Disclosure Document
English 12
A3 or B7
Teacher:
Nik Rice
Welcome aboard Language Arts English 12! You may have heard that Mr. Rice’s class is fun. All the
rumors are true. But we also work here. Our classroom for the next year will be like a ship at sea; we all have
the same destination, our success depends on the efforts of each other, and your Captain is on this journey with
you. As your Captain, I want you to see me as your leader. I am here for you. I will not pull you, but I will
push you. We have a few laws on this vessel and just like laws of nature, you cannot break these laws, you can
only break yourself upon them. I, as an innocent bystander, will give you one verbal warning and you much
choose to break the classroom laws yourself. After this warning you will have to fill out a Resolution Form.
What are these laws?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Honesty always. First with yourself and then with others.
Respect. For yourself, others, and school property.
Pull your own weight. Your grade depends on it.
Talk when you’re supposed to and not when you’re not.
Late Work - Each quarter, the Captain will have a progress discussion with each student where we will share
our perceptions and feedback. There will be very limited extra credit opportunities in this class. You must
have all assignments in before I will let you do extra credit. Don’t let your feelings of self-doubt prevent you
from handing anything in! If you are willing to put for an effort, you cannot fail this class. I understand that life
happens, so I will issue every student three late work passes each semester, not term, which can either be used
for late work or can be turned in at the end of the semester for five points each. This means that you can hand in
3 assignments the next class period for full credit if you use a late pass. Without a late pass, your late assignment
will be worth 50% of the original score. Every class period that an assignment is late, 5 additional points will be
deducted from the original score. After 2 weeks of the assignment being late, all work will be given half credit
even with a late pass.
Participation - Since you will be receiving points for participation, absences and tardies should be kept to the
bare minimum. If you miss class without letting me know in advance, you will lose all participation points for
that day. If your excuse has been cleared by the school, participation points for that day will not hurt your grade,
however, you are responsible for checking the class website and getting caught up before the next class.
To be very clear, participation in my class is defined as “Are you helping the Captain?”
I don’t need more work to do, I need help. Please don’t distract your classmates. This is our biggest problem.
Policies - The school attendance policy, like all school policies, will be enforced. This also goes for dress
standards. (As a general rule, if your skin, either legs or back, touches your seat, you are breaking dress code).
Ladies, please keep in mind that teenage boys have enough distractions in class and girls don’t like to see other
girls break dress code either.
Grades are figured on a straight percentage based on the following scale:
A
AB+
B
BC+
94-100
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
C
CD+
D
DF
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
0-59
Our class theme this year is “The Invisible Walls of Humanity” and during this year:
 You will be reading Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Picture
of Dorian Gray along with short stories, articles on the brain, and various texts regarding
humanity.
 Warning: These texts are not easy reads and you will have to work hard to stay engaged.
 You will be writing to persuade, to inform, and to entertain throughout the year. You will have to
create good work but I promise that I will make it worthwhile.
 You will also be honing your oration skills (speaking in front of others) and your overall
language skills (grammar and vocabulary)
 You will be responsible for bringing a pen/pencil, paper, and all homework (completed) to class
every day. You will often hear me say, “The day it is due is never the day to print!” Much of
what we do in class is dependent on what you need to have done outside of class. This is crucial!
Non-Discrimination - Orem High School shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national
origin, gender, age, disability, genetic information, or as otherwise provided by state and federal law. Students
who have a grievance with another student or any school employee should talk to the school administration or a
counselor about their concerns.
Cell Phone/Electronic Device Offense - If a student is seen or heard using a cell phone/electronic device during
class time that the Captain has not permitted, (yes, I do allow it for some activities) the Captain will deduct 5
points from that student’s participation grade and will not even tell you about it. How scary is that!?
If it is a habitual offense, the student will fill out a Resolution Form and the Captain will contact parents.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Please cut here and return to Mr. Rice
Parents/Guardian, please sign below indicating that you have read and understand this document.
Also, I would love to know of any way that you would be willing to contribute to our class. If there is
an email address that you would like me to use to contact you for any reason, please write it down
below.
Thank you,
__________________________________
Parent/Guardian
Nik Rice.
My class website, CAPTAINRICE.COM is where you can find all that we have done this year as well
as many printable copies of assignments and the book report option list. Students are expected to check
our website if they miss a day or have questions outside of class.
I also use the “Remind” program, which lets teachers send email and/or text reminders to students and
parents. I have NO access to student cell phone numbers and the students do not have access to my cell
phone number. It is managed by the program. This just helps me to remind students of work that they
need to do and lets parents know what their child should be bringing to class. I never assign homework
through this program.
To join, flip this page over!
Disclosure Document Quiz
What does “I will not pull you, but I will push you” mean?
How many class laws are there? Which one(s) do you think will be the one(s) you will have to look out for?
How many points will you lose if you hand in an assignment 2 days late?
How many late work passes will I get during the year and why should I not want to use them?
Mr. Rice enforces which school policies?
What meeting held every term is just for me?
What two things happen when the Captain sees or hears your phone?
What is our class theme this year? What does it mean?
What is our classroom going to be compared to this year?
What is the general rule regarding dress code?
T or F
Extra credit is not available to me if I don’t have all my assignments handed in.
T or F
Mr. Rice is one of those teachers who lets students have their phones out most of the time.
Are you on board (pun intended) for this class? (Circle one)
yes
YES
Aye, Captain!