Welcome to Algebra 1 With

Class Rules & Procedures(Subject to Change)

Room #:215Teacher: Mr. KeysYear:2017-18

Why Procedures?

According to Judie Gustafson, a well-known American educator, “procedures are a part of life. We follow procedures for [finding information on the web], boarding an airplane, approaching a traffic light, and attending a wedding. The reason we have procedures in life is so that people can function in society knowing the acceptable and efficient ways other people do things.

“There are also procedures in [a] classroom. These procedures establish [the] classroom culture.”

What Procedures?

Arriving at the Classroom – When you arrive, if the class start bell has not yet rung, set your bookbag down near your assigned seat, place your notebook and pencil/pen on your desk THEN return to the hallway to chat, get a drink of water or visit the restroom. Be aware: you will be marked LATE if you are not in the classroom when the start bell has rung.

Entering the Classroom at the Start of a Period – Enter calmly and quietly. Sit in your chosen or assigned seat. Take out your pencil/pen and notebook. Read the class agenda, standard, essential question(s) and objective(s) in the Opener document on your screen or bring it down from Read the Opener instructions on the right hand side of the Opener document. Do the Opener quickly and efficiently in order to turn in after the passage of 5-7 minutes. (Do the previous class’s opener if you were absent.)

When You Are Tardy – Enter quietly. Sign in in the tardy log on the pedestal by the door. If students are still working on the class Opener, sit in your chosen or assigned seat, take out your pencil/pen and notebook, read the Opener instructions in the Opener document on your screen(or bring it down from and complete as many/much of the problem(s) that time allows. If Mr. Keys is already lecturing, sit and take out your pencil/pen and notebook.You can usually make up your Opener at a later time.

Leaving the Classroom Early – You may leave the classroom early if and only if you have a pre-arranged appointment note signed and dated by the teacher, counselor, administrator, parent, etc. who you are planning to meet. Members of sports teams will be allowed to leave without a note as soon as team rosters are made available to Mr. Keys, a coach has sent out an e-mail requesting certain students’s early dismissal and/or an announcement has been made on the intercom.

Leaving the Classroom on a Pass – You may leave the classroom to go to the bathroom, to your locker, to the drinking fountain or to a previous classroomin case you forgot something there as long as the class pass is available or you have a note granting prior permission. This will not occur in the first ten minutes of class or the last ten minutes of class!Mr. Keys’s hall pass is located in the top file cabinet drawer to the right of his desktop. Mr. Keys’s own agenda(s)may be used when an emergency situation arises and the hall pass is not available. Please see Asking a Non-Topic-Related Question below for how and when to request permission to leave the classroom to go to the bathroom, to your locker, etc. ALSO, please understand this: EVERY student in class has needs. You are not the Queen or King Bee. You have five minutes to go to the bathroom…less if it’s a drink of water or a need to retrieve something from your locker. Be COMPASSIONATE! No one else can go to an identical location until YOU come back. If you persist in taking longer than 5 minutes and not thinking about others, you lose your ‘leaving the classroom’ privileges.

Asking a Topic-Related Question – Raise your hand when asking a question or asking for clarification during lecture time. Remember: Ask three others before Mr. Keys(?3B4Me). If Mr. Keys is already helping another person, he will answer you or assist you as soon as he is available. Please control your impatience…or show some understanding if Mr. Keys must respond to a large number of questions and makes a mistake in the order in which he responds to raised hands.

Asking a Non-Topic-Related Question – Do NOT ask a non-topic-related question or make a non-topic-related request (to sharpen a pencil, to go to the restroom, to see a counselor, to get something from your locker, to throw something away, to borrow a pencil, etc.) if Mr. Keysis in the middle of a lecture, individually helping another person or engaged in a class discussion. Wait until the lecture is finished or hits an identifiable break, he is no longer helping the individual with whom he was talking or the class discussion is finished or hits an identifiable break. Please be patient if he does not answer you immediately and/or asks you to wait a moment. He will almost always remember your request so, ideally, there should be no need to make the same request multiple times.

When You Have Finished Your Work or Class Has Finished Early – If you have finished your work early and some of your classmates are still working OR if we have finished class early, take that time to complete any unfinished homework, update your notes, complete the opener or exit pass(if there is one) or ask Mr. Keys if there is additional extra credit work you might do. Please do not waste valuable class time on a Jerry Seinfeld ‘nothingness’ moment.

