THESE RULES & PROCEDURES MUST BE KEPT IN YOUR CURRENT FOLDER

WELCOME TO MS. STERN’S CLASS! EXPECTATIONS AND PROCEDURES

Expectations

BE PROMPT: Be on time for class and ready to start working when you arrive.BE PREPARED: Bring needed materials every day (notebook, paper, pens, homework). BE POSITIVE: Give encouragement to others. Have a good attitude. BE POLITE: Respect others and be sensitive to their feelings. BE PRODUCTIVE: Use the entire class time for work or study. Complete assignments on time.

Our Classroom Our classroom is a crowded place! During the mini-lesson and any other seated activity, students

should remain in their seats unless they have permission to get up. Students are expected to respect our classroom environment and help to keep it neat, clean, and

graffiti-free. The closet is off-limits during class time. Students can open and close the classroom windows with permission. Ms. Stern’s desk, including the top and drawers, her chair, and the cabinets around it are off-limits to

students. The only exception is her In Box, in which students should deposit papers but not otherwise disturb the contents.

You should retain any trash you need to dispose of until the end of class and then bring it to the garbage can on your way out. Your desk should be empty inside when you leave the room and the floor beneath and surrounding it should be clean.

WaterStudents are permitted to have a water bottle and drink in class whenever the computers are not in use.

FoodSchool rules state that no eating is permitted in the classroom except by permission of the principal for a special occasion such as a party. Students must be sure to consume all foods, including candy, before entering the school or leaving the cafeteria.

Phones, MP3 Players, and Other Electronic DevicesThe Board of Education rule is that none of these devices is permitted in school. If you are using any one of these items in my classroom, you will be asked to hand it over. It will be locked up and returned at the end of the day. If you do not hand it over right away, you will receive a school detention or other severe penalty.

ConsequencesConsequences in our classroom include non-verbal reminders, verbal reminders, seat change, meetings with the teacher at lunch or after school, teacher detention, parent phone call, school detention, parent meetings, and suspensions. If students choose to receive a consequence, the teacher will select it at her discretion.

PROCEDURES

Just as we have procedures in everyday life for things like driving (on the right side of the street and stopping at a red light) and even in math (PEMDAS), we have procedures in class.

School suppliesStudents need to have the following supplies for Social Studies:

A composition or spiral notebook, to be replaced if the pages run out Five folders (one for each unit we will be studying) Pens (any readable color EXCEPT RED, erasable OK) Looseleaf paper

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MS. STERN’S SOCIAL STUDIES EXPECTATIONS AND PROCEDURES

Students need to bring these supplies to class every day.

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MS. STERN’S SOCIAL STUDIES EXPECTATIONS AND PROCEDURES

Beginning of Class ProcedureEnter the room quietly and immediately sit in your assigned seat. Remove your supplies (notebook, current folder with looseleaf paper in it, pens) from your book bag and then hang the book bag on the back of your chair, where it should remain until the end of class.

Upon being seated, 1) Take your homework out of your binder and place it on the upper

righthand corner of your desk for Ms. Stern to check or collect (see diagram ). Students whose homework is not out in time for Ms. Stern to check it may put it in her In Box at the end of class.

2) Write on a new notebook page: today’s date the Aim the Standard the Do Now assignment (write the whole assignment before beginning the work)

Example:

Sept. 8, 2010 Aim: How and when did the first humans reach the Americas, and how do we know?Standard: 1 U.S. History

Do Now: Match the country to its continent:1) Spain A) Asia2) China B) North America3) Uruguay C) South America4) Canada D) Europe

3) Complete the Do Now.4) If you finish early, Ms. Stern may ask you to put your work on the board. Otherwise, look over your

homework or previous days’ notes while others are still finishing.

You will have five minutes from the time the bell rings to complete all this.

If You Are Late to Class If you have a pass, you should quietly put it in Ms. Stern’s In Box, then take a seat. Passes should

have the time and date and the name and signature of the teacher who wrote it. If you are late without a proper pass, please fill out a late slip in the back of the room and put it in Ms.

Stern’s In Box before quietly taking your seat. You must then stay at lunch or after school for 5 minutes, or longer if you were late more than 5 minutes.

