Spanish 1

Here are all of the lectures for Spanish 1 from the old curriculum! I will use many of these to teach the new curriculum as there is a lot of overlap but the order of the videos may be different.

At about 4:25, I made a mistake when speaking and in the written notes.

No pago más que 10 dólares…IS MY MISTAKE. When dealing with numbers, you use “más de” whether you are discussing affirmatives or negatives. More examples:

Nunca pago más de 10 dólares en McDonalds.

No quiero pagar más de 10 dólares…

No pago más de 10 dólares.

Now, in terms of traditional usage…many native Spanish speakers use “que” instead of “de,” particularly when it comes to conditional terms versus set terms. “Que” can be right but “de” is much more appropriate to use. My apologies for the mistake. The rest of the video is fine.

Esp1 C6A L4 superlativos

Esp1 C6B L1 Vocabulario de los cuartos y quehaceres

Esp1 C6B L2 mandatos informales y aftirmativos

Esp1 C6B L3 el presente progresivo

I have not created the videos for C.7A. I may use the traditional classroom method or I may create a video. TBD...

¡Hola! Welcome to Spanish 1 at Enloe High School 2023-24! The school year will certainly look different than any other we have ever seen. Over the next 10 months, we may get to know each other pretty well. This letter represents my attempt to get things started quickly and answer a lot of questions you may have.

For those of you who want me to cut to the chase, here is the speaking rubric I use for grading speaking assignments. It is based on a 100-point scale. Here is the writing rubric I use for most writing assignments. The second page has information to help understand my detailed writing feedback. If you want MORE information about HOW your grades are calculated, I would refer you to this page on my website: https://sites.google.com/site/spanishmaestrodavid/ (It is the homepage). At the beginning of Spanish 1, I may adjust my rubrics. I will decide on an assignment by assignment basis.

For those of you (and your inquisitive parents) that want to know more than just about grades, I am providing some additional information about me and about the class below.

Who am I? Not Jean Val Jean! (That is a French Literature reference, and more importantly, a line from a famous Broadway Musical called “Les Miserables.” Please don’t over-analyze the reference. I do not expect you to be “miserable” and I’m rarely going to refer to French culture in this class. Actually, the Spanish have a well-documented and historic rivalry with the French. Now, back to the matter at hand: ME! I’m Maestro David! This is my sixteenth year as a Spanish teacher and twenty-fourth as a teacher. Before returning to my Alma Mater, I taught Spanish at Raleigh Charter High School from 2008-2011 and English as a second language (ESL) at Wake Tech Community College from 2003-2008. I also taught ESL in Mexico from 1995-1998.

Outside of teaching, I volunteer and work for a community organization called Raíces del Sur, which is committed to bringing generations of families together (legally) with parents that live in Mexico to see their children that they haven’t seen for 10-40 years and grandchildren that they’ve often never met. Pre-covid, I travelled several weekends a year back and forth to Mexico and the USA to help the elderly on their journey. Once travel restrictions are reduced, I plan to resume those trips as soon as the U.S. embassy fully reopens and begins receiving applicants. Pre-pandemic, I was also a Scoutmaster and Committee Chair with the Boy Scouts of America and I refereed indoor soccer for 12 years.

I have worked in the public sector as the policy analyst to minority affairs in the NC Office of the Governor, served as the Fair Housing Director to El Pueblo, Inc. and the Project Director to CommUNITY 2000, which was a project of the Leadership Conference Education Fund in Washington, D.C. designed to improve community relations and reduce the prevalence of hate crimes in our community.

In the private sector, I worked as an English to Spanish and Spanish to English translator/interpreter for various agencies, including the Cuautla, Morelos (local city government in Mexico), NC Legal Services, and the NC Housing Coalition. I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish Literature from Earlham College and my Masters in Public Policy Analysis from Duke University. My most recent education came through NC State University and the NCTeach program, where I successfully completed all coursework necessary to earn my NC Teaching Certificate in 2010. Students, you are in safe hands: I’m certified!

