Preparing for Spanish 4

[Anonymous]

My son doesn’t love Spanish but did well in Spanish 1 and 2 because of great teachers. His Spanish 3 teacher at BCC is beyond horrific. She’s nasty, condescending and not a good teacher.

Sadly he could get stuck with her again next year and realizes he needs to teach the class to himself so he wants to start over the summer.

Even with another teacher, he’s not sure this teacher has prepared him for Spanish 4 so summer work is essential.

Any ideas on textbooks and Spanish tutors (zoom ok but they need to know curriculum)?

I wish he could retake Spanish 3 over the summer with a better teacher but it doesn’t look like an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son doesn’t love Spanish but did well in Spanish 1 and 2 because of great teachers. His Spanish 3 teacher at BCC is beyond horrific. She’s nasty, condescending and not a good teacher.

Sadly he could get stuck with her again next year and realizes he needs to teach the class to himself so he wants to start over the summer.

Even with another teacher, he’s not sure this teacher has prepared him for Spanish 4 so summer work is essential.

Any ideas on textbooks and Spanish tutors (zoom ok but they need to know curriculum)?

I wish he could retake Spanish 3 over the summer with a better teacher but it doesn’t look like an option.

Spanish 3 is offered for grade improvement in the mcps central summer school, so if your son is getting bad grades this year he could retake it: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/extendedhours/summerschool/courses#wlg

[Anonymous]

Look for a current MCPS spanish teacher who is teaching in an MCPS HS. I had luck with teachers who teach in IB schools.

[Anonymous]

MCPS uses this textbook for Spanish 1, 2 and 3. Realidades 1, Readlidades 2, Realidades 3.


Buy 2nd hand textbooks for several dollars each.

You will still need a tutor...but this helps a lot too.

[Anonymous]

Rats. Is this the only Spanish teacher in BCC? I'd already heard an AP Bio teacher was terrible. DD is in bounds for BCC and already has her fill of uninspiring teachers at Westland.

[Anonymous]

Duolingo and telenovelas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son doesn’t love Spanish but did well in Spanish 1 and 2 because of great teachers. His Spanish 3 teacher at BCC is beyond horrific. She’s nasty, condescending and not a good teacher.

Sadly he could get stuck with her again next year and realizes he needs to teach the class to himself so he wants to start over the summer.

Even with another teacher, he’s not sure this teacher has prepared him for Spanish 4 so summer work is essential.

Any ideas on textbooks and Spanish tutors (zoom ok but they need to know curriculum)?

I wish he could retake Spanish 3 over the summer with a better teacher but it doesn’t look like an option.

This describes my kid’s Spanish 4 teacher at BCC. I have no advice other than to say there is no way to prepare for the assessments. There is no syllabus, textbook or material posted. Tutors even other mcps teachers have not helped, because the students are left in the dark as to how to prepare. The means are these nonretakable assessments are typically in the C-D range.

[Anonymous]

Foreign language is by far the most disorganized department in MCPS at the High School level.

Last year in Spanish 4 I had my DC going to every office hours session (Tue/Thur at lunch) and asking, what is happening this week, what should I be studying, is there a test this week, what will it be like? Otherwise teacher thought it was fine to announce a test the day before and not tell students what would be on it. The tests would turn out to ask very detailed trivia questions about a Don Quixote reading, etc. Retakes would be offered, but they were like writing 5 sentences in response to oral communications (nothing like the original). This is why students quit FL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son doesn’t love Spanish but did well in Spanish 1 and 2 because of great teachers. His Spanish 3 teacher at BCC is beyond horrific. She’s nasty, condescending and not a good teacher.

Sadly he could get stuck with her again next year and realizes he needs to teach the class to himself so he wants to start over the summer.

Even with another teacher, he’s not sure this teacher has prepared him for Spanish 4 so summer work is essential.

Any ideas on textbooks and Spanish tutors (zoom ok but they need to know curriculum)?

I wish he could retake Spanish 3 over the summer with a better teacher but it doesn’t look like an option.

Spanish 3 is offered for grade improvement in the mcps central summer school, so if your son is getting bad grades this year he could retake it: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/extendedhours/summerschool/courses#wlg

OP here. Your post was really helpful. I looked on our school's summer program list and didn't see it so I was a little panicked he couldn't take it over.

I think he will repeat it over the summer if possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son doesn’t love Spanish but did well in Spanish 1 and 2 because of great teachers. His Spanish 3 teacher at BCC is beyond horrific. She’s nasty, condescending and not a good teacher.

Sadly he could get stuck with her again next year and realizes he needs to teach the class to himself so he wants to start over the summer.

Even with another teacher, he’s not sure this teacher has prepared him for Spanish 4 so summer work is essential.

Any ideas on textbooks and Spanish tutors (zoom ok but they need to know curriculum)?

I wish he could retake Spanish 3 over the summer with a better teacher but it doesn’t look like an option.

Are the French teachers at B-CC as bad?

This describes my kid’s Spanish 4 teacher at BCC. I have no advice other than to say there is no way to prepare for the assessments. There is no syllabus, textbook or material posted. Tutors even other mcps teachers have not helped, because the students are left in the dark as to how to prepare. The means are these nonretakable assessments are typically in the C-D range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son doesn’t love Spanish but did well in Spanish 1 and 2 because of great teachers. His Spanish 3 teacher at BCC is beyond horrific. She’s nasty, condescending and not a good teacher.

Sadly he could get stuck with her again next year and realizes he needs to teach the class to himself so he wants to start over the summer.

Even with another teacher, he’s not sure this teacher has prepared him for Spanish 4 so summer work is essential.

Any ideas on textbooks and Spanish tutors (zoom ok but they need to know curriculum)?

I wish he could retake Spanish 3 over the summer with a better teacher but it doesn’t look like an option.

Are the French teachers at B-CC as bad?

This describes my kid’s Spanish 4 teacher at BCC. I have no advice other than to say there is no way to prepare for the assessments. There is no syllabus, textbook or material posted. Tutors even other mcps teachers have not helped, because the students are left in the dark as to how to prepare. The means are these nonretakable assessments are typically in the C-D range.

Are the French teachers at B-CC as bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS uses this textbook for Spanish 1, 2 and 3. Realidades 1, Readlidades 2, Realidades 3.


Buy 2nd hand textbooks for several dollars each.

You will still need a tutor...but this helps a lot too.

People say this, and yet they don't use a textbook. My kid has never even seen this except for the copy that I bought.

[Anonymous]

DC managed to get solid A's in Spanish 1, 2 & 3 at TPMS. Spanish 3 at TPMS has been a struggle. I'm tempted to have them repeat Spanish 3 next year partly because they have no interest in ever taking Spanish Lit in 12 and feel it might help them build a stronger foundation. Any thoughts or experiences with this?

[Anonymous]

OP go back to the great teachers and see if they can recommend a MCPS teacher from a different school to work as a tutor with your kid.

My son was taught by a fantastic French teacher at Pyle but when he got to Whitman it started to fall apart (French4) so we worked with a French teacher from another school and it really helped so much.

[Anonymous]

OMG same here for a VA school, Spanish 1 and 2 teacher wonderful--my kid even won an award for national test, Spanish 3 teacher IMO should not be getting a salary-literally doing nothing in class, kid totoally unprepared and should be in AP 4 next year, we are at a loss....