🌎 Spanish Class Updates

6/4/26

Here is your final Spanish class update for the year.

• 😃 If the last 34 years of teaching has taught me anything, it’s that every year has its own unique ups and downs.  This year has been no exception.  I do want to personally thank all of the parents who have made sure their child is in school on time every day, did their work, and provided a framework for personal accountability.  Truly, you are your child’s first  and most important teacher.

• 😃 All scores and grades will be finalized by noon on Friday.  The final exam scores are included in the grades on PowerSchool, however, to give me time to double check for errors, the actual final scores won’t post until Friday morning.  If you think that there may have been an error, please reach out to me when school resumes in August.  

• 😃 I truly hope that, in addition to learning some Spanish, students walk away from this year with a better understanding of themselves, how to learn, and greater resiliency.  Enjoy the summer.

5/29/26

• 🌻 The end is near (and so is the beginning of summer!).   I encourage students to keep up the effort for just four more school days.  Then will be the time to relax.  

• 🌻 Students should be studying for their lesson six exam and their final exam. Both exams are worth a significant portion of their grades.  For the lesson six exam, they have a review assignment posted on Vista and have had three days to work on it in class.  For both exams, they have their notes, previous scored and returned quizzes, their can-do statements in their pasaportes, and the lesson resource pages on the class website to use to study. The final focuses on lessons four through six (this semester), but by the nature of language, may cover anything covered since the beginning of Spanish 1).  

• 🌻Due to a tech issue, the engagement points for May 29 will be on the June PowerSchool grade and the End of school email home.

• 🌻 Tuesday at 8:30am will be the last time that eligible late work or extra credit may be submitted.  While I am always open to considering true emergencies, I will not be receptive to last-minute pleas for grade boosts.  

• 🌻 We are having assessments of some type or another all next week (finish orals, lesson 6 exam, final exam).  If a student is absent on one of those days, they may need to take a zero and schedule a time in August before school to take the exam.  If their grade changes, I would submit a grade change form at that time.  It is essential that students not miss class next week.

5/22/26

• ⛱️ In the last couple weeks of school, students will have the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned during this past lesson and the semester as a whole.  We still have a mini quiz, Lesson Exam, Final Exam, oral exam, use of Spanish grade, review work, and a couple small assignments.  It’s so important that students are in class every day and continue to focus.  Their hard work now will make the summer break well earned and even sweeter.  

• ⛱️ The due date for all eligible make-up work and extra credit is 8:30am on Tuesday, June 2.  No work will be considered past that time.  Students may wish to take advantage of the long weekend.

5/15/26

• ⛱️ As we approach the conclusion of the academic year, I want to encourage our students to maintain their momentum.

• Recently, we have observed a noticeable shift in student focus. There has been a decline in consistent attendance, which directly impacts work completion and the overall quality of assignments. Consequently, assessment scores and final grades are beginning to reflect this lack of engagement.

• To ensure your student maintains or improves their current standing, it is critical that they remain committed to daily attendance and active participation. Finishing the year with a strong focus is the best way to guarantee success and solidify the progress they have made. Thank you for your continued support in keeping our students on track!

5/8/26

• ⚾Every Spring, students tend to get restless and start taking shortcuts as they see the fish line.   A growing number of students are not doing their work in class, turning all the work in, and then failing their assessments.  While certainly not in all cases, the majority of the time, this is a good clue that the student is cheating on the practice by copying someone else’s work or using a translator/AI.  Students are given enough time in class to get their practice work done unless they’re really behind or have some absences.  We have clearly seen throughout the year that when students take the time to thoughtfully and thoroughly do their practice, they do well on their assessments.  I expect students to do their practice work in class when I give them time to complete it.  During classtime, I can help them and they do not have access to translators and AI.

5/1/26

• 🏃🏻‍♀️ Due to a technical problem the engagement points for 4/30/26 will actually be listed on the May emails and counted in the May Engagement points in PowerSchool.

• 🏃🏻‍♀️ We are in the final lesson and the final “set” of use-of-Spanish-in-class tickets.  As a reminder, students should not wait until the end to turn them in.  They can turn them in periodically.  I recommend students turn them in once a week or when they have about ten tickets.

• 🏃🏻‍♀️ Final Exam:  Our final exam is on the last day of school.  It is critical that students be present on that day as their make-up opportunity won’t be until August of next school year.  In the meantime, students who miss the final will take a zero on it (15% of their total grade) until it is made up next year.

• 🏃🏻‍♀️ As a reminder, all points are triple this lesson.  This gives students the opportunity to raise their grade a bit that would not be available without this weighting.  

4/24/26

• 👟 We are in the final lección (unit) of the year!  As described in the syllabus, the final lección is worth triple points because our class is cumulative and when students perform well now, they’re demonstrating they can do the skills from the previous lessons.

• 👟 I have mixed feelings about taking notes in class and I go back-and-fourth with using them.  Typically, I feel like notes are a waste of time because they do take such a huge portion of class time and most students rarely, if ever, look at them again.  There is some research that shows that typing or writing content can help slow down the brain and better process content if the students engage their brains and try to reconstruct the content while taking notes. This type of note taking rarely happens in schools.  The research shows that for many students taking notes is a “brain free” activity and has little educational value unless students do something to re-organize or restructure the information and use an effective strategy to study them.  During our final unit, we will be doing a form of note taking that hopefully helps students who engage mentally without spending too much class time on the task.  Students who are not members of the Círculo de Honor will be required to fill out a fill-in-the-blank style notes sheet.  Which they can use while doing their practice work.  Since they’re fill-in-the-blank style, I’m hoping that they will help students focus and process the content while minimizing the time spent on taking notes.  The notes will need to be completed before the student will be able to take their mini-quizzes.  