In either case you are still responsible for work missed.

Forgotten Supplies For students who have forgotten their supplies on a certain day, paper and pens are available in the

back of the room. If you have forgotten your notebook, you should quietly take a few pieces of looseleaf paper. You

must tape or staple your notes and work into your notebook when you have it again. If you have forgotten a pen, you can take one of Ms. Stern’s but you must leave a shoe in the milk

crate under the table to remind you to return the pen before you leave.

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DESK

HW

MS. STERN’S SOCIAL STUDIES EXPECTATIONS AND PROCEDURES

Student WorkGrading PolicySocial Studies grades will be calculated as follows:

Assessments (summative quizzes and tests, special assignments, projects): 75 percent of your grade. These assessments show how well you are meeting the standards; therefore, they count for the majority of your grade.

Homework/Classwork/Notebook/Folder: 25 percent of your grade. Homework and classwork are some of the learning experiences that enable you to master the standards. Failure to do required work will be taken seriously. Students are expected to keep their learning materials (notebook and folders) neat and complete. (See page 5 for notebook/folder grading rubric.)

Summative quizzes and tests and grading sheets for special assignments and projects will be sent home to be signed by a parent/guardian within two days of being handed back.

Cheating on any assignment, including homework, is not permitted. All students involved will be expected to make up any work involved in cheating and may be referred to the deans or administrators.

If You Are AbsentIf you were absent during an assessment, it is your responsibility to arrange with Ms. Stern to make it up during lunchtime or after school. You will receive a slip informing you of the missed assessment, to be returned to Ms. Stern along with your commitment to a make-up time. All assessments will be listed on the class calendar and on Ms. Stern’s website.

We will keep all assessments in a folder in the classroom for a record of your achievement.

HomeworkSocial studies homework will sometimes be checked only, in which case you will receive full credit if you have completed it. Other times it will be graded as follows:

+ (check-plus): 100 percent for a thorough, superb job; (check): 90 percent for a complete and competent job; – (check-minus): 80 percent for a complete job that shows little effort.

Classwork/Homework Heading Example for Looseleaf

Sonia Sotomayor Nov. 9, 2010 SS Class C09 Ms. Stern

HW #22: Explain what the writers of the Declaration meant by “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation” and explain whether you agree or disagree with this statement and why.

Students who do not have the completed homework at the beginning of class must stay after school that day (after 2:20 Monday and Friday or after 3:10 on Tuesday through Thursday) to finish it unless your parent/guardian has let Ms. Stern know in writing that staying is not possible. Then a suitable time to make up the homework will be arranged with your parent/guardian.

If You Are AbsentYou will still be responsible for all homework even if you are absent. The homework that was due on the day(s) you were absent must be placed in Ms. Stern’s In Box the day of your return. Homework assignments

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MS. STERN’S SOCIAL STUDIES EXPECTATIONS AND PROCEDURES

from when you were absent can be gotten from a classmate or from Ms. Stern’s website (see Website section below), where all assignments will be posted. Any class handouts from the day you were absent, including homework, should be obtained from the hanging folders in the Extra Handouts bin in the back of the room (blue for C04 math, red for C04 social studies, yellow for C06 social studies). If you need help on homework from a day you were absent, you may stay after school. It is due a day after your return (or if you have been absent for a few days, by arrangement with Ms. Stern).

WebsiteStudent assignments, including homework, and other relevant information regarding our class (including the school calendar, social studies online resources, etc.) can all be found on my website. To access my website, go to http://www.mssternis98.weebly.com

Give Me 5!There will be times during class when students are working in groups and Ms. Stern needs to get your attention. She will raise her hand and announce, “Give Me 5!” When you hear or see this,

1. Stop talking2. Stop working3. Look at the teacher4. Listen for directions5. Alert other students silently by raising your hand

Raising Your HandTo minimize disruption, we will use hand signals in addition to “Give Me 5!”

If your pen runs out of ink during class, please hold it up, and Ms. Stern will give you permission to borrow one of hers from the back of the room.

If you wish to be excused to use the bathroom or water fountain, raise two fingers. Ms. Stern will either nod yes, in which case, you will quietly get up and sign out, or no, in which case you will have to wait until later in the class or until your next class.

