GPC Elementary Spanish I
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Contact Info and Office Hours
Learning Spanish is fun, exciting, and rewarding!
This course is the first in a two-course sequence at the elementary level of Spanish. The course consists of the study of the fundamentals of the language, using Spanish as the language of instruction. Emphasis is on oral communication with grammar and vocabulary taught in context and Hispanic culture presented using interactive activities, discussion, and readings. This course is not open to native speakers, which includes anyone who used the language as his or her principal language of education.
Mi familia y yo. (My family and I.)
¡Bienvenidos a Español 1001!
Get your D2L Log-in Information!
Get your Username and Password.
Complete the D2L iCollege orientation.
Complete the D2L Browser/System Check.
What course materials do I need for SPAN 1001?
Vistas, 4th edition - Author: Blanco - ISBN: 978-1-61767-462-4
Custom Student Edition Volume 1 (Loose-Leaf) (Lessons 1-5) + 6-months' Supersite Plus
(You must have Supersite Plus access, not just basic Supersite access.)
OR…Purchase the complete text (Lessons 1-18) for SPAN 1001-2002
Complete Bundle for all four Spanish courses (1001, 1002, 2001, and 2002):
Vistas, 4th edition - Author: Blanco - ISBN: 978-1-61767-499-0
Custom Student Edition (Loose-Leaf) (1-18) + 2 years' Supersite Plus
Email: GPCOnline@bkstr.com
Website: http://www.gpc.edu/online/content/currentstudents/bookstore#.Uf1FfW3lfms
Phone: (678) 891-3101
Course Content:
ARE YOU IN THE CORRECT LEVEL OF SPANISH?
This level assumes no prior experience with Spanish. It does not fulfill the foreign language requirement of our programs of study, but it is a prerequisite for 1002 if you have not taken Spanish in high school. This level counts as elective credit. We have a free placement exam available online to students. If you feel you need to be at a higher level of Spanish, and it is still the first week of the semester, please take the free placement exam at:
http://webcape.byuhtrsc.org/?acct=gpc. The password is "gpc". The exam takes from 5 to 20 minutes, depending on your knowledge of the Spanish language. When you finish the exam, your results will be displayed for you along with a suggestion of which level of Spanish would best suit you. Copy and paste that information into an email message box, and send your score to Andrea.Morgan@gpc.edu Ultimately, the choice is up to you. However, if you place above 1001, you wish to enroll in a level above 1001, and you have not taken 1001 at the college level, you will need permission to override the system.
Communication with your Instructor
Course Schedule for Fall, 2013 SPAN 1001
SPAN 1001 Spring, 2014 schedule
Grading Guidelines and Components
Students will be graded on a point system based on 1,450 points:
No Show Quiz (Must be completed in order to gain access to the rest of the course):.....................................................................100
Welcome/Syllabus/Supersite Usage Quiz over iCollege course sections and Supersite usage...Take as often as you like until the deadline…………........60
Lesson Quizzes …..5 lessons @ 125 points each (based on Contextos quiz, Escritura quiz, and Supersite Lección quiz for each lesson) with lowest/missed quiz grade from each category dropped................500
Lesson Assignment grade (cumulative lesson average of Practice and WebSAM activities; does *not* include the Recapitulación and the Prueba de práctica, which are for diagnostic purposes/practice only)............5 @ 100 points each, with lowest chapter grade dropped ……….......................................400
(“Assignments” include all assignments for each lección in the Supersite; details below)
Graded Oral Discussion(s)/Activity(ies)/Assessment(s)………………..............50
Introduce Yourself Discussion Board assignment during Orientation week.........................................................................10
Participation in iCollege Discussions in Spanish (written)…5 @ 10 pts each, with lowest dropped.........................................................40
Midterm Exam................mandatory & comprehensive..………................................90
Final Exam............................mandatory & comprehensive….................................200
TOTAL POINTS….......………………………………………………………………..........1,450
GRADING SCALE 1,305 - 1,450 = A; 1,160-1,304 = B; 1,015-1,159 = C; 870-1,014 = D; 869 points or fewer = F
Students are responsible for keeping up with their grades. You will see ALL your grades in iCollege (click on the “Grades” icon on the iCollege navigation bar). Keep a record of how many points you earned for each assignment, and of how many total points possible there were per assignment. You can then keep a running tally of your points earned. To determine your average at any time, simply divide your point tally by the total possible points at that time. To see your grade as a percentage, move the decimal point two places to the right. For example, if I were to have 440 points out of 500 available, my score would be 440 ÷ 500 = 0.88, which would be 88 on a scale of 100, which is a "B".
