Honors Algebra 3-4 Class Policies / Syllabus

Mr. Felling - sfelling@tuhsd.k12.az.us
Website: www.mrfelling.com
Phone: (480) 706-7900 ext. 70556
The best way to contact me is via email, although phone messages work too – I usually respond within a day or two at most - if I don't, follow up, because something happened to your message.

Goal of the class / Showing work and participation is required

The goal of this class is for students to develop two things:

A 'toolbox' of mathematical ideas, facts, and procedures that help the solve the specific kinds of problems we consider in this class.
General problem solving ability – the ability to solve problems students have not yet encountered.

We focus much of our efforts in this class toward conceptual understanding and toward problem solving processes instead of only focusing on obtaining the correct answer. As a result, I always require that students show their work – 'answers-only' is never acceptable, because I need to see the thinking that went into a solution.

Classroom Environment

Respect is expected – In order to learn, we must have an effective learning environment. We don't usually have behavior issues in honors math classes, but behaviors that disrupt the learning environment will not be tolerated. Learning also requires open communication, and people must feel safe to share their thoughts and ideas. I respect my students, and I expect students to respect me, each other, and themselves.
Attendance:
- Note that Desert Vista policy is to consider students up to 20 minutes late to class tardy, and students more than 20 minutes late to class absent. Students absent 11 or more days from a class (excused or unexcused, unless there are extenuating circumstances) may result in a loss of credit for the class. Please keep absences (including school-related) to a minimum. If you do need to miss class, information about what we covered and homework is always available at www.mrfelling.com.
- I track tardies and will contact parents if they become a problem.
Bathroom:
- Students should only use the bathroom for emergencies, please do not assume that you will go to the bathroom during class everyday. If a student is using the bathroom frequently, I contact parents to report this. Time away from the classroom makes it difficult to stay caught up and learning.
- Only 1 student can be out of the room at a time, and they must obtain the wooden bathroom pass from me.
- Students must return within 10 minutes – if a student is gone from class without a written pass from me for more than 10 minutes, I will change their attendance status for that day to 'unexcused absence'.
- Please do not plan to go to the bathroom every day during class. You should usually be able to handle your bathroom needs during lunch, before and after school and during passing periods.
Electronics:
- If I see electronics out at inappropriate times, I will confiscate and put the item on the teacher desk at the front of the classroom. Students may reclaim their item from the desk when the bell has rung at the end of class if I have not returned the item before then.
- For frequent offenders – at my discretion, I may opt to keep the item and turn it in to the front office administrators.
- School policy is to confiscate – and require parents to retrieve at the front office.
- Please note that, in accordance with school policy, I am not, and the school is not, liable for loss or damage of confiscated items. To be safe, students should not have electronics out of their backpacks in the classroom unless I specifically indicate it is appropriate.
Cheating - Any communication during or after a test or quiz, or any other form of cheating, will result in a zero on the test or assignment.
All school rules will be enforced.

How Your Grade is Determined

A letter grade is issued for each semester separately. The 1st semester grade is made up of 40% 1st quarter grade, 40% 2nd quarter grade, and 20% semester final exam:

Grading Scale
A  90%-100%
B  80%-89.9%
C  70%-79.9%
D  60%-69.9%
F  59.9% or lower
Rounding: For students earning borderline grades (for example, 89.4%) I determine rounding on a case-by-case basis.
**Grades will be updated on a regular basis (usually at least weekly). You can check your grades online using your parent or student login for the Synergy online grade system. If you have questions about your grade, please feel free to email me at any time.

Each quarter's grade is determined by total points. Approximately 80% of these points are from assessments of students' knowledge (tests and quizzes) and about 20% are from assignments for completion only and class participation.

Here is an approximate breakdown for the points in each quarter...

80%: Assessments of student knowledge:
- 50%: Chapter tests.
- 15%: Mid-chapter quizzes.
- 15%: Daily quick-quizzes.

20%: Participation / Completion-only work:
- 15%: Homework.
- 5%: Class participation.

How we handle various assignments:

