Guidelines and Expectations for Magistra Haycock's Latin III
Welcome to Latin III! I am looking forward to an exciting year of studying Latin and classical civilization. Success in Latin demands constant memorization and review of material learned this year AND last year. I will incorporate review activities and memorization drills into the class along with explanations and practice. Nevertheless, you MUST study on your own time in a very deliberate way, and complete homework for every Latin class. You should allow 30 minutes for homework every night.
Semper Paratus (always prepared) is the unofficial motto of our class. You are expected to bring to class every day:
1. Your textbook
2. A pen or pencil
3. A 3-ring notebook (You are expected to take notes and to save all handouts distributed in class in your notebook.)
4. Completed homework
5. A positive attitude
Class Conduct:
1. Be prompt
2. Be attentive
3. Be courteous to others
4. Be responsible for your own education – ask questions when you don’t understand something; sign up for extra help when needed and make up missed work promptly.
5. Nota bene: Any unauthorized absence from class will exclude you from participation in co-curricular activities that school day (and more importantly, we would miss you!). You are responsible for reading and following the school’s attendance policy as stated in the Handbook for Students and Parents.
Homework:
1. As noted above, there is homework for every class. Typical assignments include translations, syntax and comprehension exercises, derivative and culture activities, vocabulary review.
2. Homework will be checked every day. Any missing homework will be considered a zero and averaged into your homework grade.
3. Any missing homework due to an excused absence will be entered into the gradebook as a “M.” “M” calculates as a zero, but will be replaced with full credit when the assignment is turned in.
4. You are permitted to miss one homework per quarter without penalty.
A Word About Technology:
Please remember that our friends Quintus and Caecilius survived without electronic devices (e.g. cell phones) and so can you! Cell phones must be switched off and out of sight for the entire duration of class. If you need to leave class to use the restroom, your cell phone must remain in the classroom. Plan to take notes on paper. You may only have your laptop open during specified times during class. Studies show that frequent toggling between tasks greatly reduces productivity. For this reason, you must have iMessage disabled on your laptop during class and you may only have tabs open that pertain to the work we are doing in Latin class.
A word about homework: In the second semester of this year, we will transition to reading “real” unedited, unadapted Latin (Caesar and Ovid). You should be congratulated for this undertaking, as you will be reading some of the most famous texts in classical history. You are expected to diligently prepare the passages assigned each night for homework. At times, you may find it impossible to make sense of a particular sentence. In these instances, you are expected to look up every word and identify the meaning and syntax of each word. Then it will be much easier for you to understand how the sentence is translated. It is not acceptable to come to class with nothing written down in the hopes of simply copying the translation and memorizing it. There may be unannounced (open note) grammar or comprehension quizzes, based on the previous night's assignment, to ensure that you are doing the homework.
Grading: Your grade will be based upon your test grades (55%), quiz grades (30%), and homework and participation (15%).
Your final grade for the year will be weighted as follows:
1st Q: 22.5% 2nd Q: 22.5% 3rd Q: 22.5% 4th Q: 22.5%
Final Exam: 10%
Textbooks: This course covers stages 32-34 in the Cambridge Latin Course Unit 3. We will then transition into reading authentic Latin authors including selections from Caesar’s Gallic Wars and Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
CCHS Grading Scale:
97-100=A+ 87-89=B+ 77-79=C+ 67-69=D+
93-96=A 83-86=B 73-76=C 63-66=D
90-92=A- 80-82=B- 70-72=C- 60-62=D-