Course Syllabus

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):

Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year.  I look forward to an exciting year in U.S. History.  Our study will take us from Colonization through Reconstruction.  Our year at a glance from TEKS Resource is posted at the bottom of this syllabus.  Students will work hard reading documents, participating in simulations, and working together to think like historians.    Hopefully they will have some fun along the way as they discover what it took to make our nation so unique.

This year I am embracing all the exciting technology our district provides and making my class totally paperless.  What that means is that students, both face to face and at home learners, will utilize their issued Chromebooks (or at home technology) daily for my class to complete activities.  They will learn to use the tools in OneNote, which will be their electronic binder.  Assignments will be sent out daily through Canvas, however, the actual work will be located in their 2020-2021 U.S. History OneNote electronic binder.  A comprehensive newsletter was sent out through parent and student emails about how to access and use this. My classes utilized this technology last year, and I feel confident we worked out most of the kinks.  Of course with all technology, we may encounter new glitches.  I ask for patience this year as we work together to solve any problems that may arise. 

The end of the year does come with a Social Studies STAAR Test which all 8^th graders must take.  Over the past few years we have seen vast improvements with the Meets and Masters in Social Studies in Millsap and we hope to keep those numbers rising.  This being said, students will learn and utilize a testing strategy that was implemented a few years ago and has proven to be effective:  RUBIES.  A brief outline of this strategy is listed below.  Using it on spiraling review questions and tests is not an option.  Students will lose points for not using this in my class and they will not be able to retest or make up assignments if they do not use it.  They will be able to utilize this strategy in their electronic notebooks easily. 

Cell phones and Smartwatches/Fitbits are to be put on silent and placed in the assigned spot by the time the tardy bell rings.  If these are seen after that, they will be taken up and held until the end of the day.  The second time one is taken up, it will be sent to the office.  The Chromebooks will be our technology.

No food or drinks other than water in a container with a lid will be allowed in class. 

I look forward to working with you and your student throughout the school year. If you are not already registered in Parent Portal, I encourage you to do so.  Please feel free to contact me with questions and concerns.

My email is agraham@millsapisd.net.

940-274-2581

Sincerely,

Ann Graham