This is the general course handout for my Spanish classes this school year. Thanks to Ben Slavic, Grant Boulanger and Mike Peto for valuable ideas. It is available in a Word format on the Free Stuff Page  http://www.brycehedstrom.com/free-stuff so that you can use portions, if you like.

Mr. Hedstrom, General Course Handout

Roosevelt High School, Johnstown, Colorado

Fall Semester, 2014

Welcome to  Señor Hedstrom’s  Spanish class!

My RHS phone #:  970-587-6007                   My RHS email: bhedstrom@weldre5j.k12.co.us

My RHS web site: https://sites.google.com/site/mrhedstromswebsite/

Welcome to my class!  I love teaching Spanish!  Here are the answers to your first burning questions:

HOW IS MY GRADE CALCULATED?                   There are three main parts:

30%       Interpersonal Skills /Participation. This includes paying attention and contributing to the class (see chart at left). Reacting to class discussions in real time is what this is all about—back and forth communication with other speakers. This is the first category because face-to-face verbal interaction is what learning a language is mostly about—the vast majority of students take a language because they want to be able to SPEAK it and this is how that is done—back and forth communication.  Here is what it includes:

This grade is based on the Participation/Interpersonal Skills Grading Scale. See the scale later in this handout.

40%       Tests & Quizzes. Includes verbal and written quizzes and tests.

20%       Homework & Assignments.

10%       Other Assessments like midterms & final exams.

I will be happy to discuss these ideas with you—teaching language is my passion!

WHAT DO I NEED FOR THIS CLASS?

• A composition book (the kind with the pages sewed in, not a spiral                                                                                                                      notebook). This will be used for daily warm-ups, notes and for timed writing

  • Loose leaf notebook paper to turn in written assignments and quizzes.
  • A notebook or folder to store printed handouts and readings—about 20                                                                                                           handouts per semester.  This may be part of another folder, if you wish.
  • Pencils or pens  Black or blue ink only, please.
  • An iPad  The course syllabus, most class notes and some assignments will be available only in electronic form. You will also need your iPad

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN THIS CLASS?

The most important word in this class is todavía.   Todavía means “yet” as in: No hablo español… todavía (I don’t speak Spanish… yet), No entiendo… todavía (I don’t understand… yet.) and No puedo…todavía (I can’t…yet).In this class you will learn Spanish as you listen and read; as you interact and think.  As you put in the time and effort you will get there. It takes time and you have time here.  You don’t speak Spanish well…yet.  But you will. You will.

IS THIS A HARD CLASS?

When you are learning a new language you will occasionally find yourself in situations where you are struggling to keep paying attention as you ought.  You will be faced with situations where you feel like you get it and so you will quit reaching and struggling to see how else these words could work..  You will understand most things in this class, but you will not always understand how everything works. And that is good.  That is what language teachers call the “i + 1” level—just slightly above what you know now, your current level of acquisition. This is not a death struggle. It is not drowning in language (which is also called immersion).  It is just enough to keep you engaged.

You may need to learn that struggle does not indicate a lack of intelligence.  Struggle is not weakness.  Struggle is an opportunity.  Struggle indicates strength.  Struggle shows that you have what it takes emotionally to learn; and to continue to learn beyond the classroom. Your success in this class will be based more on your willingness to struggle than on how “smart” you are. If you are not struggling a bit we are wasting your time.

You will purposefully be put into situations that are just slightly beyond your reach.  I will probe the boundaries of what you can understand. I will create experiences where you need to stretch a bit so that you can struggle.  I am not going to leave you there permanently; I am going to help you to overcome those struggles.

My goal is to not praise you for your intelligence or your natural attributes, but on your efforts.  The students that try will be speaking Spanish five years from now, while the students that rely merely on their intelligence and test-taking ability will have forgotten it all.

WHAT’S UP WITH ALL OF THE POSTERS?

They are some of my favorite sayings about motivation and learning. You will hear and see expressions like these often in here.

