World History10 : Connections to Today

YEARBOOK

Ms. Darin FisherEastlake High School

Email: 0 ext. 333

Room: C 210

General Philosophy of the Course:

The assumption of the course is that students wish to be staff members because they have a strong commitment to making the Eastlake Yearbook a success and to learning about yearbook publication and journalistic writing. This being true, grades seem less important than they might be in a traditional academic class. In some ways it would be nice to eliminate grades entirely from the course and just do what we have to do to put out a quality school yearbook. However, the school requires that the adviser assigns a letter grade and your parents want to see how you are doing.

This being said, the most important factor in a yearbook grade is meeting deadlines! A good yearbook staffer and editor need to show commitment, hustle, teamwork and, of course, high quality work.

Course Description:

Yearbook is a one credit elective course that teaches the fundamentals of writing and publishing a school yearbook. Students will earn credit through completion of some practice assignments and the completion of a high quality yearbook. Yearbook, unlike most other courses, is an actual business that creates a product that is distributed throughout the school and community. There is tremendous responsibility on each member of the yearbook staff because his/her work reflects more than an individual effort.

Course Work Grading Categories:

Your grade in the course will be determined by the advisor and based on the following criteria:

• Meeting deadlines; fulfilling commitments; fulfilling the duties outlined in your job description
• Your productive presence during editing and layout, including any outside of class work sessions
• The quality of your work
• The completion of homework, reading, and exercises
• Your timely, effective communication to fellow editors and to the adviser regarding your work and any problems associated with it.
• A constructive attitude and cooperative team approach to getting the paper out on time.
• Completion of your quarterly photo shoot requirement. This will be 5 sessions outside of class per quarter with at least 10 useable photos from each shoot.
• Completion of a weekly work log detailing what you have completed.
• Completion of a portfolio due at the end of each deadline.

Grading Scale:

The EHS Humanities Department grading scale, as follows:

A100-90C76-73

B+89-87C-72-70

B86-83D+69-67

B-82-80 D66-60

C+79-77 F59-0

1. Formative Assessments - (60%)

The majority of a student’s grade will be determined through the publication of the yearbook and meeting deadlines throughout the year. Students will be assessed on their ability to brainstorm, write, edit, and re-write stories, as well as reflect on their work. Students will also be assessed on their ability to make and meet deadlines, work effectively with other members of the yearbook staff, meet their photography and weekly log assignments and on feedback from editorial and peer evaluations. Responsibilities for each staff member will be outlined and grading criteria may vary depending on those commitments.

2. Summative Assessments - (40%)

Each student will need to keep a portfolio as a record of their work. This portfolio will be submitted and evaluated throughout the school year and will reflect what the student has contributed to the completion of the yearbook.

Standard Score:

Parents and students have the opportunity to check student grades and progress online via Standard Score on the Lake Washington School District website: lwsd.org. Click on the link For Parents, and then log in to Parent Access. Grades will be updated at minimum of every two weeks, with the exception of when a large project is assigned that will take longer than two weeks.

Communication:

I will be sending emails to your school email. You need to check this email on a daily basis. I do not want to hear that you did not get the email. If you have a problem with your school email, see me.

Absences:

It is the responsibility of the student to attend all classes. In the case of illness or emergency, it is important that staff members communicate so that deadlines are not missed. It is the responsibility of the student to find out what assignments he or she needs to make up when he or she returns.

Unless a staff member is on assignment, it is also the responsibility of the student to attend class on time. If a staff member abuses his press privileges of being outside the classroom during class he/she may be penalized with a tardy or absence.

An accumulated 4 tardies =1 absence. 7 absences=NO CREDIT. Tardies may also be converted to absences after 10 minutes, as per school policy.

Behavior Expectations:

Unlike other Eastlake classes, staff members have an additional commitment to each other. Since Eastlake Yearbook is a collaborative work, irresponsible behavior and effort reflects poorly on everyone on staff. Each staff member must commit to each other by promising to stay after school to meet deadlines when the situation requires it. Refusal to make this commitment will not be only reflected in grades but may result in a loss of position.

Students will also be given the opportunity to work outside of the classroom and are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner. If this is abused, the students press pass will be revoked and the grade will reflect this.

Yearbook

I have read, understand and agree to abide by the rules and expectations for the Yearbook class with Ms. Fisher. . I understand not only the course expectations but accept the personal commitments as well.

Student Name (PRINT):______

Student Signature:______

Parent/Guardian Signature:______

Date:______