• 👟 Learned Helplessness is has been a hot topic among education, sociological, and psychological professionals recently. Just on Monday of this week:

  • ✏️Six students asked me what time it was, despite having the digital time in front of them on their Chromebook,

  • ✏️Six students asked me to open their water bottles for them.

  • ✏️Four students asked me to open their school lunch bag for them.

  • ✏️One student asked me to put a bandage on his knee because he doesn’t know how to open Bandaides.

  • ✏️One student asked me to tie her shoe laces.

  • ✏️Twenty six students asked me what their grade is even though they could easily look it up on PowerSchool.

  • ✏️Countless students asked me to tell them what the directions said; not because they were not capable of reading and understanding them, but because they “just didn’t want to make the effort.”

• This wouldn’t seem so abnormal if I taught kindergarten, but I teach college-preparatory high school classes.   I myself have found myself giving in and doing things for students that they are fully capable of doing for themselves.  The study below shows how damaging this is to a youth’s development and mental health.  As a result, I am making a renewed commitment to not do things for students who are fully capable of doing it for themselves. As always, I will be there to support students in learning and answering their questions.  However, my response to many questions may be, “where can you find that out” or “which part of the directions that I’ve already given you is unclear?”  I am committed to helping students develop intellectually, academically, socially, and emotionally.  For more information, please see the following article published in Behavioral Sciences 15(923135): https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/9/1235 

4/17/26

• ⚾ We will finish up our oral assessments for this lesson on Monday and our big lesson exam will be on Tuesday.  Students should be studying and they have been assigned review work.

• ⚾ Students are definitely feeling that the end of the year is near.  Some students are struggling to get their practice done.  It’s important to keep working hard until the end!  It’s vital that the students are in class everyday.

• ⚾ Besides being in the syllabus, we frequently go over in class that using an AI or a translator is strictly prohibited for this class and is considered cheating.  Unfortunately, the use of translators/AI is on the rise.  As a reminder, all language created in this class must be 100% by the student.  Students may not get help from an AI, translator, or other person unless specifically assigned.  Doing so is a violation of academic integrity, also known as cheating.  This not only directly results in the student receiving a zero on the task, but more importantly, the short cut undermines their learning, their future performance, and therefore their grade.

• ⚾Academic vocabulary are concepts that, although not necessarily in our standards, are part of Quartz Hill’s accreditation (WASC), state testing (CAASPP), and college preparatory (A-G) focus.  In this class, academic vocabulary includes grammatical concepts like parts of speech, cultural concepts like stereotypes, and socio-emotional awareness like self-reflection.  These are indirectly included in the student’s progress and grade.  Often students hear words like “adjective” and tune them out, however, these academic vocabulary words are critical for student development and can impact their performance of actual standards.

• ⚾ The school has had poor and inconsistent internet connectivity in certain rooms for several weeks now.  If students have been directly impacted, they should come talk to me so I can provide special consideration and accomodation.  Procrastination and wasting class time are not reasons for special consideration and accommodations.

4/10/26

• ⚽There are two more weeks to collect tickets for this period's “Use of Spanish” grade.  As a reminder, to get a C, students need to collect four tickets for every five days I give them out .  Students can get extra credit (up to 110%) on this.  The last day I’ll collect tickets to be included in the progress report is April 27, although students may turn them in anytime this semester for credit.

• ⚽In general, students are continuing to improve study habits and grades, but this is the time of year where students generally fizzle out.  Let’s keep the motivation so summer break is worry free!

• ⚽I have started to get caught up on my “need-to-call” list.  If I have missed you and you would like to schedule a phone call, please let me know!  I’m generally available before school or around noon.  You can reply to this email or fill out this form:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdpOWz0-kHWYbJyJyaPlB8sKYiwM-E7LT8vb0P1b4-MufWeQg/viewform?usp=sf_link 

4/3/2026

• 🏃🏻‍♂️Happy Fourth Quarter!  I have in my notes from last year to encourage students at this time of the year to stay focused and keep working hard!  This time of year is often when students get distracted by testing (state test, AP/IB testing, etc), spring love 💕, longer days, assemblies,  and the end of the year being right around the corner.  Unlike classes where the bulk of the instruction for the year must be finished before the testing occurs this month, this class continues right up until the end.  As a reminder, I use research-backed progressive grading so the final third of the semester is worth three times more points than the first third!  This not only allows a student to improve their grade percent throughout the semester, but it also is a more accurate measurement of what they have learned since all skills in this class are built on previously learned skills.  It is more important than ever that students remain “locked in” until the very last day of the semester.

• 🏃🏻‍♂️ While I remain committed to being available before school and during lunch to help students who need extra help, increasing demands on my time is making it so that I am sometimes not available.  I still allow students to drop-in for help during these times, but I more than ever need to encourage students to schedule time with me if they need extra help.  Without an appointment, they may show up and I’m not here.  Students should schedule an appointment with me in person before the end of the previous school day.  I do not make appointments with students via email.

• 🏃🏻‍♂️ Finally, I just want to say that I am extremely proud of the students who have really stepped up this year.  It has been a pleasure to watch students change their mindset from “turn it in  to “It is my responsibility to learn this.”  This mindset has resulted in outstanding performance by the majority of students and some of the highest grades I’ve ever recorded.  Helping students grow and mature like this is one of the highlights of my job. 

3/20/2026

• 🌴Happy Spring Vacation!  The third quarter grades have been finalized.  Remember, that quarter grades are only a progress report.  The only grades that go on student transcripts are the semester grades.  Students who still have eligible make-up work, for example missing assessments, can make them up after Spring Break for credit and they will apply to the semester grade.

