Sra. LeeAnn M. Gilroy, M.A.T. , A.B.D.
Estudiantes: print this page for your reference. It is your syllabus!!!
All students can learn another language. This is what past students said:
Behaviors, attitudes, habits for successful students.
List things that do not help or are barriers for student success.
In the gradebook you will see these categories:
Tarea:homework
Homework is any meaningful task tied to a learning target or standard and can come in a variety of formats. Homework can be an opportunity for stakeholders to identify strengths and continue to improve upon weaknesses. Note that I am expecting students to be active in their learning both inside and outside the classroom!!! You will need to do some serious studying outside of class to learn, despite not being graded on homework.
Learning Targets
Your learning targets grades will go up and down as you re-assess. Sometimes your grade may go down as a result of an assessment. It may go up as a result of your re-assessment or it may go down after re-assessing. Please see the re-assessment policy below for what you should do if this happens. You will be re-assessed on many topics we cover this semester. (If you forget how to say "I" you can never talk about yourself again!!!) Reviewing your notes will be super important!!!
Assessments We will cover more material between assessments and my expectations are that your re-assessments show some growth! You have learned something, so prove it!
Online work is due every Saturday at Midnight, every week. These will be practice from old learning targets, new learning targets and just generally practice using language.
Final exams are the only grade entry that is not re-assessable.
Syllabus:
Grading: The Solon Community School Board has adopted Grading Guidelines for Standards Based Grading. In Spanish class, there will be learning targets for each unit. Learning targets are the goals for the unit and are what students will be expected to know on assessments. Tarea (practice problems) over the learning targets will be given daily, although tarea scores will not affect the final grade. Tarea is any meaningful task tied to a learning target or standard and can come in a variety of formats. Tarea can be an opportunity for stakeholders to identify strengths and continue to improve upon weaknesses. Regardless of tarea affecting the final grade, students are expected to complete the practice so that feedback and suggestions can be given. The tarea (practice problems) that has been recorded will be marked in PowerSchool with a green check. I mark partially complete with a P, it means the practice has not been completed or it was not completed correctly. You are encouraged to look at PowerSchool frequently to understand daily work habits. Your success in class depends upon practicing Spanish DAILY!!!
If you expect to be successful in this class, you will need to work at it. Most students earning lower than a 3 (75%) on a learning target never bothered to do the practice or waited too long after instruction to do it well.
Learning a language is a continuous journey. What is learned in Spanish I is used in Spanish II, III, and IV. Success in a world language class is not only learning what we are doing today but also reviewing and using what we have learned before.
Assessments over individual learning targets will be most often quizzes. Any particular learning target score will be replaced by the most recent score from evidence on quizzes- announced or pop. Learning targets may be quizzed more than once.
Re-assessments procedures: There are two types of re-assessments.
1. The first is teacher- initiated where I will choose when the class will re-assess and which learning targets to re-assess. That is based on overall student understanding of the learning target.
2. The second type of re-assessment is student-initiated. Students who score less than a 3 (75%) on any learning target should seek help.
a. We will work on any practice they have not completed first, then some independent practice. In order to re-assess a particular learning target, students need to have correctly completed all tarea and Vistas on the learning target, as well as all class activities on the learning target.
b. They also need to meet with the instructor to complete an additional practice activity successfully before re-assessing.
c. Re-assessments over learning targets require a 24 hour notice. Learning targets will re-appear on exams thus learning the material for that learning target is our goal. Exams are up to 55% of the final grade.
Spanish III/IV Grade weights and re-assessment allowances: All re-assessment deadlines will be posted with assignment in powerschool.
Vocabulary 10% Reassessable until day before end of quarter.
Vistas 10% Reassessable until day before end of quarter.
Learning targets 30%: listening, reading, grammar, writing (Actfl writing/presentational), Speaking (Actfl speaking/presentational) (Reassessment minimum is two weeks)
Exams 25% (Reassessment minimum is two weeks)
Final 25% written and oral, Not re-assessable
Grades in progress: Solon has adopted the following descriptors:
4 (100%) Demonstrates thorough understanding (of course or grade level standard)
3.5 (87.5%) Demonstrates understanding (of course or grade level standard)
3 (75%) Demonstrates a developing understanding (of course or grade level standard),
2 (50%) Demonstrates partial understanding (of course or grade level standard)
1 (25%) Demonstrates minimal understanding (of course or grade level standard)
0 not attempted, not completed, not enough information to assess.
Note: a grade of 4 does NOT indicate perfect, though it counts as 100%.
Final Grading scale:
This class is an elective. It is not required for graduation. If you feel another course would better meet your academic or personal needs, please inform me as soon as possible. If you work diligently in this class and in subsequent levels of Spanish, you are likely to receive college credit for what you know. To receive the credit, you will have to pass a proficiency test. It is not the time you spend in class that counts; it is the effort you put into learning.
In order to be successful in (future) language courses, the Spanish Department highly recommends that a student have a 70% minimum proficiency before continuing on to the next nine-week course/semester. What is learned in Spanish I is not only used but also built upon in Spanish II, III, and IV. Students who do not have a sufficient understanding of the first nine weeks are unlikely to succeed in the next nine weeks as Spanish is consistently building on itself and recycling material.
Students have written their own expectations for classtime. Here they are!
ESPERAR- Bloque 4
Most important: Be Respectful.
Have fun. Come with a positive attitude
Celebrate holidays, especially El Día de los Muertos Nov. 1/2.
We will have an understanding of what is not correct on assessments.
We will have Movie Days in October and December.
Bloque 3
We will celebrate holidays - Nov. 1/2 and birthdays
We will celebrate relevant Spanish successes.
Everyone should be respectful .
Everyone is responsible for keeping everyone included.
Link to all rubrics to all classes for Sra. Gilroy
Por favor dejen las mochilas, los iPods y los teléfonos celulares en tus armarios.
En la clase:
1. Si necesitan ayuda, levanten la mano.
2. Hablen en español.
3. Es responsabilidad suya chequear PowerGrade.
4. Por favor entreguen los papeles en el buzón para tu clase.
5. Hagan la tarea antes de venir a clase
6. Corrijan la tarea cuando llegas a clase.
7. Los celulares: Lo veo, lo oigo, lo tomo
8. Cuando tenemos actividades de hablar, por favor levántense, y cuando terminan siéntense.
9. Tomen los apuntes todos los días.
10. Vengan a clase con actitud abierta para aprender.