Smarthinking Tutoring service (also linked to your iCollege homepage):
http://www.smarthinking.com/support/hours-of-service/?st=1
GPC webmail: http://webmail.gpc.edu
GPC Online Library Services: http://www.gpc.edu/online/content/gpc-online-library-services#.Uf5CGpK1E1I
The "Supersite" (where you will complete much of the assignments and quizzes): http://vhlcentral.com
External Spanish language and grammar review site: http://studyspanish.com
Tuenti Social Networking site (preferred over Facebook in Spain); in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, click on the arrow next to the Tuenti copyright info to select "Español" as your networking language: http://Tuenti.com
Free Tutoring Available
Extra Credit
Supersite Usage Quiz
LESSON QUIZZES
There will be quizzes for each lesson/lección. Each lesson has a brief “contextos quiz/miniprueba” (an objective quiz over vocabulary located in the Assessments tab of the Supersite), an end-of-lesson quiz, “Prueba” (an objective quiz over grammar and vocabulary; also located in the Assessments tab of the Supersite), and an “escritura quiz” (a brief subjective quiz in iCollege in which you write answers to questions, and write a composition of a paragraph in length). Quizzes are graded for accuracy (grammar, spelling, accents, etc.) Each student may drop his or her lowest score on each type of quiz (lowest contextos, lesson quiz and escritura as they may be from different lessons). A student may drop his/her lowest quiz score only if he/she has taken all five of that type of quiz. If a quiz is missed, it will automatically be dropped. This means a student may miss one (of each type of) quiz (one contextos, one lesson quiz, one escritura); however, the student will not be able to drop another. Also, because one missed quiz is allowed, there are no make-up quizzes. Any quiz missed over one results in a zero that remains in the average. You must take them by the deadline given or your results will not be submitted to me for grading. You will have a wide window of time in which to take the lesson quizzes and you may take them at any time (day or night/weekday or weekend) during that period.
Review notes: You will see grammar review notes in the learning modules of iCollege to help you prepare.
The lesson quizzes are open book/open notes, but are timed and graded for accuracy. The Supersite does not have a running time clock like iCollege. You must keep up with your own time when taking the contextos and lesson (Prueba) quizzes. This means that you have the resources at your disposal to help you, but due to time constraints, if you do not study in advance, you will not be able to submit the quizzes in time if you have to look up all of the answers. If the quizzes are not submitted within the time allowed, they will be assigned a zero. This will ensure that you study along the way and not just before the midterm and final exam. Your success in using a foreign language depends upon your committing to memory vocabulary words, expressions, and grammar structures. Also, you are only allowed ONE ATTEMPT at any quiz. If you experience technical difficulties while taking a quiz, send me an email here in iCollege.
Each lesson allows 125 points for quizzes (10 for the contextos quiz/miniprueba at the Supersite, 100 for the lesson quiz/Prueba at the Supersite and 15 points for the escritura quiz in iCollege). Each part is timed and graded separately, and you must enter and complete each of the following for every lección/lesson. They must all be completed by the deadline of the module in which they are listed.
PART I: THE CONTEXTOS QUIZ (the vocabulary quiz online through the Supersite (at http://www.vhlcentral.com) for each chapter). You’ll see this quiz or “Contextos Miniprueba” in the Assessments tab of the Supersite. Complete the tutorials and contextos assignments, and study the vocabulary before taking the contextos quiz. You will be allowed 20 minutes for the Contextos Quiz. If you submit your answers past that time limit, they will not be graded. Use the floating accent toolbar for fill-in-the-blank sections when necessary. This portion of the quiz is graded by the computer. This means that you must enter the answers 100% accurately in order to earn full credit for the answers. If you are unsure of spelling or accent marks, look them up before submitting. Be sure to read the instructions carefully for each section of the quiz. You only have one attempt for this quiz. Remember to keep track of your time on this quiz. The Supersite does not have a running clock.
PART II: THE LESSON QUIZ / PRUEBA (lesson quiz online through the Supersite (at http://www.vhlcentral.com) for each chapter)
You’ll see this quiz or “PRUEBA” in the Assessments tab of the Supersite. You should complete ALL contextos and estructura sections (tutorials and assignments), and study the content before taking the lesson quiz/Prueba. You will be allowed 45 minutes for the Lesson Quiz. If you submit your answers past that time limit, they will not be graded. Use the floating accent toolbar for fill-in-the-blank sections when necessary. An answer will not be considered “correct” by the computer unless it is correctly entered (correctly spelled with any accent marks or special characters, such as ñ, as well as spaces between words). Review your answers carefully before submitting them. This quiz is graded by the computer. This means that you must enter the answers 100% accurately. If you are unsure of spelling or accent marks, look them up before submitting. Be sure to study the grammar review notes for each lesson in the iCollege module(s). Be sure to read the instructions carefully for each section of the quiz. You only have one attempt for this quiz. Remember to keep track of your time on this quiz. The Supersite does not have a running clock.
