Welcome to Coda Land…

You may think you are at Hazen High School…. In fact, you are IN Coda Land and I am THE Coda. By virtue of your immigration into my domain, you are now all granted citizenship and are henceforth Codas. Codas are superior. Superior students, scholars, people in general. I am fortunate, somehow in the building of the Master Schedule I always get the smartest, hardest working, most honest kids! This is my belief. I will maintain it unless you show me otherwise.

3 x 5 cards I need ways to contact you and your parents. Please fill out the card I’ve given you. YOUR LAST NAME, FIRST NAME YOUR HOME PHONE YOUR ADDRESS YOUR PARENTS ADDRESS YOUR HOME ADDRESS

WHAT IF… HOW DO I KNOW… How do you know what assignments were given each day? What you have for homework? SWIFT! The white board behind my desk has the week summary. I generally have it posted on Monday. I will add to/correct each day as needed. IT IS YOUR JOB TO CHECK THIS and KEEP TRACK/RECORD DUE DATES/WORK in YOUR PLANNER. I will direct your attention to the board, point out what is what. I won’t chase you. I don’t take late work.

If I am absent am I excused from the work? NO. Check the white board. Check SWIFT! Don’t ask me ‘what did I miss’. It is there. Get it. Do it. See me if you have specific questions. You have 1 day to make up work beyond the day you return. That is it. After that, it is a zero. You are never excused from work you missed when absent.

Why do I need to write the notes, you’ll put them on SWIFT….. WRONG! Class work is class work. I expect you to be present and engaged in class. That means doing the work we are doing, not thinking you can get it later, blah blah blah…. You are responsible for using SWIFT. Not having a computer at home does not remove this responsibility from you. You can use the library or computer lab and you MUST make it a priority to do so in your daily schedule.

SWIFT?!?!?! SWIFT is what we call the teacher websites. EVERY teacher has one. They can chose to set it up and use it or not. TO GET TO SWIFT: Login to Internet  Go to Hazen High School Website  Pull down menu (blue on left) to Teacher Web Sites  Faculty names will come up  click on name of teacher you want to go to. Once the website comes up, it is very easy to navigate. Homework, announcements, documents, all sorts of things get posted here.

Grades… not all points are created equal Grades are weighted. This means assignments belong to categories. Categories carry different weight depending on what I view as the importance and difficultly of the work. Assignments: 35% This category can cover a large range of work. Anything I consider practice or learning tasks go into this category. Assessments: 65% This category is any work I consider a measurement or assessment of your learning or mastery of content. It can be a ‘test’ but it can also be a lab, a project, etc.

TESTS Tests are given at the end of each unit of study. Students are expected to meet standard on unit test. ‘Standard’ is a score of C or higher. C = 75% Testing is done for three days. Day 1= all students take the C level test. Day 2= all students that passed the C level test take the B level test. Those that did not meet standard take a different version of the C level test. Day 3= all students that passed the B level test take the A level test. Those that did not pass the B level, take a different version of the B level. Those that passed the second C level, take the B level. Those that have not met standard re-take the C level. B= 85% A=95% Any student that ‘aces’ all three levels will have 100% entered in their grade book. Any student that does not meet standard after three tries will get a 65% entered into the grade book provided they showed effort and progress on their attempts. This way no one that tries fails a test. A ‘0’ will be entered for any student that does not take the exam at all or fails to take the three attempts, is absent and does not take the make up in the time provided.

Behavioral Expectations… WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE?.

I know who I want you to be…. I want each one of you to leave this year smarter and more confident and competent than when you started. I want you to be more self directed, more responsible, farther along in the process of becoming an adult. I want you to have gained confidence in your abilities, intelligence and sense of self direction. YOU CHOOSE the life you will live. Start choosing now.

Details, Details….. Supplies need to be here by Monday. This includes your journal, colored pencils, etc. if you want the homework points for having them. Otherwise, you still need to have it, but no points given. Lab safety agreements need to be turned in by Wed., next week. PARENTS MUST SIGN. Review the expectations letter with your parents if you choose. I expect YOUR signature acknowledging we’ve covered this stuff.

Books Make sure you put your name in your book. Make sure you note the condition of book when you sign it out with the number. Overall, these books are all ‘very good’ condition. Take book home. Cover it. Keep it safe and dry. We have a class set for use in school.