IB HL/SL HISTORY CLASS PROCEDURESDaniel W. BlackmonCoral Gables Senior High2012-2013

IB HL History will:• prepare students for the IB examination in May• .foster the research, writing, and analytical skills required

for successful collegiate work• .encourage students to examine their world, past and

present, critically, constructively, and intelligently

IB HL History:• Tests, papers, assignments, and grading will, to the

greatest extent possible, imitate the IB examinations themselves.

IB History:• IB HL History requires a serious commitment of time and

energy, above and beyond what is expected in a general high school course:

IB History:• While in class, students will work on HL History, and only

HL History.  Work from other classes will be confiscated and destroyed. Students should be attentive and involved in the lesson at all times.

IB History:• While in class, students will work on HL History, and only

HL History.  Work from other classes will be confiscated and destroyed. Students should be attentive and involved in the lesson at all times.

IB HL History:• Students are expected to complete each and every

assignment given during a grading period! 

• All assignments given in this course are purposeful; I abhor "busy work" and I evaluate every assignment by whether or not it contributes to preparing students for the examinations.

• Failure to complete an assignment will adversely affect the weekly participation grade.

Uniform Policy• I intend to enforce the school uniform policy

• .I intend to enforce the school ID policy

Attendance• All school policies pertaining to excused or unsatisfactory

absences will be strictly enforced!

Attendance• .Students are reminded that a total of 10 unsatisfactory

absences over the course of the entire school year may result in a final grade of "No Credit", as per School Board policy.

Attendance• Please recall that, when a student is marked “Absent,” the

default Attendance Code is “U2”—”Unexcused Block Class”

• That means two unexcused absences.• I have to manually change the U2 to A2 (Excused Block

Class) and that means that it is important for you to give me your note from the office.

Attendance• .Poor attendance is the fastest way to fail this course!

You are all juniors or seniors--do not foolishly jeopardize your graduation and entrance into college by carelessness over your absences!!!!

Attendance• It is the student's responsibility to keep track of how

many absences, satisfactory or otherwise, which he or she has.

Attendance• .Any assignment due or written on a day when a student

is unsatisfactorily absent will be counted as an "Z." No make up will be permitted.

Tardies• "Tardy" is defined as not being in one's own seat and

ready to begin work when the tardy bell begins to ring.• Each and every unexcused tardy will result in:

• a ½ letter grade cut in conduct• a weekly participation quiz grade of "F"

Make Up Work• Make-up work is ENTIRELY the student's responsibility!

Make Up WorkClass notes which are not already on the class website should be obtained from another student.

• .Assignments should be obtained from another student or from me upon the student's return to class or from the class website.  This is especially important in the case of take-home essays.

Make Up Work• .If a student is absent on the day an assignment is due or

on the day an assignment is written in class, the default grade is automatically a “Z.”

• .If the absence is satisfactory, and when the assignment is made up, then the “Z” will be changed to whatever grade is earned.

Make Up Work• .Assignments due the day of an absence are due upon

the student's return to class. • . If a student is in school at any time during the day

when an assignment is due, the student is expected to bring the assignment by before leaving school.

Make Up Work• .Tests must be made up on the next make up day

following a student's return to class, unless specific arrangements with me have been made in advance. 

• A job or extra-curricular activities are not legitimate reasons to miss a make-up day.

• Typically, one day per week will be designated for make-up tests after school. If you can't attend my make-up day, you must make prior special arrangements with me.

Make Up Work• .Failure to make up an assignment will adversely affect

the weekly participation grade.

Preparation• Each student must keep a three ring binder with at

least three sub-divisions: Class Notes, Bellringers and Handouts.

Preparation• Each student must keep a three ring binder with at

least three sub-divisions: Class Notes and Handouts.

Preparation• The Class Notes section will contain each day’s class

notes. Using the Cornell Notes System is strongly recommended!! The section should always have a sufficiency of loose leaf paper for in-class assignments. Each day’s notes shall be dated. Class notes are subject to teacher review and may be graded.

Preparation• The Handouts section will contain any and all hard copy

handouts that I distribute. This would include a print out of a hand out from my class wehsite. • Regardless of which method used, students must be able to

access any relevant class handout in class.

