2015/2016
Psychology/Sociology
Mr. Thacker:
Class Description: Psychology and Sociology are elective classes that are part of the Social Studies department at Green High School. Psychology is the study of the brain, how if effects our development and why we react certain ways to stimuli. Sociology looks at groups in society and how they affect our view of the world and can in many ways help to predict behavior.
Class Supplies: All students will be required to provide their own pen or pencil as well as paper for note taking. Many items that students will need can be found on the internet so students will also need to make sure that they can log onto the computers are the school. Students will be issued a book for both psychology and sociology and will need to bring them to class on a daily basis.
Class Expectations:
1.Must be in your seat and ready for class when the bell rings to be on time.
2.Be prepared: Bring book everyday.
3.Complete assigned work in a timely fashion to the best of your ability.
4.Electronic devices are prohibited in the classroom unless specified by Mr. Thacker.
5.All rules specified in the Green High Code of Conduct also apply to this class.
*Failure to meet these expectations will result in consequences. Consequences will be determined by the teacher as needed.
Class policy on late and Make up Work:
Late work: Any work turned in one day late will result in a 50% reduction in grade. This includes major projects and papers. All late work is to have the date that assignment was assigned, the date it is due and the name of the work. Late work will not be accepted after that one day, this will result in a zero. All projects, either group or individual, are due on the date assigned regardless of absence. Please keep your teacher updated on any problems that might be occurring during a project to avoid a late grade. (This does not apply to homework.)
Make up Work: Make up work is the responsibility of the student. Those who miss class should get any class notes from a fellow student and see Mr. Thacker before the start of class to make up any assignments. You will have the numbers of days absent plus one to make up any missed work. This includes tests and quizzes. Work not made up during this time will result in a zero. People who miss school for vacations will be given two days after returning to turn in missed work, or this will result in a zero.
Grades:
Grading Scale is listed below and reflects the changes made by the Board of Education. The 80/20 policy will be utilized as stated below:
Letter Grade / Percentage Range / College Prep Quality PointsA+ / 98-100 / 4.33
A / 93-97 / 4.00
A- / 90-92 / 3.67
B+ / 87-89 / 3.33
B / 83-86 / 3.00
B- / 80-82 / 2.67
C+ / 77-79 / 2.33
C / 73-76 / 2.00
C- / 70-72 / 1.67
D+ / 67-69 / 1.33
D / 63-66 / 1.00
D- / 60-62 / .67
F / Failing / 0
Final Grade Determination:
In a blocked and/or semester class, a final course grade will be determined by multiplying the nine (9) week averages by two (2) and adding the final exam grade. This final will then be divided by five (5)to determine the class average.
For Example:
1st 9 weeks grade: 78%(C+) X 2 =156
2nd 9 weeks grade: 88%(B+) X 2= 176
Final Exam grade 71%(C-) X 1+ 71
Total= 403 divided by 5 = 80.6 (rounded) = 81%= B
Message from the Administration:
At Green High School, grades are calculated in all classes based on the 80/20 Policy. As a result, a student’s grade is divided into 2 categories: Academic Achievement and Academic Practice.After a student has had sufficient instruction and practice on a topic, it is then reasonable to judge his/her mastery of the information or skills in the form of academic achievement assessments. The purpose is to evaluate how well a student has learned the material. Eighty percent of the total course grade comes from academic achievement and will consist of tests (oral, written and performance), some quizzes, some homework, writings, projects or presentations.Whenever a student learns new material he or she goes through a time of wrestling with the material before eventually mastering the information or skills. It is expected that a student will make some mistakes during this learning process. Work completed during this learning period is considered academic practice. Twenty percent of the total course grade comes from academic practice and will consist of some quizzes, homework, first drafts of writing, teacher questions during instruction, some worksheets, informal observations or pre-testing.
Class Components
Homework: Homework will be assigned on a daily basis and will conclude with an assignment in class the following day or a quiz.
Class work: There will be a number of assignments that students are required to complete while they are in class. Some of these class work assignments will be practice grades and others will be achievement grades.
Projects: Projects will cover a number of different areas and be academic achievement grades. Projects are due on the date assigned in class. Late projects will result in a drop in letter grade each day that it is late.
Participation: Since this class is an elective there are a number of topics that will have class discussion components. For that reason it is important for students to participate in class. Participation can be done through adding to discussions in class, asking questions, or finding a topic for discussion with the class. You can lose discussion points for not being on task, sleeping, or talking when you are not supposed to be.
Tests/Quizzes
Re-testing: Any student who would like to re-test mustcomply withALL of the following guidelines...
1.Students who wish to "try again" must set up a time AFTER school to re-test
2.Students mustcomplete an "extra" assignment that will be given to themupon their asking to re-test and this assignment is duebefore they re-test.*If the "extra" assignmentis not completed then re-testing will not be permitted.
3.Students who wish to re-test cannot have any "missing" work. All work is accepted for late credit up until test day.
4.Students can only "earn" a maximum grade of 90% on a re-test. (So if you earn a 100% on the re-test, the score you will receive is a 90%)
5.Students who earned extra credit from a review game and re-test forfeit their extra credit. (It will not be calculated into the re-test grade).
6.*If students would like to come in and sit down with me on their own timeto goover the questions they missedon the first test I would be more than happy to do that... appointment needed.
7.The re-test grade will be the grade that counts in Progress Book, even if it is worse than their original test score.
Mr. Thacker availability for extra help, questions, or just to talk:
1.My school phone is 330-896-7575 extension x616092
2.I am usually in the school from 6:30-3pm
3.My email is