Spanish 1A/3A Syllabus

Mr. Welch

Trimester #1 --  2014-2015

www.welchdixie.com

My website is a great resource where you can find a list of what we do each day in class, notes, handouts, due dates, and practice activities!  Just about EVERYTHING YOU NEED for class can be found on my website!

CLASSROOM PROCEDURES

Welch’s commandments:

1. Impressions matter -- speak politely and be willing to meet me halfway.
2. Don’t be afraid of your mistakes... own them.
3. OWN YOUR GRADE & MISSING WORK: track it yourself on Infinite Campus.

Student Responsibilities:

1. Ask for help when you need it.
2. Do your own work.  You and the person you cheated with will receive a zero if you are found to be cheating.  Using a phone, iPod, or any other device during quizzes counts as cheating.
3. Turn in assignments on time.
4. Take responsibility for your assignments and grade.  Whining and/or tears do not work on me.
5. Keep the classroom clean - no littering, weird food, or drinks (except water) in class.

Respecting the classroom:

• Check out the bookcase by the door - there you will find index cards for flashcards, Kleenex, pens/pencils, a stapler, 3-hole punch, tape, and a pencil sharpener.  Feel free to take what you need - you don’t have to ask.  Any of the notebooks, folders, binders, etc. can be taken or raided for paper.  (They are the items students leave behind after class.)

• Please do not invade my work space – just as I will not go through your purse, backpack, and personal belongings.  Do not sit at or wander behind my desk, use my garbage can, put your things on my desk or in my area or use my office supplies (pens, pencils, stapler, tape, etc.).  Everything you need is on the bookcase.

• If you do not put a textbook away at the end of class, litter, or otherwise make the classroom messy, you will be a SWEEPER!  Sweepers are very special students who have the reward of sweeping the classroom or doing a similar clean-up chore during the last five minutes of the class period.

• Be nice and considerate.  We all have bad days, and I’m a pretty understanding guy with a lot of patience and respect for my students.  If you are excessively rude to me or another student, however, you will earn a teacher detention.  The same goes for cursing.

Eliminating Distractions - gizmos and tardies:

• NO SCREENS are allowed in the classroom without my permission.

• No iPods, gizmos or other entertainment devices.  If you have them out or in your ears at the beginning of class, I will politely remind you to remove them.  For repeat offenses or use during class, your parent will be called and you may earn a teacher detention.   
• No phones.  Occasionally I will permit you to use a phone to access course-related material online.  If I observe you using your phone at any time without permission you will be entered into the class phone penalty drawing.  The class phone penalty drawing is a system that assigns teacher detentions to students who break the no phone rule. If texting or other phone use becomes a repeat problem I will follow the school’s cell phone policy:

• Dixie Cell Phone Policy

• Warning – given 1st day of class
• Next offense – 1 period of ICE
• Next offense – 1 day of ICE
• Next offense – 1 day of suspension

• I follow Dixie’s tardy policy:  

• Dixie Tardy Policy

• 1st tardy to class        Warning
• 2nd tardy to class       Warning
• 3rd tardy to class        Teacher detention
• 4th tardy to class        Teacher detention
• 5th and beyond          Referral to office

GRADING PROCEDURES

Class materials:

I recommend one of the three following organization systems for this class.

1. 2 or 3 folders with both pockets and clips
2. a three-ring binder with pockets
3. a spiral notebook and a folder with pockets

Grading system:

Each lesson (chapter) is assessed using the following:

• Quizzes –

• Vocabulary Quiz - There will be two vocabulary quizzes per lesson.  Each quiz will be worth ten points.   You will be given 5 words in English that you must translate into Spanish, and 5 words in Spanish that you must translate into English.   These quizzes are like spelling tests.   If you are one letter or accent mark off, then you will receive half-credit.   If you have more than one letter or accent mark wrong, then the entire word will be marked incorrect.
• Grammar Quiz - There will be one grammar quiz per lesson.  This quiz is worth ten points.  The first five items on the quiz cover the first set of grammar notes of the lesson, the next five items cover the second set of grammar notes.  There is no partial credit available on grammar quizzes.

