Teacher: Monsieur Tobin
Niles High School
Email: [email protected]
1 Semester – 2016/2017
Telephone: (269) 683-2894 X 11086
st
Building a Foundation for Our Future
FRENCH
Bienvenue!
Welcome!
My name is Mr. Tobin and I am excited to be teaching French here at Niles High 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 input-based method
of teaching languages designed around the latest learning and brain research. This method will be
beneficial for all students. We will be using a textbook that will help us 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:
• 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.
•
TEXTBOOK/WORKBOOK – BON VOYAGE! - to be used in conjunction with TPRS.
You will use the textbook and workbook with TPRS during the school year.
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.
•
BE PREPARED Bring all needed materials, not excuses, to class each day and have them ready to use. This
means your binder, paper & writing utensils & an open mind.
•
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.
•
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).
•
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.
•
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:
•
•
•
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.
French will be spoken in class. Participation points will be awarded daily/weekly and students will be
expected to speak French 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:
•
Find your class and assignment.
•
“Click” on the assignment and detailed information about the assignment will appear.
• You are responsible to check your PowerSchool Portal daily!!!!!!!
GOOGLE CLASSROOM:
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:
•
Tests/Quizzes:
As set forth in the Student Handbook - page 11
Class Grading Policy:
•
60%
Assessment
•
10%
Homework
• 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, Bellringer.
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 French 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 – French 1st and last name
(prénom en français et nom de famille)
- Classe (Class section)
ex.: Fr 1
- Heure (Class period)
ex.: 1
- Date en français
(Date) ex: dd/mm/yyyy:
- Devoirs (assignment)
ex.: pg 2 sommaire
A Final Note:
Example:
(on top right hand side of paper)
Just as you learned English, you can learn another Nom:
Juan Smith
language. I have a passion for World Languages
Classe:
Fr 1
and I will do all that I can to help you acquire
Heure:
2
French. By making a commitment: showing up to
Date:
8/9/2015
every class and participating, you will make
pg 2 sommaire
significant progress this year and receive a grade Devoirs:
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!
~ Monsieur 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.