Mrs.

Katherine Haulter
8th grade English/Language Arts Teacher
Hazelwood Middle School Room A275 http://hazelwoodhaulter.weebly.com
khaulter@nafcs.k12.in.us
(812) 542-8502 x3351

About me:
This is my first year as part of the Hazelwood family, and I couldn’t be more excited to be here! I
am entering my fifteenth year as an educator-- I spent the previous 4 ½ at River Valley Middle
School and the ten years before that teaching in the Catholic school systems in Southern
Indiana and Kentucky. Additionally, I taught English on the adjunct faculties of both IUS and Ivy
Tech. I attended Bellarmine University where I received degrees in music (B.A.) and education
(M.A.), as well as Spalding University, where I completed my K-12 Building Administration
program. I have been trained at a number of national and regional conferences, including the
national PBIS conference, the National Reading Recovery Conference, and multiple literacy
trainings with the Smekens Institute-- my love of teaching English runs deep!

I love teaching ELA because communication and reading are the core of every educational
experience. I have high expectations of our students, and I push them to work hard. The goals in
my class include continuous improvement, using literature to understand human nature and
experience, and learning to write in ways that are practical to future career possibilities.

Outside of school, I am the mom of four daughters: Leigha (freshman at NAHS), Claire (7th
grader at Scribner), and Meghan (grade 4) and Amelia (grade 1) at Mt. Tabor Elementary. My
husband, Chris, is an alumnus of NAFCS schools (Reisz Elementary, Hazelwood Middle, and
NAHS (‘93)). Our family enjoys acting/directing in local community theaters and school theaters,
and participating in athletics. On Saturday nights in the fall, you can find me watching college
football (Roll, Tide!), and cheering for the Minnesota Vikings on Sundays. This year, I am also the
director of Hazelwood’s theatre program--we will be presenting Shrek, Jr.!
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Classroom expectations:

Cell Phone Policy:

Students are not to have their cell phone out or on at any time in class (it is best that they are left in
their lockers to begin with). My policy is that the POWER of everyone’s phones needs to be SHUT
DOWN (not just the screen turned off) during my class. I model this by not using or being “on” my own
cell phone during class.

Behavior:

Students are expected to treat one another, other adults, me, and themselves with kindness and
basic good manners, which includes using appropriate speech, being on time to class, bringing
materials to class, and getting work done on time. Eighth graders are preparing for high school
and will be treated as such--they are old enough to be responsible and accountable for their
behavior and their work. The way they approach school now is the foundation for how they will
approach high school, college and their careers. We do have fun and play, our class will have
much music and laughter, but in the end, we are here to work hard, to grow, and to learn.

iPads

Students are issued an iPad to use for school purposes. We will work on their iPads daily, so
students who do not bring charged devices to class will have to hand-write their work, if an extra
device is not available. Students who have my class 5th or 7th period MUST charge their iPads
at home each night in order for it to have any charge left by class time. Any student who would
prefer to bring their charger to school and leave their iPad in my locked room overnight is very
welcome to do so. Students will receive behavior consequences (infractions, referrals, lunch
detention) for consistently uncharged iPads.
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Independent Reading:

Students are expected to complete and report on one independent reading book each
quarter, along with the class novel we are working on (which will not count toward IR books).
This book must be a fictional chapter book with at least a 700 lexile. The final project will have
an assessment value of 100 points each quarter. Due date reminders will be sent out
periodically. Students may read and report on up to 2 additional books per quarter for extra
credit. All books must be selected within three weeks of the beginning of the quarter. Students
should use their Core+ time to visit the library to get books, or they may borrow books from our
classroom library. We will not visit the library as a class. The projects are due no later than the
Friday before the last week of the quarter, to avoid students being overloaded during “finals”
week.

Homework and grades

Students will have occasional homework, and any graded assignments (either homework or in-
class work) will be posted on my class website: http://hazelwoodhaulter.weebly.com Students
will have times when they will need to study or work on a paper or project outside of class,
which is considered homework, so you may see them working intensely for a few days during
this kind of learning. Most work can be completed during class time, or with the additional time
allowed during some Core+ classes.

Grades will be updated on a regular basis, and students are welcome and encouraged to redo
work for which they earned a low grade. If a student wishes to redo an assignment or
assessment for which he/she received a poor grade, they must email or speak in person with
me. We can make arrangements to do that, either during lunch, during the student’s Core+ class,
or before school in my room. Anything more than 2 weeks past the posted grade date will not be
considered for regrading. All redone work will have a due date listed in INOW, again to avoid
student overload at the end of the quarter.
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Missing work

In order to align with the grading policies at NAHS, students with missing work will receive the
following scores:

0 pts: a zero will be recorded when a student is absent at the time an assignment is handed-in.
When the student returns and submits the assignment, the zero will be changed and the student
can get full credit.

0.1 pts: if a student receives a 0.1 in the gradebook, the student did not submit the assignment,
or the student didn’t do the work. In this class, the student will need to speak with the teacher if
he/she wants to submit work and change this score, but a point deduction will be taken from the
assignment grade.

Blank grade: if the grade is blank, the assignment hasn’t been graded OR the student is exempt
from this assignment

Students with accommodations:

I genuinely love working with students who need extra support or guidance to either understand
the material or stay organized to complete work. I work hard to meet each of my students at
their learning level and need, and I am glad to communicate with families to make sure students
are able to be successful. If you would like to set-up a beginning of the year meeting to discuss
what has worked for your student in the past as well as how we can work together to prepare
them for high school, please contact me! I expect all of my students to work hard, and I promise
to support them as they grow.

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Ways to contact me:

The very best way to send questions is to contact me by email. I am also available from about
8:20-8:50 a.m. each day (except Wednesdays), if you would like to speak by phone or
conference in person. You can also leave a message on my school phone (x3351). If it is urgent,
please leave a message with the school office, and I can call you back as soon as possible.

8th grade curriculum

Quarter 1 (Beginning of school until fall break): “Overcoming Adversity”.

Quarter one focuses on how an author develops a theme or central idea through the thoughts and actions of
characters. We will compare pieces of literature on the same subject or from the same era to gain an understanding
of cultural influences. Students will study a variety of texts from “The Legend of King Arthur” to the novel Freak, The
Mighty. Our writing standards in quarter one focus on informative compositions.

Quarter 2 (Mid-October to Winter Break): “Argument”

The focus of quarter two is on argumentative writing and reading, which helps our 8th graders develop critical
thinking and logic. Students will build on skills from 6th and 7th grade, including creating and supporting
argumentative claims in writing. Students will further analyze the perspectives, validity, and structure of various
argumentative writings found in our textbook, current events, advertisements, public letters, and online sources.

Quarter 3 (Winter Break-Spring Break): “The Holocaust”

Quarter three will center around understanding the Holocaust of the 1930s and 1940s. We will examine this time
through multiple perspectives through many texts including the play version of The Diary of Anne Frank and the novel I
Have Lived A Thousand Years.

Quarter 4 (Spring Break Through Year End): “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm.”
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We wrap up our year with an exciting unit focused on narrative, including a unit about suspense! We will read
texts from a variety of authors including Poe, Dahl, and the suspense novel The Raft by S.A. Bodeen. Writing
standards for this quarter are focused on developing the plot in a narrative.

Classroom policies:

Thank you for reviewing our classroom policies! Please fill-out

and return only this page to Mrs. Haulter by Friday, August 2,
2019.

Student’s name:___________________________________

Your name: ______________________________________

Date:______________
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Classroom handbook:

Please sign below if you received a copy of Mrs. Haulter’s

classroom policies

Date Name Student’s Name

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