Teacher: Señor Tobin
Email: [email protected]
Niles High School
1st Semester – 2016/2017
Telephone: (269) 683-2894 X 11086
Building a Foundation for Our Future
SPANISH 1
¡Bienvenidos!
Welcome
My name is Mr. Tobin and I am excited to be teaching Spanish here at Niles Hig School. I was born in
Germany and raised in France and Spain and am fluent in these languages. Before becoming an
instructor, I performed on the stages of Broadway and Opera in the U.S. and in Europe. My passion for
teaching led me to become a Foreign Language instructor. I have taught both Spanish and French. I
hope that this year will be a successful and productive one for all of us. I am looking forward to
working with all of you, students and parents alike, to make this the best experience possible.
What to expect:
For this class to be a positive experience for each of us, it is important that students are willing to,
and do, participate in classroom discussion and projects. There will be many opportunities for
cooperative learning.
I fully expect that students will rise to the occasion and put forth their best efforts in class. I expect
this because I will be putting forth my best effort to make the class both intellectually stimulating and
interesting. I highly encourage creative thinking!
How will we learn in this class?
We will be using the TPRS method this year. TPRS stands for Teaching Proficiency through
Reading and Storytelling. Blaine Ray of California developed TPRS in the 1990’s. TPRS is an inputbased method of teaching languages designed around the latest learning and brain research. This
method will be beneficial for all students. We will not be using a textbook, instead I will deliver
language via comprehensible input (listening/reading), which is how we learned English.
As the name implies, you will be reading, watching, listening and participating in stories. The stories
are often times very entertaining and funny. Forget about the Spanish and get involved in the story
itself, succeed at doing this and you will be optimizing your learning, since research proves that we
best learn language in a relaxing atmosphere. In the beginning I will often give commands and you
will respond by physically doing something. It's a lot like when your parents told you what to do
when you were very little: "Come here. Sit down. Eat your peas. Don't hit your sister.”
Stories:
We will create and act out situations or stories in class to work with new vocabulary. Often, the
stories will be silly, improbable, crazy or bizarre. This serves two purposes:
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1) to maintain focus while communicating in the language and
2) to aid long-term memory.
We will use props and movement to make it easy for you to understand the language at all times. I
prefer to laugh a lot in class, and I hope that you do as well because we tend to have a lot of fun.
Every attempt has been made to include current and accurate information. Mr. Tobin reserves the right to make any changes at any time with a verbal
announcement.
Classroom Expectations
For a classroom to be a positive learning environment, it is necessary for there to be standards of
behavior. Everyone in the classroom will be expected to meet these standards.
All rules & policies in the Niles High School student handbook will be followed in the
classroom. However, Individual Classes will create Classroom Norms that we will follow throughout
the academic year.
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BE PREPARED Bring all needed materials, not excuses, to class each day and have them ready
to use. This means your binder, paper,n& writing utensils & an open mind.
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BE PROMPT Please be on time to class. This means being in the classroom by the time the bell
rings or you will be counted tardy. Dismissal is by the teacher, not by the bell.
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BE POLITE Please show respect for everyone and everything in the classroom. Do not
interrupt when someone is speaking. Respect your teacher, yourself and your other
classmates. Do not say or do anything to anyone else you would not like done or said to you.
TALKING, DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR and comments will NOT be tolerated in class. DO
NOT BRING CELL PHONES, MP3 player, I-Pods, video games, food, or drinks to class
(Bottled water only).
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BE POSITIVE Your attitude is extremely important. Come to class with the expectation that
you can and will learn and do your best. Participate & Listen. Expect good things from
yourself and others and it will happen.
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BE HONEST We all make mistakes, own up to them. You are here to learn, not just to earn a
grade. Please be sure to complete your own work. Do not use a translator (online or other).
Cheating will not be tolerated. If you copy or allow someone else to copy your work, you
or both will receive a zero for the work and a write-up to the Office.
Absolute Academic Honesty is expected.
DISCIPLINE: Proper behavior in class is expected from everyone. The following consequences
will be used to deal with disruptive students.
