8Th Grade Geography and Language

8th Grade Geography and Language Arts 2012 -2013 Mrs. Leonard

Welcome to the TOP of the PILE, 8th graders! You have come to the peak of this mountain we call St. Mary’s. I have a fun, challenging, and interesting year planned for us. I feel so fortunate to be able to spend this time with you and look forward to everything I can give you and all that, I’m sure, you have to teach me. I don’t believe that learning will be happening in one direction – You also have things to teach me, and I look forward to this year together. Just as a review, I wanted to go over my classroom procedures and rules.

As an 8th grade student, I expect:  Come to class each day prepared and on time. Being prepared means having all of your materials, homework, and a good attitude. Materials include a writing utensil, paper, folder, journal, workbook, iPad, notebook and textbook.  Respect each of your fellow students and myself. This means staying out of their space, allowing them to have their own ideas, which may be different than yours, and helping them when you can.  Complete assignments as assigned. o If you forgot to complete the assignment, you may turn it in the next day for a 10 percent penalty. Ten percent will be taken off for each day it is late. After 10 school days the assignment is worth zero points. o If you are missing from class, you have two class days to make up any assignments you missed. After the two days grace period, assignments will then be marked as if they were late assignments and follow the procedure above. o If you are going to miss school for only part of the day, i.e. sports, dentist appointment, early dismissal, assignments due that day are still due that day. If you are in school that day, all of your assignments that are due that day must be turned in that day or they will also be penalized 10 percent per day late as if it were not completed on time. o If you are going to be gone from school and know about it in advance, I will be happy to get your assignments for you ready in advance. These assignments are due the day you return from your absence. My expectation is if you know you are going to be absent and I prepare those assignments for you, they will be done and you are ready to continue learning when you return. Those assignments are not given the same extension that the ones when you are out unexpectedly do. They are not given 2 days once you return to finish. They will be marked late as per the late work policy.

As your teacher, I will :  Prepare lessons each day to challenge you, have you think about new ideas, practice skills we are learning or test those concepts we have been working on.  Be available for extra help, concerns or questions you have. I am here before and after school and would be happy to help in any way I can.  Make this a safe learning environment. I will not allow another student to interrupt your learning, and I will not allow you to interrupt the learning of others.

If these expectations of the student can not be followed, these will be the possible consequences:  A verbal warning to remind you of the appropriate behavior.  Afterschool time with me to discuss how we can change the behavior and make up missed class time.  Removal from the classroom to work somewhere else that is not a distraction for the rest of the class.  A conference with Mrs. Bertrand.  A phone call to your parents, which may or may not include a conference.

Grades: Your grade in both classes will be split up in different ways.

In language arts, these categories are Daily Work/Assignments: 45% Tests/ Quizzes/ Projects: 45% Journal : 10%

In geography, these are: Daily Work/Assignments: 40% Tests/Quizzes/Projects: 40% Maps: 20% The grading scale used by St. Mary’s School is 100 -96 – A 75 – 74 – D+ 95- 93 - A- 73 – 71 – D 92 – 90 - B+ 70 – 69 – D – 89 – 87 - B 68 – 0 - F 86 – 85 - B- 84 – 82 - C+ 81 - 79 - C 78 – 76 - C-

Your grades should never be a surprise to you or your parents. I update grades on our site, RenWeb, very frequently. Please check this frequently to be sure there aren’t any errors, and let me know if you believe there may be inaccuracies.

Extra Credit: Extra credit will be offered at teacher discretion at various times throughout each quarter. It will be added to the category of the teacher’s choosing, depending on the assignment. It is not required, and not guaranteed. My expectation is that you will complete assignments as the quarter goes along without holding out hope to just “make it up” with extra credit in the last week of the quarter. I do not offer extra credit to individual students at the end of the quarter to ‘bump up’ a grade.

Covered Books: In language arts, we have relatively new textbooks! In order to protect the investment the school has made, you are REQUIRED to have your language textbook covered at all times. If your text is not covered, you will be given a one day pass in order to get it covered. If it is not covered in 24 hours, you will need to spend time with me after school covering your textbook.

Journals: At the beginning of each language arts class there will be a prompt on the SMARTboard. You are expected to sit in your desk, take out your journal, and complete the prompt in your journal. The notebook you use is for this purpose ONLY. They will be collected, usually on Fridays, and checked for points. This grade will be its own category and is looking for you to stay organized. When I collect journals I do not want 5 random pieces of paper. Each day is usually worth 5 points. You are expected to make up a journal if you are absent. Students who collect your work should also write down the journal prompt for you. I want your notebook and will keep it to grade. This means you can not take it at the end of class to use in math or science or access it to get an assignment you left. It is for LANGUAGE ONLY!

Resource Center: It is my desire to help you not only learn in my classes but also to become more responsible, independent young adults. In order to do this I have set up a resource center. On this table, you will find hand sanitizer, Kleenex, a three whole punch, possible extra writing utensils, and a folder labeled with your grade. Please do not take things off of my desk. Please use these resources which are available to you. The folder will contain any extra assignments I may have, extra handouts, or duplicate copies. If you are missing something, please check there FIRST. Maps: In geography, we will do a series of maps with each chapter. These are an excellent review of your map skills, help you locate the place and location of each country we will cover, and improve your geography skills. They are so important they are worth 20 percent of your overall grade in geography. “Geography is important, because it opens our eyes; a landscape is no longer a static feature, but a complex battleground of physical and human interactions. Local is no longer local, but a collision point for the interaction of many 'locals' drawn from a global stage. With technology increasingly drawing the world closer together, it is important that the role of Geography in helping the public in understanding this complex and unpredictable world is championed!” –Tony Cassidy – Geography Teacher.

Tests and Quizzes: In language, we will have spelling words every 4 or 5 day week. The worksheets are given Monday, due Thursday, and tests are Fridays. If you miss a test while at a lesson, appointment, etc you may come in before school or after school any day to make this up. This is YOUR responsibility and will be done outside of class time. Before all chapter tests in language, we will complete a pretest. This pretest asks IDENTICAL types of questions to the real test. We will correct it, complete it and is the BEST study guide for any test. In social studies, tests will be announced in advanced. Essay questions are given in advance, and students are allowed to ask the teacher to preview their answers in the morning to get feedback and craft an improved answer, if necessary. Students will write an essay with most tests and are expected to be written in complete sentences and to restate the question in their answer.

National History Day Project: All 8th grade students will be required, as part of their geography grade, to complete a National History Day Project. The skills learned through this process are vital to success in future research projects and meets many of the standards expected in social studies and language arts. Participation at the school level is mandatory, but many students will have the opportunity to compete at the regional level at Southwest State University in Marshall. Hopefully, we will also have students qualify to make it to the state level at the University of Minnesota at the Twin Cities capital in late April/early May. Students who progress to the state level competition will receive extra credit in geography for the tremendous amount of work it takes to compete at this level. This year’s theme is “Rights and Responsibilities in History”. More to come on this wonderful event!