Dear Parent,

My name is Mrs. Jodi Togiai and I will be your child’s history teacher this year.  Because I will be spending seventy minutes every day with your child, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a few things about myself, both personally and professionally.
I have been a teacher at Snake River High School since 1994.  I am a graduate of Snake River High School and have a great love of this school.  After high school I attended school at Ricks College, where I received my Associate Degree. I then went on to BYU-Hawaii and received my B.A. Degree.  I received my M.A. Degree in 2002.  I am married and have five children.  We live in the district and think this is a wonderful community to raise a family.
Teaching has been my lifelong goal and dream.  It is something that I take very seriously and love doing.  My goals as a teacher are to raise my students’ self-esteem, to instill in them a love of learning, to help all reach their potential, and to help them believe in themselves.  I will do all I can to help your child.  My door is always open for them and for each of you.  I would encourage all students to use the encore time for extra help and to make up any school missed.
My mission as a teacher is to instill in my students a lifelong love of learning.  I want to communicate to them that through learning they can make their dreams come true.  I want to help all students believe in themselves, and through that belief, reach their highest potential.  My teaching philosophy is to remember that each student is a unique individual.  I will give each student love and respect.  I expect to receive the same respect and understanding.
I look forward to getting to know each student better.  I know that you are the most important person in your child’s life, and your involvement means a great deal to his or her success.  Throughout this trimester we will be learning skills to solve problems, use technology, make decisions, learn to communicate, and to work cooperatively and individually.  I think this will be a very exciting, fun, and productive year.

Sincerely,
Jodi Togiai

 

Current Events

Every day we will have 5 or 6 people give current event reports.  The events must be taken out of the newspaper or Newsweek only!  The events cannot be more than seven days old.

You will give one once a week but you will not know which day it will be.  You need to have it ready every Monday in case you are called on the first day.  If you do not have it on the day you are called on, you cannot make it up.  It is worth 25 pts. each week.

If your article is really long, read only the first 3 paragraphs.  Do not use part of an article, it must be the entire article.  It must be an actual event NO comics, dear Abby, etc.  If you are unsure then ask me first.  Captions under pictures are NOT articles!

You will not be able to prepare your event during class!!  Have it ready BEFORE class starts!  Keep notes on all reports because we will have a current event quiz every Friday.

Format the paper should be in:

The name of the newspaper, date of newspaper, the page of the newspaper where the article is found, the author of the article, and your name.

The article cut out and glued on your paper.  A summary of the article in your own words-one paragraph.  Why this article is important to you-one paragraph.

Question of the Day!

Every Tuesday and Thursday after current events we will write a 1 pg. opinion paper on the Question of the day.  I will give 15 min. to write it.  I will then call on about 5 people each time to read theirs for the class, everyone will get a turn.  Each day they will be turned in after we discuss them.  They are worth 25 pts. and 10 pts. for reading them with the class.

 

 

Course Description:  This class is designed to provide the students of SRHS with quality activities, meaningful events, entertaining assemblies educational forums, and a voice in government, representation by class and club in our student government and current up to date information about ALL events at SRHS.  The class is to help students learn leadership skills, and styles by observing and participation in a variety of events and activities.  Part of the curriculum will be character counts and leaders for life.  This class will require out of class time to attend assigned activities to be covered.

Class Requirements:

Attendance is expected.  Students will follow school policies in terms of tardies and absences.  Admit slips will be requested after an absence.  Responsibility for staying on project schedule rests with the student.  After six absences, no makeup work will be allowed. (Rules in the agenda.)

Behavior: Respect yourself and others.  Be prepared—bring required materials to class.  Be in class when the tardy bell rings.  Because of the nature of the class, students must be self-starters, be able to stay on task, and be responsible for assignments and deadlines.  Students will work independently on projects in and out of class and must be trustworthy to stay on task and be responsible for behavior.

Each Friday you will need to turn in a paragraph on something you did during the week that showed good leadership.  Anyone who inspires others to excel is a leader.

You must attend 4 extracurricular events before mid-term and after- 8 total.  Activities that you are personally involved in do not count.

No playing the piano or any other instrument.  We share this room with others and need to be respectful of all equipment.  You will be responsible if anything gets damaged!

Keep the room clean!  No drinks or food of any kind!  Be mature enough to clean up after yourself.  The chairs need to be kept in order and not all over the room.

Cell phones or music devices are not allowed!  This is your first and last warning!

 

 

SYLLABUS

Class Rules and procedures:

You must bring a pen or pencil, paper and textbook to class every day.  If you don’t you will lose 10 pints a day.

You are responsible to take care of the book number that you get.  If it is damaged or not the number checked out to you, you will be charged $45.00.  Take care of you BOOK!

You get three passes to leave the class for 2 min. each.  You must have your agenda signed in order to leave.  If you use all of them then it is minus 5 points each time you are over the three passes.

Hats, swearing, cell phones, and music devices are not allowed in the classroom.

Three tardies results in a 20 min detention each.  The 4th tardy will result in a call home and the fifth tardy will be turned into the office.  If you come more than 5 min late it is a late absence and will count against your 6 days.  If it is unexcused you will get a 1 hour detention.

All trimester long you will have a seating chart.  You must stay in your assigned seat and you must be in it when I take role or you will be marked tardy.  When announcements and channel one are on you must sit in your seat and listen to them.

Be respectful when I or your peers are talking.

Grades:

I grade by total points earned divided by total points possible.  Your midterm % will be added to your final % and divided by 200 pts.  There will be daily assignments worth 10-25 pts., chapter tests worth 85-100 pts., a final worth 150 pts., and a research paper worth 165 pts.  Extra Credit will also be offered at various times throughout the trimester. 

When we work on a research paper you will be given library and/or computer lab days.  You must remain working on those days or you will lose points for that day.

When I assign group work, you are graded on participation as well as the assignment.  You must stay in your assigned group and participate in order to get your points.

TAKE DAILY NOTES!  I will give a lecture over every section in every chapter.  What I cover or write on the board is what is on the test.  We will have a test after every chapter, usually a test a week.

Show respect to others and accept responsibility for your own behavior!

I do not accept late work of any kind.  Assignments are due on the assigned date or not at all.  When you are absent you get 2 days to make up the work or it will become a zero.  You are responsible to come in and make up the work missed.  All make up work is to be done during encore.