• Tests –

• Written Test - Each lesson will be assessed with a written test.  The written test will assess reading, writing, and listening skills.  
• Performance Test - Each unit (two lessons together) will be assessed with a performance test (usually a dialogue presented to the class with a script turned in to me).  The performance test will assess speaking, writing, and listening skills.

• Worksheets –

• Two worksheets are assigned with each lesson.  Worksheets are like practice tests and include vocabulary, grammar, reading, and sentence writing exercises similar to those students are expected to complete on a written test.  They are graded based on correctness rather than completion.  Each worksheet is worth 10 points (2 worksheets per chapter = 20 points per chapter).  Unless otherwise stated during class, worksheets are INDIVIDUAL WORK, and students caught copying or otherwise cheating will receive a zero.  This includes allowing someone to copy his/her worksheet. 

• Miscellaneous –

• There is the occasional assignment that does not fit into any other category.  The usual point value will be between five and ten points.

• Extra credit –

• Students may do pre-selected grammar and vocabulary exercises for extra credit.  The work is always due on the day of the written test.  
• Additional extra credit may be assigned throughout the trimester at my discretion.

• Exams –

• You will take a comprehensive final exam.  The exam is scantron and will create your “Final Exam Grade” in Infinite Campus.  This grade is worth 20% of your final course grade.

Gifted & Talented Service Options:

If you are a student identified as Gifted & Talented in a category relevant to this course, I will provide appropriate service options for you.  They may include, but are not limited to, the options listed below.

• creativity opportunities
• differentiation by cluster grouping
• differentiation by enrichment activities
• differentiation by tiered assignments
• differentiation by curriculum compacting
• leadership opportunities

Make up work:

• Your grade is your responsibility – check it online frequently and stay on top of any make-up work if you are absent!  

• If you are absent, please check my website to see what you missed.  Every day I update my blog with a summary of what we did in class.

• If a test, quiz, or other assignment was assigned before a student was absent and is scheduled to take place or be due the day a student returns, he/she will be expected to take it.

• I only allow make-up work on the current lesson and the most recent previous lesson.  For example, if we are in Lesson 3-1, you may make up a quiz you missed from Lesson 2-2 or Lesson 3-1, but the make-up window has closed for Lessons 1-1, 1-2, and 2-1 – you are no longer permitted to make up anything you missed from those lessons.

• You need to PREPARE for the makeup quiz or test.  Don't waste your time and mine by taking a quiz for which you aren't ready.  I want you to KNOW the material for the test; that's why I give you all that time to make it up.  

• Any missing work will be recorded as a zero in IC until the work is completed.

Checking grades:

• It is the student’s duty to keep track of his/her grade and missing assignments by using INFINITE CAMPUS.  I will not provide printed progress reports when the information is readily available online.  I will gladly allow a student to check Infinite Campus at appropriate times during class.  When a student asks about his/her grade or whether he/she is missing any assignments, I will direct him/her to check his/her account online.  
• For Infinite Campus login problems or password resets, please contact Nick Kremer at Central Office via email at nick.kremer@kenton.kyschools.us or phone at (859) 344-8888.
• I am also happy to assist you in getting your Infinite Campus login and password.  I want you to succeed and tracking your grades is a big part of that.  Please ask me if you can’t get logged in.

Extra help:

• When learning a new language, you are literally putting information into your brain in a different way than ever before.  Doesn’t it make sense, then, that even a genius might need some extra help?  I am always available after school for extra assistance.  See me after class whenever you feel you may be falling behind, for extra practice, or would simply like a concept re-explained.  

Contact:

• I can be most easily reached via e-mail at chris.welch@kenton.kyschools.us or by calling the school at (859) 341-7650, ext. 139.

• Email is by far the easiest means of reaching me.  I encourage you to use it first, if possible.

• After checking with me first to make sure that I will be available, students may come for help or make-up work most days of the week after school.  I am typically available Monday - Thursday from 2:30-3:15.