Call For Syllabi

6 thoughts on “Call For Syllabi”

1. Ben Lev

   August 29, 2011 at 8:12 am

   Here is mine:
   Welcome to Spanish class!
   My name is Ben Lev and I teach Spanish 2. I learned Spanish by making friends (and reading a lot of Isabel Allende). Being bilingual has been a blessing: I know and love wonderful people who don’t speak English; I have travelled to amazing places; my paid work has included helping immigrant families. I recently completed a Masters degree in Spanish Language and Cultures at the University of Salamanca, Spain, which was challenging and great fun. I love to play and I love the Spanish language; as a Spanish teacher I get to do both. In class my students call me Profesor Benjamín, Profesor Lev, Profesor or Profe.
   I use a story format to make language interesting to my teenage students. (The grammar format is not inherently interesting to most teens, obvio). The method is called TPRS (Teaching Proficiency with Reading and Storytelling), look it up if you’re curious. I also teach adults with this method (look up “Fluency Fast.”) In class will create and dramatize oral stories, then write and read them. We will also be singing authentic songs, reading novels and learning about cultures.
   There is a 50% – 50% responsibility for class going well
   My 50%: 1) provide “compelling input,” that is, interesting Spanish
   2) make Spanish understandable: slowly, repeating as necessary, contextualized.
   Student’s 50% is simple, but demanding: to participate actively. I will explain this in detail in class.
   Class rules: Listen, watch and try to understand
   When one person speaks , all others listen
   No English, no random blurting out
   Sit up, squared shoulders, look at me with clear eyes
   Do your 50% (see “student’s job)
   Actors: synchronize your actions with my words
   Homework: About once a week a copy of a class story will come home. The student will re-tell you the store in English or Spanish. Parents, please sign the homework and write a comment.
   Grades:
   30% Listening : I give frequent, short listening quizzes that are unannounced, so that I can tell what students are truly acquiring, not what they’ve memorized. This greatly informs my teaching.
   20% Reading – after we read a story there may be a quiz
   15% Writing: weekly ten-minute writes
   15% Speaking: twice per marking period
   10% Culture Projects: one report or presentation per marking period
   5% Homework: read stories to parents, internet assignments
   5% Reading at home: Read 1-2 student novelas at home (from my collection),discuss with me briefly
   Participation: weekly evaluation of active participation informs my discussions students and parents
   Engrade is an online grading program that shows the current grade. I update it about once a week.
   Bathroom breaks Students need to ask permission in Spanish “¿Puedo ir al baño?” No leaving class during reading or stories. Please ask only occasionally, or else I have to say no.
   Spanish–only policy. National standards require me to speak to students in Spanish at least 90% of the time. Day 1 will be a bit different. Students also should speak only Spanish. Words like friendo or booko are certainly not Spanish! 😉 If there’s a question, students can ask for permission to speak English “¿Me permite hablar inglés?” or “¿Cómo se dice en inglés?”
   Fluency: Most students will not be fluent by June because there are only about 120 hours of classroom Spanish in a school year. It realistically takes more than 1,000 hours to develop basic fluency. The emphasis for levels 1 and 2 are comprehension, which is the foundation of language acquisition, but, s/he will develop proficiency in listening, reading, writing and some speaking in past tense and present tense.
   S/he will be able to:
   – understand spoken Spanish in context, stories, songs, movies clips
   – read stories, short novels and song lyrics with understanding
   – have small conversations, topic-specific exchanges, retell stories in detail
   – accurately write more than 100 words in ten minutes using specific vocabulary
   We need PROPS to spice up our stories please turn in by Monday
   We especially need wigs (in good condition), and
   • dress-up clothes: slightly bigger are better, old glasses without the lenses, ugly ties…
   • other strange props: extra large pencils, fake flowers
   • we need two basketballs (old but working is fine)