Preparation• It is, of course, remotely possible that a student might be

accessing an electronic device (such as an iPhone) but is not using my website. • (Gasp! No, Mr. Blackmon! Not OUR students!)

• .Should I discover that a student is wasting class time and attention on some other site than the school site, I shall regard that as both an academic and a disciplinary offense.

Preparation• The Homework Section will contain all reading

comprehension and other homework assignments.

Preparation• .Students are expected to have read all assignments in a

timely fashion

Preparation• .All assignments written in class and handed in must

be in blue or black ink.• .All assignments written at home must be typed and

must follow MLA style.

Preparation• .Work completed in pencil will not be graded at all!  This is

not a whim.  Pencil is extremely difficult for me to read.• .Assignments not in MLA style will not be read at all! No

excuses, and no second chances. If you can’t remember MLA, create a template for yourself.

Classroom Rules• I generally allow students to sit where they wish prior to

making my seating chart. But in the end, the seating chart belongs to me.

Classroom Rules• Courteous language is to be used at all times.  Vulgar,

obscene, profane, insulting, or provocative language is not to be used

Classroom Rules• Cards are strictly forbidden.

Classroom Rules• Generally speaking, I will tolerate food and / or drink so

long as students clean up after themselves

Academic Grades• The Dade County grading scale is:

• .4.00-3.50=A• .3.49-2.50=B• .2.49-1.50=C• .1.49-1.00=D• . .99-0.00=F

• Grades will be calculated using summation percentage taken out to two significant digits.

Academic Grades• Essays will be graded on a 20 point criterion referenced

scale using the markband descriptors used by IB for history. A copy of the descriptors will be given to you.

Academic Grades.The IB markbands are not to be interpreted as a percentage. Conversion from the numeric IB mark to letter grades takes this into account.

Academic Grades.Numeric scores for essays will converted to letter grades based on the following scale:

• 15-20 A• 12-14 B• 07-11 C• 05-06 D• 01-04 F• 0 Z

Academic Grades• IB DBQs are radically different from AP DBQs. They are

marked on a 25 point scale, but each DBQ carries its own internal weighting for marks. The Examiner has no latitude as to what weight to give any component

Academic Grades• Numeric scores for DBQs will converted to letter grades

using the following scale, which is based on the IB scale for Paper 01: • 25-21 A• 20-17 B• 16-10 C• 9-6 D• 5-1 F

Academic Grades• The Internal Assessment must be graded according to a

25 point criterion referenced scale which is imposed by IB.

Academic Grades• Numeric scores for the Internal Assessment will converted

to letter grades based on the following scale:• 25-21 A• 20-17 B• 16-10 C• 9-6 D• 5-1 F

Academic Grades• The IB HL / SL History Examination does not include a

multiple choice section. It is all essay. Therefore, I try to use multiple choice evaluations as little as possible–typically 10 question quizzes on reading comprehension. Objective tests and quizzes are marked on the scale given below:• 100-90=A• 89-80=B• 79-70=C• 69-60=D• 59=F

Weighting grades • Typically, a quiz grade is weighted as 1 (W=1)

• An essay is typically weighted as 5 (W=5)

• A DBQ is typically weighted as 8 (W=8)

Weighting grades • Typically, a quiz grade is weighted as 1 (W=1)

• An essay is typically weighted as 5 (W=5)

• A DBQ is typically weighted as 8 (W=8)

• The Internal Assessment, since it is 25% of the IB History mark, is weighted very heavily: 18 for Content (W=18)

• Failure to complete the Internal Assessment by the last day of the Third Marking period will result in failure of the entire course!

Participation Grade• There will be a weekly participation grade weighted as 1

(W=1) given on the last day of each week.

Participation GradeMy default participation grade is “A.”

• A “Z” in the grade book for any assignment will result in an “F” in participation until and unless the work is made up

• An unexcused absence will result in an “F”

Participation GradeAn unexcused tardy may result in an “F”

• Chronic unexcused tardies will result in an “F.”• A disciplinary issue, as indicated by a note in the grade

book, will result in an “F.”

Internal Assessment• The Internal Assessment (research paper) is a course

requirement laid down by IB.  Failure to complete the IA in a timely fashion will result in a failure for the entire course.

