Mr. Polish’s Independent Study Government Syllabus

Welcome to Government with Mr. Polish! Our class will meet every Friday from 1:19 – 2:19 pm and your attendance there is required. Because we only meet one day a week, it is important that you maintain communication with me by e-mail if you are having any issues with me, school, or the work. My e-mail is and I check it every day so expect me to get back to you no more than 24 hours after you have messaged me.

Since this is an independent study class, this class will be very different from the social studies classes you have taken in the past. In particular, you are going to do your work within two different contexts:

1. As a class, we will critically analyze political readings every Friday. This means that your respectful engagement in class discussion is essential to your grade. Every week you will receive a 15 – 25 point grade based on how often you participate in class. Points will be deducted for tardies, unexcused absences, using a cell phone, doing homework in class, sleeping in class, putting on make-up, eating, chewing gum loudly, leaving class without getting permission, and/or rude behavior. If you end up getting “negative” points for one week, points will then be deducted from your previous weeks’ grades.

2. You will also be expected to do individual work outside of class. Reading assignments will be posted to

Homework must be printed and handed in at the beginning of your school day unless you prefer to e-mail me your work before the school day begins. Most of the assignments will require you to take notes on and answer questions analyzing what you have read. Don’t even think about copying off somebody else, the readings, or the internet as the consequence will be an automatic zero on the assignment and an e-mail/phone call home. Cheating means copying from the textbook, copying from other students, sharing an individual assignment with other students before it is due, or copying from online sources. It is not acceptable to copy even if you change a few words or re-organize the sentences you are copying. If this happens more than once, you will be referred to the assistant principal and may be expelled from the program.

I want to give you a voice in this classroom and am willing to share some of my power with you. However, with power comes responsibility. If you want to be a part of a class in which you are allowed to speak and be heard, you must:

  1. Be respectful in class. We are going to discuss our feelings, beliefs, and opinions about non-fiction and literature, but we cannot do this if any one person is not on task or making problems with other folks. That means you must:

Raise your hand when you want to speak and wait until you are called on or you will lose discussion points.

Never put anyone down verbally or non-verbally. Doing so will lead to the automatic loss of 3 discussion points for the week.

No hate speech. Regardless of whether or not you think you are “just joking around,” using hate speech will cost you ALL of the week’s discussion points, lead to an automatic e-mail/phone call home and possibly a referral to the vice-principal.

Pay attention in class. Doing other homework, reading things unrelated to the class, eating, passing notes, playing video games, talking, using music devices, putting on make-up or playing with cell phones is NOT ALLOWED under any circumstances and will lead to the automatic loss of 3 discussion points for the week.

  1. Be respectful outside of class. What is said in the class stays in the class.
  1. Be engaged with the class. You are ultimately responsible for your learning. You need to respectfully speak up if you are having problems with the material, me, or any of your peers. You can find me in my room during lunch every day except Monday if you need to talk. If you cannot make it at that time, feel free to e-mail me at .
  2. Show up on time. Be in your seat and ready to work when the bell rings. ______

MR. POLISH’S GRADING SCALE

HOMEWORK: 50% of the grade

PROJECTS/ESSAYS/TESTS: 45% of the grade

CLASS PARTICIPATION: 5% of the grade

If you do not do your HW and/or your grades begin to drop, expect to receive a phone call/e-mail home. If your grades continue to drop, you might be expelled from Independent Study.

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Course OUTLINE

UNIT 1: Understanding Government

UNIT 2: Understanding the Constitution

UNIT 3: Understanding the Political System

UNIT 4: Current Events

Mr. Polish’s RULES

If you want to avoid problems in your classes, you are also going to have to adapt to some rules. These rules are NON-NEGOTIABLE and will take effect immediately.

Food IS NOT ALLOWED DURING CLASS and will be taken away if I see it out after the first warning. Having it out will lead to the automatic loss of 5 discussion points for the week.

