Spanish II- III

2017-2018

Welcome to the wonderful world of Spanish II.  This year we will expand on all of the concepts that have been taught in the past and introduce some new ones as well.  By the end of this year your students will be able to discuss (in Spanish!) train travel, restaurant situations, technology, shopping, food, school topics, friends, family sports, air travel, health, and much more.  In order for this to happen, your student, you, and I will need to work together. 

 Classroom participation is crucial!  My classes tend to involve moving around, stories, role play, acting out stories, etc.  All of these things make it much easier for participants to learn Spanish.  Students who refuse to participate to not tend to do very well.  Please encourage your student to participate fully in class.  Students are expected to come to class prepared with writing utensils, paper and their books

 Assignments and more particularly TURNING IN assignments is critical to your student’s grade.  Very often students actually do the assignment, but fail to turn it in.  I don’t assign a lot of homework, but when I do—I expect it to be done CORRECTLY.  Homework is open-book, open-note…so there really no reason for items to be missed in the student seriously works on it.  Assignments not done will receive a zero.  Any problems concerning grades need to be addressed in a timely manner.  I will NOT make adjustments of grades after more than two weeks of the assignment. 

 Late Work is never a good plan of action, but is better than not turning it in at all.  I will accept late work, but it will only count for 50%.  After 2 days, I assume that it will not be turned in, and the grade will be a zero.

 My Website is a lifeline between the three of us (me, you, your student).  On my site you and your student can access grades, assignments, announcements, and is a line of communication through messaging.  Every time a student gets a grade marked as incomplete, missing, or absent, a message is automatically sent to the student alerting him or her of it.  This, however, is only good if the student actually logs in frequently to check.  You also need to check the site frequently to monitor your student’s progress.

 Academic Honesty cannot be over emphasized.  Please remind your student that cheating is wrong and will be dealt with to the fullest.  Cheating is any activity that presents work attributed to one student that was not done exclusively by that student.  This includes, but is not limited to: copying, allowing another to copy, use of online translator programs, etc.  If I catch a student being academically dishonest, he or she will receive a zero for that entire assignment, and I will also follow the student handbook to impose all other sanctions. 

 Extra Help is available.  I am here until three ten on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, as well as most other days.  I am usually one of the first ones here in the morning.    During any of these times I would be thrilled to offer some extra help to any student who is struggling.  Please encourage your students to seek out help early.  Do NOT wait until the end (midterm, or final) to try to make up for so much time and material. 

 Work Expectation students should expect to spend a few minutes EACH DAY working on Spanish.  Just because there is no homework assignment does not mean that there is nothing that needs to be done.  Students have vocabulary lists, flashcards, worksheets, help sheets, etc. that need to be reviewed constantly.  YOU can help your student study and review their Spanish.  With flashcards and vocabulary lists, give your student the English word and have him or her tell the Spanish equivalent.  You might find yourself learning Spanish as well!

 Grading System this year the grade breakdown is as follows:

                Conjuguemos      20%

                Homework         10%

                Participation       15%

                Quizzes and test  45%

                Projects             10

Please feel free to contact me through my website or you can e-mail me at mbarnard@hartfordcsd.org