Missing Class/Home Work – Sometimes, you may be absent when significant classwork has been done or homework was assigned. When you return to class (or even at home!), check the assignments list on the far right side of the front whiteboard, the Hancock web site or Google classroom. Remember that openers and exit passes missed due to an excused absence can be made up by going to the website or completing them on the day of your return to class since yesterday’s opener is always printed again in today’s Opener document. Always have your late work signed by a parent/guardian with their phone number. Understand the Hancock policies for late work. REMEMBER: It is your responsibility to find out about and do missing work due to absences.Mr. Keys will do his best to remember to place handouts in your class folder.

Missing Quizzes or Exams – Sometimes, you may be absent on a quiz or exam day. You may make up the quiz or exam during academic lab or sometimes after school on the day or your return. Or, you may arrange a time during the day, during academic lab, after school or before school on a day after your return. Please try to make up missing assessments within a week.

When Someone Knocks on the Door or Calls on the Intercom – There is no need for students to assume the identity of Mr. Keys or respond “Come in” in unison. Please stop talking if engaged in a class discussion or group work and let Mr. Keys answer the door, respond “Come in” or speak to the intercom.

Storing Your Materials – You will be given a folder to label with your name and period sometime during the first or second week of school. If you are the type of person who cannot remember to bring essential learning tools to class, then make sure you leave them in your designated folder before you exit the classroom after dismissal. Aside from learning tools, this folder can be used to hold old class/home work as well. It will also be used by Mr. Keys to deposit any items you may have forgotten on or around your desk at dismissal time. IF Mr. Keys is on the ball, he may place handouts from a day on which you were absent in that folder. Before asking Mr. Keys for replacement copies of handouts or moaning about lost pieces of homework, check this folder. It will be located in a hanging file boxsomewhere in the classroom, most likely near a window behind his work station.

Taking Notes – Notes will be checked at least once quarterly.You MUST have a notebook used solely for mathematics!!! New pages of notes should have a title and date and be subdivided Cornell-notes style. You may store your math notebook in your personal hanging file folder if you tend to forget it or lose it.

Doing Class Work or Homework – When doing class work or homework, please make sure that your paper is folded so that, in the upper left box of the first page you hand in, Mr. Keys can find your name, period and date. In the upper middle or right box of the first page, the assignment title or text page number should be written. Papers handed in without these headings will not be marked!!! They will be handed back unmarked with a request for the proper format.

Turning in Class/Home Work, Openers and Exit Passes –All homework, classwork and projects should be handed in to Mr. Keys in the hanging file labeled ‘Homework’, ‘Openers’ or ‘Exit Passes’ or in one of the homework collection trays. There is no need to make a personal presentation. (Occasionally, Mr. Keys will collect work as a class.)

Finding Out Your Grade – Please try to refrain from haranguing Mr. Keys for your grade, especially towards the end of a 5-week marking period. You or your parents can check your grade/point total and classwork/homework scores on any computer with internet access by navigating to Gradebook. Parents can pick up their password to access Gradebook by stopping by the main office and speaking with Ms. Mendez or contacting one of the counselors. Mr. Keys will do his best to enter all assignments and scores into Gradebook in a timely fashion and NOT on the final day of a marking period. He is required to enter approximately 2 grades per week. He will also post downloadable copies of syllabus, procedures, assignments, classwork and homework handouts, PowerPoint notes, pdf files of the textbook chapter currently being studiedand openers/exit passes/agendas/notes on the Hancock website. (

Disposing of Trash – There is a trashbucket at the front of the classroom. There should be a recycling container nearby as well. Throw your trash and recycling in those receptacles…NOT on the floor, behind tables or in corners. Mr. Keys does not want to spend time being a janitor!!!He would rather spend his time trying to devise fun and creative ways for you to learn. Help him!!! In addition, do not THROW or TOSS your trash into the buckets. Stand up and walk to one of them DURING INDIVIDUAL WORK TIME. Or pass your trash to a neighbor who is closer to the bucket and can reach it without throwing or tossing. Basketball is for P.E.

Working Cooperatively – When group work is being engaged in, carefully listen to instructions before starting work. Make sure you know exactly what the purpose of the group work is, what specific procedures will be used, what specific roles will be assumed and what signifies a completed activity. If chairs must be moved in order to facilitate the activity, no one will leave the classroom at dismissal time until all chairs are put back in their proper order. Similarly, if books, tools or other non-personal materials are used during the group work, no one will leave the classroom at dismissal time until all those items are stowed or returned to their original location.Groups will be assigned by Mr. Keys. They will be changed periodically. WARNING: If you choose to be the slacker during group work, Mr. Keys will institute a protocol by which fellow group members rate each other’s participation efforts. And if your score for that element of the cooperative task is below 50%, you will receive only a 50% (F) for the task.

