There are several ways you can contact me for advice and assistance. The best way is to speak to me while at school (before or after class, at lunchtime, or look for me at my carrell). The next best way is to send me email.

Course Materials:

Books:
· Davidson et al., Nation of Nations: A Narrative History of the American Republic.
· Retrieving the American Past (a special collection of articles).
- various handouts (included as links in the assignments).

A notebook for class notes, reading notes, and handouts. You must bring the proper book and notebook to class every day.

Attendance:

Please read and understand the attendance regulations in the student handbook. I will follow them.

Homework:

Please do your own homework. Homework is due on the date given on the assignment sheet. Be sure you understand what the homework assignment is before you leave class! There will be homework every school night, even on "off" days.

All students will be expected to use and check their email once every school day since I will use email to communicate certain assignments or to keep in touch with students in case of absence (theirs or mine). Keep in mind the school policies on use of "technology": email, computers (yours, the school's), and external internet sites.

Tests and quizzes are private to each class. Please do not discuss them with members of other classes.

Please read the History Department General Policy Statement for a fuller account of coursework guidelines.

Evaluation:

10th grade history is a challenging course and it is important to take it seriously and responsibly. Be sure to do all of the assignments and to keep up with the assignments. Tests require extensive daily study; you cannot "cram" for them. Stay on top of your assignments and you will do well.

Your daily average (homework, surprise quizzes, notebook checks, reading assignments) count for 20% of your grade; tests count for 80% of your course grade. There is no extra credit work. (Use the extra effort to improve your work on already assigned work in the course.)

Please save all your work (notes, handouts, quizzes, tests). It will help you with tests and exams. (Yes there is a cumulative exam at the end of the fall term and of the year!) It is also your record in case there is any dispute with my grade book.

If you have difficulties with any aspect of the course (reading, note-taking, quizzes, essays, tests) please tell me about it. If you want extra help, we can schedule a conference in a free period or after school. In some cases, I can require a student to attend a conference. A student who misses a scheduled conference will be counted as absent from a class and turned in as absent.

Federalist Papers - a complete set online.

US Constitution - gives the full text plus a very rich selection of background texts, documents, and analyses.

Time line - a documentary chronology of American History. Quite a collection!

Congress - a federal government site that tracks Congressional activities. Find out what they are up to! Has links to other useful federal sites.

Microhistory - a site we may use for our study of the Civil War.

Christopher Colvin St. Stephen's Episcopal School ccolvin@sstx.org