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September 1, 1998
Dear Students and Parents:
Welcome to the 1998-99 school year and the new facility. Here in room 306, we have the
golden opportunity of a computer lab for daily learning activities. We will use the
Internet, Microsoft Office: particularly Word and PowerPoint, and email to support our
curriculum goals in reading and writing skills.
Many activities will take off from our classroom website at: http://epiphany.simplenet.com/mccarthy. Parents are welcomed and encouraged to view the
site for weekly lessons, anonymous grades, published student work, and resources. In
addition, there is a section exclusively for parents that is on-going in development.
Comments, requests, and ideas for this section are welcomed. On August 31, 1998, students
brought home a classroom web permission form home to be signed. If you have not seen it
please ask your child for it or go to the classroom website and click the "News"
button link for a copy, listed as Web Permissions.
My phone number was listed at the bottom of the web permission form. Please call with
any concerns, or to check your childs progress. Emails to jmc2ocla@moa.net
generally get a faster response because we are not playing phone tag. Please send me your
email. I will send you monthly newsletters. Those without will receive paper copies.
The following is general information regarding assignments:
Homework Policy
Homework is due at the beginning of class, unless otherwise stated. Late work is
deducted one letter grade for each day late. An assignment that is 4 to 10 school days
late receives no more than 50% of the point value. No assignment will be accepted after 10
days. Also, no assignment will be accepted the day after the end of a quarter regardless
of number of days late.
Students who missed class for any reason is responsible for getting missed work as soon
as possible. It is recommended that they check the classroom website for the lesson plans
and print a copy, then meet with me.
Rain Checks
Students have two rain checks per quarter. A rain check gives students a two-day
extension on one assignment. Rain checks will not carry over to the following quarter, but
will be exchanged at a value of 5 extra-credit points each.
Weekly Process Grade 50 points per week
During a week, students are credited for class activities that they participate and
complete with a check mark. Not all activities are checked in this fashion. At the end of
the week, the check marks are totaled for 50 points.
Papers and Projects 10 points and higher.
Papers with high point value (generally 50+ points) and projects are weighted in terms
of process and product. Such assignments will include a specific evaluation tool that is
given to the students when the piece is first explained to students.
Quizzes and Exams 10 points and higher.
Quizzes and Exams are generally short answer, essay, and/or oral. Sometimes, matching
and multiple choice are used for the smaller valued tests.
Extra-Credit 50 points is the maximum allowable during a quarter.
50 points is the most any student may earn in extra-credit for a quarter. There are no
guarantees that up to 50 points will be offered.
I look forward to working with my students and their parents. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Mr. John
McCarthy
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