Quieting the Class – It is inevitable that the classroom will sometimes become noisy and seemingly chaotic. If there is a reason to refocus the class’s attention on Mr. Keys or another classroom individual, Mr. Keys will ring a bell one or several times. When your hear this call to attention, please stop what you are doing, cease talking, sit in your seatand wait for further instructions. The call to attention will not be interminable. It will usually be made to give a final direction, clarify a general misunderstanding or make/elicit a summary statement.

Food in the Class -- According to John Hancock’s Student Code of Conduct/Handbook, food and drink are prohibited outside the cafeteria. In Mr. Keys’s room, food is particularly forbidden due to past experiences with insect and rodent populations. The only time it is allowed is during the Grab and Go Breakfast portion of Periods 1 and 5. The only beverage permitted is CLEAR, non-carbonated, unsweetened water in resealable plastic bottles or containers. If you believe your beverage is unsweetened but not clear, please allow Mr. Keys to read the ingredients and he may give you permission to consume it during class…or he may ask for a taste via a plastic cup. REPEAT: NO LIQUIDS IN THE COMPUTER ROOM UNLESS IN RESEALABLE CONTAINERS! AND ABSOLUTELY NO NON-GRAB-AND-GO FOOD!

Phones/Gaming Devices in the Class -- According to John Hancock’s Student Code of Conduct/Handbook, cell phones and music/gaming devices are prohibited in the classroom. ALWAYS. No exceptions. If you are in possession of one of these devices and feel you may be tempted to use it in class (and thereby risk getting a referral or call home), give it to Mr. Keys to place on his person before class begins and he will return it to you at the end of class. If you DO use one of these devices in class, Mr. Keys will ask you to give it up till the end of class…then return it once the dismissal bell rings. If you refuse and an argument ensues, a referral will be issued and a phone call made to your parent(s).NOTE: An idle phone on your desk is still viewed by Mr. Keys as a phone in use and may be confiscated till the end of class. Should you choose to charge your phone, you may request to attach it to Mr. Keys’s desktop or laptop. But that also means it is off limits until the bell rings. Music may be played during group work time via Mr. Keys’s laptop or desktop. If you would like to listen to music that is not already on his laptop or desktop, bring a CD or flash drive which contains the music files and he will import it into his iTunes library for whole class listening.(A word of advice: You may attempt attaching your iPod to his laptop or desktop. However, it does not always work and sometimes may cause your entire music library to vanish.) Music may occasionally be played during independent work as long as Mr. Keys feels it will not cause or does not notice it causing a disturbance to work completion. However, this must be done by attaching earbuds TO YOUR DESKTOP…NOT YOUR PHONE!!! If you are having trouble logging into a music website, Mr. Keys will log you in from his desktop. Simply make a verbal request or send him a message via Insight.

Desktop Setup – Your work should be saved to your desktop without loss. However, because we know that unforeseen errors occur, you MUST have a flash drive OR be comfortable with saving EVERYTHING in your e-mail as well. Choose one additional option.

Initially, create 4 folders on the desktop called:

Your Full Name – College Algebra – PowerPoints
Your Full Name – College Algebra – Course Documents
Your Full Name – College Algebra – Openers
Your Full Name – College Algebra – Worksheets and Handouts

Feel free to create subfolders within these folders to further organize your data, docs and work. You should save EVERYTHING to these folders. Then, at the end of the class period, save this folder to your flash drive or attach it to an e-mail in your e-mail account if you wish to have access to it off the Hancock campus. WARNING: I will not accept ANY excuses about losing classroom documents if you do not follow one of the two above-mentioned additional methods of saving.

2017-2018

College Algebra Rules and Procedures Confirmation Form

______

Student Name (Please print!)Period

We have discussed the information in the rules and procedures for the College Algebra course. My child understands what is required to be successful in Mr. Keys’s class.

______

Parent SignatureStudent Signature

If I need to contact you:

______

Parent PhoneBest time to call

______

Parent Email

 We have internet access at home.

 We do not have internet access at home.

Any comments, questions or needed clarifications? Should I know anything about you or your child in order to better assist their class success?

______