  • I am looking for students that want to learn—no confidence, experience, ability or previous success required.
  • Being smart is not required in this class.  My job is to make you smart. I will make you smart.
  • Nobody laughs at babies.  Nobody says they are dumb because they can’t talk. They just haven’t learned yet.
  • Your brain is like a muscle—it changes and gets stronger the more you use it.
  • Speed and perfection are the enemies of acquiring language.  If you think, “I’m smart when I am fast and perfect,” you will not take on anything challenging.
  • You don’t have to speak perfectly in here.  You don’t have to give long elaborate answers.  You can just listen and give short answers if you feel like it.
  • How good you are at something will always improve when you work on it.
  • To be successful at acquiring a language you need to listen and read regularly.  You need to listen to conversations and stories in the language and you need to read books in the language.
  • Success is 99% hard work.  Talent and brains do not make winners.  A slow starter that works hard will come out on top.
  • Failure is not a sign of stupidity but a lack of experience and skill.  You can get experience and develop skill in here.
  • You can do more than you think you can.  Early performance does not tell you anything about you future.  Just because some students pick it up quickly does not mean that others cannot do it better eventually with focus and training.
  • Even if you think you are not good at learning language, you can still plunge into it wholeheartedly and stick to it.  Actually, you need to plunge into it because you are no good at it.
  • When you do not understand ask for help.  Show that you do not get it.  By doing that you are raising your intelligence.
  • Picking up word meanings by reading is 10 times faster than intensive vocabulary instruction.
  • We remember things best when they are organized with everything else we know, when they come with stories attached, rather than isolated bits of information.
  • Incidental learning of words during reading may be the easiest and single most powerful means of promoting large-scale vocabulary growth.
  • Our knowledge of new words comes both incrementally (little by little) and incidentally (as a by-product of our main activity, comprehension).

PARTICIPATION / INTERPERSONAL SKILLS GRADING SCALE

Used to assess interaction in class. 40% of overall grade

Level  %

95% +                    **Attentive plus: *Responds regularly and spontaneously in the target language. Observable focus and work.  Observable back-and-forth, non-forced speaking in the target language that contributes to the class conversation.                 Regularly uses the stop or slow down signals. Does not use English inappropriately.

85-94%                 **Attentive plus: *Responds regularly but automatically in the target language. Observable effort. Contributes to  conversations. Uses the stop or slow down signals. Does not use English inappropriately.

75-84%                **Attentive plus: *Responds regularly with short answers in the language and with gestures and body language. Inconsistently uses the stop or slow down signals. Does not use English inappropriately.

  –  –   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  – 

65-74%                **Attentive.  Nothing on desk or lap. Sits up. Maintains eye contact with speaker and media.  Listens with the intent  to understand, but may not consistently respond or interact. Not disruptive.  Does not often show lack of understanding by using the stop or slow down signals.  Does not use English inappropriately.

50-64%                Not **attentive.  Limited eye contact.  Sits up, but limited observable effort.  May use English briefly. Not disruptive.

0%                         Absent, disruptive, insulting, not engaged or English use—you cannot *respond or be **attentive if you are not    in class—this includes excused absences.  Uses English inappropriately two (2) or more times in a class period.                Disruptive behavior and insults prevent others from learning.  Detracts from the target language conversation. Blurting out. Side conversations.  Slumps in chair. No eye contact.

*RESPONDS        Responding means reacting in the target language. Even short responses can count here. The participation level/interpersonal skills required for 75% on this rubric does not depend on extensive speaking and writing as much as on showing understanding of the language used in class.  Students can earn a good grade on their participation even if they are not ready to produce extensive output.  The key is reacting. Consciously and consistently engaging with the language and responding ensures the highest possible level of comprehension, which leads to proficiency in the language. A responding student is not disruptive.

**ATTENTIVE  Being attentive is the minimum acceptable behavior in a language class.

Being attentive  = Nothing on desk or lap.  Sits up. Maintains eye contact with speaker and pays obvious attention to media. Listens with the intent to understand. Does not blurt out. Is not disruptive.

Explanation of the Participation/Interpersonal Skills Grading Scale

This is not like a traditional participation grade.  It is a grade that attempts to measures a student’s interaction in the language. Notice the definition of the word “attentive” in the grading scale.  Robots can act as if they are attentive or participating, but the interpersonal skill is more than that. That is why it is called the interpersonal and not the inter-robotic skill.  A student can seem attentive but still be only interacting like a robot.  A merely attentive-acting student cannot earn a participation grade higher than 74% = C.