PART III: THE ESCRITURA (WRITING) QUIZ: (on iCollege); located in the last learning module for each lesson. This will consist of a few questions in Spanish to which you’ll need to give complete sentence answers, as well as a mini-composition (usually a paragraph). You will only be given one attempt. This attempt will be timed, and you must submit the answers within the allowed time for them to be received. You will be allowed 25 minutes for the Escritura Quiz. If you submit your answers after that time limit, they will not be transmitted. I will grade this portion of the quiz, and enter feedback. You may open the quiz back up to review feedback after it’s graded. A careful review of feedback will go a long way toward helping you improve your writing, and communication skills.
PARTICIPATION IN ICOLLEGE DISCUSSIONS (WRITTEN):
MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAM:
The midterm and final exam are comprehensive (the final will be over all five lessons; the mid-term will be over the material covered in the first two chapters). Your assignment completion will prepare you for them. They are both mandatory. They are not lesson quizzes, and cannot be dropped. If you miss them, you will receive a zero for them. Review sheets will be posted for both the mid-term and the final in iCollege in the same module with each exam. You will take each in iCollege by the deadline of the learning module in which they appear. You will have a week in which to take the Midterm exam, and 4 days in which to complete the Final. No make-ups are allowed. You are allowed one attempt for each, and you must complete the attempt in the same sitting in which you begin it.
Instructions on getting set up to do assignments in the Supersite and on using the Supersite are in the first week’s learning module (“Supersite Orientation”) in iCollege.
If you experience technical difficulties while in the Supersite, you’ll need to contact tech support: 1-800-248-2813, or go to www.support.vhlcentral.com
Assignments
A student must complete online assignments by the deadlines. All of these assignments are to be done online at www.vhlcentral.com through the Practice and WebSAM tabs. This website requires certain computer settings, browser settings/versions, etc. Whether late work is allowed (and at what penalty) is your instructor’s decision. He/she will let you know. There may be some assignments that are checked for completion and effort instead of accuracy and others that are graded for accuracy. You will have 4 attempts on most assignments. I will drop your lowest chapter assignment (total) score. If you do miss a chapter by its deadline, it is best to do those assignments before testing or moving on to the next chapter (even if your instructor does not accept late work) because each chapter builds on the previous one. It is important that you not fall behind. Assignments are automatically given a time stamp online and the time you complete the assignments will show on my screen. If your own computer is not functioning, you may use an open computer lab for free at any GPC campus. Personal computer failure/internet trouble is not considered a valid excuse for not having the assignments completed on time; you should not wait until the last possible opportunity to begin work on your assignments.
Remember that high-speed access is suggested for the websites we use.
After you have created an account, you will log in at www.vhlcentral.com with your username and password. You will see each lessonlección listed at the left. When you click on each lección/lesson, you will see the various sections (like “contextos”, “estructura,” etc.) For each lección/lesson you will have a variety of exercise types that can be accessed through the tabs in the top center Tutorials, Practice, WebSAM, Assessments). You’ll have tutorials that teach you the content. These are critical for online students as they give you the same kind of content presentation and grammar explanations that you’d receive in a live course. While you will not submit answers for tutorials, you should go through all of the tutorials for the sections where they are provided before doing your assignments. When doing your assignments, you must click "submit" for each exercise that requires input in order for your work to be recorded. Also, you should do activities in sequence and not skip around.
Which assignments should I do? To see what assignments are due in each chapter, click the “Practice” and the “WebSAM” tabs in the top center of the screen and then to click on the appropriate lesson (at left). You will see due dates next to any assignments due. You will see a section at the top right (under Student Tools) that says “upcoming assignments” or “next 10 assignments due.” Note that only 10 assignments can fit in this window and that you may have more than that assigned. Always view the tabs to find out what is due when. Finally, as you are working in the vText, you will notice which activities have been assigned, but these are only SOME of the PRACTICE activities, not all for them. Also, the vText does NOT link to any WebSAM activities or assessments.
Most importantly, before linking to and completing any assignments, WATCH THE TUTORIALS (Tutorials tab) for each section in which work is assigned and READ THE CONTENT in the Vistas text or in the vText for each section in which work is assigned.
NOTE: Although you may have assignments from many different sections, the sections that you will need to study for the lección/chapter quizzes and the midterm and final exams are the “contextos” and “estructura” sections.
College Policies
ATTENDANCE: A student must log in to iCollege within the No Show Attendance period (usually the first week of class). It is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that students log in to iCollege the first day of class so as not to miss any important announcements. If you do not log in during this period, you will be dropped from class as a “No Show.” If you cannot access iCollege, notify your instructor immediately so that you are not dropped from the class.
