- What supplies do I need for your class?
- What is your grading policy and how are grades broken down?
- Why don't you give credit for late homework assignments?
- Are there opportunities for extra credit?
- What is your cell phone policy?
- As a parent, what can I do to help my child be successful in your class?
- As a parent, what can I do to check up on my child's progress in your class?
- What is your policy on changing or rounding up grades?
- What happens if I get caught cheating on a test or assignment?
- How should I study for quizzes and tests?
- What do I have to do if I've been absent?
- Why is oral participation such a large portion of my grade?
- How will you work with my IEP or 504 Plan?
- What should my tutor know about your tutoring expectations?
- (IB only) Is it better to take the IB exam or sign up for PSU credit through the Challenge Program?
- (IB only) I have questions about the Challenge Program. Where can I get some answers?
- (IB only) How do I request PSU Challenge Program transcripts?
- (IB ONLY) Is it necessary to fill out my SSN on the PSU registration form?
What supplies do I need for your class?
For IB Spanish:
School supplies (must have at the start of the 2nd week of
school): 1 1/2" or 2" 3-ring binder, loose-leaf paper, 4
dividers, composition book of 100 pages, red/colored pens for
correcting errors. NO spiral-bound notebooks, please!
**Please also bring a box of Kleenex to contribute to shared,
community property
For Spanish 3:
School supplies (must have at the start of the 2nd week of
school): 1 1/2" or 2" 3-ring binder JUST for Spanish, loose-leaf
paper, 4 dividers, red/colored pens for correcting errors, zip-loc
bag or plastic pouch for flashcards. NO spiral-bound notebooks, please!
**Please also bring the following item to contribute to shared,
community property:
Per 1 = box of markers OR coloring pencils
Per 3 = hand sanitizer OR disinfecting wipes
Per 6 = box of pencils OR pens (blue or black ink only)
What is your grading policy and how are grades broken down?
Please click on the "documentos" link for your class and open
the file titled "Course Outline" which explains my grading policy
and classroom expectations.
Why don't you give credit for late homework assignments?
I check homework at the beginning of the period then we review
each activity as a class. Students who do not have their
homework ready at the start of class usually miss out on the
opportunity to participate during homework review and many of
them 'tune out' and waste about 5-10 minutes of class time while
the rest of us are reviewing the work together. I want to
discourage students from doing this and instead encourage them to come
prepared so they are better able to focus and not waste
class time. Also, given the fact that we go over all the
answers to the homework in class, it doesn't make sense to offer
credit for something you could easily write down as we review.
Additionally, it's very important to keep up with your homework
as it provides you the extra practice you need to master the
material being learned. Studies have shown that foreign
language learning occurs best when students have daily exposure
to the target language. Since we are on a block schedule and
don't get to practice Spanish everyday, it's essential that you
do your homework (and review) on the days I don't have you in
class so you can better internalize the material.
If you are absent or leave class early, it's your responsibility to check the
homework section on this website and do the classwork and homework you've missed.
Each student gets one homework credit per semester, so it's still possible to
get an A in homework even if you miss a few assignments.
(Accommodations will be made for IEP/504 students and in case of
extreme emergencies.)
Are there opportunities for extra credit?
There are various opportunities to earn SMALL amounts of extra
credit throughout the semester. Sometimes quizzes and tests will
have challenge questions worth 1-2 points of extra credit. Each
month, we also have class competitions or educational games where
you might be able to win a point or two towards an upcoming test
or assignment. Your unused "baño bucks" and homework credit also
turn into extra credit at the END of the semester.
Near the end of a grading period, I often have students come to
me asking if they can do an extra credit assignment or project to
help boost their grade to the next letter grade. The answer to
this is always "NO". I believe grades should reflect the work you
have done consistently throughout the semester and also your
abilities.
What is your cell phone policy?
Sunset's cellphone policy is "Off and Away" and I do take this
seriously. There are many distractions that will keep you from
getting the most out of your education and from my experience,
cell phones are at the top of that list. It's expected that you turn off your cell
phone before entering class and put it AWAY in your backpack or
bag. Please be advised that if you are using your cell phone during class, I will
take it and keep it until the end of the day. After two warnings and confiscations,
you will receive a referral. Future infractions will result in additional referrals and
your cell phone being confiscated and sent to the main office for pick up by a parent.
PARENTS: Some cell phone providers have parental controls that
allow parents to limit the access their child has: you can
block/stop texting during certain hours of the day, restrict which
numbers can be called/texted during school hours, etc. Please
consider this as an option if you find that your son or daughter
violates the "off and away" policy regularly.
As a parent, what can I do to help my child be successful in your class?
Here are some suggestions on how you may help your child (even if
you don't speak Spanish):
1) Check his/her planner (or my website) daily to be sure homework
assignments and upcoming test info is jotted down.
2) Ideally, set up a time each day when he/she needs to sit down
and do homework or study (free from distractions such as TV of Facebook).
3) Encourage him/her to read and study classwork and notes PRIOR to
beginning homework. The goal isn't to finish quickly but to get
necessary reinforcement and practice.