• 🌴Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid splitting our current five-day estructura.  Our quiz will be on Tuesday after break and we will of course review on Monday.  Students do not have any assigned work over break, but it may be a good time for students who need to review and get caught up to do so. Helpful resources are on the class website.

3/12/2026

• 🍀This week’s email is coming out a day early because I will be off campus tomorrow.  Students will be following substitute procedures and must complete their assigned work during class time to get engagement points.  For more info, see https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/substitute-procedures.

• 🍀I remain committed to the success of all students.  In today’s world, a good education is more important than ever, especially with ever changing job futures.  I truly enjoy working with all of you who prioritize your student’s education.  Let’s give them the best future possible!

• 🍀Consistent expectations, rules, and procedures are critical for healthy adolescent development and I strive to provide such a learning environment for students.  However, there can be reasonable exceptions.  Students can request exceptions for special circumstances simply by talking to me during the last fifteen minutes of class.

• 🍀There has been an increase in students not doing work in class, yet getting their assignments done on time, and then failing their assessments.  It’s important that students do their practice work in class when I provide them time.  First of all, if students are off task in class they are wasting everyone’s time. Most importantly, I can help students when they do the practice in class and we know that they’re not using a translator or AI to do their assignments.  I expect all students to do the assigned practice in class.

• 🍀I know I’ve emailed about this before, but attendance continues to be very problematic.  Many students are tardy daily, skip class, or are frequently absent for “excused” reasons. You can monitor your student’s attendance on the PowerSchool App.  Regardless of why a student is absent, they are missing important instruction and directions.  Unless a student is contagious or has an important appointment that cannot be scheduled outside of school hours, please do everything possible to have students attend class every day.  

3/6/26

• 🍀Women’s History Month - In order to honor the important roll that women have played in history, I will be offering extra credit for students who create a poster featuring an important historical Spanish speaking woman.  The subject must be deceased, recognized by scholars, and can be from any of the following categories: artist, politician, scientist, musician, engineer, scientist, educator, athlete, activist, religious leader, social leader, or any woman who made a positive impact for the future.  The same guidelines apply as for other extra credit posts (https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/extra-credit), so please come talk to me about your plan before you begin. 

• 🍀 Progressive Grading- Just like last semester, there are three “Lecciones” during this semester. Each lesson is worth more weight in the students PowerSchool. Because this grading is based primarily on student performance, this allows students to raise their grade throughout the semester by demonstrating mastery of current and previous skills.  For more information, see the syllabus: https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/syllabus  

• 🍀 Thank you to all the parents who work hard to make sure their students are in class every day and on time.  Consistent attendance is critical for student success. 

2/27/26

• 💮PowerSchool has been down for a good portion of the week and has just come back online today.  However, all of the grades that teachers entered earlier this week were lost.  However, I have restored all the grades in my class from my personal backups.  It make take a day or two to get the attendance data restored. 

• 💮 Reminder for all non-honors students:  after Tuesday morning at 8:30am, no late work will be accepted for lesson 4.  

• 💮 On Wednesday, we begin Lesson Four.  All grades entered in PowerSchool for Lesson four are weighted twice as much as Lesson Three (all grades for Lesson Six will be triple weighted).  This progressive grading allows students to raise their grade throughout the semester while still demonstrating proficiency.  See the syllabus for more information:  https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/syllabus 

• 💮 With so many students still adapting from the major class changes at semester, I wanted to take a moment to remind everyone that their grade in primarily based on performance, not practice/effort.  The performance (assessments) make up 75% total of the students’ grades while practice/effort make up 25%.  It’s not about “doing,” it’s about “learning.” An “I’m responsible for my own learning” mindset is key to success in this class and in life.  

• 💮 Students are currently working on their major oral assessment.  We will finish on Monday. Then Tuesday, we have our big lesson test.  We have been preparing for these in class for weeks.

2/20/26

🌍 I want all parents to know that I care about your child’s success, well being, and mental health.  Many teens are struggling with boundaries and expectations. Many students do not have the social-emotional skills to deal with basic aspects of life as a teenager such as grades, homework, and rules. I make a deliberate effort to make sure that rules in my class are designed to promote student success and that they are enforced fairly and consistently.  Age-appropriate expectations for students help them develop resiliency, socio-emotional skills, and set them up for success in life.  I thank you for working together with your teen’s teachers to help teens develop essential life skills.

🌍  There has been some confusion with parents as to what “excused” means.  This is probably because it has different meanings within PowerSchool.  An excused absence (Illness, Other, Verified) means that a student was absent from class for a legally allowed reason, but is still accountable for all of the missed learning, points, and grades; it basically requires teachers to allow students to make up missed points (Note I allow students to make up points for any absence within the timeframe for their class).  On the other hand, an excused assignment in PowerSchool means that it is not counted towards a student’s grade.  There seems to be confusion, especially with students participating in athletics and school events.  Missing class for a school event is an excused absence, but students are still accountable for the learning and grades they miss.  Until they make them up, they have zeros in the gradebook.  

🌍 In addition to regular study methods for a quiz, a good tip to help students remember the goal of the lesson is to memorize a single sentence that uses the target language.  For example, when studying reflexive verbs, students might memorize a sentence like “Elena se cepilla los dientes” in order to remember the word order and correct use. 

Collaboratively,

2/12/26

• 💌  Use of Spanish in class tickets were entered Tuesday.  While I will accept late tickets at anytime this semester, the only way for students to have guaranteed that they were reflected in the Progress Report grade was to turn them in by the end of class Monday.  All tickets turned in Tuesday were added as time permitted. In all cases, they get full credit for them.  We started earning tickets for the new report period on Wednesday. As a reminder, students may turn them in during practice time any day.  They need not wait until the end of the grading period to turn them in all at once.