Voice LevelsThere are four different voice levels that should be used at different times in our classroom and one voice level that should not be used at all! We will refer to them by color. There will be a voice indicator on the board to provide guidance.

BLUE: Silence. Used for mini-lessons, independent work, and assessments. GREEN: Very low. Used for pair work. YELLOW: Medium. Used for group work. ORANGE: Whole voice. Used for whole-class discussions. RED: Too loud. Never used in our classroom!

AnnouncementsOccasionally school announcements come over the PA. We must all remain silent at this time, as it is

important to hear what is said.

Everyone is expected to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, as it is a symbol of respect for our country and ourselves.

Bathroom/Water Fountain PolicyPeriods 1, 6, 8, and 9 are “closed periods.” This means no bathroom/water fountain passes are permitted, and the bathrooms are locked. During the rest of the day, students will not be given bathroom passes during the first and last five minutes of class. Otherwise, students are permitted to visit the bathroom or water fountain during class with permission of the teacher. In Ms. Stern’s class, passes will not be granted during the Do Now or the mini-lesson. During other times, students may be asked to finish their work first.

Students using the bathroom or fountain should take the pass by the door and sign out. If you use the bathroom, be sure to wash your hands with soap and dry them very well! When you return, hang the pass back up and sign back in.

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MS. STERN’S SOCIAL STUDIES EXPECTATIONS AND PROCEDURES

Any abuse of bathroom policy, such as excessive time out of class or failure to sign out and in, can result in a suspension of bathroom privileges.

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MS. STERN’S SOCIAL STUDIES EXPECTATIONS AND PROCEDURES

End of Class ProcedureStudents must wait to be dismissed by the teacher. Students are responsible for making their desks and the area around it clean and tidy before they leave class. When Ms. Stern indicates class is over, students should

1. Pack up their belongings.2. Straighten their desks in line with the other desks in their row or table.3. Look on the floor and inside your desk and pick up any trash. This should be thrown out on your way

out the door. Everyone is responsible for keeping the class clean, even if the litter is not yours.4. After your row or table is dismissed by the teacher, stand and push in your chairs.5. Exit toward the back of the room and out the door.6. If you have been given a Ticket to Leave, hand it to Ms. Stern on your way out the door.7. If you have borrowed a pen, you may return it and retrieve your shoe on the way out.

Fire DrillsFire drills are very important for our health and safety. As a recent New York Times article said, “Panic, denial and fear may be inevitable during a disaster, but your brain will perform best in a stressful situation if you have already put it through a few rehearsals.”

Our fire drill procedure is: Students must leave their work on their desks but may take their backpacks with them. If the

computers are out, they should be closed and stowed inside the desks. When Ms. Stern gives the word, students will quietly and carefully proceed to the classroom door and

line up out in the hall in two lines: girls on the left and boys on the right. They will wait there in silence. Ms. Stern will close the classroom door and move to the front of the lines. The class will then follow

her down the stairs in silence. We will proceed to the right after reaching the sidewalk, then cross Suburban Place and walk down

Boston Road until the line in front of us stops. Students will maintain their two lines and then wait quietly until the signal comes to proceed back to

school. The two lines will follow Ms. Stern into school. Students may speak to their neighbor very quietly at

this time. Students will wait in lines outside the classroom door until Ms. Stern opens it and invites them in one

line at a time.

Notebook/Folder ChecksYour notebook and current folder will be checked approximately once a month. If you receive a reminder, you should leave your notebook and folder on your desk when you leave class. You may pick them up at the end of the day.

NOTEBOOK/FOLDER CHECK RUBRIC

Notebook cover is neat (10 points)Pages inside are clean and not torn, with no loose papers. (10 points)Minimal doodling or drawing. (10 points)Notes are complete including date, aim, standard, bell work, plus class notes. (40 points)Writing assignments are thoughtful. (10 points)All homework and classwork from current unit can be found in chronological order in the lefthand pocket of the folder. (10 points)All handouts, assignment sheets, and other materials from current unit can be found in chronological order in the righthand pocket of the folder. (10 points)Total points possible: 100

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