2012-2013 School Year

Mrs. HuffDenver High School

Denver, IA

Copyright 2012 Emily J. Huff

Your Spanish ClassClassroom ExpectationsStudents are expected to come to class with the follow-ing materials: writing utencil, folder, and notebook.

General positive classroom behavior is expected:* Quiet and attentive during class* Appropriate participation in discussions and activities* Respect shown for teacher, classmates and materials

In addition, I ask that students help promote a postive classroom environment by refraining from complain-ing about the weather, temperature, facilities or things that neither the teacher nor the student has any control over.

Cheating and PlagarismReproducing someone else’s work for your own credit is cheating and will not be tolerated. Students suspect-ed of cheating will receive a zero for the assignment, quiz, project or test and parents will be notified.

Be careful with internet translators and dictionaries! The student handbook states that using five or more words in a sentence is plagarism, a serious form of cheating. Do not use translators to complete phrases or sentences in Spanish. Reason #1) almost all inter-net translators will produce incorrect translations, #2) your teacher can tell the differnce between work that a computer did and work a beginning level student did, and #3) it will not help you learn the language.

Believe in Yourself, Trust Yourself

GradingGrades will be routinely updated on JMC so that students and parents can have constant access to stu-dent performance data. Both parents and students are encouraged to be active monitors of classroom grades.

Assignments not completed on time will not receive full credit. Students may turn in assignment one day late for half credit. After two days, any missing work will be converted to a zero.

Students that are absent have two days to make-up any assignments, quizzes or tests missed on the ab-sent days. It will be the respondsibility of the student to make arrangements to come in and make-up quiz-zes and tests. Make-up quizzes and tests can be done before school, after school or during a study hall, time permitting.

All grades will be final on the last day of each aca-demic quarter.

Grading ScaleA 95% - 100% 74% - 76%A- 90% - 94% C- 70% - 73%B+ 87% - 89% D+ 67% - 69%B 84% - 86% D 64% - 66%B- 80% - 83% D- 60% - 63%C+ 77% - 79% F 0% - 59%

Blog SubmissionStudents must share a reflection from Spanish class on our classroom blog. These items will be submitted and up-loaded to the classroom blogs through www.wordpress.com. Each student has a log-in name and password for the blog and can submit their work at any time.

Blog submissions should total 5 sentences or more.

Examples of blog entries include: reflection on classroom activities, review of a Mexican restaurant, TV show or movie involving Spanish themes, update on a current event involving Spanish themes, profile of a famous Hispanic, sharing photos or stories about trips to Spanish speaking territories, or personal stories involving Spanish themes.

At least one blog entry will be due at the end of each quarter and can be completed at any time.

Current Event Article ReviewStudents should find and read a current news story using any news sources available (internet, print, video). The current event news story must be related to the themes of Spanish class (places, history, people, diversity and lana-guage).

After reading the article, students should complete an eletronic article review found in Edmodo. This article review requires that students write a three paragraph summary of the article. In the first paragraph, students must summa-rize the main points of the news story. In the second paragraph, students will explain why this news story related to Spanish class, and in the third paragraph, students share a personal reflection on the news story.

The electronic article review must be turned in by the final day of each academic quarter. Reviews can be submitted electronically through Edmodo or may be printed out and turned in at any time.

Quarterly Assignments

Due Dates for Quarterly Assignments1st Quarter Oct. 24 2nd Quarter Jan. 7

3rd Quarter Mar. 20 4th Quarter May 28

Useful Web ApplicationsThroughout the course you will use a variety of web applications. These will be the most common ones so students should familiarize themselves with the uses of each application.

Extra CreditEvery assignment and project has a minimum requirement. Any student that puts forth extra effort and goes beyond the minimum requirement will be rewarded with extra points.

This can include doing more: *writing words 10 times each instead of the assigned 5 times each *choosing to do more than one assignment when given a choice between several assignments * doing extra blog entries each quarter

This can include demonstrating high quality: * add color and/or decoration to enhance the assignment or project * including details and work done with precision * demonstrating that much care and attention went in to producing the assignment or project

This can include creative expression: * put a unique twist on an assignment or project * do something original that no one else thought to do * make the assignment or project brand new

The amount of extra credit that can be earned by demonstrating this extra effort varies based on the difficultly of the assignment or project. The two best ways to earn extra credit in Mrs. Huff ’s Spanish Classes include, 1) doing extra blog entries, and 2) demonstrating extra effort on projects.

