Hello Drama 1 Students and Parents/Guardians!
My name is Mr. Austin. I am a new teacher here at Sand Ridge, I am replacing Mrs. Love, who retired as the Drama and Speech teacher. (I also teach Spanish 2 but that doesn't really apply to this class). I'm super excited to get to know each and everyone you. In this class we are going to do a lot of collaborative, presentational work. We are going to also learn basic principles of theatrical design and production. It is going to an amazing time! You are all going to love it! And in December we will hold auditions for the winter musical "Oliver!".
BEHAVIOR:
I have 6 main rules in my classroom:
1. Respect.
2. Trust.
3. NO Phones/Electronics.
4. Keep it Appropriate.
5. Fail to Succeed.
6. Try your Best!
1. I need all my students to respect themselves, their peers, and me. If you give respect to these people we won't have any behavioral problems. I believe this is a basic rule that we can all agree on. We respect each other and ourselves.
2. Along with respect, I need all my students to trust themselves, their peers, and me. Performing in front of a group can be very vulnerable, especially if it's in any way personal to you. So trust yourself that you can succeed and your voice has a place and matters. Then, trust your peers to respect that voice. And trust me that I won't judge you. You are an amazing individual. I am here to assess and help your speech.
3. This is a school-wide policy, details are further down.
4. We must be conscientious of what we are saying and what we are presenting. We will not use foul language or references. We will not be crass or rude. We will be respectful and our words and actions will reflect that.
5. I whole-heartedly believe that we need to change our conceptions on failure. Failure is a good thing. We cannot reach our highest successes without building on top of numerous failures. We will fail often in my class and we will applaud our failures. Because from such failures will our success grow.
6. To succeed we must fail, and to fail we must try. Effort is going to be crucial. I cannot help you and we can't have fun if you are not trying. Please put in the effort and I promise you will see great advances in your skill and abilities.
GRADING:
The portal will be updated regularly and serve as grade and citizenship notification. Please allow extra time for updates when turning in late work. Grades will be earned according to the following scale.
Grading Scale:
90-100% =A
80-89% =B
70-79%=C
50-69%=D
<50%=F
MATERIALS:
Students are expected to come to class everyday with:
-CHARGED Chromebook
-lined paper or notebook
-pencil or pen
PLUG-IN EARBUDS:
YOU WILL ONLY USE your PLUG IN earbuds to watch teach approved videos in Spanish that are part of your Canvas Modules or to any other teacher instructed activity. If you don't have access to your own ear buds, I will have some available for you to use that I will sanitize each time between uses. But it would still be best to have your own to help prevent the spread of germs.
*Airpods and other wireless headphones are not allowed in any classroom. This is school-wide policy now. They must be kept out of sight and off your person.
CELL PHONE POLICY:
Students will not be permitted to use their cellphones in class. I understand if there is an emergency. If a student needs to be contacted for an emergent situation, please call the front office and have your student called down to use the desk phone. We will follow the school’s cell phone policy as outlined in the Sand Ridge Jr High Student’s Handbook. Phones should be OFF (not on silent or vibrate) and in the student’s bag (not on their person). If I see a student's phone, or if a phone sounds in class, this will result in a loss of class participation points and potentially a demerit in citizenship for repeated offences. In addition to the loss of daily participation points and citizenship demerits, we will be implementing the 3 Strike Policy.
1st Strike - The students’ cellphone will be confiscated and will be returned to the student at the end of the class that same day. Parents will be notified via email the day of the strike.
2nd Strike - The students’ cellphone will be confiscated and will be returned to the student at the end of that same school day. Students may collect their cell phones before 3:00 PM in our classroom. Any phones left after this time will be waiting for the student in the front office. Parents will be notified via email the day of the strike.
3rd Strike - The students’ cellphone will be confiscated and will only be returned to the students’ parent or guardian. The cellphone will be taken to the front office promptly after school for parents to pick up from a member of administration. Parents will be notified via email the day of the strike.
Any offences thereafter may result in school suspension. Strikes do not reset and are accumulated for the entire year. Please help your students be responsible for their electronic devices.
OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES:
The 3 Strike Policy applies to all other electronic devices in class, including unauthorized use of school assigned Chromebooks. We will be using our Chromebooks in this course. It will be made clear to students when they are allowed to have their Chromebooks out of their bags. If a student is using a Chromebook for any unauthorized activity during the times we are using our Chromebooks, they will gain an additional strike and their Chromebook will be confiscated.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at
ziaustin@wsd.netI am so excited to teach you! In this class you will learn principles about communication that will forever benefit your life. Though this may seem like a fun and easy elective (which it is), skills in the dramatic arts will benefit you in any situation where you deal with another person. You will learn how to present yourself with confidence, how to read a situation and know how to best apply yourself to that situation. Drama has endless real-world applications and we'll have a BLAST learning them! Get ready for an amazing semester!
