• Social Studies: U.S. history and geography, from before European exploration to the Civil War.

• Language Arts: various reading, writing, listening and speaking projects from our Houghton Mifflin language arts program; a class novel at the end of the year; at least one extended research project (topic T.B.A.).

• Science: biology, earth/space science, physical science.

• Math: see Ms. Gregory for this. It's all a big mystery to me. All I know is that you'd better know your times tables, and know 'em well!

1. There will be science homework on Monday and Wednesday, language arts homework on Tuesday and Thursday, and no homework on Friday--USUALLY.
2. Unless you have a special education IEP which states otherwise, you must do all the work assigned in class.
3. It is your responsibility to learn what the homework was while you were absent.
4. You get extra days if work was assigned while you were absent.
5. You have until the following Monday to turn in late work.
6. You will get half credit on late work that was traded and graded in class. There will be no penalty for late work that we did not trade and grade in class.
7. You must clearly write "ABSENT" on work if it is late because you were absent, or I will give you half credit. I can't keep track of when everyone in class was absent; my brain is too small.
8. If you turn in a no-name paper, it will probably be thrown away (though you might check in "Mystery Meat").
9. I generally don't assign extra credit work.
10. If you turn in and get credit on every single assignment during the course of the quarter, you will receive at least a C.
11. If you know you're going to be absent for five days or more, it is your responsibility to get an independent study contract from the office and fill it out.

SCIENCE

• participation 15%
• tests 40%
• assignments 45%

LANGUAGE ARTS

• participation 15%
• tests 20%
• assignments 45%
• writing 20%

• Look on the "Assignments" sheet or the planner board at the front of the class.
• Check the homework voicemail daily at 637.4439 x 205.
• Read the weekly newsletter.
• If that is still not enough, we can talk about setting up a homework signoff plan.

Grades don't tell how smart you are; they tell how hard you're working. Plenty of geniuses have received poor grades, and plenty of hard-working dullards have received good grades.

All of our actions in life have direct consequences, and good grades are a direct consequence of hard work. This is a life lesson that it is extremely important to learn. Fortunately for you, it's easier to learn these lessons in fifth grade than it is to learn them as an adult. If you do a poor job as an adult, you lose your job and you can't support your family. If you do a poor job as a fifth grader, you get a letter written on a piece of paper that you don't like. Fifth grade mistakes are not as permanent as adult mistakes can be, and the lessons we learn from them are not as painful.

Poor grades can teach such important lessons as do things differently next time; turn your work in; do a good job. Trying to fix a poor grade with extra credit only teaches that, no matter how poorly we do over the long haul, we can fix things at the last second with very little effort. That is definitely not the lesson I want to teach. That's not the way life works.

Please don't come to me after failure notices go out, asking, "What can I do to bring this grade up?" You just had seven weeks where all you had to do was turn in the work in order to be able to pass. If you earn a poor grade in my class, you'll have to live with it. Just be sure you learn the lesson it should be teaching you: DO A BETTER JOB NEXT TIME!

1. Assignments are listed on El Boardo as missing or turned in.
2. Progress reports will be sent out at midquarter.
3. Failed class notices will be sent out approximately two weeks before report cards.
4. Report cards are sent out at the end of each quarter.
5. Your folder of graded work is kept in class during the course of the quarter.
6. I will return phone calls and emails if your parents have questions about your progress.

There's no way on earth that Ms. Gregory and I assign hours and hours of homework on a single night. No way. You should be looking at about an hour of work each night--less, probably, because we always get a start on homework at school. If you have two or three hours of homework at night, you're not working efficiently.

Not much, if any at all. We don't do a lot of extra credit in my classes; sometimes we do none. You have nine weeks in which all you have to do is get the work turned in to be eligible for a C. It is expected that you will do your work.

• You didn't put your name on it. It's in "Mystery Meat" or it got thrown away.
• It's still in your backpack/binder/desk. It's probably too late to turn in, but check anyway.
• I accidentally skipped it when I was entering grades. Pull it out of your work folder, put it in "Not Entered On Chart," and I'll correct the gradebook. (This only works if the item is ALREADY GRADED by me.)

We keep graded work in a folder in class until the end of the quarter. That serves two purposes: first, if I make a mistake and don't give you credit for work that you did, you can just pull it out of the folder and wave it at me. Second, your parents can come in and see the entire range of work that is being done (instead of just the A's and B's, as sometimes happens).

We will do a number of homework assignments over the course of a chapter. We check these and grade them as we go, but we don't turn them in until the chapter is finished. At that point, I list all the assignments on the board and we put them together into a packet. The points for any packet count as one grade in the gradebook.

You don't have to keep track of those papers. We have folders in class called "safekeeping folders." All work can be safely stowed in there until it is time to pull the packet together. If all else fails, there should be extra worksheets in the "Extra Stuffs" area. You can turn the packet in as late as the following Monday.

1. Allow the teacher to teach.
2. Allow other students to learn.
3. Respect people and property.
4. Come to class ready to work.
5. Keep all things from flying through the air.

For the usual violations, you'll have a couple of warnings before I hand out a detention. Then I'll contact your parents, refer you to the principal, and so on. I might have you call your parents from class so you can explain your behavior. Sometimes, though, I have to skip steps if the violation is serious. I don't expect that things will ever get that far.

Just slip me a note detailing what you are not allowed to do, and I'll take care of it.

Only if you're having an emergency. I expect that you'll go to the bathroom and get drinks of water during lunch and recess. We will start by rationing bathroom trips.

You need to bring your own school supplies. I have a jar of found pencils at the front of the room that you can choose from, but if it is empty, it's empty. If you don't have a pencil or paper or your book--and I become involved in the problem because you don't solve it quietly on your own--then the preparedness part of your grade will go down. You may also have to serve detention at lunch if this becomes an ongoing problem.

Please don't. And please don't wear a hat in class. And don't chew your hat or wear your gum on your head. In fact, let's pretend that hats and gum simply don't exist.

• voicemail: 831.637.4439 x 105
• homework hotline: 831.637.4439 x 205
• email address: mrk@hollinet.com
• class web site: http://www.hollinet.com/~mrk

Please note that I return phone messages after school hours.