Additional extra credit will not be given to students looking to increase their grade throughout the year. There are more than enough opportunities to earn points through regular class activities.

Special Academic Prizes

Thoughout the time in the course, students will have the opportunity to earn rewards with a class loyalty card. When thecard is filled with ten punches, students redeem this card fortheir choice of reward.

Students will earn punches for a variety of reasons, includingbut not limited to: 100% on a quiz, winning a game, cleaningworkspace, helping other students, displaying a positive attitude and showing Mrs. Huff with praise (ok, not really that last one, but you get the idea)

A student can redeem their punch card for their choice of these rewards:* Plus Five Square of Happiness* Plus Three Extra Credit for you, Plus Three for a Friend* Free Homework Pass (also retroactive)* Use Post-it on a Test* Retake any Quiz or Test

Online LearningWe will be using online vocabulary practice sites. Each of the sites has a username and password that students must remember. These accounts will be set-up during class.

www.quizlet.com www.wordchamp.com

The vocabulary from each section will be available on these sites. It is highly recommended that stu-dents routinely review this vocabulary.

Edmodo will serve as our online classroom. Class assignments will be posted here and students can complete them entierly online. This site also has a class calender, alerts, notes, handouts and reminders. Stu-dents will be using this application daily.(There are also Parent Accounts in which Parents can see the homework, updates, calendar, etc. Please contact Mrs. Huff if you are interested in having an Edmodo Parent Account)

Wordpress is our classroom blogging platform. Students will have a WordPress and will be able to post to our classroom blog. Our blog is a real-world extention of themes and concepts touched upon in Spanish class, and can include stories about celebrities, food, movies and holi-days as well as information about class activities.

VoiceThread is an application in which students record themselves speaking while showing a picture. It is an audio-visual PowerPoint.We will be using this application to practice speaking and to shareour work. Students each have their own log-in based on their emailand can access the website at any time.

This class utilizes a lot of technology and internet based applications that require a student username and password. Students are responsibile for knowing their log-in information for

all of these applications.

Stay Connected

Mrs. HuffDenver High School319-984-5639ehuff@denver.k12.ia.us

Spanish Twitter@DHSEspanol

Blogswww.srahuff.wordpress.comwww.huffspanish2.wordpress.comwww.huffspan3.wordpress.com

YouTube ChannelHuffSpan

All classroom materials are provided through Edmodo, as are assignments, calendars and important notices.

Please routinely check Edmo-do for updates.

Parents interested in Edmodo access should contact Mrs. Huff.

Updates will also be provided on Mrs. Huff ’s classroom web portal.

Keys to SuccessWorried about surviving Spanish

class with Mrs. Huff? Follow these keys to success and you

will have a stress free and successful learning experience.

1. complete your homework assignments on timeMost of your assignments will be graded on completion, meaning as long as you try, you will be rewarded. Just do it and you’ll never lose those easy points.

2. do more than the minimumExtra points are given for extra effort in every assignment or project. Don’t just do enough to pass. Put in a little extra to ensure that you get maximum points.3. routinely review vocabularyKnowing the vocabulary is a crucial part of learning a new language and cannot be done overnight. Regularly go over old and new vocab to stay sharp.4. ask questions and be curiousInterrupt me (nicely) during classroom instruction to ask questions about the language or anything that pops into your head. If you stay curious and interest-ed, it makes it easier to learn. Also Mrs. Huff loves questions and sometimes that leads to a very interesting lesson . . . one that you helped create by being curious.5. be aware of your learning levelAlthough you are a high school student, you are learning a language at a very basic level. Do not get frustrated if you can’t write, read or speak Spanish like an adult right away. For the first year or so, think of yourself as an elemntary stu-dent.

6. believe in yourself and trust yourselfDon’t take the easy way out and just take someone else’s work. Try it and believe that you know what you are doing. And only use dictionaries to look up one work per sentence. Trust what you know and make it work from there.

7. don’t forget your online passwordsWe will have a lot of online usernames and passwords. Remembering them is as important as not losing your textbook. Write them down and do whatever you need to to make sure you can find that information if you need it.