Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines - AP Calculus

Mrs. Powell - room 39 - powelln@district87.org

School Phone: 828-5201

The overall goal of AP Calculus is to have you thinking critically through problems involving differential and integral Calculus.

This class is designed to prepare you for successful completion of the Advanced Placement Calculus Exam. To be successful, you will need to be able to view Calculus from numerical, symbolical, and graphical approaches, master basic Calculus skills without the use of technology, and use technology to investigate and explore the concepts of Calculus to deepen your understanding. Calculus will be useful and applicable in numerous fields within and outside of mathematics. You will be challenged to use your imagination and outside resources when discovering and creating solutions to Calculus problems.

My Schedule

1st period	(7:30 - 8:20)	AP Calculus
2^nd period	(8:24 - 9:14)	Geomety
3^rd period	(9:18 - 10:08)	AP Calculus
4^th period	(10:12 - 11:02)	Conference
5^th period	(11:02 - 11:27) (11:31 - 12:02) (12:02-12:27)	Lunch Conference Conference
6^th period	(12:31 - 1:21)	Geometry
7^th period	(1:25 - 2:15)	Lead Teacher

GRADES

Grading Scale

Tests are 60%

A = 90% - 100%

Projects and Labs are 15%

B = 80% - 89.9%

Quizzes are 10%

C = 70% - 79.9%

Daily work is 10%

D = 65% - 69.9%

Participation is 5%

GRADING Formula Use this formula to compute your grade.

Daily Work	Daily work is NOT busy work. It is to be completed in order to reach your goals. Homework and daily quizzes fall into this category. If a daily quiz is given in class, these cannot be made up due to any absence. Opportunities to make up lost points will be available throughout the quarter. Assigned class notes also fall into this category.
Quizzes	Quizzes are formative grades. This means that they are meant to help you monitor your learning (and lack of learning) of skills and concepts. If you complete daily work as assigned, and given the fact that test grades exceed those of quiz grades in a chapter, I will replace quiz grades in a chapter with the original chapter test grade if they show growth at the end of the chapter. If more than two assignments (that were collected or checked in class) during the chapter are either late or missing, this option is no longer available. Original grades will stand.
Projects/Labs	Projects and labs are to enhance your understanding of subject matter. Applications, the ability to work in groups, problem solving are the emphasis of these projects and labs.
Tests and Final Project	At the end of a chapter of study, you need to pass the exam with a minimum of 70% or better. If you do not achieve a minimum of 70%, you will be required to complete some kind of correctives and retake the test after school within one week of the day the test grades were given to you. Retake grades DO NOT replace any quiz grades. The grades on a retake will replace the original grade with the exception that the first retake will not be recorded higher than 79%. If additional retakes are required, 70% mastery is still required but the highest score recorded drops 10% (i.e. 69%, 59%, etc.) on each retake. So, my suggestion is to get help BEFORE the exam so that you won't have to spend additional time to get a lower grade for work that needs to be mastered.

WEB SITE: http://www.district87.org/staff/powelln/Calculus/

Your class has a web site. It will contain course information, the chapter syllabus, web sites and other resources for you to use to increase your learning and understanding. You will also find the form for class notes, project descriptions, and class notes. From time to time you will be adding to this web site.

Homework/Make-up/Absences

	Find a study-buddy. Share phone numbers and email addresses. ALL take-home exams and quizzes are designed for you to complete in groups. Working these take home evaluations by yourself is discouraged.
	Homework should be complete. This means that anyone looking at work in your notebook should have no problem understanding what was asked, how it was solved, and what the complete answer is. If you need to write the problem or a short version of it to meet this goal, it is expected that you will do this.
	Homework should include your name, date, page number(s) and assigned problem numbers on each page.
	No credit will be given for late homework. It is your responsibility to follow the syllabus and find out what happened in class on days when you are absent.
	Projects are due on the assigned due dates and are expected to be turned in on or before that date.
	Make-up quizzes and tests should be made up or scheduled to be made up within two days of the absence unless otherwise arranged with me.
	Homework assigned before an absence is still due on its due date.

Materials that you'll need

	paper and notebook, writing utensil (at least one that is not red), and book
	TI-89 Calculator (everyday) - there will not be any loaners for class work, quizzes or tests.
	Computer Network Login and Password
	Graph Paper

I'm looking forward to getting to know you and helping you to grow mathematically this year. Please talk to me or email me if you have questions, concerns or suggestions about this class. I'm here after school regularly (usually until 3:30 - 4:00). Please let me know if you are planning to stay after school (if possible) in case I have commitments right after school such as lead teacher duties, staffings, meetings, etc. Let’s make this a great year!

--- Mrs. Powell