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2. Andrew Hiben

   August 30, 2011 at 1:35 am

   Here’s one:
   Andrew Hiben
   Rancho Cucamonga High School
   email: andrew_hiben@cjuhsd.net
   website: http://www.schoolloop.com
   Course Description
   Spanish I and II are first and second in a series of five Spanish classes offered at Rancho Cucamonga High School for non-native Spanish-speaking students. Completion of Spanish II is mandatory for colleges, Spanish III is recommended, and AP Spanish Language or AP Spanish Literature is preferred. All students will be well prepared to continue on to the next year’s program.
   It is assumed by enrolling in the course that students assigned to Spanish I are not native speakers and students assigned to Accelerated Spanish II have successfully completed Spanish I, were recommended by previous instructors, and are dedicated to the study of a foreign language.
   Students will work to expand their passive vocabulary to about 500 words in Spanish I and 1,000 words in Spanish II while moving many of those words to their active vocabulary. Students will add to their understanding of the elementary and elementary-intermediate aspects of Spanish grammar.
   By the end of this course students will be able to communicate in written and spoken Spanish about preferences, people, places, art, literature, poetry, and music. Students will develop an understanding of basic linguistics, inflectional morphology and the Spanish-speaking world.
   The entirety of the course will be taught using CI (Comprehensible Input). Students will be responsible for negotiating in an environment where Spanish will be used for speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The methodology of instruction of this course aligns itself with the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
   ACTFL’s Position on Language Acquisition
   The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages “recommends that language educators and their students use the target language as exclusively as possible (90% plus) at all levels of instruction during instructional time and, when feasible, beyond the classroom. In classrooms that feature maximum target-language use, instructors use a variety of strategies to facilitate comprehension and support meaning making. For example, they:
   “provide comprehensible input that is directed toward communicative goals;
   “make meaning clear through body language, gestures, and visual support;
   “conduct comprehension checks to ensure understanding;
   “negotiate meaning with students and encourage negotiation among students;
   “elicit talk that increases in fluency, accuracy, and complexity over time;
   “encourage self-expression and spontaneous use of language;
   “teach students strategies for requesting clarification and assistance when faced with comprehension difficulties; and
   “offer feedback to assist and improve students’ ability to interact orally in the target language.”
   http://www.actfl.org
   Course Expectations
   Students will actively participate in all learning experiences. Active participation is an inverse proportion to the amount of outside study time needed to succeed in this class.
   Students will help to create a lively, energetic, and fun learning environment, which will foster communication.
   Students will follow the directions of the instructor the first time they are given.
   Students will follow school and classroom rules and policies.
   Students will come prepared to participate—i.e. all assignments will be finished on time.
   Students will be willing to use as much Spanish as possible. Mistakes will be made, but each one allows for more learning.
   Students will not be fluent upon completion of the course. However, students will be progressing towards that ultimate goal. Spanish is a class-1 language, which requires about 400 hours of comprehensible input to reach a high degree of proficiency.
   Course Materials
   Student Created Text: A three-ring binder with 200 pages of college-ruled paper and 4 dividers arranged in the following order: Syllabus, Vocabulary, Songs, Portfolio
   Short Stories provided by the instructor
   Novellas (Spanish I): Pobre Ana, Patricia va a California, and/or Casi se muere
   Novellas (Spanish II): Mi propio auto, ¿Dónde está Eduardo?, El viaje perdido, and/or ¡Viva el toro!
   Website: http://www.wordchamp.com
   Reference Text: Paso a Paso Level 1/Level 2
   Attendance