• 💌 In our instant/digital age, students often expect things to be graded and entered into PowerSchool immediately.  While I almost always enter new items within hours of students turning in on-time work, late work is entered on a schedule to help me manage my workflow.  Make-up engagement points are entered into PowerSchool on Friday mornings.  Make up practice work (Vista/non-honors classes only) is put into PowerSchool on the last day of the six week lesson.  The best way for students to ensure that their points are entered quickly is to turn their work in on time.

• 💌 Please note that I do not “take away” engagement points for tardies.  However, if a student is tardy, they may not be here to get instructions required to earn their points. 

2/6/26

• 🏈 Our five day assignment is due at 8:30am on Monday and we have our mini-quiz on Monday. 

• 🏈 I’m working on updating my extra credit webpage with additional opportunities for students.  If interested in Extra Credit, check in here: https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/extra-credit 

• 🏈 I will be collecting Use of Spanish tickets on Monday.  Using the formula I previously disclosed, students should have 12 tickets by the end of the period on Monday to earn a C (four tickets for every five days there were available; less than one ticket per day).

1/30/26

• 🤴🏽Student schedule changes have continued throughout this week.  I recognize that schedule changes in general, let alone this far into the semester, are extremely difficult for students.  My classroom has well defined procedures and expectations, but I’m happy to work with individual students who are trying to catch up with the changes in class.  Students just need to make an in class appointment on the ClassroomQ during class so that I can give them individual attention and we can address any special needs they may need to get up to speed.  In general, new students should click here for the basics:  https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/new 

• 🤴🏽The use-of-Spanish in class ticket system has been successful beyond my wildest dreams. To be honest, it’s a lot of work on my end, but it has resulted in such a massive increase of students practicing and using Spanish in class.  There are still a few students who refuse to attempt to speak Spanish in class who I hope will come around as it is 10% of their grade.  I will be collecting tickets on February 9th and 10th for entry into PowerSchool.  Students should try to get at least four tickets for every five days that they are available (less than one ticket per day).  The easiest way is to put their name in the ClassroomQ during practice time or to see me right after class (except sixth period).

• 🤴🏽Work completion for the assignment that was due today was a lower in a couple classes in comparison with the last assignment.  All classes started off the year great and really need to keep up the effort to keep their grades up.  You can check individual student grades on the PowerSchool app or at https://powerschool.avhsd.org 

• 🤴🏽Doing work for other classes is generally not allowed in this class.  Students always have work for this class, even it it’s studying vocabulary on Quizlet or reviewing.  Students I block other classes and don’t let students do other work during Spanish classes.  The exception is for students who have very high As who have earned membership in the Círculo de Honor.  These students, as part of the reward for the efforts and because they have demonstrated that they can manage their time and grades effectively and successfully, are allowed to do work for other classes during moments of unstructured time in Spanish.  For more information about Círculo de Honor, click here: https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/c%C3%ADrculo-de-honor.

1/23/26

• 👑 I am blown away at how well students did on their quiz today.  Overall, practice work is getting done thoughtfully and thoroughly and quiz grades showed it!  I think students are really starting to understand that when they practice well, they assess well.  😀

• 👑 I would like to sincerely thank all students and parents who have prioritized good attendance. I know it can be hard to get teens moving in the morning.  Being in class every day is fundamentally important to student success. Absences, regardless of the reason, are detrimental to student performance and grades. Tardies not only put the tardy student in jeopardy as they lose critical instructions for the period, they have a substantial disruptive impact on the entire class. They have become such a problem that I will be referring habitually tardy students to the Community Attendance Officer.  I would also like to ask parents to please make sure that your student arrives at school on time to be in their first period before the bell rings. Typically this means being dropped off between 8:20-8:30am so that they can pass through security and get to class on time.   When students are absent, they should follow these steps to help minimize the disruption to the learning: https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/absence.  Thank you for your help with this.   

• 👑I get a lot of questions about language learning apps and if I recommend any.  While Rosetta Stone and Duolinguo both have strengths,  the key is that there is no shortcut or “quick” way to learn a language. Learning a language requires motivation and a major time investment. Regardless of what social media says, there’s no such thing as learning a language in “five minutes per day.” On another note, I do recommend watching movies, novelas (soap-operas), or the news in Spanish. I even offer extra credit for doing so:  https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/extra-credit 

1/16/26

• 👨🏾‍🦱  It as been a long week with lots of class changes.  Unfortunately, the office may continue to make class changes through next week.  Please keep an eye on your PowerSchool schedules to see if your schedule changes.  New students can get up to speed in this class by clicking here: https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/new  

• 👨🏾‍🦱  Because PowerSchool converts all grades of “F” to a zero, I have adjusted the grading scale for the practice category (Vista) for this semester.  Remember, students have four opportunities to correct their work and they receive instant feedback on what they did wrong and what they need to do to correct their practice. If students are making a reasonable effort, they should be getting a raw score near 100.  

  • • 100  is converted to A+

    • 97 up to 99.99 is converted to A

    • 94 up to 96.99 is converted to B

    • 91 up to 93.99 is converted to C

    • 88 up to 90.99 is converted to D

    • 80 up to 87.99 is converted to F (50%)

    • 60 up to 79.99 is converted to F (40%)

    • 40 up to 59.99 is converted to F (30%)

    • 20 up to 39.99 is converted to F (20%)

    • .01 up to 19.99 is converted to F (10%)

• 👨🏾‍🦱  The use of Spanish in class grade will continue with the ticket system.  Students should plan on earning four tickets per week, at a minimum, to receive a C.  There will be a period by period adjustment to compensate for much larger class sizes in some periods this semester.