• Verbal Warning
• Teacher to student conference regarding behavior and/or loss of participation points.
• Phone call to parents
• Referral to the Office
CELL PHONES & PERSONAL COMMUNICATION DEVICES
• During class time the use of Cell Phones or any Personal Communication Devices is strictly
forbidden. Devices must be powered completely off and stored out of sight.
• VIOLATION of this policy will result in disciplinary action and/or confiscation of the device.
• For complete rules and policies refer to pages 18 & 19 in the Student Handbook!!!
PARTICIPATION:
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The most important aspect of this class is your Participation during class time!!! If you are
absent you miss a large amount of input in the language and practice.
Spanish will be spoken in class. Participation points will be awarded daily/weekly and
students will be expected to speak Spanish throughout the class.
Participation includes demonstration of interest and a positive attitude through active
participation in class activities, discussions, and pair/group activities. A maximum of 5 points
will be awarded daily, with a maximum weekly total of 25 points.
Every attempt has been made to include current and accurate information. Mr. Tobin reserves the right to make any changes at any time with a verbal
announcement.
ABSENTEEISM:
Upon return to class you are responsible to make up the work you missed.
EACH ASSIGNMENT IS POSTED ON YOUR GRADEBOOK ON POWERSCHOOL!!!!
I ENCOURAGE EACH STUDENT to know how to navigate the PowerSchool Portal. Detailed
instructions on how to complete each assignment will be posted on PowerSchool.
INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO VIEW ASSIGNMENTS ON POWERSCHOOL:
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Find your class and assignment.
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“Click” on the assignment and detailed information about the assignment will appear.
• You are responsible to check your PowerSchool Portal daily!!!!!!!
GOOGLE CLASSROOM:
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We will be using GOOGLE CLASSROOM. I will give you a code that you will use to enter the
GOOGLE CLASSROOM Domain. GOOGLE CLASSROOM will be used to post assignments, links to
important sites on the Internet and important information about the class
Grading Scale:
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Tests/Quizzes:
As set forth in the Student Handbook - page 11
Class Grading Policy:
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60%
Assessment
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10%
Homework
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30%
Participation
NEEDED MATERIALS:
*Pencil and/or blue/black pen
*3 ring, 1 inch Binder (well organized, please)
*3 dividers. 1St labeled: Handouts, 2nd
Vocabulary and Grammar & 3rd Notes, Bell ringer.
Tests and quizzes include: A reading
followed by comprehension
questions, a story to write, or a timed
writing on a given topic/situation.
Also sentences to translate from
Spanish to English, multiple choice,
matching, etc will be used.
*All work that is turned in MUST have on the
top right hand side of paper:
Student’s Full Name – Spanish 1st and last name
(nombre en español y apellido)
- Clase (Class section)
ex.: Spa 1 o Spa 2
- Hora (Class period)
ex.: 2
- Fecha en español (Date) ex: dd/mm/yyyy:
- Tarea (assignment)
ex.: pg 2 sumario
A Final Note:
(on top right hand side of paper)
Just as you learned English, you can learn another Example:
Nombre:
Juan Smith
language. I have a passion for World Languages
Clase:
Spa 1
and I will do all that I can to help you acquire
Spanish. By making a commitment: showing up to Hora:
2
every class and participating, you will make
Fecha:
8/9/2015
significant progress this year and receive a grade Tarea:
pg 2 sumario
that reflects that progress. I maintain an open
door policy for both parents and students. If there is a concern, or if a student is having difficulty, I
fully expect the student to come to me so that the matter can be resolved. Please do not wait until
the end of the marking period or the end of the year. When needed, I will contact parents to inform
them of their child’s progress. Parents also need to keep track of their child’s performance.
Please CHECK POWERSCHOOL to monitor your learner's progress! Also expect the scheduled
progress reports and report cards, review them, return them, and call or email me if there is any
concern. The time to come for help is as soon as there is a problem! Do not wait until it is too
late. I know that this is going to be a fun and exciting year for all of us!
Sr. Tobin
Every attempt has been made to include current and accurate information. Mr. Tobin reserves the right to make any changes at any time with a verbal
announcement.