Chapter Tests: There is always a summary test which covers all major ideas learned in a chapter or unit. The expectation is that students will use the various tools provided (lessons, textbook, homework, quizzes, etc.) to thoroughly learn the material in a chapter by the date of the chapter test.
Mid-chapter quizzes: Most chapters will include one or two quizzes to assess learning mid-chapter. These quizzes are intended to help students uncover areas they need to review and strengthen before the chapter test.
Daily quick-quizzes: The purpose of daily quick-quizzes is to provide a quick check of understanding of the most basic, main ideas we have just learned. On many days, I will give a short (10 min max) quiz toward the beginning of the class period over the basic ideas covered at least 2 days before the quick-quiz.
Note: All students in class will take the quick-quiz due that day, plus any missed previous days' quick quizzes even if they were not in class when this material was taught. This means that if you miss school, you will need to use your textbook or ther means to learn the material so you are ready for the quiz the day you return. If you miss a day of school, that day's lesson is no longer available to you, so you need to find other ways to learn the material. By having students take quick-quizzes over things on days they missed, I'm simply asking students to use those alternate learning methods sooner rather than later so they stay caught up.
Group Quizzes: We will occasionally have 'group quizzes' on which students work together and receive a common grade.
Homework:
- Homework is your main tool for practice – instead of thinking of homework as something to 'just get done for the points', try to think of it as a way to practice something to get better at it, and even as a daily 'quiz' you give yourself to see if you understand. It is very difficult to succeed in this class without consistently doing homework.
- Homework is required and graded for completion – Homework is always due at the beginning of the next class after it is assigned. We check homework daily during warmup at the beginning of class. Homework grading:
  - 3 pts = On time, all problems attempted, work shown leading to solutions.
  - 1 pt = Late (up to 1 week), incomplete work, or homework with answers but no work shown.
  - 0 pts = More than 1 week late.
- If you are absent (excused) – Students receive full credit as long as they show me completed homework when they return, they have the same number of days that they missed in order to make up the homework. Students must take the initiate to show me late homework.
- If you are absent (unexcused) – Students receive full credit if they submit homework on the first day they return.
WebWork: In addition to textbook homework, in honors algebra 3-4 we use an on-line homework system for additional reinforcement of ideas. Early in the year, each student is given a login username and password to log in to the WebWork online homework system. For each chapter, there is a single group of WebWork problems to complete which counts as one additional homework assignment for the chapter. WebWork assignments receive 0, 1, 2, or 3 points depending upon what percentage is completed by the due date. For full credit, I expect students to attempt (make a submission) for all problems and to get at least 2/3 of the problems correct.
Class Participation: The only way to learn math is to actively engage in learning during class. Class participation is required and makes up 5% of each quarter's grade. Rather than call on students to participate, I prefer to allow students to participate when they feel ready to participate, but I do require that students do participate. My system involves keeping track of how many times a student is participating by 'sharing their thinking'.

Ways to share thinking/earn class participation points. There are many ways a student can participate by sharing their thinking:
- Give an answer with an explanation to a question asked during a lesson.
- Write the solution to another student's homework problem question on the board.
- During pair/group work, share your group's results with the class.
- Provide an answer with explanation to a warm-up problem.
- Present the answer to our weekly 'problem of the week' to the class.
Class partipation grading system: Students can decide when and how they wish to participate by sharing their thinking, but each student must share their thinking with the class a minimum of 3 times each quarter. Points are given for each instance of 'sharing your thinking' on a sliding scale, and each student must obtain 30 points each quarter:
- 1st time sharing thinking = 15 points
- 2nd time sharing thinking = 10 points
- 3rd time sharing thinking = 5 points
- 4th-13th time sharing thinking = 1/2 extra credit point
So students must share thinking at least 3 times each quarter to earn the required 30 points. Every two additional times sharing thinking earn an extra credit point, up to a maximum of 5 extra credit points.
Warm-up problems: We usually begin class with a warm-up problem. These are not graded, but provide an opportunity to earn class participation points.
Problem of the Week: On the www.mrfelling.com class page, below the schedule, I post a problem of the week. These problems are intended to provide thought-provoking math challenges that help connect different areas of mathematics. If you tell or show me the correct solution to a problem of the week, that is worth an extra credit point (recorded as 'miscellaneous extra credit', 5 points max per quarter). Sharing a solution to the problem of the week with the class can also count as 'class participation/share your thinking'.

Missing class, makeup and retakes policy

The goal of this class is to guide students toward a complete mastery of course material. This is done by making incremental progress steadily throughout the course - much of the later material depends upon mastery of the previous course material. It is very important that students attend class. New material is introduced on most days.

If you miss class, that class lesson is no longer available to you so you will need to find alternate ways to learn the material (read the textbook, review online lecture notes, ask other students in class for help, come to before/after school tutoring for help, etc.) Note that you are still responsible for knowing the material, even if you miss class. You need to read your textbook, get the homework off the website and stay caught up as best you can.

My makeup and retake policy aims to encourage students to stay caught up at all time, because this is so critical to overall success in the class:

Makeups:

Chapter tests: Must be made up before or after school in the math office (C114) within 1 week of the test date. If a student has not been able to come in within 1 week, I will select a day that I feel is best for the student to take the makeup in the back of the room during class.
Mid-chapter quizzes: Must be made up before or after school in the math office (C114) within 2 school days of the quiz date, or I will select a day that I feel is best for the student to take the makeup in the back of the room during class.
Daily quick-quizzes: Must be made up the day the student returns to class. Students will take the quick-quiz due on the day of return even if it is over material they missed, plus any missing previous quick-quizzes. If you miss class, please use your textbook and homework from the website in order to stay caught up.