Enjoy your Martin Luther King, Jr Day of Service and Holiday.

1/14/26 (Only to parents/students of the new period 2:

Dear New Parents and Students,

I would like to extend a special welcome to the former students of señora Peña's second period Spanish two class who have been transferred to my second period Spanish 2 class.  Because of imbalances in the school master schedule, it was necessary for administration to close multiple classes across the school.  I know that a mid-year change of teachers is not ideal, I am looking forward to helping each student achieve their best and be prepared for continued study of Spanish in the following year. 

While Mrs. Peña and I have different approaches to the curriculum, we are both teaching the same skills and content.  I hope to make the transition for students as easy as possible. 

Please take a moment and review my syllabus on the class website:  https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/syllabus.   Almost everything a student needs to be successful in this class, including review material and the textbook, can be accessed through my website.

On Fridays, I sent out customized emails for each student.  Please add JSTrumps@avhsd.org to your contacts so that you’re sure to receive these updates.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via email.   

Looking forward to a great semester,

-Sr. Trumps

1/13/26

• ❄️  ¡Bienvenidos a todos!  Hopefully everyone had a great break.  There are lots of school-wide changes being implemented, including changes to student schedules based on enrollment and the master schedule.  These changes typically take two weeks, so students should continue to check their schedules daily.  It typically takes Google Classroom 24 hours to catch up to these changes, so let’s practice patience.  

• ❄️  Although we are doing some review at the beginning of the semester, we will be beginning our new lesson on Friday.  

• ❄️ Please add this email address to your contacts or mark it as “known” so that you continue to receive these updates.

12/19/25

•  🌲 Woohoo!  The semester is over and students overall did great!  In general, students adapted and stepped up to a rigorous curriculum.  I hope students have gained insights into the relationship between their effort and their learning/grade.  

• 🌲 Grades are finalized and I hope students enjoy a well-earned and restful break.

• 🌲 By request of students, I have posted some of the educational games on Blooket to our Google Classroom stream.  Students may want to play these games over break to keep things fresh in their minds.  As always, our past vocabulary games are available on Quizlet.com.   These games are not an assignment. 

• 🌲I will be unavailable during the winter break, but will check my emails upon return in January.  In the meantime, almost all answers to parent questions can be found on Google Classroom, the Class Website, or PowerSchool. 

12/12/25

• • 🍬Going into the last week of the semester, it’s really important that students are at their best, while we may give the week a holiday flare, students will be doing important assessments each day.

  • 🍬Please ensure that students attend class every day next week unless they are communicably sick.

  • 🍬 The study guide for the final exam is located on the lección 3 resource web page on our website (Spanish 1: https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/espa%C3%B1ol-uno_1/lecci%C3%B3n-tres & Spanish 2: https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/espa%C3%B1ol-dos/2-lecci%C3%B3n-tres) 

  • 🍬 Any student who misses an assessment this semester temporarily takes a zero and will be allowed to make it up next semester; a grade change form will be processed if appropriate.

12/5/25

• ☃️ We have two more weeks before the comprehensive final exam on December 19.  Historically, some students try to scramble to raise their grade at the last minute.  There are a lot of points available during these past two weeks and the way to raise their grade is by studying and doing well on their assessments, especially the final exam.  Study material has been provided to them and includes all of their passed-back quizzes, their review assignments, and their notes.   

• ☃️ It’s very important that students not miss class.  While I will attempt to accommodate make-up assessments during the last two weeks of the semester, students may have to take a zero and then make up any missing work in January when we return.  If that happens, I will submit a grade change form in January if necessary.

• ☃️ Because this semester is so much shorter than second semester, we do not have much flexibility in terms of scheduling.   As such, I will make the Lesson 3 exam optional.  Students will need to decide individually if they want to take the Exam and will do it on one of the days of the Oral Assessment, December 18.  If students decide to take it, they will receive whatever score they earn regardless if it raises or lowers their grade.  If students decide not to take it, they will be excused from it and it will not impact their grade.  Students should look at the category grade breakdown paper that I gave them in class to decide if they need to raise their Lesson Exam category or if they’re happy with it the way it is. 

• ☃️ In order to manage the end of the semester work load, all “use of Spanish in class” tickets will be due on the 16th of December by the end of the period.  Students may turn them in early if they like.

11/21/25:

• 🍂 We did not finish our current five day lesson before break.  We will continue on Monday after break and then have our quiz on the Tuesday after break.  Students have no assigned work during their week off, but reviewing and studying is always encouraged. 

11/14/25:

•  Inclement Weather: Quartz Hill HS is a large, open to the elements campus . Students spend a lot of time outdoors during passing time, breaks, and lunch. Add to that that during the COVID shutdown, they replaced our AC/Heating units with significantly overpowered units. The result is that my classroom is either freezing cold or extremely hot and when students come to class not dressed for a variety of weather and temperature conditions, it can be very uncomfortable for them. Please remind your student to bring a variety of layers, and if possible, water resistant clothing during rain. Note that I do provide an umbrella bucket, and I encourage students to bring umbrellas and water proof boots/shoes.

•  Upcoming Thanksgiving Break: We will not finish our estructura before Thanksgiving Break. I don't assign work over break, but students will have work that won't be due until Tuesday after break. If they're not absent, they should have time to finish all assigned work in class. (Of course, if students want to take advantage of time off to study a bit, that would be marvelous!) 

11/7/25:

• 🍂 Progress report grades are due today and students will receive their progress reports on Wednesday of next week.  We have five weeks left in the semester and this is really the time for students to dig-in and do well.  If students haven’t started so already, they should begin studying for their comprehensive final.  5-10 minutes a couple times a week is much more effective than two hours the night before the final exam!

