Dear Students:
This paper outlines course expectations for your practical biology class for the 2006-2007 school year. Please read it carefully because it is the “guts” of your science class. We are looking forward to a great year!!!
Course: Biology Level 2
Teachers: Mrs. Bolvin
Class goals: The goal of this course is for you to gain investigation skills and an understanding of living organisms and the factors that affect them.
Text: to be supplied as we go and can be downloaded from the Mrs. Bolvin’s Level 2 Biology Website
Materials to be brought to class daily:
Ring binder, something to write with, finished homework
Academic Expectations:
1. All school and class rules will be followed. Discipline decisions will be make according to the student handbook.
2. Since you do not have a textbook for this class, you are required to keep a ring binder for this course. Please get one as soon as possible since you will have to keep all of the readings and notes I give you as well as all of the work you do for this class. This paper should be the first paper in your notebook. Every now and then I will find out if you are keeping all of your papers by giving you note quizzes. I will ask you to answer questions from notes I have given in class and ask you to give me papers you should have kept. The papers I may ask for is anything I have given you or you have produced (homework assignments, labs, diagrams, old tests, expectation sheets, etc.)
2. Be on time for class. Be ready to work, cooperate and contribute. Being prepared for class includes bringing all required materials.
3. I really want you in class. Tardiness will not be accepted. You are given enough time to get from one class to another with a short visit to you locker between classes. You are not given enough time to socialize/ walk a significant other to class, stop to watch a fight, etc. These are not excuses to be late for class. If a teacher delays you on your way to class, get a pass from them. I will check it out at a more convenient time. If it is not legitimate you will be required to get a blue slip from the office that allows you to make up any work you have missed.
4. The third time you are tardy, you will stay after school one half-hour. For each additional tardy after the third you will have a half-hour detention. No show for detention without letting me know doubles the time. Two no shows will earn an administrative detention.
5. If you are tardy to class but eventually arrive, you will be considered absent for the time you were missing from class. You will have to provide a blueslip from the office and will be subject to the makeup policy as outlined in #6. You may also bring a note from guidance, the office, or another teacher. These I will verify to determine if they are genuine. If your note is verified, you are still responsible for the work handed in but will not be required to bring a blue slip.
6. Make up policy: You will be given 5 school days after you return from your absence to make up the work and present a blue slip. If the work is not made up or you have not given me a blue slip from the office in that time, you will receive a zero for the work. It is your responsibility to meet this deadline. The deadline for extended absences will be considered on a case by case basis.
7. More than 12 absences for the year should result in an attendance appeal with the possibility of receiving no credit for the course.
8. Any test will be announced 3 school days before it will be given. If you are absent for the day we review but were here when the test was announced, you will take the test. Quizzes may or may not be announced. Note quizzes will rarely be announced after the first one. If you miss the day of the test but were here when it was announced, you will take the test the next time you are in class. Be prepared. Not bringing you notebook home to study is no excuse if you knew about the test ahead of time.
9. Late work: There are two kinds of work you will do in this class. The are: A) work I physically take from you and grade for accuracy and B) work I will check in class for attempted completion. The makeup policy is different for each type of work.
A) If you do not have an assignment I physically take from you when it is due, you have 1 week to get it in. This work will be graded but will receive a 20% deduction in grade before I start grading it (instead of starting with a 100 you start with an 80). After 1 week, if the work is not turned in it will be recorded as a zero. You may not make up this work after 1 week.
B) The work I check for accuracy during class must be done by the time I check it. If you do not have it, you will receive no credit. We usually go over this type of work in class the day I check it. It will do you no good to do it after the fact. You may not turn this work in late for credit.
10. You are encouraged to get extra help during study hall or after school. I am usually available before school as well.
Behavioral Expectations:
1. Respect for everyone in the classroom will be shown at all times. You usually get treated the way you treat other people. A mature and self-respecting person does not need to resort to put downs, interruptions and offensive jokes just to get attention.
2. Please respect school property such as desks, walls, and lab equipment of all types. Do not write on the desks even with your eraser. You will have to wash all the desks in the room as well as all the countertops if you are caught.
3. Follow all lab safety rules. Careless behavior and thoughtless actions that cause glassware breakage during lab will result in “dish duty”. More serious misbehavior may result in removal from lab and loss of lab credit. I do not hesitate to contact the office and/or parents if necessary.
4. Inappropriate language (cussing) will not be tolerated.
5. Gum chewing is a private experience, not to be shared with others. As long as I don’t see it, hear it, or smell it, you can do it. If gum chewing in anyway interferes with the learning process (gum stuck on furniture, bubble popping, etc.) gum chewing will not be allowed.
6. Having a snicky snack in class is allowed as long as it doesn’t become a problem. If I begin finding trash in the sinks or left around on the desks, counters or floors, there will be no snacking. You are old enough to clean up after yourselves. Bottles can be put in the white waste basket for recycling. The money from the recycling is donated to charity in the green section.
7. Cell phones and pagers will be turned off and stored. You are in school to learn and cells phones and pagers are a distraction. You will not be allowed to take or make calls during my class. If you take a call during class you will receive detention.
Grading:
| Tests ..................................30% |
| Quizzes.............................. 10% |
| Labs and Projects.............. 30% |
| Homework *........................ 30% |
*Homework that we go over in class will be checked for effort before class discussion. Grades will be given as follows:
Complete and on time 
= 95 out of 100 pts
Incomplete or late 
= 80
Extremely incomplete
= 65
No effort = 0