A syllabus is an important document. It introduces your students to your class, your policies, and your expectations. I give students a copy of it. They also get a home contact sheet where I collect their parent/guardians information and have both them and the student sign a statement on it that they received the syllabus and understand the policies. I also make the syllabus available on our Google Classroom for easy student reference.

For the high school classroom consider including these policies and expectations in your syllabus:

• Break down of grades (categories, weights, etc.)
• Late work policy (or statement that late work is not accepted)
• Makeup work policy
• Technology policy (think about cellphones, smartwatches, tablets, etc.)
• Restroom use policy (unless your school has a campus wide policy that you follow)
• Cheating/Plagiarism Policy (or a statement reminding them that this policy is in the school student handbook if that applies)
• Class Rules/Expectations
• Supply List
• Remind sign up info (or whatever site you use if you use one)
• Any information for a class website, Google Classroom, etc.
• Expectations for how to turn in work (Do you have a bin? Do you take assignments electronically? When is an assignment considered late?)

If you search Pinterest or teacher blogs you will see several beautiful syllabi with images and magazine style layouts. Those are eye catching but don’t feel pressured to make yours look like that if you don’t have the skill or the time. What’s important is the content in the syllabus rather than the way your syllabus looks style wise.