Homework Assignments
All homework assignments are listed in the Course Plan that you were given with your materials. The syllabus shows which "week" in the course plan corresponds to which date in our school year. I intend to strictly adhere to the Course Plan as much as possible but will announce any deviations or changes in class and on the website. All students are expected to use the Course Plan to look up and complete the homework assignment for each week.
Homework assignments are usually comprised of a mix of the following:
Important Concepts
Within the Course Plan, for each week in the year, you will find a section called Important Concepts. This section helps to focus the student's efforts as they proceed through the course by pointing out certain topics that need to be studied very carefully and mastered, as well as other topics which can be "skimmed". I encourage students to begin each week by read the Important Concepts so they can focus their studying most effectively.
Grading
Homework is not collected or graded. Students are expected to correct their own work using the Answer Key provided. Parents may elect to keep the Answer Key and correct homework for the student or they may choose to allow their student access to the key so that they can work through the solutions independently. The goal is to learn from your mistakes so I leave it to parents to determine what will best serve their child.
Time is allotted at the beginning of each class for students to ask questions and get help. Overall, homework assignments should take about 4 - 5 hours to complete each week.
It is inadvisable to do all homework the night before it is due. By spreading the workload over the whole week, students retain information much better and are more successful. Students who try to do a week’s worth of chemistry homework after a full day of Thursday CCS classes are setting themselves up for failure. PARENTS - Please encourage your students to avoid this bad habit!
Homework assignments are usually comprised of a mix of the following:
- Reading from the text book (specific chapters and sections)
- Written work from the Section Assessments and Chapter Assessments in the textbook - specific problems are listed
- Learning definitions of Key Terms
- Performing labs using the Labster Software.
- Completing Lab Worksheets or Lab Reports
- Additional Assignments: Examples are extra worksheets handed out in class, memorizing certain things, etc.
- Quizzes - There may be announced or unannounced quizzes throughout the year.
- Exams - There will be three exams each semester and they will be taken at home in order to save class time, except for Exam VI which will be taken in class on the last day of school. Most exams (but not all) will be preceded by a week of review and preparation.
Important Concepts
Within the Course Plan, for each week in the year, you will find a section called Important Concepts. This section helps to focus the student's efforts as they proceed through the course by pointing out certain topics that need to be studied very carefully and mastered, as well as other topics which can be "skimmed". I encourage students to begin each week by read the Important Concepts so they can focus their studying most effectively.
Grading
Homework is not collected or graded. Students are expected to correct their own work using the Answer Key provided. Parents may elect to keep the Answer Key and correct homework for the student or they may choose to allow their student access to the key so that they can work through the solutions independently. The goal is to learn from your mistakes so I leave it to parents to determine what will best serve their child.
Time is allotted at the beginning of each class for students to ask questions and get help. Overall, homework assignments should take about 4 - 5 hours to complete each week.
It is inadvisable to do all homework the night before it is due. By spreading the workload over the whole week, students retain information much better and are more successful. Students who try to do a week’s worth of chemistry homework after a full day of Thursday CCS classes are setting themselves up for failure. PARENTS - Please encourage your students to avoid this bad habit!