COLLEGE POLICY ON CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM: Honesty: Cheating is against school policy. Cheating includes any attempt to defraud, deceive, or mislead me, your instructor, in arriving at an honest grade assessment, and may include copying answers from other students or using unauthorized notes during tests. Plagiarism is a particular form of cheating that involves presenting as one's own the ideas or work of another, and may include using other people's ideas without proper attribution, quoting from other’s work without indicating that it is a direct quote (even if attribution is made) and submitting another person's work as your own. Copying material from the internet and presenting it as your own work without noting the author and source is plagiarism. Violations of the cheating policy will result in a grade of '0' for the assignment in question and a referral for violation of the Student Conduct Code, and may result in a failing grade for the course at my discretion. See the Student Conduct Code in the Student Handbook for details and for a review of the appeals procedure. http://www.gpc.edu/~acadaff/publications/StudentHandbook.pdf
DISABILITY SERVICES: Accommodations are individualized and flexible based on the nature and impact of a disability and the educational environment. Documentation of a disability from an appropriate professional is required. Contact a counselor at 678-407-5146. (see Student Handbook p. 10). It is the policy and practice of GPC to make all Web information accessible to students with disabilities. If you, as a student with a disability, have difficulty accessing any part of the online course materials for this class, please notify the instructor immediately.
THE REGENTS’ TEST: The University System of Georgia requires each student to pass both parts (reading and essay) of the Regents’ test before you earn 45 hours of college credit. If you don’t, if you accumulate 45 hours without passing the test, you must take the 3-credit Regents’ Prep class (Essay = RGTE 0199 or Reading = RGTR 0198) in either or both parts of the test you haven’t passed, even if you have never taken the test. Note: If students have not already passed English 1101, they are strongly advised to register for English 1101 with the Regents' Test. You will find further information about the Regents’ Test at http://www.gpc.edu/~acadaff/cat/Academic_Regents.html
GPC NETWORK USE POLICY: Please read information found at the link below concerning your rights, responsibilities, and restrictions regarding use of the GPC network. http://depts.gpc.edu/governance/policies/New500/507.pdf
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS, TECH SUPPORT AND COMPUTER EXPERIENCE:
For this class you will need to have the following computer experience: using a word processing program, navigating web browsers and websites, using iCollege (at http://icollege.gpc.edu ) and using the Supersite (www.vhlcentral.com ).
You will find the online orientation to iCollege at the link below. It is vital that you do this orientation if this is your first time using iCollege.
http://depts.gpc.edu/icollege/d2l/orientation/student_orientation_updated_0411.html
Also, you should check your browser at:
http://www.usg.edu/usgweb/d2lchecker/
Should you have technical difficulties with iCollege during this course, please visit:
http://www.gpc.edu/online/content/currentstudents/student-success-backpack#.Uf6Xr5Yo6M8
You will also need to become familiar with using Supersite (our online book and resources for this course). The Supersite contains demos under “Help/Resources” in the right-hand column under “Student Tools.” If you have technical difficulties with the Supersite during this course, please visit: www.support.vhlcentral.com or call 1-800-248-2813.
If you experience computer problems that are not related to either iCollege or using theSupersite, contact your computer manufacturer (such as HP or Dell).
You will need frequent access to the internet as ALL of the coursework is done online. You will have a physical companion for offline study, but all else is done while connected to the internet. While online, you will need to allow pop-ups from the two sites we use for the course (at http://icollege.gpc.edu and http://www.vhlcentral.com ). You may use the GPC open computer labs. Keep in mind that you will need to bring a headset for listening activities so as not to disturb others in the lab (the same is recommended for library/learning resource computers). For the recording activities, you must be in a place where you can speak aloud into your microphone.
Your computer will need internet access (high-speed HIGHLY recommended), a sound card, either speakers or a headset for listening activities, an inexpensive computer microphone (either built-in or purchased separately for around $10-15). You will NOT need a special Spanish keyboard or a Spanish language bar plug-in. If you need special accented characters, they will be provided to you in such a way that you can insert them or copy and paste them.
To use the Supersite to its best advantage, you must have the appropriate software, plug-ins, and network connection. Please take the time to read through the following and to download the following software, if you do not have it installed already.
INTERNET ACCESS
• High-speed Connection (256 Kbps) recommended
OPERATING SYSTEM AND BROWSERS
WINDOWS 98, NT, 2000, ME, XP, and Vista
• Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
• Firefox 1.0.7 or higher
• Cookies must be enabled
• Java must be installed & enabled, and kept up to date.
MAC OS X (10+)
• Firefox 1.0 or higher
• Safari 1.2 x or higher
• Cookies must be enabled
• Java must be installed & enabled
MAC OS 9 (Classic Mode)
• Internet Explorer 5.1
• Mozilla 1.0 or higher
• Cookies must be enabled
• Java must be installed & enabled
BROWSER SETTINGS
• Adjust Pop-up Blockers to allow pop-ups from www.vhlcentral.com
• Cookies must be enabled
• JavaScript must be enabled