Notice that the word attentive does not appear in level 75% and above.  At that level the key word becomes responds.  Responds is a word that describes human interaction.  Using the stop and slow down signs are additional indicators in determining a grade above a 74%.  Human beings who are good listeners ask for clarification when they hear things that they don’t quite grasp. This keeps the grading scale in line with the Three Modes of Communication use defined by the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). To earn a grade above 75%), the student does not have to acquire the language quickly or have great talent at writing or speaking, but he/she must demonstrate effort at negotiating meaning in the target language and responding in a human, non-robotic way to the language use in the classroom.

Negotiating meaning means responding with the stop or slow down signs to clarify when the student does not understand the language –it is a form of communication involving not just these two signals but also the eyes.  This is “observable behavior” as defined in the ACTFL Communication Standard.  To earn a grade higher than a 74% on the grading scale students must show that they understand.  This may take some re-education for students that are accustomed to passivity in the classroom.  A student must interact visually and exhibit a human and not a robotic response to earn a grade higher than a 74%.  Students who give mere blank stares are functioning at a level 74% or less.  A student that appears to be a mere attentive robot can have a lovely C grade, but to earn a higher grade she/he must interact and demonstrate the human qualities of paying attention and contributing  to the class.

We do not always put blame on students that act as if they were just attentive robots– they may have never had a class where part their grade was determined by a mode of communication. And yet not only do the national and state standards indicate that we should assess this way, but many parents also appreciate that their children are in classes where they must interact with the teacher and their classmates instead of a machine or a teacher who teaches like a machine. Those parents get it. They don’t want their kids to fail in the workplace because they never have had to develop people skills. These are the parents who want their kids to learn interview skills and how-to-interact-with-other-human-being skills—some of what we are now calling 21st century skills, which are a major focus here at RHS this year.

This grading scale shows that when a student is only attentive they are acting like a robot, and it places the grades of students that display that kind of behavior towards the lower half of the grade spectrum where it belongs.

Name___________________________________

Class ___________________________________

Week ending ______________________________

Write the % that best describes your behavior in class each day:

____%                  ____%                  ____%                  ____%                  ____%                  ____                                     ____

Monday                 Tuesday                 Wednesday           Thursday              Friday                   Average %                           Average %

for week:                             for week

                                                                                                                                                                Student estimate             Teacher                                                                                                                                                                                                                                observation

PARTICIPATION / INTERPERSONAL SKILLS GRADING SCALE

Used to assess interaction in class.30% of overall grade

Level  %

95% +                    **Attentive plus *Responds regularly and spontaneously in the target language. Observable focus and work.                 Observable back-and-forth, non-forced speaking in the target language that contributes to the class conversation.                 Regularly uses the stop or slow down signals. Does not use English inappropriately.

 

85-94%                 **Attentive plus *Responds regularly but automatically in the target language. Observable effort. Contributes to                 conversations. Uses the stop or slow down signals. Does not use English inappropriately.

75-84%                **Attentive plus *Responds regularly with short answers in the language and with gestures and body language.

Inconsistently uses the stop or slow down signals. Does not use English inappropriately.

  –  –   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  – 

65-74%                **Attentive.  Nothing on desk or lap. Sits up. Maintains eye contact with speaker and media.  Listens with the intent                 to understand, but may not consistently respond or interact. Not disruptive.  Does not often show lack of understanding by using the stop or slow down signals.  Does not use English inappropriately.

50-64%                Not **attentive.  Limited eye contact.  Sits up, but limited observable effort.  May use English briefly. Not disruptive.

0%                         Absent, disruptive, insulting, not engaged or English use—you cannot *respond or be **attentive if you are not    in class—this includes excused absences.  Uses English inappropriately two (2) or more times in a class period.                Disruptive behavior and insults prevent others from learning.  Detracts from the target language conversation.               Blurting out. Side conversations.  Slumps in chair. No eye contact.

*ATTENTIVE         Being attentive is the minimum acceptable behavior in a language class.  It is not just smiling and nodding.

Being attentive  = Nothing on desk or lap. Sitting up. Maintaining eye contact with speaker and media. Observably listening with the intent to understand.

**RESPONDS         The interpersonal skills required for LEVEL 3 and above do not depend completely on output (like speaking perfectly or writing the language perfectly), but on the demonstrated attempts to get the meaning in the language and interact in the language.  Students can earn an “A” on their interpersonal skills even if their readiness to produce output is only at the automatic level.  The reason for this is that consistent use of the interpersonal communication skills ensures the deepest level of comprehension, which eventually leads to fluent, confident, and accurate output.

