Class rules
RULES IN ALBERT’S ENGLISH CLASS (1º BACH)
General matters
This is no longer time for children, it is time for WOMEN AND MEN (MATURITY) TO FACE MORE DEMANDING CHANLLENGES. COMMITMENT is the clue to success, AND HONESTY!!!! We begin a new educational stage with big differences to what you have seen during the ESO. Students at this level are supposed to be highly motivated because of their age and the Selectivity exam (bear in mind the countdown you have got in this site). The main difference is that now it is VOLUNTARY, NOT COMPULSARY. So if you are not interested, feel free to go. I’m afraid the party is over!!!
HOWEVER, what are your main goals for BACHILLERATO? This is a two-year course and I want to believe you want the highest mark possible and you want to learn as much as possible to get your B2 and the highest grade possible in the Selectivity exam!!!! I will help you if you let me do it with both goals, but I NEED YOU!!!
It is going to be a hard school year because we have got two years to prepare for the Selectivity exam next year (check the countdown) or the external exam they may implement, which consists of: reading & comprehension 40%, use of English (grammar & vocabulary) 30%, production (composition) 30%. Therefore, we should consider these two years as a single one.
Remember how old you are and that you are supposed to be mature enough to face the problems and difficulties you may encounter. You should not depend so much on your parents, so I would like to deal with you when there is a problem instead of having to talk with your parents.
During the breaks I will be available for those students who need help or some extra material, or just want to talk with me. Check availability here first.
Those students who didn’t pass English in ESO (pendientes) will not have to do anything to pass this subject, but remember that you will have to make an extra effort to keep up with the rest of the class.
Remember that in this site there will be news about grants to go to English speaking countries (MEC and Junta de Andalucía).
Some students passed their B1 exams (either at the Official Language School English exams as freelance students or by entering the Cambridge University exams) last year, so they will have a possibility to enter for the B2 exams. Just imagine some of our students can get their B2 in English and even their B1 in French before going to university, which is something that is compulsory to have for your future university studies (convalidación por 36 créditos de libre configuración en la Universidad) and for the search of a job. I would highly recommend the rest of the group to go for the B1. I will always be there to help you.
As the oral skills are one of the main difficulties of the B1/B2 exams, there are in this site and in my blog many interesting sections such as Listening for the B1 and that you have in Listening for the B1 in Weblinks exercises (check the menu on the left), among others.
Organise your week paying attention to the days of the week we have class and your school year not leaving things you must do to the end of the school year when you haven’t got so much time to spare.
To end, I remind you that you can download into a pendrive some useful material for the subject (listening exercises, photocopies…) from the computer we have got in the Language Department or by means of DROPBOX. As well, I remind you that in this site you have got my email address, my blog, our website in Helvia, some partners’ blogs and many other interesting weblinks for you.
COVID-19 effects >>> We will all try to minimize its effects ( BEATING COVID-19 new page to know exactly what we are doing ) by revising a lot (especially the last units of 4º ESO and the REPORTED SPEECH) and slowing down the rhythm, but we depend on the students' participation, commitment and honesty. The school has made an effort to have all our classes face to face.
In class and class dynamics
In order to learn your names, you should write them on a piece of paper and set them on your desk. I need all your personal data, so fill in this form at home. If you don’t do it, you will have to do it during a break.
The classroom and especially the language department must be always clean (with no litter at all on the floor) and tidy. This is not my task, it is everybody’s task.
CHEWING GUM is completely forbidden!!! SMOKING IN THE TOILETS IS COMPLETELY FORBIDDEN TOO!!!!
Time is Money, so you must be early for class and wait for the teacher inside the classroom.
Attendance to classes is essential, as well as doing your homework everyday to keep up with the class. I don't want to hear anything about strikes or stupid activities they may ask you to take part in. You cand send me an email (albertomeditutor@gmail.com) or you will have to bring me a note from your parents or the doctor.
Silence is essential if we want to take advantage of the teacher’s explanations or your classmates interventions in class. So if one day you don’t feel like coming to class, it is better to stay outside because I am not going to allow you to disturb your classmates or me.
We will make an effort to use English as much as possible not only for the oral tests we have, but also for the possible inclusion of an oral exercise in the Selectivity exam or if you enter the Language School exam.
You should keep your notebook or file tidy and clean, although the controls will not be as frequent as in the ESO.
You should hand in at least 10 compositions all along the year and you will have to do it by the date you are told. For instance, you must write the first one by the end of September. These are no longer writing exercises, they are more demanding. Again remember the importance of PASEN, where you will check all your marks and everything you have handed in. You can post your corrected compositions and corrected comments in your blog. As well, in this site you can check the compositions proposed here: Compositions .
Class material
The textbook is Get Set 1 (Oxford Univ. Press) + Workbook (only recommended, but try to borrow it from a friend).
Graded readers. We will be doing dictations, listening exercises and controls about the readers (you can also do the activities at the end of them or write compositions to improve your marks, although they will be just optional). The names of the graded readers are:
- 1st term >>>“A Foreigner in Britain” (Burlington Books). There will be a control in December. The digital project you will have to do is a tourist brochure with the most interesting places you would like to visit in Britain.
- 2nd term >>> “The Hound of the Baskervilles” (Oxford Bookworms). The control will be in March. In your project you will have to include a reference to the writer Sir Arthur Connan Doyle.
- 3rd term >>> “Cervantes meets Shakespeare” (Burlington readers). You will hand in a composition and write a comment in the blog entry I made last year by 2nd June, 2019. In your project you will make reference to the writers seen in the book and make a comment in this post in my blog:
Once upon a time, 400 years ago, a writer named Cervantes...
You must have all the material provided in this site. Those with a lower level remember that can also visit the pages in this site related to 2º Bachillerato.
A bilingual and a monolingual dictionary are very advisable, although you can also use the ones with have online on this site.
I also remind you of all the books, films, readers, dictionaries, grammar books… that are your disposal both in the school library and in the Language Department.
Evaluation criteria
You can look the English Department evaluation criteria up in our Helvia website.
Passing or failing is not an issue that depends on the teacher’s opinion. The teacher will just reflect what your exams reflect as if he were a mirror trying to avoid any partiality. As well, we will make an effort to implement the same evaluation criteria to all the students of the groups in the level of 1st Bachillerato using similar exams.
Due to the continuous assessment, the dates of the exams will not be announced in advance.
Therefore, the final mark will come out of these aspects:
>>> RESULTS (80%) : At the end of each term there will be several exams about grammar, use of English, vocabulary, listening & comprehension, reading & comprehension, composition and an oral test, whose result will only help you to improve your mark (so you shouldn’t worry, although we must bear in mind that you may have an oral part in the Selectivity exam next year).
>>> PROCESSES (20%): your participation in class, homework, personal effort & Compositions (written at home) / comments (this year they will be compulsory: 10 + 10 + 5 quality comments) + personal attitude towards the subject, class attendance, behaviour in class.
Possibility to rise your mark: video sketch (it must be handed in by 17th April) and Our digital project .