• 🍂 To help students plan, I will be using the class calendar on my website to indicate when my classroom may be closed before school or during lunch for meetings.  (https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/calendar). Students can add this calendar to their school calendars by clicking “”add to Google Calendar” on the aforementioned page.    Many students come in before school or during lunch for help or just a weather-sheltered place to do their work.  I’m happy to voluntarily provide a space for students.  However, occasionally I do have meetings and the classroom will not be open for students. Generally, I encourage appointments if students know they need assistance. Drop-ins are welcome.  

• 🍂I use category weights in this class (e.g., no matter how many points are given on different entries in PowerSchool, lesson exams will always be 20% of their grade).  I gave all students a printout of how they’re doing in each category.  Unfortunately, PowerSchool does not show this information to students/parents.  With the printout, students can see in what category, if any, they need to improve.  This way they can target their efforts to maximize their learning and raise their grade.  

• 🍂 Meaning of smiley face 😀 on this report: One of the main reasons of this report is to keep parents up-to-date about their child’s engagement in class.  When a date has a smiley face 😃, that simply means that there was not behaviors that attracted my attention; it does not mean, however, that they were necessarily productive during class.  Some students have learned that they can earn the smiley face by having their work out not doing it.  Please remember that they have class time to do their assignments, so if they’re not getting done, that means they’re not being productive in class.  It’s important to take this email alongside their grades in PowerSchool.  Parents who need help accessing PowerSchool may call the school at 661-718-3100.

10/31/25

• 🎃 Most students finished their oral exams today and have their unit (lección) exam on Monday.  They have been given a review assignment on Vista to help them prepare for the lesson exam, but should also use the min-quizzes (pruebitas) that I have passed back to them via email and the “notes” (apuntes) on my website.

• 🎃 On the October report below, I had to combine the last four days of the month for technical reasons.  As such, please note the comments on each day pair for clarification as to which date a comment applies for.  If there is just a smiley face, that is for both days.

• 🎃 I’m making a small change to the Use of Spanish in Class ticket system.  Unless students have been absent, students will be required to earn their tickets in class, not before school / during lunch. Of course students are always welcome to come in for help before school or during either lunch.

10/24/25

• 👻 We are currently working on our last “estructura” of the six week lesson.  That means that our lesson oral exams will be late next week and the lesson exam will be on Monday, November 3.  Students should be preparing for those assessments now.  Practice questions are available on my website and students should be reviewing the mini-quizzes (pruebitas) that have been passed back to them.

• 👻 I’m excited that several students have taken me up on my offer to help them develop an individualized study plan. To do this, we need 30-45 minutes of uninterrupted time, so we need to schedule a before school appointment.  Students should remember that studying is what is done in addition to the assigned practice. Some students require more effort and time to catch-up or perform at the required level.  Students should understand that their study plan is not a replacement for doing their assigned practice.  Assuming they’re already doing their assigned practice, we look at what’s not working and build a supplemental plan.   I’m very happy with the commitment I’ve seen from students who have already engaged.  It’s still early enough in the school year for an individualized plan to make a substantial difference.  🙂

• 👻 I’m happy to come in before work, provide students a place to work, and help them out with questions that they may have.  I also give up my lunch and prep time for students to come in for help.  However, unfortunately, I am unable to sit with students individually and walk them through their work, nor can I provide childcare.  Students should check with me the day before to see what time I plan on coming the next day as sometimes I do have other meetings and responsibilities. Appointments are encouraged, but not required.  Many students just drop in and are welcome.

10/17/25

• • 🎃 NON-Honors classes only:  the 30% penalty for late Vista work has been removed because of raw score scale.  However, late work will only be entered into PowerSchool on the last day of the lección.  Without this change, most students were not getting credit for any late work, which was not the intention.  This change takes place for lección dos onward.

  • 🎃 It’s been coming up that some students are still trying to do their partner activity at home.  Students have been told that they need to do that activity in class where I can assist them if they have tech difficulties.  If students have been absent for a few days out of our five day assignment, I am open to giving them an extension, but if students procrastinate and attempt to do the partner activities at home, they may not receive credit if they can’t get it done in time. I remind students of this in class when we have such an assignment.  Although some students are able to do this activity from home, many students struggle with the technology, which is why they are told to prioritize getting it done in class.  While I wish to help students get the practice they need to be successful, I have to carefully balance that desire with not enabling procrastination or not following directions.  As always, students who have legitimate reasons why they couldn’t do it on time, should come and talk to me.  However, “tech problems” at home the night before it’s due is not a legitimate problem if they’ve been in class.

10/10/25: 

• 🌲The first quarter ended today and dozens of students asked me “what can I do to get my grade up by the end of the day.  The answer is always the same:  Let’s look at what you’re not currently doing and create a plan to change your actions, but, there is nothing you can do to raise your grade in a day.  Raising one’s grade requires a long-term commitment to good study habits and, in many cases, a change in attitude and what students do in class.   I am happy to meet with students before school or during either lunch to help them create a custom study plan.  Also, each of the three Lecciones during the semester is progressively weighted, so students mathematically have the opportunity to raise their grade throughout the semester.  There is no short cut.  Slow and consistent wins the race.  

• 🌲Extra credit is available in this class (https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/extra-credit), but it is not in place of the assigned practice and studying.  I view extra credit like “bump insurance.”  It might raise a student's grade a percent or two over the semester, so by doing extra credit, students who end up with a 89.5% might have their grade raised to a 90% (otherwise, I do not round grades).  Extra credit is not a shortcut or replacement for learning, but rather enhances student learning.