 

Making Up Absences

Making Up Repasitos The Repasito is a short review at the beginning of each class. To make it up write five (5) sentences in Spanish in your composition book for each class period missed.  Use current vocabulary and grammatical structures.  Do not merely copy the Repasito of a classmate as that would not involve the thinking required here.  Show your teacher when you have these done for credit.

Making Up Participation:  You cannot interact if you are not in class, so the participation/interpersonal skills grade for a missed class period is zero (0).  You can make up the grade by interacting in Spanish—either 1) by reading something comprehensible or 2) by watching a video (like Señor Wooly videos) in Spanish that you can understand. You need to do either of these for at least twenty (20) minutes in front of your parents and explaining it to them afterwards. Write the explanation of what was read/viewed below:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian signature (indicates that you saw your child reading and/or watching a video in Spanish and that he/she explained it to you):

_____________________________________________________________                      Date _____________________

CLASSROOM RULES

1.  Do not disrupt the learning.

2.  No food or drinks.  Water is OK.  Planned foods and drinks for culture days or for kindergarten reading are OK.

3.  No electronics unless directed.  No cell phones, iPads or other devices unless as part of a directed class activity.

4.  Follow all other school rules. (Do we really have to write this one?)

CLASSROOM PROCEDURES

Procedures are ways of doing routine activities thathelp the classroomto run more smoothlyso that we can focus on learning.Procedures are not exactly rules, but repeated disregard of procedures can result in disciplinary action because that will affect learning in the classroom.  There are several specific ways we do things in this class and you will learn them during the first weeks of school.  You will be tested on the procedures and we will review them from time to time if we seem to have forgotten them.  Here are a few key classroom procedures:

Before Class Officially Starts:Be in your seat and ready to work before the bell rings—usually this means having your composition book open and a pencil or pen in hand.  On reading days, have the book you selected open and be ready to read.  On days with a Repasito (warm-up activity), which are most days, have your composition book open, a pen or pencil ready and begin working on the Repasito.

At The Beginning of Class: You are considered tardy if you are not in your seat by the time the late bell stops ringing.  Any time you arrive late to class, seat yourself quickly and quietly, say “Lo siento” (I’m sorry)—not because it is a terrible thing, but because you have disrupted the class a bit and have dishonored your own learning time. You are responsible for making up any activity that you missed, as well as for copying any notes from your Study Buddy (see Study Buddies on next page).

During Class:

• When the bell rings, work quietly on the daily warm-up activity, the “Repasito” (Little Review).

• Raise your hand if you have a question.

  • When I raise my hand and say Clase, all students are to be quiet.
  • Use the stop or ¡No entiendo!(I don’t understand!) gesture(fist to hand) when you don’t understand what Is said.

• Use the  ¡Más despacio, por favor! (Slow down, please!) gesture (palm motions downward) when someone talks too fast.

At The End of Class:Class is not over until the teacher dismisses you.  Until that time, please stay in your seat and work.  Do not put you materials away early, line up at the door or walk around the room.  Before you leave, please make sure that you pick up any trash in the area around your seat and the desks are lined up.  You will be reminded of this often.Here is the procedure for dismissing the class:

The teacher respectfully says:                          ¡Clase!                                                   Class!

The class responds with a hearty:                    ¿Sí, señor?                                           Yes, sir?

                The teacher will then graciously say:               Gracias por aprender.                      Thank you for learning.

The class will thankfully say:                            Gracias por enseñarnos.                  Thank you for teaching us.

The teacher will then kindly say:                      Chao.                                                     Good bye.

Speaking:        This is a language class and we will work on speaking in the target language in class most of the time—90% is the national standard—that means that the teachers should be speaking in the language most of the time and so should the students.  Here is how we manage questions:               If the teacher asks in Spanish students must answer in Spanish.

If the teacher asks in English, students can answer in English or Spanish.

