Teacher: Debi Robertson, 10625 Red Bud Trail, Berrien Springs, MI 49103
Phone: 616-471-7150, Fax: 616-471-7130, E-Mail: debirob@earthlink.net

Office Hours: 12:00-12:30, 2:30-3:00, other times by appointment

Textbook: Algebra 1, by McDougal Littell publishers, copyright 2001
Algebra 1 Personal Student Tutor CD, by McDougal Littell publishers, 2001

Supplies Needed: A computer that will compatibly run the Student Tutor CD
A calculator with square root, exponent, and squared functions
A notebook in which to keep all assignments completed
Regular notebook paper and Graph paper
Access to email and a fax machine

Admission to Algebra I: Students must have successfully completed 8th grade level Math and/or pass the entrance exam to Algebra I. Students that do not pass the entrance exam will be enrolled in the Algebra 1/2 course taught by Miss Sue Meikle. The entrance exams will be administered during the first week of the school year. A decision as to which class the student will be enrolled in will be made by the end of the first week of the school year.

Attendance: Students will be counted present each day that work is received. Students will be counted absent each day that work is not received or special arrangements have not been made with the instructor.

Grading: Daily lesson assignments and CD quizzes will be 75% of your grade. Tests and textbook quizzes will be 25% of your grade. Grades are based on the following scale:

92 to 100 = A       72 to 77 = C
90 to 91   = A-      70 to 71 = C-
88 to 89   = B+     68 to 69 = D+
82 to 87   = B       62 to 67 = D
80 to 81   = B-      60 to 61 = D-
78 to 79 = C+        0 to 59 = F

Getting Credit for the class: Students will receive ½ credit of Algebra I upon successful completion of all first semester assignments and tests. Students will receive the second ½ credit of Algebra I upon successful completion of all second semester assignments and tests.

Amount of Time Needed for Class:  Students should expect to spend an average of 2 hours a day on this class (it may take more if you tend to find Math difficult).

Corrections:  Students may usually make corrections on problems missed in daily work and resubmit assignments for additional points. Tests may be corrected for half credit.

  Sample Email format
Please use the following format in the subject line:
p 3-7 even 9/15 Alg I
p 3-7 odd 9/14 Alg I
CD 1-1-A 9/14 Alg I
p 15 Quiz 1 9/20 Alg I
  Sample Fax format
Name  p 3-7 even 9/15 Alg I  Problem #'s:

Submitting Daily Work--Assignment Deadlines and Late Work:  Assignments are to be emailed (graphs need to be faxed) each day. All assignments must be readily identifiable. Emails must have page number (be sure to include odd or even) or CD quiz number, the date assigned, and the class. Faxes must also include the name and the page number on each separate page that is faxed. Faxes should be sent the day the work is due. Do not collect several days of faxes and then send them.

Assignments must be received by the teacher NO LATER than 9:30 a.m. the following school day. Any work received late may be marked down by 20% for each 24 hours it is late. Students are still responsible for the information, whether they have received credit for the assignment or not. Students are also responsible for seeing that work gets to the teacher regardless of technical difficulties. (Alternative methods should be available, i.e. phone, fax, mail)

Class Notebook:  All work should be done on paper, clearly identified, and be kept chronologically in a notebook. The teacher should at any time be able to call you and ask you to turn to a specific assignment in your class notebook. You should show all your work in the notebook.

Classtime:  Because this class is taught on-line, students are expected to spend the assigned class period time each day working through the explanations and practice problems or taking quizzes or tests, depending on what is assigned on a particular day. Material has been selected for you to study and practice that takes the place of the time you would spend sitting with a teacher in a classroom. Some practice problems, as well as assignments are considered homework and are to be completed and submitted to the teacher no later than 9:30 the next day. Online class sessions and discussions may be added. Watch for further announcements on this.

Working Through Lessons:  The book is divided into 12 chapters. Each chapter has several lessons. We will generally spend 2 days on each lesson, sometimes an additional day for a quiz, one day for the Chapter Review and one day for the Chapter Test. CD assignments will generally be assigned for one (sometimes two) of the lesson/quiz days. The first day of each lesson will be a practice assignment, which is to be self-graded and the score reported to the teacher. The second day will be an assignment that is to be turned in to the teacher for grading. Quizzes, Chapter Reviews, and Tests will be submitted to the teacher for grading.

How to Study/Practice the Lesson:  The page numbers given for the first day of each lesson includes explanations and examples in the book that you should study. Then you should do one or two problems in the practice assignment, check on the answers in the back of the book to see that you are doing them correctly. If so, then continue on to the next few problems and check your answers again. If you did not get them correct, then you should work on them until you can get them right. You can refer back to the examples or ask for help. The practice lesson will also give you an idea of the type of answers the book is asking for, which should help you avoid missing similar problems on the next day's assignment. Use the practice lesson as a learning tool. If you choose to be dishonest in reporting your score, you are the one who is hurt because you will not have learned the material.