Cell phones/electronic devices are NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES and will be taken away if I see them out after the first warning. Having any of these things out will lead to the automatic loss of 5 discussion points for the week.

Music devices are NOT ALLOWEDunless I give you specific permission to use one while you are working.

Passing notes, putting on make-up, doing other homework, chewing gum loudly, reading unrelated materials, leaving class without getting permission, or sleeping in class are NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES and doing any of these things will lead to the automatic loss of at least 5 discussion points for the week.

Basic Everyday Rules:

Show up to class ON TIME.

TURN OFF cell phones, pagers, iPods, PSPs and all other electronic gadgets and doohickeys BEFORE CLASS.

BRING your own notebook, paper, readings, books, dictionary, pens, pencils, and erasers to class. Not bringing your notebook, or pen/pencil will lead to the automatic loss of 2 discussion points for the week.

BE PREPARED to work, participate, and ask lots of questions AS SOON AS THE BELL RINGS.

RAISE YOUR HAND BEFORE you speak and WAIT TO BE CALLED ON. Speaking out of turn will lead to the automatic loss of 1 discussion point.

ALWAYS ASK PERMISSION before walking out of class for any reason.

IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THESE RULES YOU WILL:

1ST – RECEIVE A VERBAL WARNING AND/OR LOSE A DISCUSSION POINT

2ND – LOSE ANOTHER POINT, HAVE A CONFERENCE WITH ME DURING LUNCH, AND/OR

BE MOVED TO ANOTHER SEAT

3RD – LOSE ANOTHER POINT ANDRECEIVE A PHONE CALL &/OR E-MAIL HOME

4TH – LOSE ANOTHER POINT AND RECEIVE A REFERRAL TO ROBYN POPE

5TH – LOSE ANOTHER POINT ANDRECEIVE A REFERRAL TO THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE

6TH – LOSE ANOTHER POINT AND HAVE TO ATTEND CLASS WITH YOUR PARENT

7TH – LOSE ANOTHER POINT AND RECEIVE A REFERRAL TO THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE/POSSIBLE

EXPULSION FROM INDEPENDENT STUDIES

Mr. Polish’s Policies

These policies are NON-NEGOTIABLE and will take effect immediately.

Things to Bring Every day:

SPIRAL NOTEBOOK/THREE RING BINDER (you must get one just for this class).

ASSIGNED PACKETS/BOOKS. Homework readings will be posted to

PENS/PENCILS/ERASERS/HIGHLIGHTERS. Not bringing a pen/pencil to class will lead to the automatic loss of 2 discussion points for the week.

Absences:

It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to get the homework and notes from either me or another student if you are absent as you will be graded on all the work assigned in class. You will get no discussion points if your absence is unexcused.

1 Absence (Excused or Unexcused) = Phone call or e-mail home

2 Unexcused Absences = Phone call or e-mail home/ Referral to Robyn and possible dismissal from Independent Study

3 Unexcused Absences = Phone call or e-mail home/ Referral to Robyn and possible dismissal from Independent Study

Tardies:

You will lose 5 points for every unexcused tardy. Tardies may only be excused by bringing a note from a teacher, a parent/guardian, or the office. You must take care of this before you come to class.

Late Work:

HW must always be turned in at the beginning of the day or e-mailed to me at before the school day starts. Make sure to send documents in .pdf, Word 1997-2003 or .rtf formats. LATE WORK WILL ONLY RECEIVE FULL CREDIT IF I RECEIVE AN E-MAIL FROM A PARENT/GUARDIAN THAT GIVES A GOOD REASON FOR WHY IT WAS LATE. HAVING AN AUDITION, GOING ON A TRIP, BEING IN A PLAY/MOVIE/COMMERCIAL/CONCERT ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE REASONS FOR LATE WORK. LATE WORK WILL BE MARKED ONE GRADE DOWN FOR EVERY CALENDAR DAY IT IS LATE. WORK THAT IS OVER 5 DAYS LATE WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY MARKED 50% OFF WHATEVER GRADE YOU GET.