Mr. Rogers Students

Mr. Rogers' Syllabus - Information Common to All Classes

Click on the links below for 2003-4 individual class information and syllabi. This page is at http://intuitor.com/mrstu.htm

CONTACT INFORMATION

Dear Parent or Guardian,

Please familiarize yourself with both the Mr. Rogers' Syllabus -Information Common to all Classes (shown on this page) and the syllabus for the specific class your son or daughter is taking (click the link on the schedule at right). Be sure to bookmark this page

I'm looking forward to working with your son or daughter. Please check the link below about succeeding in an AP class if it applies. Your help can make a big difference.

If you have any questions I can be reached as follows:
E-mail: tom@intuitor.com
School Phone: 299-8393
Fax: 299-8395

Please send me an e-mail with the name of your son or daughter as the subject. I will use this to communicate with you.

How to Succeed on AP Tests

Mr. Rogers Schedule of Classes
1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th
AP/IB Physics II	Plan	AP Comp Sci I	Plan	AP/IB Physics I	AP/IB Comp Sci II	AP Stats
Rm 219	Rm 227	Rm 227	Rm 227	Rm 219	Rm 227	Rm 220
Lunch: Second lunch How to Get Help: Mr. Rogers is normally available in room 227 after school any day except Wed. AP Computer Science tutors are available. Specially designated AP Statistics tutors from GE are available on Tuesdays in the library from 4:00 to 6:00 PM.

AP classes are challenging college level courses. Students in Mr. Rogers AP classes are encouraged to form study groups, use AP study books, and attend all of Mr. Rogers study sessions. Failure is not an option. - Gene Kranz, Mission Director Apollo 13

CLASSROOM POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:
CLASS OBJECTIVES: Teaching, tests, and assignments all focus on daily objectives. You can help by making sure your son or daughter reviews them. If they can't answer them, they need to study or bring questions to class. Follow the links in Mr. Rogers Schedule of Classes shown above to view the objectives. Objectives may change before they're officially assigned.

METHOD OF CALCULATING GRADES: Points are awarded for each graded item. A student's points for all items are summed and divided by the total number of possible points, then multiplied by 100 to get a percentage grade. Extra credit is added to student points but not total points possible. Grade scale is shown at right.

TESTS - 65 to 75%: AP courses require students to sit for an AP exam. To help prepare students, tests will be emphasized. Each will be written as close to AP level as possible. Tests are the key element and typically count 65 to 75% of the grade.

Letter Grade	Percent
A	93 - 100
B	85 - 92
C	77 - 84
D	70 - 76

TEST RETAKING: Each student will be granted one retest per semester. This is to compensate for a bad day, not to raise B's to A's. Retest grades will be lowered by 5%. The student will receive the higher of the retest and original test grades.

LAB AND ENRICHMENT ASSIGNMENTS - 20 to 25%: The second most important element in grades will be lab and enrichment assignments. This will normally be about 20 to 25% of the grade.

MINOR GRADE ITEMS: The remainder of the grade will be made up of homework, quiz, and class participation grades.

ZERO'S: Grades of zero have a disproportionate effect. Hence, missing lab reports will be given 40% of the possible points. This policy will not be in effect on tests or major assignments.

HOMEWORK: Physics and Statistics students will have homework on a regular basis. At the end of each test, homework is to be stapled to the test and turned in for a grade of 5 points. Homework not stapled to the test will not be graded. No exceptions will be made. Homework is primarily for practice and will not be a major proportion of the grade. Computer science students will be responsible for about 6 programs per quarter but will only occasionally have additional homework.

MAKE UP WORK: Homework and quizzes cannot be made up but will not count against a student with an excused absence. All other work must be made up outside of class.

EXTRA CREDIT: Up to 10 points of extra credit is available each quarter (see below for details). This can raise grades by up to 3 percentage points. Projects should take from two to three hours to complete. Sufficiently large projects can be counted in more than one quarter if relevant to class objectives. Extra credit is due one week before the end of the respective quarter in which it's counted.

CLASS PARTICIPATION: Class participation is essential. Each student starts the grading quarter with 10 points of participation credit. Deductions of up to 2 points per day will be made for failure to participate. A student who sleeps in class will be given one warning. Those who continue sleeping receive a 2 point participation deduction for the day. Participation score can be negative.

Who is Mr. Rogers

Does He Wear Sweaters?

Mr. Rogers worked for about 18 years as an engineer in industry. He's a US patent holder, has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University and a master's degree in business administration from Clemson.

In 1993 Mr. Rogers began teaching. He has taught at Southside since 1997 and typically teaches AP Physics, AP Computer Science, and AP Statistics.

Mr. Rogers lives in a passive solar house he designed, and lifts weights. He has published articles in Newsweek, Reader's Digest, and American Physical Society News. With his sons' help he maintains a web site at intuitor.com. Parts of the site have been reviewed by or listed in various media such as Slashdot, Fark, Physics Today Magazine, The New York Times, and National Public Radio. Other parts have received support from the National Science Foundation and Clemson University.

Mr. Rogers owns no sweaters with zippers but it's a beautiful day in his nerdahood.

CLASS RULES

CONSEQUENCES

Don't talk when Mr. Rogers is addressing the class.

Remain seated except with teacher permission.

Use your class time for learning the subject.

All equipment in the classroom is off limits except with teacher permission.

Commit yourself to passing the AP Exam.

Emergency Passes: No one will be allowed to leave class during the class period without a pass written in the student agenda. No agenda means no passes. Students will be granted only two of these per quarter.

Minor Infractions- Individual

Please sign and return a copy of this page by the end of the second week of school

I have visited the appropriate web page or received a printed copy. If I have an e-mail address I have sent Mr. Rogers an e-mail with my son or daughters name as the subject.

Parent Signature

___________________________

Date _____________

I have visited the appropriate web page or received a printed copy for the course I signed up to take from Mr. Rogers. I am committed to making every possible effort to pass the AP test associated with the subject.

Student Signature

___________________________

Date _____________