• 🌲Use of Spanish in class scores were entered today.  Originally, I indicated that I would only be using the ticket system for the first quarter, but it seems to be very successful and most students are responding wonderfully, so I’m going to keep using it for the next grading period also.  On Monday, I’ll be giving them another page of Expresiones Útiles that they can use in class to earn tickets.  As we move through the year, the threshold of what it takes to earn a ticket gets higher, but it’s still pretty easy and level appropriate.

10/3/25:

• 🍁 The end of the quarter is in about a week.  Most students are doing fantastic about using Spanish in class and collecting tickets.  However, there are more than a few students who are refusing to use Spanish in class and are therefore not earning tickets.  This is 10% of their semester grade.  If a student hasn’t done much to earn tickets, then next week is the week to double down. A great place to start is the first white page in their Pasaportes, Expresiones Útiles.  These are great expressions they can use to get tickets. 

9/26/25:

• 🍂 This will be the last September points update, although students will continue to receive engagement points on Monday and Tuesday.  Those will be posted directly to PowerSchool on Tuesday and next Friday’s email will reflect October engagement points.

• 🍂 We have finished Lección Uno and have begun the next six week lección.  All points during Lección dos are double weighted in the gradebook.  This is so throughout the semester, students who started off poorly will be mathematically able to raise their grade.  This is a particular valid method of grading in subjects, like Spanish, where students need previous skills to be successful in future skills.  By demonstrating competency later in the semester, students are showing competency on previous materials also and their grade should reflect that.

• 🍂 Many parents have asked if I could accept the “use of Spanish in class” tickets more frequently because their student tends to lose things.  I’m happy to do that.  Students may turn in their tickets at the end of the period when I’m at my desk, during either lunch, or before school.  Students should be using the “frases útiles” that are in their Pasaportes at a minimum to earn tickets.  The expectation is that whenever possible, and according to what we’ve learned so far,  students should use Spanish in class, both with me and classmates. The next time they will be entered as a score in PowerSchool will be at the end of Q1, in mid-October.

• 🍂 Many students are unfamiliar with the concept of “studying.”  Studying isn’t doing assignments, it’s the independent time a student invests to master the materials presented in class.  Not all students need the same amount of study time.  I’m happy to help students develop a personalized study plan.  Interested students may come see me before school or during lunch (appointment recommended).  However, I’d like to highlight a very popular study method everyone could benefit from.  Please take a moment and look at the “Pomodoro Method” that is taking education by storm: https://quizlet.com/features/pomodoro-timer.

9/19/25:  

• 📖 Students are doing oral assessments for lesson 1 today and again on Monday.  The lesson oral assessment is a significant part of their grade and is worth as much as the Lesson Exam, which is on Tuesday.  Students should be studying daily for these.  Everything they need to study for these is on the class resources page for lesson 1.  However, students may also study from the Vista practice assignments, especially the review assignment, and their previously passed back quizzes.(Quizzes are returned via email typically a couple days after the quiz day to allow for make-ups.)

• 📖 The Oral Exam category and the Lesson Exam categories are 20% of the students’ final grades.  Grades may fluctuate a lot in the next few days.  Typically, although students tend to be very nervous about the oral assessment, they do much better on that than the lesson exam.  It’s important for students to prepare for both.

• 📖 Students are self-separating into two major groups:  those who do their work and are prepared and those who don’t.  Generally speaking, the group who does their practice does well on the assessments and their grade reflects their success.  It is early in the semester and not too late for those in the first group to change their study habits!   I would be happy to meet with students individually to prescribe a customized study plan.

• 📖 On this week’s practice assignment, students had a writing task.  Several students used a translator, Artificial Intelligence (AI) or a human proof-reader  on the assignment.  Reminder:  using a translator/AI, human or machine, will get a zero on the entire assignment and a recording of violation of academic integrity / technology violation on PowerSchool.  Most students did very well on this week’s assigned practice, but some students are still looking for short cuts.  There are no short-cuts in learning: learning requires determination and commitment.

9/11/25:  

• 😊This week’s email is coming out today due to my scheduled absences on Friday and Monday.  I apologize as this email is longer than usual.  

• 😊 During my absence, a minimum of triple engagement points will be available for students who complete their assignments during classtime.  https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/substitute-procedures.

• 😊 QHHS has moved away from subject specific tutoring before and after school.  In its place, there will be “AVID Style” study skills type tutoring available on certain days before or after school, but students will not have access to a credentialled Spanish teacher for assistance.  Many students could really take advantage of the study skills that come through the AVID style tutoring. For specific Spanish help, I am generally available for help in the mornings and both lunches, although I cannot be a one-on-one tutor.  Students are welcome to come in and do their work and ask me for help.  Because I occasionally have other meetings, appointments are recommended.  Drop-in will be accommodated as time permits.  

• 😊 Assessment is cyclical in nature. That is, students will see the same material on future assessments.  We start with the mini-quizzes (pruebitas), then have a larger “unit” (Lección) exam that contains all of the content from the mini-quizzes.  Finally, the semester final exams covers all of the content for the semester.  Ultimately, students will need to retain the skills and information for the next year of Spanish.  This means that studying is critical in this class.  Students must consistently study current and past skills and content in order to remember their targeted skills.  Flash cards, Quizlet, and notes should be the cornerstone of these efforts, but AI options to help students retain what they learn are also becoming more plentiful.  We regularly cover these strategies in class. 

• 😊 The syllabus (https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/syllabus)  has been updated to make clearer the restroom policy.  Students are expected to use the restroom during break, lunch, and before and after school, not during class time.  Exceptions will be made for emergencies and parents will be notified if students abuse this.  