   Students are expected to be in each class session. All activities require active classroom participation; therefore when a student is absent, she or he may miss opportunities for portions of assignments. Special circumstances will arise where a student will need to be absent. The responsibility of make-up work is the burden of the student. Typically makeup work for qualified absences will be done within one to two days of the absence.
   Students who are truant may not make up any portions of the assignment for that day. Truancy includes being anywhere other than class without prior consent of the instructor. This includes students in ASB, SA, Yearbook, etc.
   Homework
   Homework generally will be an application of the skills acquired in class or an assignment to lead to the teaching of a concept. When homework is assigned it has been assigned it has been deemed important to the goals of the class and it is imperative that it be done in order to actively participate in the next class session. Even when homework is not assigned nightly review of vocabulary words will help move words to the active vocabulary.
   Most of the homework will be assigned online using http://www.wordchamp.com. This website is a learning community where students will work on developing their vocabulary, reading, and grammar skills outside of class. Students without nightly access to a computer must make arrangements using my computer lab or using any school or public library’s computer lab.
   Assessment
   Students will be assessed using 8 learning scales that focus on various aspects of language reception and production.
   Comprehension
   Vocabulary in oral production
   Vocabulary in written production
   Fluency in oral production
   Fluency in written production
   Task completion/extension
   Dictations/Classwork
   Songs/Poems
   Students will be scored on these scales on a 4-point rubric at various points during the semester.
   4.0 Student exceeds the standard
   3.0 Student reaches the standard
   2.0 Student approaches standard
   1.0 Student has partial understanding of concept
   By using the Power Law, students will be assigned a final score 0.5-4.0 for each category. The Power Law is a logarithm that projects the students next score on the next assignment in a particular category.
   For example if a student scores a 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 on four sequential assignments in “Written Vocabulary Use” his score for that category will be a 4.0 because the trend shows that the student is mastering the material. Conversely, If a student scores a 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0 on four sequential assignments in the same category, his score would be a 1.28 due to the downward trend suggesting a low level of achievement.
   The Power Law Score for the 8 scales will be averaged together to calculate a final grade.
   Current grades will be available on SchoolLoop at least once a month.
   Classroom Rules
   Listen with the intent to understand.
   One person speaks and the others listen.
   No talking over or random blurting.
   Sit up. Square shoulders. Clear eyes.
   Do your 50%.
   Actors, synchronize actions with my words.
   Speak English only to suggest answers. Limit 2 words.
   Show that you understand through your eyes. Use ¿Cómo se dice? when you don’t understand.
   Keep your teacher happy.
   Academic Honesty
   All student work must be authentic. A student is never permitted to turn in anything that is a native speaker produced or a machine-produced translation. I will know when this happens and cheaters will not prosper. Uphold your moral fibers.
   Español
   The language of this class is Spanish. Your language output is restricted only to the words you know. Do not get frustrated—instead find a different way to say what you want. Don’t say, “I’m dying of hunger (Estoy muriendo de hambre)” when you can say “I’m hungry (Tengo hambre).” More elaborate speech comes with more experience and experience comes with practice. Practice in class, practice with me, practice with a friend, practice with a native speaker, practice by reading in Spanish, and, finally, practice!
   Spanish is a skill not a fact. You cannot memorize Spanish; you must acquire it.
   Student/Teacher/Parent Agreement
   Student:
   I have read and I understand the expectations of me in this course.
   Name: ________________________
   Signature: ______________________
   Date: _________________________
   Parent/Guardian:
   I have read and I understand the expectations of my student in this course. I understand that access to http://www.wordchamp.com is a part of my students grade (even if grounded) and he may access a computer on campus if one is not available at home.
   Name: ________________________
   Signature: _____________________
   Date: _________________________

