BELLEVUE COLLEGE

Arts & Humanities / World Languages Department

German 121

Fall Quarter 2013

Instructor: Margaret Gotchy, M.A.

Email: margaret.gotchy@bellevuecollege.edu

Tel: 425.564.2063

Office hours: Daily between 10:30-11:20 am (by appointment only)

Class location: A243

Class time: M/T/W/Th/F 9:30 – 10:20 am

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

• Loose-leaf textbook: Anton, Christine; Barske, Tobias; Grabowski, Jane; and McKinstry, Megan. SAG MAL, Vista Higher Learning, 2014.
• Additional Resources: SAG MAL Supersite Plus + WebSAM code vhlcentral.com.

COURSE CONTENT: Sag mal, Kapitel 1-4

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

General:

· To introduce you to another language and culture and provide you with a new perspective of your own.

· To help you acquire better study habits.

· To prepare you for an increasingly interdependent world where the knowledge of different languages and cultures will be necessary.

Specific:

· To teach you the basics of the German language including listening-comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing.

· By the end of the quarter, you will:

have learned basic vocabulary

be able to form simple yet well-constructed sentences

deduce the main idea of a brief descriptive paragraph without mental translation

be able to distinguish and correctly produce new sounds by recognizing words,

phrases, and sentences spoken to you

be able to react and reply accordingly, if not always correctly.

LEARNING DISABILITY AND/OR MEDICAL CONDITION:

If you have medical information to share with me in the event of any emergency, please contact me via email or make an appointment to see me after class. Emergency preparedness is important!

If you need course modifications, adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, I can refer you to our Disability Resource Center (DRC). Or if you prefer, you may contact them directly by going to the Library Media Center (D126) or by calling 425.564.2498 or TTY 425.564.4110. Information is also available on their website at http://bellevuecollege.edu/drc/.

Remarks: Please read the Arts & Humanities Division Policy: http://bellevuecollege.edu/ArtsHum/policy.html

Classroom rules and procedures are set up with the student’s learning in mind. They are there to create the best learning environment for everybody in order to make successful learning possible. Please feel free to contact me with any concerns that you might have regarding this class.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:

Active Participation and Attendance (10%)

• Attendance is mandatory. You will actively contribute to class and group discussions both by asking and by answering questions; it also means that you will willingly engage in class activities and that you will always use the language of the course, i.e., German.
• All students are expected to attend every day and arrive on time. You may earn two points for being in class and actively participating in the lesson each day, one point if you arrive late, leave early, or enter and leave the room regularly while class is in session. If you miss two weeks (10 days) or more during the quarter, your final grade will drop one full letter grade. These nine days are for discretionary and emergency absences.
• Please be in class on time. If you are not able to attend, get your assignments from one of your classmates and check MyBC for new postings.
• Check the mybc.net site and/or your Bellevue College email account for any instructions in the event of the instructor’s illness and absence from class.

Homework (35%)

• You are responsible for preparing all readings, writing assignments, exercises, etc. assigned as homework, before coming to class on the designated day (with the exception of the first day of class).
• Student Activities Manual or WebSAM (on Supersite): There are workbook, video manual, and lab manual assignments that correspond to the text assignments for each lesson. You must complete all the activities for each lesson.
• Supersite: Any assigned activities from the Supersite (not including the WebSAM). Supersite activities are to be done in preparation for the section taught in the next class. This is done in order to consolidate your understanding so that you are better prepared to participate in class discussions.

• Please be aware that not every homework assignment will be graded. If I do collect it, I will correct it according to accuracy. If I walk around to check whether you did it, you will get a flat grade for completing it. On other days, I might just trust that you did it to stay up on the class material, and proceed on the assumption that you came prepared for the day’s lesson.
• If you are absent, it is your responsibility to make up the missed work and submit it as soon as you return.

• Additional homework will be assigned in class. It will either be submitted or corrected in class. Completed and well done assignments turned in on time will receive full credit. Late homework will receive a 10% deduction per day until day five. After that, homework will not be accepted.

Quizzes (20%)

• There will be two Wortschatz quizzes in each Kapitel.
• In addition, unannounced quizzes that test material covered the previous days in class will be common throughout the quarter.
• If you walk in after the quiz has started, you may quickly take the quiz in the remaining time. If you arrive when the quiz is being collected or later, you will not be able to take the quiz.
• Your lowest quiz score for the course will be dropped at the end of the quarter.
• There will be NO make-up quizzes.

Tests (25%)

• Tests will take place after each Kapitel.
• They will cover all grammatical structures, new vocabulary, listening-comprehension exercises, and culture segments in the Kapitel.
• Tests are comprehensive by nature; therefore, there will be NO mid-term or final exam.
• The lowest test score of the first three Kapitel tests will be dropped at the end of the quarter. However, this does NOT apply to the fourth and last test on

Kapitel 4.

• There will be NO make-up tests.

Final Exam (10%)

• The final test will be at the end of Kapitel 4.

MISSING WORK AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY:

• We must understand that professional and personal conflicts do occur, but students must make every effort to attend class on test days in particular.
• It is the student’s responsibility to keep up with the curriculum while absent.
• It is also the student’s responsibility to initiate communication about progress or concerns with the course. Instructors are under no obligation to inform students that work is overdue, to constantly remind them to complete their assignments, or to call students who fail to attend class. Similarly, students need to keep themselves informed about syllabus changes that may have been announced in class. I suggest that you find a partner during the first week of class, and keep each other up to date if one of you is absent.

TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT:

• The Tech Café, located at A-265, is available to help with any technological questions or issues during the first two weeks of each quarter from 9am to 7pm. http://depts.bellevuecollege.edu/ir/news/tech-cafe-is-back/
• Student tech support for problems with the Vista Higher Learning Supersite is available at (800) 248-2813.

EXTRA CREDIT:

• Extra credit will be built into the homework assignments and quizzes.
• You might be able to earn at the most 20 optional homework points per quarter by watching a German movie. This, however, applies only to those students who have not missed 10 or more days during the quarter. Please contact me for further instructions and about movie choices.

TUTORING:

• Bellevue College offers tutoring in the academic success center in D204. You are able to see a tutor for free for a total of two hours a week.
• Students who have a C grade on their first test will be required to make an appointment with the tutor. Bring your tests, quizzes, and any other assignments along with you. Here is the information for tutoring as it becomes available:

http://bellevuecollege.edu/tutoring/

INCLEMENT WEATHER OR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE:

• If the college remains open, students are expected to make a reasonable effort to come to campus. At the same time, BC does not expect people to endanger themselves to do so. If there is a weather emergency, use common sense, know your comfort level, check traffic advisories and other information resources, and exercise your own judgment about your own local conditions and circumstances. Communicate with your instructor what you are planning to do.
• Please make sure to check the BC website as well for any weather related information, updates, or closures: http://bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety/status/

RESPECT AND DIVERSITY:

• Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination.
• We value our different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect. http://bellevuecollege.edu/about/goals/inclusion.asp

WORK ETHIC AND CIVILITY IN THE CLASSROOM:

• You are expected to spend 1-2 hours outside of class on practicing class material.

• Arrive on time, and do not leave until the end of class.
• You are not to work (read, write, text message, collaborate, etc.) on material that is not directly relevant to the ongoing class activity.
• Conversations with your peers should not occur unless they are part of the designated classroom activity.
• Your work ethic will directly relate to how well you do in class. If you do not understand an exercise, please do not hesitate to ask when appropriate.
• Everyone in class deserves a healthy and productive learning environment.
• Cell phone use will NOT be tolerated during class. This includes texting, taking pictures, and using the internet.
• Turn off and put all of your electronic devices away so you and those around you can concentrate on the in-class activity.
• Please refrain from eating or chewing gum during class as it can hinder the correct production of the new sounds of the language that you are learning.

POLICY ON BC STUDENT ACCOUNTS:

The college requires that all credit students have an official Bellevue College student email account for the purpose of receiving official college communications which may include but is not limited to: campus security alerts, campus closures, Information Technology (IT) security alerts, financial aid notifications, enrollment and registration transactions, or instructor messages.

After acceptance or re-application to the college, students will automatically be required to create their official BC student email account when they create a BC NetID via the college website. The college may block a student from registration access in future quarters if an official student email account is not created. Bellevue College employees who register for college credit classes are also required to create a BC student email account.

The college will send all official administrative and instructional communications to credit students’ BC student email account.

Please go to the following link for instructions: http://bellevuecollege.edu/students/email/

GRADES:

Grades will be based on the following:

1. Active participation and attendance 10%
2. Homework 35%
3. Quizzes (lowest score dropped) 20%
4. Tests (lowest score dropped) 25%
5. Final 10%

GRADE SCALE:

100% - 93% A	79% - 77% C+	69% - 67% D+
92% - 90% A-	76% - 73% C	66% - 63% D
89% - 87% B+	72% - 70% C-	62% - 60% D-
86% - 83% B
82% - 80% B-

An incomplete grade can only be given under exceptional circumstances. In that case, you will need to make arrangements with the instructor before the end of the quarter

(Wed, Dec 11, 2013) to determine the deadline for the missing work. It is, however, up to the instructor whether an incomplete can be granted based on the provision that one of the three test grades will be dropped (see above).

COURSE CONCERNS:

Should you have concerns about any aspect of this class, I invite you to bring them to me. In any of your classes, if for any reason you do not feel comfortable speaking with your instructor, the usual next step would be to talk with the program chair. If for any reason you do not feel comfortable raising your concerns with me, you can bring concerns about the class to the Arts and Humanities Division Dean, Maggie Harada (maggie.harada@bellevuecollege.edu) in the Arts and Humanities division office (R230).  

An additional resource for concerns you find are not being addressed by faculty or administration is the Ombuds Office (http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/ombuds/default.html).

Below is also the link to the student academic dispute resolution procedure here at Bellevue College.  Please make sure you are acquainted with your rights before issues arise: http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/policies/1/1450P2%20Student%20Academic%20Dispute%20Resolution%20Procedure.asp

INFORMED CONSENT

Please sign and return this consent form to the instructor as soon as possible.

I, _______________________________________________ (print name) have read and understood the Bellevue College German 121 course syllabus.

I understand and accept the terms and conditions of this course, and acknowledge that:

• It is academically rigorous.
• It can be personally challenging.
• It assumes a minimum of one to two hours of study outside of class doing homework and studying new vocabulary every day.
• It assumes prompt and regular attendance.

Signature_____________________________________________Date______________

INFORMED CONSENT

Please sign and return this consent form to the instructor as soon as possible.

I, _______________________________________________ (print name) have read and understood the Bellevue College German 121 course syllabus.

I understand and accept the terms and conditions of this course, and acknowledge that:

• It is academically rigorous.
• It can be personally challenging.
• It assumes a minimum of one to two hours of study outside of class doing homework and studying new vocabulary every day.
• It assumes prompt and regular attendance.

Signature_____________________________________________Date______________