4) If your child says "Spanish is hard(er) this year" encourage
him/her to discuss study strategies, test-taking suggestions,
organizational skills, etc. with me. Remind your child that each
level becomes harder and there is more work and studying involved.
5) Help your child study vocabulary by using flashcards. Quizzing
from English to Spanish is much harder (and preferred). Also ask
him/her to spell words out for you and attempt to use them in a short
sentence.
6) Encourage your son/daughter to find additional practice activities
through the links provided on my website. Quizlet.com and
studyspanish.com are great resources for vocab and grammar practice.
Additional suggestions for parets of IB students...
7) Have your son/daughter read an article a day in Spanish on Google
Noticias or Yahoo en español.
8) Have him/her watch Univisión or Telemundo an hour a week to
improve listening comprehension skills.
Please contact me (email is best) if you need more specific feedback
on what your child needs to work on/improve.
As a parent, what can I do to check up on my child's progress in your class?
There are a number of ways to help parents and students obtain
info about classes/grades. The homework tabs on this website are
updated every two days to remind students of work done in class,
homework, and upcoming tests or due dates. If you feel your child
is not keeping up with his/her homework, check my website to
verify whether or not they have homework or upcoming tests they
should study for. Early in the year, parents are provided with
online access information to check students' grades on eSIS - all
teachers who use eSIS gradebook (as I do) allow for parents to
either view overall scores in class or a detailed breakdown of
grades. If you'd like to do this and need your password and
log-in info again, please contact the office.
Additionally, progress reports are sent home to advise parents of
what their students' grades are so that they may follow up with
teachers if necessary. There are 3 progress reports sent home each
semester (including the quarter grade report card) so that parents
are kept aware of their students grades and can work with their
son/daughter prior to final grades.
If you're concerned about your child's continued progress, you can
have him/her pick up a weekly or bi-weekly grade check sheet from
his/her counselor. Students would take this sheet to their teachers
and have them write down their most recent grade and any comments
they have (missing homework, upcoming tests, etc.) This has proven
very effective for some parents who wanted to be informed more
regularly of their son/daughter's grades.
What is your policy on changing or rounding up grades?
Grades at the end of the semester are ONLY rounded up if the
students is .5% or higher away from the next letter grade. For
example, a grade of 79.6% would be rounded up while a grade of
89.1% would not. I don't make exceptions to this policy as
students are given a variety of assignments and assessments
throughout the semester to help them improve their grades and to
show their level of proficiency.
I occasionally have students or parents ask if I will allow them
to retake failed tests or turn in assignments that were due
earlier in the semester. The answer to this is "NO". I ethically
can't extend an opportunity to one student and not another. I
firmly believe grades should represent the work students have done
consistently throughout the semester and the level of proficiency
demonstrated by their work.
What happens if I get caught cheating on a test or assignment?
First, if you have questions about what constitutes cheating or
plagiarism, please see your planner for Sunset's Academic
Integrity policy. You will automatically receive a 0 on the
assignment and I will call home and submit a referral to your
administrator so the occurrence can be documented. If it turns
out that you've had previous incidents of academic dishonesty,
the office will pursue further consequences (suspension, an F in
the class, removal from honor societies and the IB Diploma Programme,
withdrawal of letters of rec, etc). I do not offer extra credit
opportunities to recoup the points you will have lost by cheating.
Please realize that your actions have consequences.
Also, avoid doing the following things on any assignment for this
class:
1) Do not ask others (even tutors or parents) to translate your
work for you.
2) Do not use translation software or programs to translate
entire portions of your written work (or material for oral
presentations).
3) Do not write things out in English first then attempt to
translate word for word (you'll save yourself a lot of extra work
by automatically writing in Spanish).
4) If you get help revising work from others, be sure they are
not making the corrections for you. They should point out
mistakes and you should correct/revise them on your own.
If I suspect that you've been academically dishonest, it is my
professional right and duty to investigate. Keep all rough
drafts to show that you have indeed done your own work.
How should I study for quizzes and tests?
You have many resources to help you prepare for any formal
assessments. First, refer to your study guide (if provided) and
focus on the topics listed. Use your notebook to review notes and
activities we did to practice the grammar/vocab/concepts being
tested. Then refer to your homework to review some
of the errors you might have made while practicing these concepts.
Finally, use your textbook or the online textbook resources for
more practice activities. If you're still confused about something,
don't hesitate to see me during AT!
Please don't "cram" at the last minute. Preparation for quizzes
tests is most effective (and much less stressful) when you break
it up over a few days.
Remember to study vocab and grammar IN CONTEXT.
What do I have to do if I've been absent?
AFTER AN ABSENCE, PLEASE…
1) REMEMBER TO MAKE UP AND TURN IN YOUR WORK.
2) visit Profe Khan’s website to find out what you missed and need
to make up.
3) grab and complete any worksheets or handouts from the files on
the bookcase. Correct answers by comparing your with a classmate's
corrected paper.
4) do and show Profe Khan the homework you missed within the same
number of days you were absent.
5) correct homework by comparing your answers to your partner’s work.
6) copy any important notes you missed.
7) make up quizzes, tests, journal entries or projects within one
week for full credit (you only get partial credit after the one
week deadline).
