Schoolwork

Homework

Homework is most commonly given so that students will review, reinforce and consolidate material introduced in class. Junior students should spend from 1 to 2 ½ hours per night on homework, and 2 ½ to 3 hours per night at the senior level.

Students who are absent are responsible for homework that has been assigned. For example, a student absent for a field trip should arrange that a classmate collect handouts, etc. so that the student is prepared for the next class. Students who are away from school for an extended period of time should contact the school to find out about work missed and make arrangements for work to be sent home. Homework is assessed as part of Learning Skills for the report card.

Tests and Assignments

The NT policy is that there should be no tests or assignments for a period of five school days prior to the beginning of exams. The intent of this policy is to allow concentration on exam preparation outside of class time and the completion of curriculum in class. Regular homework may continue to be assigned, and assignments may be given out, worked on and submitted during a single class, and may be evaluated for marks.

Absence for Scheduled Tests/Presentations

Procedures:

• Absent for assignment– student presents assignment directly to the teacher with note signed by the office the first day back at school
• Absent for test due to emergency– parent (or student if over 18) informs the office before the test and provides a legitimate note the day the student returns; student should see the teacher before school to discuss the absence
• Absent for group presentation due to emergency – student contacts group before presentation, and parent (or student if over 18) contacts office before the due date
• Absent for field trips/athletic competitions – student notifies teachers in advance; student is provided with an official excusal notice to be presented to subject teacher after the event.

Late Assignments 

• Major assignments must have at least two weeks notice and, in setting the due date, teachers must try to ensure that students are not already pressed for time with competing major assignments.
• A reasonable extension may be granted if, prior to the due date, the student and teacher negotiate a new submission date. The negotiated date must be recorded on the "Date Deferral Notice" and this notice must be submitted with the assignment.
• If a student does not submit the assignment on the due date and has not taken the responsibility to negotiate a deferred date, the teacher will determine the course of action.
• Major independent research projects which are published in the Student Agenda Book have a fixed due date. The assignment (or any work completed) must be submitted for evaluation on this date.
• Serious extenuating circumstances will be dealt with on an individual basis.

Plagiarism 

Concerns about the Marks on a Test or Assignment

Written and Oral Examinations and Summative Evaluations

A timetable of examinations is provided for each student several weeks before each set of examinations begins. This timetable is an important document which should be read with care and shared with parents.

Students should plan to arrive at school at least 20 minutes before an examination is scheduled to begin. A student who arrives late for an examination will be admitted up to 40 minutes after it begins, but will receive no extra time. No student will be admitted if more than 40 minutes late.

If a student in any grade must miss a summative evaluation/examination because of illness, he or she should inform the Vice-Principals’ Office by telephone at the time of the summative evaluation/examination. Upon returning to school, the student must submit a doctor’s certificate to the Vice-Principals’ Office stating that he or she was too ill to write the exam.

Failure to write an examination for any other reason will result in a mark of zero. All of these rules also apply to summative and oral evaluations.

Cheating on a test or examination is a serious offence, which will result in the automatic loss of all marks for the test or examination, and possible suspension.

Reports

Students who do not drop a senior course five days after the November report card is issued will receive a mark in any course they are registered. These marks will appear on their transcripts.

Formatting a Polished Paper

General Principles:

• all major assignments require a title page
• all assignments must be double spaced in at least 12 point font
• all major research assignments require a list of sources used
• all research papers must include citations

1. Key the bibliography on a separate page (top margin 5 cm. or 2").
2. Triple-space after the centred title Bibliography.
3. Arrange all sources in alphabetical order by the author's last name or if no author, by title. Key the last name or title including a, an, the.
4. When there is more than one author, only the first author's name is inverted.
5. When there are more than two authors, the words "et al." which means "and others" are keyed after the name of the first author.
6. Do not number the entries.
7. Single space each entry and double space between them.
8. Begin the first line of each entry at the margin. Indent any additional lines of the entry five characters (or first tab).
9. Italicize the title of a book, magazine, journal, newspaper, CD-ROM or audio visual medium.
10. Display in quotation marks the title of a magazine article, a newspaper article, or the title of a book chapter.
11. Follow the order of items and punctuation as indicated in the examples on the following pages.

Generic Entries and Examples for a Bibliography

Book (with no author)
Title of book. City: Publisher, year.
Example
The Condensed Chemical Dictionary. New York: Van Nostrand, 1994.

Book (with one author)
Author's last name, initial(s). Title of book. City: Publisher, year.
Example
Chislett, B. Quiet in the Land. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1996.

Book (with two authors)
Author's last name, initial(s), and initial(s) author's last name. Title of
book. City: Publisher, year.
Example
Menuhin, Y., and C.W. Davis. The Music of Man. Toronto: Methuen, 1979.

