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Contact Information:  
     by e-mail:  [email protected] (please put student name in subject line)
     by phone:  H-3 office 201-858-5893 (leave message & local phone # with secretary)  
Extra Help Available:  0-period tutorial available with me in Room 307

Course Expectations & Policies

Teaching Philosophy

  • An appreciation for and a basic understanding of science is essential for citizens of the 21st century due to the rapid pace of technological and medical advances that affect our lives.
  • Application of learned principles and the ability to think logically and critically are more important than the memorization of facts.
  • Grades are earned not given.      
  • The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.
  • Routine completion of homework is essential to the development of good study/work habits that will lead to success in college or the workplace.  Practice makes us proficient!

 

Course Descriptions and Proficiencies

  • See course description and proficiencies brochure.

 

Supplies Needed for Class

  • Notebook to be used only for Level A Chemistry, College Chemistry or AP Chemistry or dedicated section in a loose leaf binder
  • File folder to be used only for Level A Chemistry, College Chemistry, or AP Chemistry   
  • Pen (black or blue ink) and pencil / colored pencils and highlighters may be helpful but are not required
  • Calculator with exponential notation capacity (a classroom set of calculators is available if students need to borrow a calculator during class/calculator apps on phones cannot be used)
  • School-assigned chromebook        
  • Textbooks:

  •        Level A Chemistry:  Experience Chemistry by Moore et. al. published 
                              by Savvas Learning Company                           

           College Chemistry and AP Chemistry:  Chemistry: The Central Science, 14th ed.                                      by Brown et al. published by Pearson

  • Please note that the textbooks assigned to students for personal use should stay home to be used as a resource unless notified otherwise as the year progresses.       

 

Class Rules 

  • Be on time and prepared for class every day. 
  • Cell phones should not be visible during a class period.
  • Follow all lab safety procedures.  No food or drink is allowed in the lab.   Trash is to be discarded in the proper receptacles.
  • Be respectful of your teacher and fellow students.  
  • Wait to be acknowledged before asking or answering questions. 


Grading Schemes

Level A Chemistry

  • Tests & Projects - 70% of grade 

Test format may be a mixture of multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching, short answer, and essay questions.  Approximately 4  tests will be administered per marking period.  A project may be assigned in a given marking period.  Missed tests will be made up the day a student returns to school unless alternative arrangements have been made or a student was absent for an extended period. Test questions on a make-up test may not be identical to the questions on the original test and may be in a short answer/essay format.  Tests administered online must be taken with a school issued Chromebook.  A grade of zero will be reported in Realtime until a missed test is made up.  

   •  Labs & Quizzes- 20% of grade
Students are expected to take an active part in laboratories and in classroom discussions.  Lab grades will be based 50% on performance (Were you prepared for the lab?  Did you follow directions?  Did you follow all necessary safety procedures?  Did you clean up after yourself?) and 50% on the lab report itself.  Students absent on lab days will have one week from their return to school to make up a missed lab activity.  A grade of zero will be reported in Realtime until a missed lab is made up.  Quizzes, which may be unannounced, may be administered weekly so students can assess their strengths and weaknesses and better prepare for future tests.  Quizzes will also serve as a means to help determine whether students are keeping up with presented material and truly understand the concepts from the homework they have been submitting.  Unannounced quizzes will be administered periodically to insure students truly understand the homework they have been submitting.   Missed quizzes will need to be made up during 0-period tutorial.
   •  Homework & Classwork - 10% of grade

In addition to long term assignments, homework will consist of reading and outlining assigned textbook chapters and completion of assigned worksheets.  Homework assignments are posted on-line daily.  Students typically are given two days to complete a given HW assignment.  Notebooks and folders will periodically be reviewed and graded as part of the HW/CW grade.  Section review worksheets that are assigned will have answer keys available in class and many answer keys are available on-line.  Students are expected to complete their HW/CW, check their work, and ask for help if they do not understand why one of their answers is incorrect.  Classwork not finished in class should be finished for HW.  A  grade of zero will be assigned for all missed classwork and homework.  Students that were absent from school when HW or classwork was assigned will be given a reasonable amount of time to submit missed work but a grade of zero will be assigned in Realtime until that work is submitted.   

 


College Chemistry and AP Chemistry

  • Tests and Projects - 70% of grade 

The regular test format will simulate the AP exam format – approximately 60% multiple choice questions (5 answer options) and 40% open-ended free response questions.  Tests will usually be administered approximately biweekly.  Missed tests will need to be made up as soon as possible at a mutually agreed upon time.   

  • Labs/Reports & Quizzes - 20% of grade

Students are expected to take an active part in laboratories and in classroom discussions.  Lab grades will be based 50% on performance (Were you prepared for the lab?  Did you follow directions?  Did you follow all necessary safety procedures?  Did you clean up after yourself?) and 50% on the report itself.  Data quality is also factored into a lab grade.  Quizzes, typically unannounced, will be administered so that students can assess their strengths and weaknesses and better prepare for future tests.  Quiz grades will be averaged to help ensure that students are keeping up with material and truly understand the work they are submitting for HW.

  • Homework Classwork - 10% of grade

Be prepared to spend on average one hour a night on HW for College Chemistry or APH Chemistry. HW will typically include reading, outlining, and problem-solving.  Students are expected to keep up with presented material on a daily basis and to ask questions about material that proved difficult for them.  Chapter problem sets with answer keys are posted in class associated Schoology pages.  Students are expected to ask questions before or during class to clarify any issues they may be having with either conceptual material or problem-solving logic.  


Late Assignments, Cheating, Extra Credit, and Retests

 

  • Home work will not be accepted late unless a student was absent on the due date and has a valid excuse for missing class.
  • Late lab assignments lose 15 points per day.  A one day extension of the assignment due date is granted for each day of an excused absence.  No lab assignments will be accepted more than three days late and a grade representing the class participation portion of the grade will be posted.
  • Cutting class on a test day, cheating on a test, having a phone visible during testing, plagiarizing a report, or copying answer keys found online will result in a grade of zero for a given test or HW assignment.  If homework is shared, homework grades will also be "shared" - for example, three students sharing a 90 HW will each receive a grade of 30.
  • Extra credit is not offered at the end of a marking period.  If you didn't have enough time to do the work as it was assigned, you probably don't have enough time to do anything extra.  Extra credit may be earned, however, when a student completes an extra assignment that answers questions beyond the scope of the traditional curriculum or when an exemplary job was completed on a project.  In addition, students encountering difficulty with class material may be offered a retest option once per marking period.  In order to qualify for a retest, students must show proof of remediation by attending AM tutorial(s) and/or completing additional questions/practice problems from the textbook or ancillary resources.  The retest option is available within ten calendar days of the original test date, not at the end of a marking period.  The grade posted to the portal will reflect the retest grade up to a maximum score of 80.  Please note that if a student scores a lower grade on the retest, that is the grade that will be reported on the portal.  This is done to ensure that students are taking the retest option seriously and are not simply hoping for a better grade after previewing a chapter test.