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Syllabus 7th Grade Medieval History First Semester 2024/2025 Mr. Garner
Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 7th Grade Medieval History. My name is Nathan Garner, and it is an honor to serve you as your History instructor this semester. The goal of this class is to foster and nurture independent thinkers through challenging you, the student, to take charge of your own education and confront “failure”. We will strive to do that through reading quality histories, having hearty discussions about what we’ve read, writing in different styles and formats, and conducting oral presentations. How well you do (or more to the point, what you learn) will depend on you.
Course Overview
This is an introductory course about the different cultures that arose on the four of the five inhabited continents between 406 AD and 1600 AD. As we read various source materials, our job will be to discover how these people lived, the ideas that shaped their lives, and how (if possible) they related to each other. In the process of our investigation, we will expand our understanding in geography, history, theology, philosophy and politics while sharpening our skills in reading, writing, oral communication and memorization.
Reading, Writing, and Speaking
As a Humanities course, this class will put an emphasis on reading, writing and oral communication. Our primary resource for reading will be our textbook. However, this will not be your only source. We will dive into various other sources, ranging from myths to encyclopedias, to obtain information to answer the questions provided above. Our writing practice will follow that provided by the Institute for Excellence in Writing. Its ‘style and structure’ model will provide us the framework to move from constructing simple, usable outlines to creating formal critiques which we will use to present information orally or in writing.
Obtaining information
All of our class information will be found on Google Classroom. There are two primary locations. The first is the “Class Home Page “ or “Class Stream.” This is the first page that you see when you enter Classroom. Here, you’ll find class reminders for either your History class or both History classes. The second location is under “Classwork”, which is a tab located in the top/center of the screen once you’re in Classroom. Here, everything is broken down by week and content type: Material, Class Participation, Assignment, and Quiz (IF it is completed digitally).
Expectations
1. Be on time. Make sure you are in your seat when the bell rings and your work is submitted in the proper location by the given due date. To make sure this happens daily, create and stick to a healthy schedule that is optimal for you to educate yourself.
2. Be respectful. Allow others to speak when we’re discussing material and share your ideas in such a way that isn’t personally offensive to others. This doesn’t mean you can’t disagree with others. Feel free to do so. However, you must respect the individual while disagreeing (and possibly disliking) their ideas.
3. Push yourself. The level of success you reach is dependent on how well you push yourself. Don’t settle for anything short of your best effort. If you do that, the grades will take care of themselves.
Grading
Grading in this course is driven by individual merit. There is no grading curve, nor is there any way to obtain extra credit. You will be allowed to revise writing assignments, FORMS centered on content reading and oral examinations to earn the grade (and knowledge/experience) that you’d like. These assignments have the highest value in this course. Most class participation work and all assessments are non-revisable. The score you earn is what will go in the gradebook. While their value isn’t as high as other pieces, poor scores can accumulate and have a negative impact on the overall grade.
Finishing work on time is important. You will be given ample time to finish assignments. Work submitted after the deadline will incur a grading penalty. Assignments turned in one day after the due date can earn up to 85% of the assignment’s total value. If it’s turned two days past the due date, you can earn up to 75% of the assignment’s total value. Beyond two days, the assignment’s value will top out at 65% of the assignment’s total value. Should a situation arise that prevents you from being in class or turning in an assignment on time, you must let me know. I have no doubt that we will be able to reach an understanding. In addition, traditional plagiarism or the improper use of an artificial intelligence device (ex. having a program write your answer/paper for you) will earn a zero in the grade book until the piece has been rewritten correctly.
Conclusion
If there is anything I can do to further assist you, please don’t hesitate to ask. My contact information is below. Thank you very much for your time. Hang Tough. Go Scotties.
Respectfully,
Nathan Garner
509-291-7301, ex. 324
