P.S. duPontMiddle School

Course Syllabus

Name of Course:7thGrade Common Core Math Department:Mathematics

School Year: 2017-2018 Name of Teacher:Mrs. Bennett

Email address: Phone number:(302) 762-7146

Room Number: 240

I.Required Materials

Each student must have 3-ring binder (1 ½ in.) that is only used for math.

All warm-up exercises, notes, classwork, and homework will be kept in a spiral notebook. The spiral notebook, quizzes, tests, and handouts, should be ordered by date and kept in the math binder. The binder, loose leaf paper, spiral notebook, and pencils should be brought to class every day. I strongly suggest having a pencil pouch in your binder. Being prepared for class means having the required materialson your desk when the bell rings.

II.Homework Expectations

Homework assignments will be given almost every night (including weekends!). These assignments are to be completed by the next class period. It is the responsibilityof an absent student to get any missed assignments from another student or Mrs. Bennett either before or after class. Missed work must be made up within the number of days allowed under Brandywine School District policy. If one day of Math is missed, you have one Math class to ask for the missed work and then the assignment should be handed in the following class period. It is the student’s responsibility to ask for the missed work, complete the work on their own time, and show the teacher the missed work upon return. Messy or incomplete work will not receive credit. Pride and the appropriate amount of time should be given to each assignment. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that his/her work is presentable and completed as instructed. Pencil is the only acceptable writing instrument in Mrs. Bennett’s class. Any class work or homework done in pen will not be given credit. Incomplete work will be given half credit.

III.Grading Policy

Grades will be based on homework, quizzes, and tests. Grading will be done in both a summative and formative approach. Formative grades will receive feedback such as homework and quiz grades. Summative grades are proof that you know the standard and will include tests and quizzes. 10% of the marking period grade will be based on homework completion with formative feedback during class, and 90% will be based on quizzes and tests. Perfect practice makes perfect. Homework should be attempted each night and corrected when we go over the homework the next class.

Grading scale used by Mrs. Bennett (and the P.S. duPont Math Department)

AExcellent!90 – 100%

BGood!80 – 89%

CSatisfactory70 – 79%

DNeeds improvement60 – 69%

FNot achieving 0 – 59%

If a student scores below 80% (below a B average) on any quiz or test, after school arrangements should be made as soon as possible to review the material.

IV.Daily classroom instruction will consist of:

  • Reviewing concepts from the previous day’s lesson and answering questions
  • Presenting new content or extending topics from a previous lesson
  • Individual/whole group practice with the new content

V.Learning resources utilized during this course will include:

  • Common Core Inc. Materials
  • Visit free online help and practice.
  • A good supplemental website that we have access to this year is We will talk more about how to login and how to use IXL.

VI.Other important items specific to this course:

  • Math is fun! Yes, I really believe that.
  • Good life long habits of learning that we will develop and use this year include persistence, impulse control, inquisitiveness, reflection, and respect.
  • Students must take all quizzes and tests home to be signed by a parent/guardian. Students must correct any missed problems and then return the corrected and signed quiz/test to the teacher.
  • This course will cover 7th grade common core standards. This will be a challenging course and will require students to keep on top of their homework assignments and ask questions when they get stuck. If your child struggles at some point in the year, be willing to talk with me and work with me to find the reason for the difficulty. The sooner the problems can be identified, the greater the likelihood that we can work together to assure success in this course.

VII.Homework Procedures

** Before you start your homework, please read through your notes! **

1.Put thepage number and the problem numbers on the top line (left) of every sheet of paper you use. Put your name, date, and period on the top right of every sheet. The front of the page has the holes on the LEFT.

2.Copy the original problem exactly as it appears in the assignment. Copy any diagrams, but do not copy word problems. We will have a different procedure for word problems.

3.Show all your steps VERTICALLY putting “equal sign under equal sign”.

4.Circle or box in your final answer. Word problems must be answered with a sentence.

5.Skip a line (or two) between problems. Write on the back of the paper.

6.If you get stuck on a particular problem, leave space and go onto the rest of the problems.

Before you skip any problems, make sure that you have

A.Reread your notes and examples from class

B.Looked at the examples in your book

After doing all these things, if you are getting totally frustrated, write down specific questions of what is confusing you and we will clear it up in school the next day. Put your math away and do something else!!

VIII Re-test Option

  • A student who receives less than a 70% on any unit test has the option to take a re-test under some constraints.
  • The re-test must occur within two weeks of Mrs. Bennett giving back the original test. A time should be discussed with Mrs. Bennett to complete the re-test outside of the school day (after school or before school).
  • The student must complete all homework assignments leading up to the re-test and show them to Mrs. Bennett to discuss problems that the student is having prior to taking the re-test.
  • The student must complete test corrections on the original test and get the test corrections signed by a parent and checked by Mrs. Bennett prior to taking the re-test.
  • I think learning is an endless endeavor. The re-test is not an easier option but should prove that the student now knows what is needed to do well.

IX.Academic Integrity

Maintaining academic integrity in an educational environment is of the utmost importance. Under no circumstances should students feel the need to compromise their integrity by cheating. In cases where cheating is suspected, no credit will be given for the assignment. Students are encouraged to receive help on their assignments, but copying from someone else or turning in someone else’s work is considered cheating. Cheating on tests and quizzes will be dealt with according to the student code of conduct.