Mr. Overholt’s Class

Honors Sixth Grade History

Welcome to Pasteur Middle School. I’m Mr. Overholt, and I will be your child’s history teacher this year. Please take a few minutes to review these class policies. Parents and guardians, when you are finished reading, please go to Google Classroom with your child and answer the posted question about this syllabus.

Behavior Expectations

Students are expected to behave appropriately at all times. As Pasteur Tigers, we remember our keys to success by thinking of “PAWS”:

Positive attitude

Always responsible and respectful

Work to succeed

Safety first

Be as mature as possible and it will pay off with good grades and good calls home. Students who choose not to follow the rules will be dealt with according to the Pasteur discipline policy.

Classroom policies

Students are marked on time to class when they are in their seats with their materials ready when the bell rings. Bring your binder, binder reminder, and especially a pencil to class. Water bottles are a great way to stay hydrated in class. Food and drinks besides water are only allowed if given by your teacher, or on special occasions. Each class gets to create their own set of rules known as a Class Charter. Students are expected to follow the rules that their class has created.

Honors History- In Honors history, students are responsible for all that traditional students learn, but are expected to perform at a higher depth of knowledge. Students will appreciate that our understanding of history is always changing and it is more important to understand the WHY rather that just the WHAT and WHEN. To think like a historian, students will examine evidence and come to conclusions based on critically thinking about that evidence.

At-Home Practice (Homework)- Homework is considered practice and is not graded. In order to understand the material and do well on tests, students need to do their practice beforehand. Students will have the opportunity to write their assignments in their binder reminders.

Materials- there is no required list of materials, but it would be great if students could bring a large (2-3”) 3-ring binder, two spiral notebooks (in August, these are usually $.25 at Target), several blue and black pens, several pencils, and loose-leaf paper. Colored pencils, scissors, and rulers are also helpful.

History Notebook- Students will have a 3-hole punched notebook in which they will complete many assignments. Within the next week, please bring two notebooks- one for each semester. Keep notebooks up to date- assignments will be graded for class credit.

Academic Work- All point values in class are equal; that means that test points are the same as classwork points. Assignments with greater point values are worth more toward a student’s grade. Occasionally, extra credit may be offered. I do not have a list of extra credit assignments, so please don’t ask.

Tests and Quizzes- Students will get to show what they have learned on quizzes throughout the year. Before most quizzes, the at-home practice will be questions related to the quiz. Most quizzes for honors history students are closed-notes. Test re-takes are allowed for most tests. Students should see me to arrange a time for the test re-take. The maximum score possible on a test re-take is 80%.

Cheating, Copying, Plagiarizing: Academic dishonesty is never OK, and can get you into serious trouble. Do your own work, use your own brain, and be original. If you need to quote something from someone else (including websites), give them credit for it. If you are working in a group, you may arrive at the same answer, but use your own words to answer questions. Please be silent while taking tests and quizzes, whether they are on paper or the computer. If you decide to be dishonest, your grades (academic and citizenship) will be lowered.

Parent-student-teacher communication

Students can access their grades 24/7 through the Student Portal. Parents and guardians can do the same with the Parent Portal- please reach out to the school if you need help accessing the Parent Portal. Parents should check their children’s grades at least once a week. The best and easiest way to get in touch with me is through email at eoverholt@sanjuan.edu.

Thank you for taking the time to review these class policies. Students, please have your parents read this letter and together answer the related question on Google Classroom.

Thanks, and have an amazing year!

Eric Overholt