8) see Profe Khan during AT if you’re confused about anything.
Remember that I won't accept homework assignments turned in weeks
or months after an absence. Check my website during an absence
and be prepared to make up work within the allotted time.
Why is oral participation such a large portion of my grade?
Well, the purpose of learning a language is to communicate with
others. This does not happen automatically, but rather, takes
practice and time. Speaking is one of the most essential skills
you need to develop in any language class and as such, it
comprises a large portion of your grade. Please keep in mind
that you cannot earn an A in this class if you remain silent. You
will not improve your speaking skills unless you make a concerted
effort to speak up.
A reminder to IB students that IB Spanish is conducted in Spanish
which means you are expected to use ONLY Spanish during class.
Points will be deducted from the "Speech" category (oral participation
and presentations portion of your grade) if you use English in
class.
How will you work with my IEP or 504 Plan?
If you have an IEP or 504 Plan, I will make all necessary
accommodations listed in plan. However, this does not give you
the right to turn in all assignments late - we will discuss when
extensions are necessary and set a new deadline which you must honor.
I don't discuss individual accommodations during class so please
speak to me AFTER class or during AT when you have questions regarding
your accommodations.
Also, it is very important that you keep me informed of changes to
your plan or medical issues you may be having that affect your
performance in class so that I can provide you the accommodations
you need to be successful.
What should my tutor know about your tutoring expectations?
If you decide to work with a tutor, please have him/her contact
me ASAP so I can offer specific suggestions on how to best review
material you might be struggling with. He or she should also
review the FAQ on this page.
Tutors should:
1) Go over work that has already received a grade and help you
understand your errors.
2) Help you understand the instructions to (homework) assignments.
3) Offer you more practice with exercises that cause you
difficulty (verb conjugations, sentence and paragraph
construction, etc.).
4) Explain grammar rules that are unclear to you and offer you
extra practice applying those rules.
5) Provide you extra speaking practice.
Tutors should NOT:
1) Help you in any way with writing a composition or project.
2) Help you actually DO your homework. They may look over your
work and point out errors, but it should be your responsibility
to correct them.
3) Help you produce work that does not reflect your personal
abilities and skill level.
(IB only) Is it better to take the IB exam or sign up for PSU credit through the Challenge Program?
This depends mostly on your needs and will vary from student to
student. I do encourage all students to choose one of these
options so that they can make the most of the work they're
doing in this class and earn some college credits in the
process. The process of preparing for and taking the IB exam or
completing the Challenge Program are very similar to what you'll
experience in college and therefore a valuable experience
in and of themselves. Here is some information that will
hopefully help you decide which choice is best for you...
IB exam: With the growth of IB in the US, more universities are
offering college credit for doing well (the actual score accepted
and the number of credits offered will vary from college to college)
on the IB exams. The work we do in class throughout the year is
geared to help you perform well on this exam; most students say
they feel well-prepared for the format of the exam due to in-class
practice. Unlike the Challenge program, whether you earn college
credit will depend entirely on the result of just one exam. However,
the cost of the exam is $250 (about $350 less than Challenge).
Check with the universities you'll be applying to to see if they'll
grant units for the exam you will take and what scores you need to
earn college credit. Please note that many out of state universities
still do no offer college credit for the SL exam.
Challenge: There is really no additional work required on your
part to enroll in this course for Challenge credit. You are
required to keep a portfolio of your work during the course of
the year and during second semester (Spring term for PSU), you
will have an oral interview with Professor Sloan, our Spanish
liaison from PSU. The grade you earn for PSU is based on the
work you already do in class. The cost is a little over $600
total for 12 quarter units - which is much cheaper than what you
would pay if you were a student at PSU (but more expensive than
the IB exam). Most state universities accept PSU units, but many
private universities do not - check in advance with the universities
you'll be applying to.
You can certainly take the IB Exam and also enroll in the Challenge
Program at the same time. If you attend a college that grants
credits for Challenge and the IB exam, you'd get 100-level credit
for passing scores on the IB Exam and 200-level credit for
Challenge.
(IB only) I have questions about the Challenge Program. Where can I get some answers?
Your first resource should be the Student/Parent Handbook you
received at the start of the school year. Much of the
information you need to know about registration, fees, PSU
benefits, grades and transcripts can be found in this handbook.
You can also access this information through the Challenge
website at: www.challenge-link.clas.pdx.edu
(IB only) How do I request PSU Challenge Program transcripts?
Please go to the "Documentos: Español BI" link and download the
document titled "Cómo pedir archivos de PSU". In it, you'll find
information from PSU about how to order transcripts and how to
request transfer credit.
(IB ONLY) Is it necessary to fill out my SSN on the PSU registration form?
Per PSU...
All colleges are required to report to the IRS all income
received from students as well as each student's social security
number. If PSU does not report this information, they are liable
for a fine of $50 per student.
PSU policy is to protect each student's personal information
while also complying with IRS regulations. The Challenge
registration forms will be shredded once the information is
entered into the PSU system. Social security numbers are used
only for IRS reporting and are blacked out on the PSU information
system to all but those employees who need access in order to
fulfill IRS requirements.