- Last Monday you watched the movie Rabbit Proof Fence with Marion. Yesterday we wacthed My Big Fat Greek Wedding. You were asked to write a review about it. There are many examples in Time4English. Go there and do the listening exercise on My Big Fat Greek Wedding and then the movie review Mona Lisa Smile. You can also read other reviews.
- Also in Time4English, listen to THIS WEEK'S ODD SPOT and THIS WEEK'S STORY. When you finish reading Crocodiles Save People, print it or save it in your floppy and change the passive sentences into active sentences and the active sentences into passive. You can write it in your blog.
- Last Friday I went to the ICVVET conference, as you well know. I met an ESOL student from Randwick TAFE , Alex from Russia, who has created a Website for his classmates. Check it out: sydney Club. You can contact the students, as they have published their email addresses.
- Have a look at this new link (on the right side bar) ABC English Bites. Go to Learning English and you will find many units of work with video adn audio files and quizzes and activities. Some are for beginners (Living Englisdh), some for advanced learners (Study English, IELTS preparation).
- I have sent a link with your blog addressses to del.icio.us where there are other ESL students with blogs. It is a project started by Dekita. They want to encourage ESL/EFL students to communicate with each other across the world throught the Net. During the holidays, you can start exploring other students' blogs, write to them in their comments and invite them to look at your blogs. Next term we may try to work with one of those classes.
Labels: ESL, ESOL, multiculturalism, p2p, web 2.0
P2P in EFL/ESL Exchange
Monday, September 19, 2005
Our Class 2005This is a class of of adult migrants in Sydney, Australia. The level of English is heterogeneous, from lower-intermediate to advanced and our school year goes from February to December. We meet 4 times a week for 5 hours a day and one of these classes is in the computer lab.
Here are the links to our blogs:
SusSilviaGraceIsmatEvaLisaSaedehKarenRaniaJessicaOlga M2NentisAnaLabels: ESL, ESOL, multiculturalism, p2p, web 2.0
This week you are going to really do your work online. I will be at a staff development workshop outside St George TAFE, so you will be on your own, using our blog and our online module from either home, the TAFE library or your local libray. I hope you can follow the instructions. Remember to read them carefully and work at your own pace. Any problems, please let me know (by email, blog comments or the module communication tools) and we will talk about it next week.
- Read all the notes (6 pages) on presentations from Time4English and, in your blog, write in point form the 10 most important things you have to remember when you do your presentation next week.
- Let's research information for your presentation topic. Search Google or another browser. We found two good sites: The World, The World Factbookwhere you will find information on most countries. Use the info you think is relevant and intersting . Write it in a Word document and save it in your floppy. Otherwise print it. But always rewrite everything in your own words. It's very hard to remember words that are not yours for an oral presentation. You should not memorize it, just use notes and visual aids (palm cards, OHTs, power point) to help you remember.
- Go to our online module Approaches to Learning in Janison. Read the announcement and do the work. (I've put a permanent link below Time4English)
- Have a look at Rosa's Homework where I put the photos from last Thursday's party (thank you again!) and my test photostories (Rania, it worked at TAFE today). We will try to make one for each of your blogs.
Labels: ESL, ESOL, multiculturalism, p2p, web 2.0
Rosa's Homework
You told me to do my homework this weekend. Here it is.
Click on this link to view a small photo story:
Our Class intro. This will be the first of many...
Here is another one:
8th September 2005
Thank you very much for a great surprise party!
I didn't realise Silvia and Jessica left the class together to start preparing. I didn't realise people were staying back for any reason other than continue working on your blogs.
I didn't find it strange to see Sherye appear to say hello, even though she's been away sick for a long time... Only when Sue sent me a birthday card and then I saw a flash from a digital camera going off at the end of the computer room, it dawned on me that something was going on. But nothing prepared me for the big surprise that awaited me downstairs. What a great feast! The food was delicious, the decoration was fantastic, the surprise visit from Marion and everyone's company was the best ever!
Labels: ESL, ESOL, multiculturalism, p2p, web 2.0
Today we are going to concentrate in our online module, Approaches to Learning, so we won't be doing a lot of work here.
1. Olga didn't believe me when I said that in Australia water goes down the drain in the opposite direction to other countries in the northern hemisphere. When I read the newspaper on Friday, I found this in
Column 8 (
The Sydney Morning Herald (Friday 2nd September, 2005):
Jenny Rollo, of Putney, wants some advice on traffic rules. "I was watching the skaters at Macquarie icerink yesterday," she writes, "and it occurred to me that they always take a counter-clockwise route. What is the direction in other rinks, in Australia and the world? One would have thought that the natural direction here would be clockwise, because of our driving on the left-hand side of the road. Or does this have something to do with the direction of the water going down a drain according to the hemisphere you are in?"
Nevertheless, when I tried to look for further information, I found this quote in
Earth Quest, a scientific site that seems to be reliable:
There is a strong urban myth that water drains through plugholes in an anticlockwise/clockwise direction in the northern and southern hemisphere due to the Coriolis force. This is untrue, even when ‘demonstrated’ by tourist operators who step on either side of the equator with a pan of water. They’re simply using tricks of the hand and eye. Water drains from a sink in a pattern based on the shape of the sink and how the water starts moving.
You can also check the abc forum with Dr Carl, where he also dismisses the myth. This reminds us of the fact that it is important to distinguish between facts & opinion (or in this case urban myths). Be critical when you read or hear something!
Do you know any other urban myths? If you do, write about them in your blog. We can try and find out if they are facts or just popular belief...
2. Go to Time4English Upper Intermediate / Advanced 5L Presentations, and do pages 5 & 6. Print them or save them in your floppy disk. You will soon need them to help you with your presentation.
After reading page 5, write down the advice the give you on some things you should or shouldn't do.
After completing page 6, write down in point form the extra pices of advice given..
3. Today we will do our weekly forum in our online module Approaches to Learning.Labels: ESL, ESOL, multiculturalism, p2p, web 2.0
