leesburg high school mrs. amanda callender english i & ii
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Leesburg High School
Mrs. Amanda Callender
English I & II
Mrs. Amanda Callender
• Education: Bachelors of the Arts Degree in English Literature from The University of Central Florida.
• Military: Spent 8 years as a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Operations Specialist in the United States Army Reserves.
• Family: I have a husband who is still in the Army Reserves, a three year old son (Damian), and a 6 month old son (Robin)!
• Interests: Reading, Writing, Painting, Playing Video Games, Roller Skating, and Spending Time with Family.
My Family
Class Expectations
• Be where you belong with your materials when the bell rings.
• Carry out your student responsibilities (complete assignments, arrive prepared, seek help).
• Make choices that support your learning and the learning of others.
• Show respect for yourself, your class, and our space—speak and behave considerately.
• If you wonder, ASK!
• All school rules apply in my classroom, (Including dress code, food, drink, and cell phone rules!!!) so become familiar with your student handbook.
Required Class Supplies
• Pencils or blue/black pens
• 3 subject notebook (One section will be for Bell Ringers, one for Assignments, and one for Notes/Quizzes).
• Colored pen for editing, corrections, and notes
What We Do In High School English
• Read and analyze—novels, short stories, poems, plays, informational articles, and books of your choice through the quarterly Independent Reading assignment
• Write—essays, letters, speeches, and creative works of prose and poetry
• Develop and practice—grammar and vocabulary skills
• Create—projects and presentations
• Research and document—connections to our fiction and nonfiction reading using reliable sources and MLA guidelines
• Revise work and continuously improve
• Ask important questions about what we read and study
• Listen, speak, think and discuss
Grades
• 10% Participation & Bell Ringers
• This grade comes from your attendance, materials, and productive on-task behavior during class work time, as well as, your daily bell ringers.
• 40% Quizzes & Writing Journals
• This includes all work assigned during a unit that is designed to help you learn and practice new skills. Examples of formative assessments include routine daily work like homework assignments, journal writing, quizzes, and class work.
• 50% Summative Assessments
• Summative assessments are major assessments (like essays, major in-class writing, tests, major projects, and final exams). These will fall at the end of units and/or readings and are designed to measure what you have learned.
Daily Bell
• Each day as you enter the classroom there will be a “Bell Ringer” related to the days content on the board. You are expected to work on this Bell Ringer as soon as you get to class. These are to be written in your notebook and will be checked every Friday. If you are absent, you are in charge of getting the Bell Ringer from a friend. If you have all 5 bells you receive 10 points.
Quizzes
• There will be quizzes on each story that we read (or every 4 chapters in a novel) throughout the school year.
Essays
• You will end up writing several essays over the course of the semester. These essays will be graded for grammar and mechanics, as well as, content.
NaNoWriMo Writing Project
• November is National Novel Writing Month and every year the students are required to participate in The Young Writer’s Program in which they write a 30,000 to 50,000 word original novelette in 30 days. During the month of October we will begin developing plot and character ideas to help with the conception of the novelette. It is a lot of fun and there are prizes in the program for students who make their goal. Visit www.ywp.nanowrimo.org for more information.
Important Policies for English
• Summative Grades: A summative assessment is a major test, project, or essay designed to measure what you have learned at the end of a unit.
• Late Work: You are expected to turn in work on time. Work turned in on time can receive full-credit, while late work receives reduced credit. Late work will result in a grade reduction of up to 10 points per day that it is late. A late summative assessment can score no higher than a 70%.
• Make up Work: You are responsible for making up work if you miss class. The pace will move quickly and work will build on material learned in class. See Late Work Policy for grading purposes.
Plagiarism Policy
• If you present someone's words, thoughts or data as your own, you are committing plagiarism—you are stealing. The location of the information is irrelevant: when it comes to plagiarism, information from the Internet is equivalent to information from a physical book or journal. To avoid plagiarism you must cite the original author every time you:• Use an author's exact written or spoken words.
• Paraphrase someone's written or spoken words.
• Use facts provided by someone else that are not common knowledge.
• Make significant use of someone's ideas or theories.
• It is also plagiarism to pay a person or Internet service for a paper, hand in someone else's paper as your own, or cut and paste text from the Internet to your paper without citing the source.
• Students caught plagiarizing may face either academic or disciplinary negative consequences. Instructors who determine that a paper includes plagiarized material can take academic measures, such as giving a failing grade for the paper. If the instructor decides that disciplinary measures should be taken, the case will be referred to the School Principle. If the student is found responsible following formal procedures, the student may face a number of sanctions—including suspension. Whatever action taken by the School Principle becomes a part of the student's permanent record and may have an adverse impact on future academic and career goals.
I look forward to working with you!
If you or your parents ever have questions or
concerns, please feel free to contact me anytime. I am available during my planning or by email at