Welcome to Language Arts!!!

1. Welcome to Language Arts!!! Mr. Chase Rains Royal Spring Middle School 2013-2014

2. What You Need: • One Inch Three Ring Binder • Six Tab Dividers • College Ruled Loose Leaf Paper • Three Prong Plastic Folder • Pencils or Black/Blue Ink Pens • Highlighters • Disinfectant Wipes • Kleenexes

3. Making the Grade: • A: 92-100% • B: 84-91% • C: 76-83% • D: 68-75% • F: 1-67% • I: 0%

4. How You Earn the Grade: • Learning Target Activities: 20% • Short-Cycle Assessments: 30% • Summative Assessments: 50%

5. What To Expect from Mr. Chase: • To treat you with care and respect at ALL times. • To provide you with an orderly, positive classroom environment. • To provide the necessary discipline. • To provide get you prepared for high school level assignments & projects. • To teach you the content of the English/Language Arts.

6. Our Classroom Rules: • Treat everyone (classmates, faculty, staff, visitors, and substitutes) with RESPECT. • Be on time and bring appropriate materials to class and be seated before class begins. • Follow all designated CHAMPS Procedures for each class activity. • Listen to the recognized speaker and wait to be recognized before speaking. • Take care of your own desk, locker, and property. • Use appropriate language and manners at all times.

7. Our Classroom Rules: • Leave all unnecessary items at homes. • Be sure to leave all backpacks/purses and cellular phones/iPods in your locker. • Gum, Candy, Food, or Drinks are not allowed in the hallways and in our classroom. • Take care of all personal needs during community restroom/locker breaks. • Make QUALITY WORK your ultimate goal in all activities and assignments. • Show your TITAN PRIDE at all times! Be proud of your school and your work.

8. What Can You Earn? • Homework Pass • Assessment Re-Take Ticket • Independent Free Time • Technology Time – Computer/iPad • Fast-Food Lunch – Healthy Options Only • Gift Cards

9. What You Don’t Want To Earn: • Verbal Warning w/ Isolated Lunch • Parent Notification • Parent/Teacher/Team/Principal Conference • After-School Detention • In-School Suspension • Exclusion from Participating in School-Wide Activities

10. Entering & Exiting: • Students may not leave the room during the first and the last fifteen minutes of class, or at anytime while I am in front of the class teaching. This means you can only leave the room during work time. Students MAY NOT leave the room during an assessment. • Students are allowed FOUR Restroom/Locker passes per nine weeks. That’s all. Once they are gone; they are gone. You will give these to Mr. Rains upon your leaving of the classroom.

11. Entering & Exiting: • If students need to use the restroom, get a drink, or make a locker visit, they must sign their INITIALS beside their name to indicate their leaving of the classroom. Failure to do this will result in the loss of all leaving the room privileges. • Students must also have their planner signed and completely filled out by Mr. Rains prior to leaving the classroom. • Once you leave the classroom, hurry back! 

12. How Much Homework? • Homework will be given on regular basis and the amount will vary based on the topics currently being studied. • I will do my best to keep all homework assignments at an amount that is reasonable, because I know that students’ and their family’s lives are busy and quality time is invaluable.

13. How Much Homework? • All weekly homework will be due at the end of class EVERY FRIDAY. The only time where homework will be due the next day is when it is assigned on a Thursday, and I will do my best to structure my class in a way that the larger workloads are assigned on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday. However, any assignments given on a Friday will be due at the beginning of class on the following Monday.

14. How Much Homework? • The Exception: If students are assigned to work on major writings or projects for homework in preparation for the next day, then students are expected to have those tasks completed by the due date.

15. What Did I Miss? • When you come back from being absent, you are responsible for gathering all of the missed class notes, assignments, and assessments from Mr. Rains. This information can be found in the multi-colored folders on your grade level’s designated bulletin board. • All needed documents will be stored there for no more than TWO WEEKS; after two weeks those documents will be placed into the recycling bin.

16. What Did I Miss? • Once students have gathered all necessary materials, Mr. Rains will provide them with the necessary instruction in order to successfully complete the missed assignments. • All missed assignments and assessments must be submitted into Mr. Rains’ hands, LITERALLY, in order for credit to be given to students within ONE WEEK of the absence. Mr. Rains will not ask for these missed assignments, as it is the job of the student to submit their missed work in a timely manner.

17. Say NO to Late Work! • Late or incomplete assignments & assessments are NOT ACCEPTED in our classroom. It is the responsibility of the student to turn in all work completed to the best of their ability and on time. There are no exceptions to this policy unless extenuating circumstances occur. • Moreover, extra-curricular activities are not acceptable excuses for assignments not to be completed and turned in on the dates they are due. • The reason for this Late Work Policy is because of the designated homework policy previously discussed in the syllabus.

18. Questions?