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3. Ben Slavic

   August 30, 2011 at 4:02 pm

   Jen kindly sent me her syllabus today. She works in a school where the Edudata Gods don’t run things, so you will see this simple description of what she does very refreshing and open. Not that you can use it if you are in a school that is under the edudata spell, but, at least, we are fortunate now to get different takes on what people are doing. Jen explains a bit first here, with the actual syllabus below:
   Hi!
   Ok, mine is not a real syllabus. I have to be purposely vague because I don’t want to spell out details that I won’t end up following through with. I’m also brand spanking new at this. I wrote the first version shortly after returning from NTPRS. I’ve been tweaking it periodically. At first I tried being more specific and concise, with like, bullet points and stuff. But I couldn’t. I felt like I just had to tell what I experienced. I am lucky that some school district jefe doesn’t have to approve it. I added details because I don’t think anyone knows what TPRS or CI is since this is brand new to our school.
   I want to just submit it without running it by my dept head because I am afraid she will ask me to put percentages and homework and such. I don’t do a complicated grading system. I just divide points earned by total possible points (from quick quizzes, dictation, or whatever else happens that I end up quantifying to put in the grade book). I figure it all weights itself. I don’t want to be a bookkeeper; I want to hang out with my students and enjoy Spanish and French! But maybe I will bring a copy to our Thursday meeting just to be all legit.
   The Nathan Black homework choices will get added at some point, but I want to get going first without them so I can focus on how the class runs and get into a groove and not try to do too much all at once. Should I spell that out up front? He mentioned that there will be a point when the kids are ready for it and I will know when that is, so I’ll just feel it out. I rather like the way he stated it in one post, where he talked to the kids like “wow, you guys are ready to step it up!”
   I’d love feedback (esp. accuracy about my def. of TPRS). I know it is too long and wordy. Maybe it is TMI??? Any suggestions for cutting out extraneous verbage and getting down to 1 page???
   Ben THANK YOU for the awesome “norming the class” series!!! Soooo helpful!
   It sounds like your year is getting off to an excellent start! So great that you have a full TPRS department!
   Oooh….clarifying question (totally separate topic): quick quizzes in TL or English? I assume the student writer writes them in English, but I can’t remember if you give them in Eng. or French?
   Fall 2011 Syllabi Jen Schongalla (Spanish 2, Spanish 4, French 1, French 2)
   In July I had the privilege of attending the National TPRS Conference in St. Louis. TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) refers to teaching language so that students acquire it by experiencing the language rather than learning about it in English. These practices work with the brain’s subconscious processing of language and mimic (within the constraints of a school setting) the way we all learned our first language: by listening and responding to our parents and caregivers! We understood and responded first, much later we began to speak, and even later we began to write! These practices, rooted in the delivery by the teacher of comprehensible input (CI), are brain-based practices backed up by extensive research. For detailed information, see research by Dr. Stephen Krashen.
   The sessions I attended at NTPRS included a series of beginning Russian classes. Since I knew no Russian, this experience gave me a sense of what it is like for my students to be in a class where they understand little to nothing in a second language. We were discouraged from taking notes, repeating the structures out loud, and reviewing at night. These are all the things we usually require of our students! We had no books, no CDs, no dictionaries. Our jobs as students were to listen and watch, to respond to every question or statement, and especially to let the teacher know when we got lost.
   The first day I had a hard time resisting the urge to repeat the structures. I wanted to “be a good student” and “learn quickly,” but the teacher reminded us that we cannot produce language we have not acquired. So I listened, watched and responded. The teacher created her “lesson plan” around the interests and energy of students in the room. As a group we created a story starring one of our colleagues. It was goofy, we laughed a lot, and it was all in Russian! As beginning students, we did not speak any Russian; we listened to the teacher speaking Russian and indicated that we understood by answering simple questions (yes / no / Starbucks / big sweater, etc.).
   I understood and followed the story because we went slowly and because it was so much fun that I almost forgot it was in Russian. The teacher checked constantly to make sure we understood : “What does ‘hochit kupit’ mean?” (wants to buy) “ Why did I say giganskaya instead of giganski?” (talking about a girl instead of a boy). If someone was confused, she would circle back and use the structure in different ways until everyone was clear. She used gestures, voice inflection, movement, facial expression and other body language to convey meaning, all the while she maintained eye contact and spoke Russian to us for a full hour each day. It felt magical and it was really fun!
   With only six hours of Russian under my belt, I can read and understand a basic story, and I can respond to questions and statements I hear. This experience showed me the power of the subconscious processes of the brain in terms of acquiring language: if I “get out of the way” and participate by listening and responding, my brain accumulates language and begins to process it. I cannot control this process. I did not study or review any Russian since I attended the conference, yet when I pulled out a reading packet five weeks later, I had no trouble reading and understanding three different full-page stories! I did not memorize this language; I acquired it!
   So…the plan for my Spanish and French classes is to create a similar experience: an exciting and safe space for learning so that all students will succeed and enjoy a new language. The students will be exposed to comprehensible Spanish / French for at least 90% of the class period. The students will be responsible for engaging in all activities, respecting and supporting each other, showing the intent to understand and offering interesting and bizarre details to spice up the action! In this way, they will acquire a large volume of language.
   For students in levels 1-2, assessment will be on comprehension. This means “tests and quizzes” will be on what they understand through listening and reading, not what they can say or write.
   In level 4, assessment will be on comprehension for the first quarter. We’ll gradually begin to include writing and speaking activities as the students are ready. This may begin in 2nd or 3rd quarter, and cannot be predicted at this time. It is my intention to let the students take in a larger volume of language than they produce in the first part of the year, since they have not yet been part of an acquisition-based class.
   Students will be assessed frequently and all assessments (except final exams) will be unannounced. Assessment serves to determine what the students have acquired, not what they have memorized.
   A variety of activities will take place in the classroom to insure that students hear and/or read comprehensible Spanish or French for at least 90% of the class period. These activities include personal questions and answers (PQA), simple commands, co-creating stories, listening to music, and reading. Whole-group reading as well as individual free reading is a significant part of the process. Each class will read four novels per year in addition to students’ free reading.

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4. Ben Slavic

   August 30, 2011 at 4:07 pm

   Jen quick quizzes in L2.

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5. Sally

   August 30, 2011 at 5:24 pm

   How about the rule this year on English–is it NO ENGLISH or is it NO ENGLISH except for cute answers–limit two? How will you elicit the cute answers ? I am struggling with this issue.

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6. Ben Slavic

   August 30, 2011 at 7:52 pm

   Sally don’t worry about the cute answers in English thing. We went round and round on this for about five years and blew it all up into something quite silly. Blaine said no English cute answers, others said yes go ahead and allow that. In the end it makes no difference. I just want a cute answer!
   The rule on English for me is when I ask someone or the class as a whole, “What did I just say?” or “What does this mean?” That is the only time I allow English. Except when I allow a fragment of English in some other situation.
   Do you see how that is not a contradiction? There IS NO PLAN in what we do. We try to follow guidelines, that is all, in this method. We craft our own style and it differs one from the other. All this discussion about minor details takes our attention too often needlessly away from our real work. What is our real work? Slow personalized circling.

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