Mr. Polish’s Independent Study Spanish 2 Syllabus
Welcome to Spanish 2 with Mr. Polish! Our class will meet every Friday from 2 – 3:30 pm (for 10th graders) in Room 313 and your attendance there is required. Because we only meet one day a week, it is important that you maintain communication with me by e-mail if you are having any issues with me, school, or the work. My e-mail is and I check it every day so expect me to get back to you no more than 24 hours after you have messaged me.
Since this is an independent study class, this class will be very different from the Spanish classes you have taken in the past. In particular, you are going to do your work within two different contexts:
1. Every week you will receive a 3 point grade based on how you use class time. Points will be deducted for tardies, unexcused absences, using a cell phone, sleeping in class, putting on make-up, eating, chewing gum loudly, leaving class without getting permission, and/or rude behavior. If you end up getting “negative” points for one week, points will then be deducted from your previous weeks’ grades.
2. If you do not finish your work in class, you will be expected to do individual work outside of class. Homework assignments will be posted to
Your HW must be done on a separate piece of paper and handed in to Mr. Polish at the beginning of your school day. You need to do all of your class work in a notebook that must only have assignments from this class. Don’t even think about copying off somebody else or the internet as the consequence will be an automatic zero on the assignment and a phone call home.
I want to give you a voice in this classroom and am willing to share some of my power with you. However, with power comes responsibility. If you want to be a part of a class in which you are allowed to speak and be heard, you must:
- Be respectful in class. That means you must:
Raise your hand when you want to speak and wait until you are called on or you will lose discussion points.
Never put anyone down verbally or non-verbally. Doing so will lead to the automatic loss of 1 discussion point for the week.
No hate speech. Regardless of whether or not you think you are “just joking around,” using hate speech will cost you ALL of the week’s discussion points, lead to an automatic behavior log and possibly a referral to the vice-principal.
Pay attention in class. Doing other homework, reading things unrelated to the class, eating, passing notes, playing video games, talking, using music devices, putting on make-up or playing with cell phones is NOT ALLOWED under any circumstances and will lead to the automatic loss of 1 discussion point for the week.
- Be respectful outside of class. What is said in the class stays in the class.
- Do your work. If we are not all on the same page, we will not be able to have any discussions in our class.
- Be engaged with the class. You are ultimately responsible for your learning. You need to respectfully speak up if you are having problems with the material, me, or any of your peers. You can find me in Room 313 during lunch every day except Tuesday if you need to talk. If you cannot make it at that time, feel free to e-mail me at .
- Show up on time. Be in your seat and ready to work when the bell rings.
MR. POLISH’S GRADING SCALE
HOMEWORK: 50% of the grade
TESTS: 45% of the grade
CLASS PARTICIPATION: 5% of the grade
If you do not do your HW and/or your grades begin to drop, expect to receive a phone call/e-mail home. If your grades continue to drop, you might be dropped from Independent Study.
Course OUTLINE
UNIT 1: Chapter 1
UNIT 2: Chapter 2
UNIT 3: Chapter 3
UNIT 4: Chapter 4
Mr. Polish’s RULES
If you want to avoid problems in this class, you are also going to have to adapt to some rules, which should be quite similar to the rules you have to follow in your other classes. These rules are NON-NEGOTIABLE and will take effect immediately.
Food IS NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES and will be taken away if I see it out after the first warning. Having it out will lead to the automatic loss of 3 discussion points for the week.
Cell phones/electronic devices are NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES and will be taken away if I see them out after the first warning. Having any of these things out will lead to the automatic loss of 3 discussion points for the week.
Music devices are NOT ALLOWEDunless I give you specific permission to use one while you are working.
Passing notes, putting on make-up, doing other homework, chewing gum loudly, reading unrelated materials, leaving class without getting permission, or sleeping in class are NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES and doing any of these things will lead to the automatic loss of at least 3 discussion points for the week.
Basic Everyday Rules:
Show up to class ON TIME.
TURN OFF cell phones, pagers, iPods, PSPs and all other electronic gadgets and doohickeys BEFORE CLASS.
BRING your own notebook, paper, readings, books, dictionary, pens, pencils, and erasers to class. Not bringing your notebook, or pen/pencil will lead to the automatic loss of 2 discussion points for the week.
BE PREPARED to work, participate, and ask lots of questions AS SOON AS THE BELL RINGS.
RAISE YOUR HAND BEFORE you speak and WAIT TO BE CALLED ON. Speaking out of turn will lead to the automatic loss of 1 discussion point.
ALWAYS ASK PERMISSION before walking out of class for any reason.
IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THESE RULES YOU WILL:
1ST – RECEIVE A VERBAL WARNING AND/OR LOSE A DISCUSSION POINT
2ND – LOSE ANOTHER POINT, HAVE A CONFERENCE WITH ME DURING LUNCH, AND/OR
BE MOVED TO ANOTHER SEAT
3RD – LOSE ANOTHER POINT ANDRECEIVE A PHONE CALL &/OR E-MAIL HOME
4TH – LOSE ANOTHER POINT AND RECEIVE A REFERRAL TO ROBYN POPE
5TH – LOSE ANOTHER POINT ANDRECEIVE A REFERRAL TO THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE
6TH – LOSE ANOTHER POINT AND HAVE TO ATTEND CLASS WITH YOUR PARENT
7TH – LOSE ANOTHER POINT AND RECEIVE A REFERRAL TO THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE/POSSIBLE
EXPULSION FROM INDEPENDENT STUDIES
Mr. Polish’s Policies
These policies are NON-NEGOTIABLE and will take effect immediately.
Things to Bring Every day:
SPIRAL NOTEBOOK/THREE RING BINDER
HW. Homework assignments will be posted to
Homework must always be turned in before class starts.
PRENTICE HALL’S REALIDADES TEXTBOOK/WORKBOOK. Most days you will get a grade for bringing your textbook and workbook to class. NOT BRINGING YOUR TEXTBOOK OR WORKBOOK WILL RESULT IN AN AUTOMATIC ZERO.
PENS/PENCILS/ERASERS/HIGHLIGHTERS. Not bringing a pen/pencil to class will lead to the automatic loss of 1 discussion points for the week.
Absences:
It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to get the homework and notes from either me or another student if you are absent as you will be graded on all the work assigned in class. You will lose 3 discussion points for every unexcused absence you have.
1 Absence (Excused or Unexcused) = Behavior log & phone call or e-mail home
2 Unexcused Absences = Behavior log & phone call or e-mail home/ Referral to Robyn and possible dismissal from Independent Study
3 Unexcused Absences = Behavior log & phone call or e-mail home/ Referral to Robyn and possible dismissal from Independent Study
Tardies:
You will lose 3 points for every unexcused tardy. Tardies may only be excused by bringing a note from a teacher or the office. You must take care of this before you come to class.
Late Work:
HW must always be turned in at the beginning of the day or e-mailed to me at before the school day starts. Make sure to send documents in Word 1997-2003 or .rtf formats. LATE WORK WILL ONLY RECEIVE FULL CREDIT IF YOU HAVE AN EXCUSED ABSENCE AND E-MAIL IT TO ME BEFORE CLASS THE DAY YOU COME BACK. Otherwise, LATE WORK WILL BE MARKED ONE GRADE DOWN FOR EVERY CALENDAR DAY IT IS LATE. WORK THAT IS OVER 5 DAYS LATE WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY MARKED 50% OFF WHATEVER GRADE YOU GET.