PLC Class Syllabus
Bobby Magna
CSHS PLC Teacher and Case Manager
Room 412
480-575-2403
PLC Language Arts:
9th – 12th grade Language Arts is designed to develop those skills necessary to become both an effective writer, and thoughtful critical reader and thinker. Different literary concepts such as short stories, plays, nonfiction & fiction writing will be introduced, as well completing life skills lessons related to language art reading and writing. The students will work on developing effective writing and grammar skills, through completing specific requirements for writing descriptive, narrative, persuasive and expository essays and daily grammar practice. The curriculum is guided by the Arizona Academic Common Core Standards for 9th-12th grade.
Textbooks: Literature Book
PLC World and American History
American History surveys the development of our country from the Age of Exploration to the present. The first semester will cover our nation’s advancements to the 1900’s, and the second semester will cover the 1900’s to the present. The students will be tracing, evaluating and analyzing specific events that occurred in history, cause and effect relationships, developing chronological order, mapping, graphing. Discussions on current events and political cartoons, as well as fun and exciting projects will be completed toward mastery of this class.
The curriculum is guided by the Arizona Academic Common Core Standards for 9th-12th grades.
Textbooks: World History/American History McDougal Littel
PLC Life Skills Strategies/Study Skills
Life Skills focuses on helping students meet the challenges of their daily lives with confidence. Areas studied include interpersonal and family relationships, life & conflict management, healthy positive choices, and personal responsibility training. The use of workbooks, videos, reflection journals, role play and group and individual projects will be utilized during the school year. It is an emotional and social learning program where social and emotional skills are taught, practiced, and reinforced all day, every day.
Study Skills will be focusing on completing unfinished assignments in the PLC class and Kahn Academy lessons. This is not a free hour for students. If your student has completed all missed or unfinished assignments, then they will be participating in enrichment activities provide by me or can earn free time dependent on their behavior and only at teacher’s discretion.
PLC Math: Individualized Instruction
(Common Core Math Concepts/Trans Math/Kahn Academy)
The PLC math curriculum is based off each individual student’s needs, due to diverse student levels of achievement. To accurately and appropriately meet the needs of all our students, PLC uses the Common Core Math Concepts Curriculum grades 6-8, Trans Math review and remediation, and Khan Academy; a web-based educational system that generates curriculum for students based on their skill level and performance. Khan Academy supplies a free online collection of more than 3,300 micro lectures via video tutorials stored on YouTube teaching an array of subjects, such as math and science. We will be using this software program, as well as live classroom activities to enhance our PLC curriculum for Math.
The curriculum is guided by the Arizona Academic Common Core Standards for 7th and 8th grade
PLC Science 9th-12th
Biology
Earth Science
Physical Science
The curriculum is guided by the Arizona Academic Common Core Standards 9th-12th grade.
Each unit will be approximately 2-3 weeks long
Course Policies: Based on CSHS Policies
· Daily assignments are posted on the white board in the classroom. You are responsible to keep up with daily assignments and due dates.
· You are expected to complete all assignments on time. You are expected to be in class and to participate in all class activities, since the class experience/discussions cannot be recreated by makeup work. Frequent absences are the primary reason for poor student academic performance.
· If you are absent, you need to check the make-up work box in the classroom and ask a teacher/para to explain what you missed. If you have additional questions, please make arrangements to come in during office hours.
· Assignments are due at the beginning of the class period unless specified otherwise. Assignments turned in after it has been collected will be evaluated to receive full credit.