• 😊 There are quite a few parents that I would like to have conversations with, but I am limited on time. Please reach out to me via email if you’d like to set up a conference or phone call, or let me know if we can connect via email.  Due to having a large number of new students, I’m already booked two weeks out on calls/meetings.  Please understand that the success of every student is important to me.  Thank you for your patience as I continue reaching out.

• 😊 Students who missed today’s quiz will need to make it up when I return on Tuesday.

9/5/2025: 

• • 🌻At back to school, I incorrectly stated that tutoring was available before and after school in the library, Monday through Friday.   I was just notified that those hours have been severely cut back.  I will post the correct hours once I can confirm the days and times with administration.  When available, you’ll be able to see them here:  https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/help/tutoring 

  • 🌻I have updated the Syllabus by adding the grading rubric I use for the “Use Spanish in Class” grade category which is worth 10% of the semester grade. The holistic rubric is as follows:

    • • A = consistently uses Spanish whenever possible, even when the student lacks the vocabulary or grammar to do so by using circumlocution and other strategies. The student speaks in Spanish to both the teacher and classmates. 

      • B = frequently uses Spanish and employed strategies such as circumlocution with both the teacher and classmates. 

      • C = generally uses memorized and common phrases. 

      • D = sometimes uses memorized and common phrases, but often uses English for things that they should know in Spanish.  

      • F = may occasionally uses Spanish, but generally sticks to English. 

  • 🌻Progress report grades lock Monday after school.  I will be entering the students’ “Use of Spanish in class” grade at that time.  Those grades are entered into PowerSchool right before each Progress Report/Quarter/Semester grade.

8/29/2025:  

• • 🌻 I have been out sick for Thursday and Friday, but have been able to remotely monitor student progress.  Students who were actively engaged in class and completed a minimum number of activities received triple engagement points on each of those two days.  Students who did not spend at least half of the period engaged with the activity received zero points that day.  It is important that students stay engaged with the curriculum when I am absent.  I provide them every thing they need to be successful during that time.  For more info, see https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/substitute-procedures 

  • 🌻 10% of the student’s grade in this class is based on if they voluntarily use Spanish in class. I enter these holistic grades once each grading period (progress reports, quarter grades, and semester grades).  However, I am paying attention all semester and make notes to myself about how much a student attempts Spanish.  At this point of the year for Spanish 1, students may simply be greeting me (hola, buenos días, etc) or saying please and thank you in Spanish (por favor, gracias).  Common expressions that students may use are also found inside their Pasaportes.  For Spanish 2, students should be able to express themselves using vocabulary and grammar studied in Spanish 1.  Students should not wait until right before grading to start using Spanish!  I’m listening now.  🙂

  • 🌻 Test proctoring:  During assessments, there are a variety of tools used to proctor students and ensure academic integrity and fairness.  We use a special locked-mode on the Chromebooks, district internet filters, Go-Guardian and device cameras.  Please note that the cameras do not record, but only transmit the image within the classroom for the teacher to use for proctoring purposes.  

  • 🌻 This is the last August email you will receive.  Next week, we start September engagement points, which will be entered as a new score in PowerSchool.  

8/24/2025

• • ✏️ The results of this week’s vocabulary quiz was outstanding.  The vast majority of students’ received an A.  The quizzes were returned to students today via email so they can go over what they missed. If a student didn’t get an A, this is something to be concerned about, but something to panic about.  It’s important that students do their practice work thoughtfully and thoroughly to do well on the quizzes.

  • ✏️ School-wide tutoring hasn’t started yet, but I will post information about it when it starts (https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/help/tutoring).  In the meantime, students are welcome to come into my classroom before school or either lunch for specific help/questions.

  • ✏️ Please remind your student that cell phones MUST be powered off (not just on silent) and in their backpacks/pockets at all times while in a classroom.  To be blunt, they don’t have time to power them on, use them, get to class, and power them off and stow them during passing time between classes.  Students should only be using them before school, during break, during lunch, and after school.  Challenge your student not to use them at all during the school day.  I’ve put together some resources and studies on the devastating effects of cell phone, videos,, games, and social media on students.  You can access those resources here:  https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/language-learning-educational-research/phone-addiction.  The first study is new.

  • ✏️  We have another quiz on Wednesday of next week, which is when their current assignment is due.

• 8/15/2025

  • 😎Welcome to Spanish class!  This is the first of the weekly Spanish class updates emailed to both parents and students.  The update includes general information about the class as well as the Engagement points earned during the current month.  Engagement points are only entered into PowerSchool monthly, so it’s important for everyone to monitor those points here.  It is possible for students to earn extra credit in Engagement, but a maximum of 110% will be entered into the PowerSchool Gradebook.

  • 😎The first assignment of the year experienced a glitch in moving grades from Google Classroom to PowerSchool.  As a result, students' scores may have been missed and they received a zero.  Also, some students who did the assignment multiple times may not have received their highest score.  I have hand-corrected the issue and everyone who did the assignment on-time should now have their current grade.  Anyone who did not do it on time, may still do it and come talk to me at the end of the period and I will hand-grade their late work.  Generally, I don’t take late work from honors students and it is accepted from non-honors students with a 30% penalty.  However, all students may do the syllabus assignment at any time without penalty.  

  • 😎You may find the class syllabus here:  https://sites.google.com/avhsd.org/spanish/syllabus 

  • 😎I encourage parents and guardians to email me with any questions or concerns.  I typically respond before noon each day.  Students should not email me unless it’s about something that they can’t talk to me about during the practica individual time during class.  Parents, for fastest and most thorough responses, please include your student’s name as it is in PowerSchool and the period that they have me for Spanish.