The CD sections called "Study the Lesson" go step by step if you push the "More" button at the bottom of the screen. This is the best way to learn the material. In addition, take time to read and study the examples from the textbook material as if you were sitting in a classroom seeing it explained.

How-to in a Nutshell: You should work through the problems, checking your answers in the back of the book. Find out why you missed any problems and correct them. If you cannot figure them out, go back and study the material or ask the teacher to help you. This is the time to find out how to do the problems, because the next day you will be doing similar problems that count towards your grade.

The Lesson Assignment:  This is the assignment that must be turned in to me for a grade. Make sure that you submit the answers in the format asked for by the book. You can determine this by looking at the answers for the odd problems in the back of the book. The lesson assignments will make up 75% of your grade in the course. If you do not pass the assignment, then I will usually require that you go back to the study and practice portions of the lesson.

The Chapter Tests:  When we get to the end of a chapter, I will assign a chapter review. I may make recommendations for areas that you should go back and practice or review before taking the test. You must submit the review early enough that you can receive it back and have time to make any corrections needed before the day of the test. Your test scores will make up 25% of your grade for the course.

Suggestions for success:  Individuals learn in a variety of ways. You will discover that several different approaches are designed into this class: reading in the textbook, viewing lesson explanations on the CD, studying examples in the textbook, doing practice problems on the CD, working problems in the textbook and looking up the answers in the back of the book, using the “Student Help” internet links (found in the margin of your textbook), asking parents to help you, and getting teacher assistance. Some of these will likely work better than others for you. The key to success will be to take your study and self-responsibility seriously, and work closely with the teacher to determine what will work best to help you, personally, be successful.

Homework Help:  The textbook generally gives you a box in the margin of each assignment page that tells you which of their examples should help you with specific problem numbers. In addition, you will sometimes find internet links to help you with a problem or to give you additional examples to study.

Getting Teacher Assistance:  It is the student's responsibility to get the daily work done. If you don't know what to do, FIND OUT. I will not accept excuses saying that you couldn't do it because you didn't know what to do, or similar types of reasonings. The best thing is to make sure to plan your questions so that you can get help during my office hours.
     Office hours 12:00-12:30:  During this portion of your study hall, bring any problems or questions you ran across during your morning classtime study. You can on-line chat with me through MSN or phone me.
     Office hours 2:30-3:00:  Try to start on your homework before this time so that you can ask me for help during this time. If you need additional one-on-one help, this is the time for you to schedule a help session with me for some later time in the day or evening.

If you have done that and you still have problems, or in an emergency, email or phone me. You can email any time with specific questions and I will answer it as soon as I can. You can also phone and I will be available most any time (if you miss me, try again and send an email saying you are trying to reach me). When phoning, please have your book, class notebook, a pencil and calculator with you.

Using the CD
Look along the right edge of the screen to locate the lesson you are on. Once you click on the lesson and select the Tutorial and Topic, you will find three sections of that topic along the right edge of the screen labeled: Study the Lesson, Try the Exercise, Take the Quiz. Along the bottom of the screen you will find several buttons: Back, Contents, Check Answer, Hint, More, Forward.

To use the “Study the Lesson” section: Read carefully what they have on the screen. Press the “More” button on the bottom to see the next step. Continue to press the “More” button as you study the material. After you read their explanation they will give you a problem to try. If you are totally stuck you can press the “Hint” button at the bottom of the screen. If you type in an answer, then press the “Check Answer” button.

Continue working your way through the “Study the Lesson” section until completed. The top right corner of the screen will tell you what page of the lesson explanation you are on.

To use the “Try the Exercise” section:
Use paper and pencil to work out the problems, type in your answer and press “Check Answer.” If you get stuck or cannot figure out the problem, you can press “Example” to see a similar problem worked out or you can press “Hint” to receive a suggestion for the next step in the current problem. Press the “Progress” button to find out how you are doing. You need to correctly complete at least 3 problems of each type in that lesson before going on to take the quiz. You cannot go to the quiz until the “Progress” button indicates that you have reached at least 80%.

If you need to retake a quiz to improve your score, you may do so. You may need to log into your CD software under a different name in order for it to let you take the quiz again. I will accept the quiz submitted with the highest score.

Progress Reports:  Each student will have an individual gradebook available to check at any time to see how they are doing in the class. In addition, weekly progress reports will be sent each Sunday.

Note to Parents:  Parents should read carefully through all the details of this syllabus, acquaint themselves with the assignment page, and preferably work with the student the first week. Parents should see that the student has completed the work assigned each day before assuming they are done with school. Please make sure that assignments get to me by email or fax because valuable points are lost each day the assignment is late. If the student should have an excused absence, I will need to receive a note from the parent in order for them to receive full credit for the assignment due that day.