The chapter tests are major milestones - by the time we reach a chapter test, students should have used the various tools provided (lessons, textbook, homework, quizzes, etc.) to thoroughly learn the material in a chapter by the date of the chapter test. Other assignments, such as mid-chapter quizzes and daily quick-quizzes are designed to help students uncover areas they still need to master. As a result, in general, retakes are allowed for quizzes, but not for tests:

Retakes: Desert Vista math department policy is that no retakes are allowed for quizzes or tests in honors math classes.

Class Notes

Lessons parallel the topics covered in our textbook, but I usually explain things in alternative ways, so students should plan to take notes in class every day. On www.mrfelling.com, I provide printable 'blank class notes' for each chapter that you can optionally print at home and use in class. This speeds note taking and is recommended. Alternatively, you may choose to take your own notes. Class notes are not graded, but I highly recommend using the printed notes.

Calculators

Calculators are required for this class. We start using them heavily in about the 3rd week of the class. Once we do, students will need them everyday, including on quizzes and tests.
Recommended models: The Ti-84 or Ti-83 family of calculators are highly recommended. All class examples will be done using a Ti-84plus. There are slight differences, the main difference between Ti-83 and Ti-84 is that the Ti-84 display is a little easier to read, but all have the same functionality.
Can I use other calculators? Yes, but you are responsible for learning how to use them on your own. We teach how to use Ti-84 and Ti-83. We do not use the additional functionality of Ti-89, Ti-86, or Ti-Inspire and these calculators have different (and more complicated) user interfaces. The minimum requirement for calculators is that they have trigonometric functions (including inverse trig functions), work in degrees and radians modes, and, most importantly, have graphing and matrices features.

Supplies

Paper – any kind.
Pencil w/eraser.
Graphing Calculator.
Optional but highly recommended – pre-printed blank notes for the week to be completed during the lesson.

You do not need to bring your textbook to school, but please bring all other supplies with you to class every day.

Course topics/schedule

Please use the www.mrfelling.com website for the latest information on homework, upcoming tests and assignments. The honors algebra 3-4 class page always displays the current week's schedule and homework. For previous or future weeks' homework assignments please click on the chapter calendar links below the weekly schedule.

Keys to success:

Don’t get behind! Ways to get help include:

Engage and participate fully during class – Work all examples, really make sure you understand the concepts behind the procedures each day.
Asking questions in class – If you have a question, others probably do too, so don't be afraid to ask.
Before/After school tutoring – Free tutoring is available from math teachers before and after school, in the math office, room C114. I'm usually available unless I have a required meeting - look for my desk in the math office. If I'm not available, I will leave a sign on my desk in C114 saying where I am. If I'm unavailable that day, please ask other math teachers for help. Don't wait until the day before the chapter test...come in for help as soon as you have questions.
DV Cafeteria tutoring - Desert Vista also provides all-subject tutoring in the DV cafeteria before and after school. This tutoring is provided by a mixture of student volunteers and teachers and can be very effective.
DV Math Student Peer tutoring - The advanced math students at DV often wish to provide tutoring help to other students for service hours. Math student peer tutoring is typically free and provided 1:1 on the DV campus. Please email me for a list of this year's math peer tutors if you are interested.
Professional tutoring - If you find that you need more help than you can get with before/after school math office tutoring, DV cafeteria tutoring or math peer tutoring, I have contact information for professional tutors who can meet with you individually for more focused help. These are typically math teachers in the district, or similarly skilled professionals. This kind of tutoring is effective, but comes at a price (is not free.) Please email me if you are interested in a list of professional tutors.
www.mrfelling.com website video links – at the bottom of the Honors Algebra 3-4 page is a link to a page of links to teaching videos on other websites. I update these for each chapter so you can find additional help on the topics we are covering from your computer at home.
A plan for success: If you do the following, you will succeed in this class:
1. Do all homework and class assignments to the best of your ability.
2. Check your answers to make sure you are doing homework correctly.
3. If you are unable to get correct answers, ask questions the next day in class.
4. Keep asking questions until you understand. If there isn't enough time during class, come to before/after school tutoring.
5. Don't wait until just before the chapter test to ask questions - ask questions as soon as you don't understand something.
6. Use the provided chapter review worksheets to diligently prepare for the chapter tests.

I am looking forward to exploring math with you! Let’s work together to make this an enjoyable and successful year!
- Mr. Felling