Classroom Instructional Expectations: Based on PLC Behavioral System
n This room must be lived in by all of us. Therefore, all are responsible for picking up trash, keeping gum in the mouth or in a waste basket, keeping the desk surfaces free from marks of any kind, and treating all property with respect.
n Come prepared to learn: Be on time with necessary materials and completed work assignments.
n Respect yourself and the people around you (i.e. use appropriate language, keep your hands and feet to yourself, do not distract other students from learning, be kind to all students and teachers in our classroom, etc.).
n Hands should remain above your desk, and legs should remain underneath your desk with knees facing the teacher and feet on the floor. Heads should always be up.
n Indoor manners are required which include indoor voices should be used at all times, and all physical contact between students should be appropriate and respectful.
n Closed water bottles are acceptable, but should be stowed under desk.
n Food and other drinks should be consumed outside of the classroom during passing times or at lunch.
n When the bell rings, the student is quiet, in assigned seat, and doing bell work.
n When teacher is talking, the student is silent. Student should raise hand to be called on to speak.
n Listen carefully to directions and ask polite questions if you do not understand the directions.
n Remain in your assigned seat unless instructed otherwise or given permission to move around the room.
n All cell phones and electronics are to be put away and out of sight BEFORE the first hour bell rings.
n Follow school rules and dress code policy.
n Speak politely at all times. If you disagree with something, speak to the teacher after school.
n Be prepared with your supplies such as pencils, blue or black pens, loose leaf paper and notebooks every day.
Expectations: Based on PLC and Department Policies
All expectations are to be followed according to the PLC level and behavioral system. Expectations and consequences are posted in the front and back of the room as a constant reminder, of what is expected in the classroom environment. All levels of consequences will be documented and disciplined in the PLC classroom, and for repeated violations of any classroom rule, the student will develop an action plan to correct the behavior. The parent/guardian will be notified of the action plan. Severe behavioral infractions (possession of drugs, weapons, or physical aggression toward staff or students), will be referred to Susan Nelson and the discipline office for further action.
Daily Behavior Points
Each class period students may earn up to 6 Behavior Points (BP). These are entered into Infinite Campus daily and are combined with In Class Work for 80% of each students’ total grade for the semester.
At the end of each class period the teacher will ask each student how many points they earned (0-6 points).
On time = 1 point
Follow Directions = 1 point
Participation = 1 point
Production = 1 point
Respect = 1 point
Verbally and Physically Under Control = 1
6 points total per class period.
Plagiarism and cheating: Based on CSHS Policy
Policies for plagiarism or cheating are the same. This includes but is not limited to: plagiarism, copying of homework or other assignments, talking during a test, “wandering eyes,” identical assignments or nearly identical assignments in any work not designated as group work, or acquisition of any teaching materials. Any instance of this type will result in zero (0) credit on the assignment and a level drop. Please be advised that most of your assignments will be submitted to turnitin.com, a plagiarism search engine.
Cell Phones and Electronic Devices: Based on CSHS Policies.
Cell phones and iPods have proven to be a major cause of interruption and distraction in the classroom. Yet, I am a believer that listening to music for certain classroom activities is soothing and can be a productive tool for the students. If this becomes a distraction, this privilege may be taken away based on the level system.
Upon entering the classroom, IPods and cell phones should be off or set to silent and will be collected before the first hour bell rings. Any cell phone left out on a desk, passed around to friends, or used during class will be confiscated. Any cell phones that are confiscated will have to be picked up by the parent if offence is repeated more than once. This applies to other electronic devices as well unless OKAYED by the teacher. All earphones must be put away, not just out of ears, but taken off and put away while the teacher is instructing. Extenuating circumstances may occur…if this happens; you will need to notify me before school of the issue regarding the phone and accommodations may be made.
For Class Each Day:
n Three-ring binder with dividers
n Wide ruled paper (not spiral bound)
n Blue or black ink pen (ONLY blue or black pens are accepted for credit assignments)
n #2 pencils for quizzes and tests etc. (may be mechanical)
n 2 spiral bound notebooks to be kept in class
n A calendar or agenda book is advisable to write down due dates for assignments if in mainstream (optional)
n Highlighters are useful, (optional)
n USB Drive are useful, (optional)
*Homework in PLC will assigned upon request.
Teachers Note:
Teacher Instruction is very important to your students learning and educational development, so please refrain from calling either your student or the teacher during instructional time.