A.P. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
GRADING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
K. KIRK
School Year:2000-2001
I. Grades: Your grade will be divided into five weighted parts; each part is worth a percentage of your total grade.
Homework/Essays = 35% of the total grade
Special Projects = 20% of the total grade
Simulations = 15% of the total grade
Final Exam = 15% of the total grade
Quizzes = 15% of the total grade
= 100% of the total grade
Daily Requirements: Always bring a willingness to learn and explore, notebook, journal, and pen or pencil.
Make-up work: It is the student's responsibility to find out and make up any work missed due to an excused absence. (Work missed due to an unexcused absence cannot be made up). Missed tests and quizzes must be made up outside of class time. The student has one day for every day missed to make-up work.
Course Requirements: Reading and writing on a regular basis. Library investigation, magazine or newspaper critiques, current events, lecture notes, semester project, presentations, mock trials, simulated congress, research paper, tests, quizzes, on-line assignments and more!
Essays and Writing Journal: A class journal is required. It must be a separate spiral notebook. Writing assignments will be required on a regular basis. Drafts and final copies are to be written in the journal. Precis and reaction entries may also be kept in this journal.
Essays must be neat and handed in in their final format If typed use only 1 inch margins with a font size of no larger than 12. Always cite the sources used for the paper. Plagarism will garner a MUCH lower grade.
Study Groups: It is a good idea to create study groups to discuss assignments, peer edit essays, and help each other study for quizzes and exams. While this is not a requirement, I do highly recommend it.
Required Video: Because of the amount of material to be covered in this class I will not have the opportunity to show many video's during class time. However, there are three video series that I think are pertinent to this class and would be very beneficial to the class as a whole in preparing for the AP Exam. I am therefore requiring a video viewing day. As certain topics arise I will show a video pertaining to that topic with either a discussion or a written assignment following the video. If a student has other obligations during the viewing time they may check a copy of the video out for one school day at their own convenience.
Other policies: A. Cheating will not be tolerated.
B. Common courtesy and good classroom behavior is expected from
all.
C. Students must be able to separate knowledge from belief. An open-minded ability to listen to others' ideas without having one's private belief system threatened is essential. Specifically, this course will require an understanding of many different belief systems in our political culture as well as the belief systems of many cultures around the world. Tolerance of other beliefs and their expression is mandatory
Extra credit: I do not require any of my students do extra work.
Late work: I will accept a late assignment up to one week after it is due for half credit. One week is the equivalent of five days after the assignment is due. After one week I will not accept late work.