HONORS BIOLOGY COURSE GUIDELINES

Teacher: Monika Biro

Room: Rm. 110

E-mail:

Phone: 330-954-2124

Code of Behavior: I trust that you will be responsible for your own learning and will not engage in any activity that will take away from your own learning or from your classmate’s ability to learn. Please use your time in class efficiently so we can accomplish the most in class on this very demanding course. My primary role as a teacher is to communicate my understanding and passion for biology to you and to act as a guide and source in your process of mastering the material. I also expect each of you to be a resource to others; there is a lot we can learn from each other. To facilitate this, I ask that you respect the comments and opinions of others.

Preparation for Class: Your preparation for class will be assumed. Please bring to class each day the following materials:

  • Pencil, pen and eraser
  • Loose-leaf paper
  • Small ruler for lab drawings
  • An appointment/assignment calendar
  • A 3”, 3-ring binder with pocket sleeves dedicated solely to Honors Biology
  • Your text book

Electronics Use: Listening to music is not permitted. Absolutely no using of cell phones is permitted, including text messaging (unless otherwise directed by the teacher). Turn off all cell phones prior to coming to class. If you choose to violate these guidelines, your calculator, cell phone, or headset will be confiscated and sent to the office.

Grading Policy:

You earn your grade; I do not “give” grades. Grades will be updated and posted on a regular basis (usually weekly). The final grade for the class will not be a surprise to you. If you have any complains, observations, comments regarding the grades, please come and talk to me as soon as possible. I am happy to explain how and why I graded an assignment the way I did. Extra credit assignments will not be given to improve your grade.

Grades are assigned to the following categories each semester:

  • 55% Tests
  • 30% Laboratory Work, quizzes
  • 15% Class work (behavior and participation) and homework

Late Work:

Late work due to an excused absence will be accepted without penalty if it is turned in on the day you return to school.If you had an excused absence, you can take the same number of days to make up your assignments as the days you missed. I will not look for you for makeup work, you need to come and ask me if you have questions regarding missing work. However, I always post the homework on Blackboard and you will be able to check what you missed there. If you were not absent, late work will not be accepted from you. You will automatically receive a zero.

Labs:

You must follow the lab safety guidelines for all labs completed for Honors Biology. Your lab reports must be neatly written and all your work must be independent, unless otherwise ordered by the teacher. Be careful, labs are 30 % of your grade and I take the lab reports very seriously.

Attendance:

Regular attendance is very important if you plan on succeeding in Honors Biology. The attendance policy corresponds with the school-wide policy; see the student handbook. Most of the labs, presentations, videos and other assignments are more difficult, if not impossible, to completely make up.

One person may leave the classroom at a time with a hall pass. You may not leave the classroom during direct instruction (i.e. lecture or giving directions). If you choose to abuse this privilege expect disciplinary action.

Your tardiness of a minute or two is disruptive in the class. After three tardiness, you will receive a detention with me after school. After six tardiness, you will be reported to the school administrator.

Extra help Opportunities:

I will be available on most days for lab make up and extra help befort and after school. In addition, please feel free to email me at any time with questions or to set up a one-on-one study session. I will do my best to help you learn biology at your convenience.You will also be able to go to the after school study center for extra help with older students.

Extra Credit:

There is no extra credit on this course. However, you will have the opportunity to get a large number of grades on every grade category so one unsuccessful assignment will not influence your final grade substantially.

Cheating:

Cheating will result in disciplinary actions as outlined in the student handbook.

Tests are given once per unit (about twice per quarter) and will be patterned after the skills that we learned in class. You will get a variety of questions such as multiple choices, short answer questions, problems and essay questions. Quizzes are given at the end of every chapter. No retakes. All quizzes and tests are announced, I will not give you any surprise quizzes. We also will review before most of the quizzes and tests.

Study quizzes will be given on the regular basis to encourage regular studying. Lab reports are a very important part of your grade. Lab report writing will be practiced in the class and you have an additional handout given to explain how to write these lab reports. Each lab report is graded for correctness and counts as a quiz grade, so make sure that you spend enough time writing them and ask questions during labs if you don’t understand something.

HAVE A GREAT LEARNING EXPERIENCE AND AN EXCITING YEAR