Internal Assessment• The Internal Assessment (W=18 for Content, W=3 for

MLA form, W-3 for electronic copy, cards and diskette), will be recorded for the second marking period, that is, the last full term before college applications

Deadlines• Many students have gained the impression that deadlines

at this school are optional and / or negotiable.

Deadlines• .My deadlines are not optional

Deadlines• .My deadlines are firm.

• My deadlines are not optional

Deadlines• .My deadlines are firm.

• That was déjà vu all over again.• I mean what I say.

Deadlines• I have voluntarily changed some deadlines when students

have pointed out conflicts with other classes and if I have the flexibility within my curriculum to allow it.

Deadlines• I have voluntarily changed some deadlines when students

have pointed out conflicts with other classes and if I have the flexibility within my curriculum to allow it.

Deadlines• As a school, we have always tried to see to it that

important deadlines were sufficiently spread out to give students a breathing space.

• However, the process has always been imperfect.

• If I can, I am willing to be flexible.

Over-riding a Grade• Sustained, consistent improvement over the course  of

the year is the basis for all decisions on teacher over-ride of a grade. 

• I have a strong preference for making such decisions only at the end of the year

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• I take malpractice of any kind on any assignment of any

magnitude whatsoever very seriously. Malpractice is the most serious offense a student can commit in IB History

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Society cannot continue to function if there is not some

basis of trust among those who live within that society.

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Academic integrity is the foundation for the search

for truth. Without it, scholarship is unreliable and our confidence in what is true is profoundly undermined.

Over-riding a Grade• Sustained, consistent improvement over the course  of

the year is the basis for all decisions on teacher over-ride of a grade. 

• I have a strong preference for making such decisions only at the end of the year

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• I take malpractice of any kind on any assignment of any

magnitude whatsoever very seriously. Malpractice is the most serious offense a student can commit in IB History

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Society cannot continue to function if there is not some

basis of trust among those who live within that society.

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Academic integrity is the foundation for the search

for truth. Without it, scholarship is unreliable and our confidence in what is true is profoundly undermined.

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Ultimately, academic integrity must arise within the

individual scholar; admonitions for right behavior, and punishments and threats for bad behavior are of limited use.

• No society can be held together indefinitely purely by threats of force. Without a shared value system, a society will collapse

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Students who take this course have already

demonstrated, by that choice, that they are intelligent, and ambitious. I assume that they are also responsible and mature young men and women, who are fully capable of making their own ethical decisions and of standing by the consequences of those decisions.

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• To the extent that the laws of the State of Florida and the

rules of the Dade County School Board and of Coral Gables High permit me, I intend to treat my students as responsible young men and women. I believe that my students are capable of practicing a form of the honor code.

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• At the end of each test, exam, essay, document based

question, or other written assignment, students will write, "On my honor, I have neither given nor received assistance on this paper," and they will sign their name

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• What IB calls "malpractice" that is, any form of cheating,

which includes plagiarism (which includes• submitting work that is not your own either in direct or

indirect quotation, or • false or incorrect citations, or • work copied from another student) will result in an

automatic "F" on all components of a grade. 

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Please refer to the handout Definitions of Malpractice

which will be posted on my page on the school website.. I expect each student to familiarize himself or herself with the definition and examples given therein.

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Ignorance is not an excuse, nor is lack of intent to

deceive

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Malpractice on an assignment that forms a component of

the final IB mark (such as an Internal Assessment, a Prescribed Essay or Extended Essay) is grounds for being exited from the program.

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• Malpractice will be penalized by an "F" on the

assignment. and a "D" in conduct for the term for the first offense.

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism• For a second offense (regardless of the marking

period), the student will receive a failing grade for the term in both academics and conduct.

Malpractice, cheating and plagiarism

• .All instances of Malpractice will automatically be referred to the IB Coordinator

Conduct Grades• IB students do not misbehave in class. I expect very good

conduct grades.

Conduct Grades• The usual reason for conduct grades lower than "A" are

unsatisfactory absences or tardies to class• Two unsatisfactory tardies will lower the conduct grade by one

letter• Each unsatisfactory absence will lower the conduct grade by one

letter.

Substitutes• Substitutes will be supported 100%  They will never be

second-guessed. A substitute's word is law.

• .Roll will be taken from the seating chart.  Students not in their proper seats will be marked absent

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