for careful, thoughtful evaluation of the
project. All extra credit projects must be OK'd by Ms. Zolnowski in advance.
D. NOTE: The district's new Summer School Admissions Policy applies to this course
and will be enforced. Please see the student handbook for specifics.
IV. SUPPLIES:
Students must have the tools to build success. With that in mind, note that all
students are responsible for bringing the following items to class EVERYDAY!
Text or novel being studied
One 2" 3 ring binder with three dividers and pockets
Completed homework and work in progress
loose leaf paper
pens and pencils
3.5" floppy disk exclusively for English Class
Students should have access to a dictionary
Note:
WNHS primarily uses Macintosh PowerMacs
with ClarisWorks
word processing programs. It would be extremely helpful of students had access to
the same program outside of school. There is limited access to Microsoft Word
6.0 for IBM
if absolutely necessary.
V. CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR:
Students are expected to take responsibility for their own learning and behavior
in the classroom. Disruptions of the learning process will not be tolerated.
My expectations are simply that I and all of the students must be:
PROMPT POLITE PREPARED
(violations of school policy as listed in the student handbook shall not be tolerated.)
VI. CLINICS
: Students are encouraged to seek extra help at the first sign that they are having
difficulty. They should also consider clinics an opportunity for enrichment activities if they
feel they need an additional challenge.
Students who appear to be having difficulty or who appear bored my be assigned to
attend clinics.
My clinic time is ___________, or before or after school by appointment.
KEEP THIS SHEET! IT SHOULD BE THE FIRST PAGE OF YOUR NOTEBOOK!