In an interesting side note (maybe only to me), I have a lot of ACC in my Raleigh-born blood. My father was a professor at NCSU. My Aunt and Uncle graduated from Wake Forest. Another aunt, a cousin and I graduated from Duke. My son attends UNC and my wife and I both completed educational programs at NCSU. My allegiance falls primarily with Duke (my degree) and UNC (tremendous pride in my son and a desire for family peace). I support NCSU if Duke and UNC are not involved! Wake Forest remains an afterthought!

What is our class routine?

Here is what I used to say about the class routine…The activities are more paired/group focused with students working together in the room or in the hall applying concepts we’ve touched on through homework or quick class discussion. These activities will be interrupted by assessments to determine individual progress based on interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive communication skills.

I expect to give at least 2-3 writing prompts each of the first three quarters and possibly fourth quarter. These prompts will only take 12-15 minutes to complete. Writing prompts gauge presentational communication through writing. There will also be simulated conversations each quarter. The simulated conversations measure interpersonal communication. I plan to give at least listening and writing comprehension assessments each quarter as well. These measure interpretive communication skills. I will also work in some graded grammar assessments, which don’t really correspond to the primary ways of interpreting mastery (interpersonal, interpretive, presentational) but they have value nonetheless. ALL assessments are independent work.

As I stated before, beyond assessments, students will generally work in pairs or teams to produce Spanish language as I manage the room and hall, circulating from group to group. Students will read, speak, write, listen to me and each other. I see my role in the class as a manager tasked with nurturing discovery. I strive to facilitate a dynamic, interactive environment conducive to acquiring language skills and understanding culture from many of the different Spanish-speaking countries.

What projects will we have this year? There may be a foreign country travel project at some time this year. I have assigned it in the past to Spanish 1 and it has proven to be a little time consuming but quite rewarding. That is the only major project I’m currently considering for Spanish 1.

What is our daily homework time investment and why? All students should wholeheartedly dedicate 30 minutes to Spanish for each class we have. Some weeks that will mean 60 minutes a week and others it will mean 90. I do not expect ALL 30 minutes to be completed in a night. In fact, to learn language, it is better to break up your student into five nights a week. My suggestion is that the evening after class that students review notes for 5-10 minutes from the day’s lesson and “recall” what skills we worked on in class. On the NEXT night, I suggest spending 20-25 minutes on the assignment for the next day’s class. To learn the language, daily immersion into the language is the best strategy. I don’t expect more or less time investment. Many nights, students will view a video and take notes.

I understand the realities of life can interrupt learning. Sometimes a student has things going on in life that prevent studying and academic growth. If this happens, I can work with students to help get on track by discussing study strategies, helping to create structure, and more. However, I cannot learn the material for anyone. The formula for learning is straight forward. In order to learn, students must invest their time and focus their efforts. Students that do not regularly complete assignments thoughtfully rarely experience success. If a student is not engaged independently in completing the daily homework assignments it is unrealistic to expect the student to achieve a high level of success in class.

What will our daily homework assignments include? I will assign mostly instructional videos I’ve recorded, which cover Spanish material we will practice in class. Since there are limited Spanish language videos for Spanish 1 from a textbook, I am also going to use homework time to provide some much needed exposure to native speakers and writers that students need in order to progress in the language. There will also be some articles to read, video and listening clips (for class discussion follow up the next day). These stories and the clips will provide a lot of the context for our assessments, so make sure you thoroughly work with them.

How can I improve my grade? Study more. I do not offer “extra credit” but there will be opportunities to improve based on effort and quality of learning this year. If a student wants to improve a grade, the student should study the material extra and the results should play out on assessments, writing prompts and class activities. My website includes a list of links geared towards remedial practice and cultural enrichment.

Respectfully,

Maestro David West

Spanish Teacher, W.G. Enloe High School

Greetings,

As the year passes, you will find this page easier to read. Even in the first days, you will need to learn to find your daily lessons and homework here.

Helpful advice:

The date follows the international format (similar to that found on passports and used throughout the rest of the world OTHER than the U.S.). 10.01.23 is thus January 10th as opposed to October 1st. Remember: día, mes, año.

¿Preguntas? ¿Problemas? Escríbeme- dwest2@wcpss.net

If you need access to older pages, including "EXTRA HELP PRACTICE LINKS." I am moving them to this page.

Personalized remediation and make up sessions: Mondays after school 2:30-3:30