The four keys to being successful in SPN 1120

Engage with the material

Click the right arrow to reveal the 4 keys to success in our course.

What do I mean by "engage with the material"?

Students who engage with the material in this class...

• 1. Dedicate a minimum of 6 hours per week to Supersite assignments, which they always turn in on time and with no answers left blank.
• 2. Learn their vocabulary early in the lesson (while doing Contextos-section exercises), then consolidate this knowlege by spending 5 minutes at the start of every Supersite work session reviewing their vocabulary. Yes! Really! You need to go over your vocabulary frequently (daily would be optimal) in order to learn and retain it.
• 3. Study all the grammar tutorials (whether animated tutorials on Supersite or ancillary grammar material I provide for you in D2L) carefully before beginning to submit exercises, and revisit past grammar sections on a regular basis--at least twice a week (this helps greatly with knowledge retention). 
• 4. Take learning about culture seriously. We cover culture in 2 different assignment areas in every Supersite lesson (Cultura and Panorama). Our Extra Credit Culture Tests allow you to earn additional points on both the Midterm and Final Exams.

Click the right arrow to reveal 4 characteristics of engaged students.

What do I mean by "pay attention"?

Students who pay attention in this class...

• 1. Start the semester out right by reading the whole syllabus carefully.
• 2. Write down all exam and practice test due dates right now--at the beginning of the semester.
• 3. Realize that "I didn't know it was due" is not a valid excuse in this course.  
• 4. Read each week's Content Overview page here in D2L carefully, and note all due dates for the week.
• 5. Because our Midterm and Final Exams are important (worth 32% of the course grade), read both exam reviews and instructions in the exams themselves carefully.

Click the right arrow to reveal 5 characteristics of attentive, responsible students.

What do I mean by "be honest"?

Students who are honest...

• 1. Never get tutors or friends to "help" them by telling them if answers to Supersite exercises are correct before submitting work.
• 2. Wouldn't lie or make up false excuses in order to try to get deadline extensions or some other form of advantage from me.
• 3. Never use any kind of translating or AI tool when answering questions in Supersite. (This is just a waste of your time and effort, because you don't learn anything if you do this, and also, the answers automatic translators/AI give are usually both wrong and obviously machine-generated, anyway.)

Click the right arrow to reveal 3 ways honest students behave.

What do I mean by "ask for help when you need it"?

• 1. If you get a low score on a Supersite assignment, use the Request Review tool to get targeted assistance from me.
• 2. If you don't understand something, e-mail me about it.
• 3. Work regularly with our NFC professional tutor for Spanish (Mrs. Gonzales) if you begin to struggle in the course. This service is free and available online.
• 4. Ask for a Zoom conference with me if you need more clarification about something than you're getting from NFC tutors. (I love working 1-on-1 with my students, but because I already have so many synchronous interactions scheduled with my students at the 3 colleges where I teach each semester, I have limited additional availability. This is why I want you to use NFC's Spanish tutoring first. It really is a wonderful resource.)
  
  

There is no need to ever struggle alone--your NFC tutors and I can and will help you. All you have to do is ask. And, by the way, please don't feel upset when you make mistakes! Mistakes are normal--your job in this course is to learn from mistakes, not avoid them completely.

Click the right arrow to reveal 4 ways to get help.