P.A.T. (Preferred Activity Time): Most of the time in this class a well-trained and highly educated professional (your teacher) will be guiding the class through the learning experiences, but some of the time the instructional choices will be turned over to rank amateurs (the students) and they will be given a certain amount of leeway in deciding the activities of the day.  PAT is NOT free time—we are still acquiring language, but students have more control over the tone and focus of class activities.  The amount of PAT time is determined by the class behavior during the week.  Minutes of PAT time are earned by the behavior of the entire class.  Here is how the PAT points (minutes) are earned:

At the beginning of class:

• No one is tardy (all in seats by the time the late bell stops ringing)                         = 1

• All have materials and composition books are open at the bell                              = 1

• All are quiet during the “Repasito” (opening) activity                                               = 1

During the class:

• Amazing focus, work and/or creativity, catching mistakes, rejoinders                  = variable

At the end of the class:

  • No one speaks English without permission for entire class period                          = 3

• Enough “Rejoinders” are used during the class period                                               = 2   .

8+ possible points/class period

Trash: A clean room is a happy room.  If you have trash calmly get up and go throw it away—just don’t cause a scene.

Pencil Sharpener: If your pencil breaks or gets dull during a timed writing or a test, raise your hand with the pencil in it and I will give you a pencil from our pencil jar as a replacement.  The pencil sharpener is off-limits during class because it is too loud and distracting.  Just ask:  ¿Me presta un lápiz? (Will you loan me a pencil?It is written on the pencil jar).  Students may want to loan one another pencils because the loan of a pencil is equal to a slight lack of preparation and a minute of PAT time will result.

Absences:  If you are absent for any reason, you are required to make up all work missed.  It is your responsibility to find out what assignments and notes you missed.  Once you get back to class, quietly check with your “study buddy” to get the handouts they picked up for you, and ask if you may copy their notes.  If you need further explanation, ask the teacher.

You will also need to make up the important Participation/Interpersonal Communication part of the class when you have been absent—do it ahead of time for a planned absence, like scheduled school activities.   To make up your Interpersonal communication grade after an absence you will need to read in Spanish for 20 minutes and explain to your teacher or to a parent/guardian what you have read.  Parent note and signature is required within two weeks to make up an absence.

To make up your Repasito, write 5 new sentences using new vocabulary and grammatical structures that we are using in class.  Write the date you were absent and the word ABSENT above the sentences.  Do not just copy the answers from a partner because that would not require you to think and thereby learn.

Substitutes, Observers and Student Teachers:  There will be times when I will not be teaching.  Please cooperate with the substitute.  Be aware that substitute teachers may not be proficient in Spanish.  Treat student teachers with respect and help them to learn the basics of teaching.  Treat observers with respect.

Classroom Jobs:  There are many jobs that are necessary to keep the classroom going.  Most students will have a job assigned to them that will help things run smoothly and to show that we are all in this together.  We want involved students, not passive ones.

Study Buddies:  There will be assigned seats in lower level classes (Spanish 1 & 2, and even in 3, 4 & AP to begin the year).  Your partner or “Study Buddy” is the person directly in front of you or behind you.  We will re-arrange seating every calendar month, providing you with a new partner every month.  Your responsibilities towards your Study Buddy include:

• Exchange phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses so that you can get help on homework.

• Speak in Spanish to each other in class—tell each other the stories we do in class.

• Check one another’s work in class, when needed.

• Get copies of handouts if your partner is absent.

• Provide notes for your partner to copy after an absence.

  • Help each other to have outstanding focus and work.

If you have a concern about something, please see me after class or write me a short note.

Please don’t blurt out in class.  I will listen to you at the appropriate time.

GUIDELINES DURING STORYTELLING:

This is how to get the most out of Spanish class activities.  These are not exactly rules, but students that disregard these guidelines will not be fully participating, this will affect the learning in the class.  Repeated disregard can result in disciplinary action because it will begin to affect learning.

  • Anything can happen in Spanish class!           ¡Todo es posible en la clase de español!
  • No English during storytelling. We do not want to break our concentration in Spanish with side comments in English.
  • Raise your hand if you must say something in English and ask for permission to speak in English.
  • Talking to a neighbor in any language is not allowed during stories.

• Once a fact (it can be imaginary) in a story has been established, it cannot be argued, debated, changed or one-upped.

  • If I tell the class something, act as if you believe it is true.  Show your amazement by oohs and ahhs or other appropriate expressions.

• If I ask a question which reviews an already-established fact, everyone should either answer or give the ¡NO ENTIENDO! signal.