Book (with more than two authors)
Author's last name, initial(s), et al. Title of book. City: Publisher, year.
Example
Young, P., et al. The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War I Vols. 1-11. Toronto: Marshall Cavendish, 1984.

Book (with editor)
Editor's last name, initial(s) (Ed.). Title of book. City: Publisher, year.
Example
Letherridge, S. (Ed.). Bilingual Education. New York: Praeger, 1980.

Article in Book (with author)
Author's last name, initial(s). "Title of article." Title of book. City: Publisher, year.
Example
Young, W.D. "The Economics of Korea." The Book of Economics. Scarborough, Ont.: Bantam Books, 1989.

Article in Magazine (with author)
Author's last name, initial(s). "Title of article." Title of magazine, date, p./pp.
Example
Balsiger, H. "Hockey stars." Maclean's, June 17, 1994, pp. 134-167.

Article in Magazine (with no author)
"Title of article." Title of magazine, date, p/pp. 
Example
"Of Bytes and Rights." Technology Review, November 28, 1994, p. 36.

Article in Newspaper (with author)
Author's last name, initial(s). "Title of article." Title of newspaper, date, Section letter and/or page number(s).
Example
Orr, F. "Japanese Skater Adds Elegance to Acrobatics." Toronto Star, October 22, 1989, C4.

Article in Newspaper (with no author)
"Title of article." Title of newspaper, date, Section letter and/or p./pp. .
Example
"Dow Extends Its Decline." The Financial Post, June 4, 1997, p.21.

Article in Scientific Journal (with author)
Note that p. and pp. are not used.
Author's last name, initial(s). (Date) "Title of article." Title of journal volume number (issue number): paging.
Example
Spetch, M.L. (December 1983) "Subjective Shortening: A Model of Pigeons' memory." Journal of Experimental Psychology : Animal Behaviour Processes 9 (14): 14-30.

Government Document
Canada. Name of body. Title of film/document. Ottawa: Queen's Printer, year.
Examples
Canada. Parliament. House of Commons. Standing Committee on Health, Welfare and Social Affairs. Wife Battering: Report on Violence in the Family. Ottawa: The Committee, 1983.

Canada. Royal Commission of the Status of Women in Canada. Report. Ottawa: Information Canada, 1970.

Pamphlet
Issuing Body. Title of pamphlet. Year.
Example
The Canadian Cancer Society. The Effects of Smoking on Your Lungs. 1994.

Audio Visual
Title of medium [type of medium]. Publisher, year.
Example
Quebec Winter Carnival [kit]. See Hear Now, 1985.

CD-ROM
Title of CD-ROM. CD-ROM, year. "Title of entry."
Example
The 2001 Canadian Encyclopedia Plus. CD-ROM, 2000. "Loon."

Internet
Give the author's last/first name (if known), the title of the document (in quotation marks), the title of the complete work or title/site (italicized), date of publication or last revision (if known), URL (in angle brackets).
Example
Beck, Rowan. "A Bibliography." The Edward Albee Home Page, May 9, 1995. <http://www.en.utexas.edu/~rbeck/314fall/drama/biography.html>

Personal Interview
Interviewee's last name, initial(s). Personal interview. Date.
Example
MacKenzie, D.H.H.. Personal interview. January 18, 1994.

Footnotes & Endnotes

How to do Footnotes/Endnotes

1. Footnotes/endnotes are numbered.
2. In the text of an essay, the footnote/endnote number appears at the end of the passage quoted or paraphrased.
3. First footnote for each source must be entered in full. Subsequent entries include only author and page.
4. Follow the style of these examples: 

Internet
note number. Author (if known), Title of the document, the title of the complete work or title/site (italicized), date of publication or last revision (if known), URL (in angle brackets)

Periodical
note number. Author, "Title," Periodical Name, Date, p./pp. .

Example of a page of Footnotes/Endnotes with subsequent entries:

1 J. Benet, "The Cold War of the 60's, What Was It?," Journal of Historical Studies, December 1989, pp.16-17.
2 J. L. Gaddis, The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989), p. 133.
3 Rowan Beck, "A Bibliography," The Edward Albee Home Page, 9 May 1995, <http://www.en.utexas.edu/~rbeck/314fall/drama/biography.html>
4 Benet, p.23.
5 Gaddis, pp. 160-167.
6 Burka.
7 Seabrook.
8 Gaddis, p. 100.

How to do Parenthetic Citations

For social science papers:
Cite the author's last name and the page reference in parenthesis within the text of the paper.
Example
The lack of any binding commitment on the part of League members was a major factor in its downfall (Northedge, 354).

Marking Symbols