This WIKI will serve as a one-stop source for important information on the 3 subjects I'll be teaching this year. Below you will find links to a syllabus/course description for each class along with links to projects and on-line activities. The sidebar includes a calendar of upcoming events. At the bottom of this page, you will find grading, attendance, and behavior policies. 

I will check my official e-mail daily douglas.nothstine@eu.dodea.edu.

Here is a link to the GradeSpeed sign-in site,

This is our school online grade book.

See our school office for details on how to access.

 Click on your class heading for the syllabus or click on a highlighted link to go to an assignment or study help.

11th Grade US History   standards download from this link 

Text Book Site with useful interactive tests and activities to help you study.

The dreaded "All the Presidents" assignment

AP US History (APUSH)

AP 2016 syllabus Nothstine.pdf 

Standards download from this link

9th Grade History

Overall Matrix

If you would like to see all of the classes I teach, what I will be teaching and when, click on this link to take you to a Word document with all that information. Useful for finding out when we will be working on specific topics. Maybe you want to schedule a family trip to Rome while we're covering it in class.

Learning styles questionnaire 

This is Berta, she is our class hamster. 

Make sure you feed her!

Hey! Looking for a cool website to help you with papers you have to write? Look no further.

Grammarly is a great app to help make your writing better. It's less embarrassing when your computer catches your errors, isn't it?

Bibme is a tool to help you write your bibliography in the correct format. It will automatically format your information into APA format, but it can do other formats as well.

Class Policies:

Grading

I do not believe that all assignments are created equal, so assignments will receive different weights.

All grades will be represented by a fraction: the denominator communicating the total value of the assignment.

For Example:

A homework assignment marked 9/10 has received a grade of 90% but it is worth less on the report card than a test graded 90/100 which also received a grade of 90%. If a quiz is graded 45/50 it has also received a 90%. Before work is assigned I should tell you how heavy the assignment will be. If I don't tell you in class, please ask.

• Do not cheat or plagiarize. If I catch you, you will lose my trust and receive a 0% on that assignment.

• Late work will incur a severe grade penalty unless excused by a parent's explanatory note or by me.

• If you will miss a test, it is your responsibility to take the test before your absence or on the day you return - during your lunch even if you do not see me that day in class (see me for exceptions in cases of extended and unplanned absences). 

• Keep tabs on what is due in class by using the on-line grade book. There is always someone surprised at the end of the semester with a low grade because they failed to turn in an assignment or two or three.

       ***Important information***_______

 If you view grades on-line please note:

A blank (no grade) or the message "msg" indicates I'm holding this grade open for you,

act quick. About 2 weeks from the due date it turns into a 0%. 

For larger tests and projects the lowest grade I will record is a 50%  

Attendance

If you are absent from school it is your responsibility to keep up with the class work. The best way to do this is to have a class partner who can share notes and material you might have missed. You may contact me concerning lesson plans at Douglas.Nothstine@eu.dodea.edu if you will be out of school for an extended period of time (i.e. a week+).

Sports Trips

If you are absent due to a sports trip it is your responsibility to keep up with the work. 

Special note to students:

I won't always remember that you were gone on a sports trip (or were you sick?). As you are talking to me in the hall I won't always remember if you missed one class (or two?). When you miss a class I need you to boost your level of communication with me, even if it feels like you are repeating yourself. Come see me during the second half of seminar while I'm sitting at my desk and have my lessons in front of me, this gives me the best opportunity to tell you exactly what you will miss or what you need to make up.

Behavior

Appropriate behavior is an essential part of creating an environment conducive to learning. Please read the behavior expectations in the student handbook. I hope I always come across as respectful to my students and their parents and in return I expect you to be respectful to me. If I am faced with a behavior problem I will…

1. Conference with student and give him or her the chance to change the behavior 

2. Conference with the student again and record the incident.

3. Communicate with the parent and possibly/probably conference with the child present.

4. Elevate problem to administration.

School should be fun, and I like to have fun in class, but every day we have standards we need to cover and objectives we need to meet. Fun is a tool that can help instruction, but if fun gets in the way of what we have to do - then we need to take a step back and reevaluate.