Course Syllabus

Teacher: Mrs. Shannon Steffler, RN, BSN.

If you need to contact me, please email me at: Shannon.Steffler@ucps.k12.nc.us

Course Description: This course focuses on cell biology and cancer, infectious diseases, pathology, and biomedical research utilizing curriculum developed by the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research (NCABR) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Students will learn about careers in biotechnology within the context of the course content. Projects, teamwork, and demonstrations serve as instructional strategies that reinforce the curriculum content. English language arts and science are reinforced in this course. Leadership activities provide the opportunity to apply essential standards and workplace readiness skills through authentic experiences.

Goals and Objectives: Go on my Canvas page find “Syllabus” on the left hand side of the page. Click on “Curriculum Outline”, it will take you to a word doc of all the objectives and goals that will be discussed in Health Science I Honors.

Final Exam: This course has a state IMS exam and is required for all students to take. The final exam will count as 25% of the students’ final grade.

Grading Scale: Your grade for each six weeks will be based on classwork (10%), quizzes (30%), test (40%), and projects (20%). Parents can see grades at any time through Parent Portal online, progress reports that are sent out every three weeks and report cards every 6 weeks.      

                                                

NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED!!

 

Tutoring: Students may come for tutoring  by appointment.

 

Supplies:

2 inch 3-ring binder for classwork and notes

12 dividers

Loose leaf paper

Colored pencils/markers

Black & red pen

 

Resources: EmpowerED Family Portal (link https://www.ucps.k12.nc.us/domain/2917) – this provides parents with links to online resources and apps that students can access.

Assessments and Assignments: Each day students should expect a warm-up, classroom assignment and exit tickets that goes along with the information taught that day or the day before. Students should also expect to be tested once or twice a week either by quiz and/or test. Throughout the semester students will participate in projects done in groups or individual.

 

Classroom Management: Students will follow the guidelines stated in the PWHS student handbook.

General Expectations:

1. Students are expected to be prepared for class each day.
2. Students are expected to bring their laptops and notebooks to class each day.
3. Students are expected to show respect and courtesy for themselves, one another, and their teacher. This includes paying attention, following directions, not talking when others are talking, and refraining from inappropriate and/or hurtful language. In addition, students should respect the school and our classroom and work to keep their area clean.
4. Students are expected to follow all other rules set forth in the student handbook.

 

Classroom Procedures:

1. Students should be on time and in their assigned seat when the bell rings. Students will immediately begin to work on their daily warm-up. Warm up’s should be completed within the first 5 minutes after the tardy bell rings.
2. All written assignments should be turned in to the appropriate class bin.
3. During independent assignments or group activities early finishers will read a magazine or book, work on other assignments. Students should always have something to work on!
4. Students should remain in their seats until the bell rings. Students will not be dismissed from class until everyone is seated.
5. Exit Slips need to be submitted on Canvas or turned in before the bell rings.

 

Classroom Policies:

1. Snack food and water is allowed in the classroom. You must clean up after yourself or loss of privileges.
2. You must sign out/in to use the restroom. You may use the restroom during independent work and group activities, but not during direct instruction and whole-group discussions. As a reminder, you are not use the restroom the first or last 15 minutes of class.
3. No cellphones will be used or out during classroom instruction or independent work. Cell Phone use in the classroom is under my discretion and I will let you know when the cell phone is needed.
4. Students should not be touching models unless instructed by teacher.

 

Policies for classwork, projects, and Make-up Work:

• All classwork should be completed during class time. If an assignment needs more time I will extend the due date.
• All make-up assignments will be on Canvas.
• Upon returning to school following an absence; it is the student’s responsibility to look on Canvas for make-up work. Worksheets that need to be completed will be in the “Make-Up Work” bin in front of the classroom.
• Students have two days for each day absent to submit make-up work or you will receive a zero. If you are absent on the day that an assignment/project is due; the assignment/project will be turned in on the day you return to school or the project will be considered late (50% reduction on grade).
• Make-up tests and quizzes must be completed within three days of your return from an absence. It is important to note that make up test or quizzes will be given a DIFFERENT version from the original test/quiz.

 

Late Work: 10-point deduction every day the assignment is considered late.

 

Online Platforms: The majority of assignments not completed on paper will be submitted on our learning platform, Canvas. Assignments can be submitted a variety of ways including, uploading files, typing into text boxes, and sharing Google documents/presentations. Students will be shown how to submit assignments on Canvas as needed. Individual assignments will indicate which method of submission on Canvas is expected. If students need a refresher or have questions, they can access the Canvas Student Guide for specific instructions. It is the student's responsibility to ensure assignments are submitted on time and to contact the instructor if there is a problem. Please note that student activity is logged while in Canvas so instructors will be able to see if the student opened the assignment, if there was any activity including a log of student activities during online tests and quizzes. Students are not allowed to leave the testing window during assessments. Doing so is considered cheating and will be handled as set forth in the Parkwood HS handbook.

NOTICE: Although many assignments are submitted and graded in our learning platform, Canvas, the "final" grades shown may not be properly weighted and do not contain assignments that were not graded in Canvas. For the student's official grades, please continue to access the parent portal through Powerschool. Login information is usually sent home with the students at the beginning of the year, and should be the same as last year. If you need assistance accessing the parent portal, please contact the school.