Visit the AVID Webpage Often at (Click Academics & Athletics / AVID )

/ A.V.I.D.
11th Grade Syllabus /

Ms. Avar email: Room: 201 Voicemail: (510) 618-4600, xt. 2201

Visit the AVID webpage often at (click “Academics & Athletics” / “AVID”)

Objective

AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination) is a course that will prepare you for entrance into - and success in - a four-year college. In AVID, you will participate in activities that incorporate strategies focused on writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization and reading (“WICOR”) to support your growth academically. You will become competitive for colleges and scholarships as you:

Apply AVID skills including note taking, organization, time management and goal setting

Participate in tutor-facilitated, bi-weekly tutorials to receive support in academic courses

Participate in reading and writing-to-learn activities, including text analysis, learning logs, essay and timed writing

Improve inquiry and communication skills through informed debate, presentations, Philosophical Chairs & Socratic Seminars

Volunteer in the community (at least 15 hours a semester) and become actively involved in extracurricular activities

Prepare for college entrance exams

Research college and career opportunities and develop a portfolio

Necessary Materials:

Good quality 2 – 3” 3-ring binder (preferably the kind with pocket inserts on the front and back covers)
Six dividers (to separate each class, including AVID)
Zippered pouch to store supplies such as pens and pencils
(a 3-hole punched heavy duty Ziploc bag will also work)
Two or more pens (blue or black ink only)
Two or more #2 pencils
One eraser
One or more highlighter pens
College-ruledloose leaf lined paper

/ Suggested Materials:

Binder 3-hole punch
Liquid Paper/white-out pen
Calculator
Ruler
Personal manual pencil sharpener
Sticky Notes
Color pencil / Marker set
Pocket dictionary (VERY important for SAT Prep and advanced class readings)
Paper hole reinforcement labels

Your first AVID binder check is a materials check (worth 150 points). You need ALL of the above necessarymaterials or you will earn an F for that grade. If you financially struggle to purchase these materials, please put me on notice ASAP.

Typical Weekly Schedule

AVID Curriculum includes reading and writing-to-learn strategies and exercises, collaborative activities, time management and organizational strategies, goal-setting, test preparation, college and career exploration, and oral language / public speaking activities.

Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
AVID Curriculum / Tutorials / A.V.I.D. Binder Checks
IRC due (alternating every other week) / Tutorials / AVID Curriculum

Grading Scale / Policy

This course has an ongoing grade for the whole semester (not quarters), and is weighted by priority based upon the following criteria:

25%: Assignments & IRCs
25%: Binders
25%: Tutorials
25%: Portfolio, Essays & Projects (Including Volunteer and Extracurricular Logs/corresponding Reflection)

Class Professionalism Expectations

Just as adult professionals in their jobs must adhere to certain expectations - and have consequences when they are not met - you too have expectations and consequences as professional students in this and any class. In addition to following school policy and rules:

BE ON TIME: If you arrive late to class without a pass signed by an SLHS adult excusing you, I will not award you an “on time” stamp for any of your work when it is checked that day. Review “Late Work” policy for consequences.

ELECTRONICS FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES ONLY AND REQUIRE PERMISSION: If I see or hear your electronic device or earphones without my advanced and explicit permission to use it that day, I will enforce the SLHS school-wide consequences for having electronics (take it away, give it to the Assistant Principals’ office to be picked up after school, and parents/guardians will have to collect it from the A.P. office after subsequent offense). Failure to surrender device to me upon request will result in an automatic referral for defiance.

BE PREPARED EVERY DAY:You need to bring your binder and all AVID materials to class each day (for Tutorials this includes resource materials/books/CNotes and TRF). I will not lend you materials if you forget them.

CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF: If caught leaving food, gumor trash in the room, you will owe me a 10 minute cleaning detention to help me clean my class, the desks and floor (ew!). If not served you’ll be issued a school referral.

RESPECT FOR CLASSMATES AND TEACHER AND CLASSROOM: Always be professional.

Don’t interrupt when it’s other people’s turn to speak; no profanity; respect differences; provide constructive feedback rather than criticism, don’t inappropriately tamper with class property; no grooming or sleeping in class.

Failure to act professionally and in a respectful manner will result in a phone call home and a teacher detention.

Assignment & Binder Policy

BINDERS: Keep a collection of all of your assignmentsin your binder(not loose or in your backpack/home/locker). Three-hole punch assignments each day and organize your workby class. Your binder will be checked every Wednesday. Never throw away old work. Always keep everything for the year in the event you need to defend a grade you earned.

POINTS/STAMPS: I will stamp your work if it is 1) complete and 2) on time (meaning it was finished before you enter class). If your assignment received a stamp and you know you put in professional/thoughtful effort, assume you will receive full credit points for it. If, however, when I go to enter your grades into ABI, and upon reviewing your coursework more closely I discover that it wasn’t your best effort, I will return it to you to re-do for a late grade (or you will get a zero in extreme cases). Receiving a stamp on an assignment does not mean you automatically have a grade for it entered into your records, as it can take up to two weeks for me to review/enter grades in ABI. No credit given for incomplete assignments &/or unverified absences.

LATE POLICY: If you do not have your assignments ready before you enter class on the day they are due, they are late. You receive 15% off your work for each day it is late. You have three (3) days to finish it (up to 45% off), but after that, I will not accept it and you will receive no credit for that assignment. If your binder + all Cornell Notes aren’t organized and ready before you enter class on a Binder Check day, you will not receive any credit or have a make-up opportunity for that grade.

Absence Policy

FOR ASSIGNMENTS YOU MISSED AND NEED: Check your mailbox folder when you return from an absence. If I passed something out the day you were absent, it will be in your folder marked with a “Makeup Work” stamp, which indicates that you are responsible for completing it and turning it in withinone week or it is a zero. You must also be responsible for checking in with me, a classmate and my webpage to see if you missed anything else important. Sometimes we covered something you need to know/do that would not be on a worksheet (and therefore, not in your mailbox folder).
FOR ASSIGNMENTS YOU DID WHICH NEED A STAMP:The day you return, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to ask and remind me to stamp any of your completed assignments (that were due when you were absent). You will receive a stamp if your assignment was done 1) on time (by the day of your return) and 2) is complete.

FOR MISSED BINDER CHECKS: It is your responsibility to check in with me the same day you return from an verified absence to make arrangements for a make-up binder check. If you don’t do this, you have an automatic zero.

Appointments

Plagiarism / Cheating

All work that you turn in must be yours or properly cited (do not misrepresent others’ work or ideas as your own).

Do not let other students “borrow” or copy any of your work (Use the sample binder, course webpage, or teacher for help).

Academic dishonesty on any work will receive ZERO credit, with no opportunity for makeup/retake. No exceptions!