Cork2007

Last class for 2007!!

2007-11-21T10:05:00.000+11:00

G'day all!

Well today is definitely your last chance to finish off any outstanding work in your blog portfolio. Ask me for your work sheet so that you can tick off the remaining items.

As we were looking at Idioms in class on Monday afternoon, have a look at Dave's ESL cafe and try some of the words and meanings. You can start with A or pick another letter of the alphabet if you want. It is a very comprehensive list and will keep you quite busy!

When you've had enough there, you can open Issues in English from the 'Start' icon on the bottom left hand side of your screen. Choose a topic that interests you and have a go!

It's been my pleasure teaching you this semester. You've been a great group and I'm going to miss you next year. I wish you all the best of luck in the future. Don't forget to visit me sometime!

Bye Bye!

These photos were taken last Friday evening before and during my daughter Katie's Year 12 Graduation Formal.

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Week 5

2007-11-14T18:15:00.000+11:00

This is a photo I took in my back yard last Sunday. What is it? Is it native to Australia? What's ONE interesting fact about it? (clue- answer is in its name!) Post your answer in Comments below. Remember, this will count towards your writing portfolio evidence!!

G'day all,

RoseMarie and her class are joining us today so please make them feel welcome!

What a good job you did on your presentations the other day! I'll give you your feedback sheet on Monday, ok?

Well, today it's time to start making sure that you have all the writng pieces you need to show me your competence in the writing unit for this course. I'm giving each of you a checklist so you can check that you have covered everything.

You can complete a lot of it by looking at last week's post and completing the activities. Please open your TAFE emails and reply to mine. If you haven't yet accessed your TAFE email, then you must do it today or if you don't have an account yet, then please email me from your Yahoo or Hotmail so I can send you the email with the assessment.

Happy Blogging!

Port Douglas

2007-11-07T21:31:00.000+11:00

Some photos of my time in Port Douglas.

Week 4

2007-11-06T13:47:00.000+11:00

G'day all

Wow, what an exciting week you've had? I'm sure you're all exhausted from resuscitating and bandaging each other as well as having your heads full of new medical vocabulary! I hope you all get a lot from the course as well as passing the assessments and getting a First Aid Certificate.

By now you should all be ready to do your presentations on Monday (except for Lei and Yang who have until Monday week). The ones I've read look very interesting. I'm looking forward to hearing you all speak on Monday.
Don't forget to PRACTISE, PRACTISE, PRACTISE.

For your work today, we are going to use some of the tasks
from Rosa's blog.

1. Tuesday was Melbourne Cup Day. Do you know anything about it? Check the information in the Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portal, Melbourne Cup, and answer the following questions:
What is it?
When does it take place? (time and date)
What happens to the nation on that day?
What is a sweep?
What would you be looking for if you checked the milliners directory on the Racetrack Fashions link?
How long has the Melbourne Cup been around (existed/taken place)?
Which is Austalia's most famous racehorse? Why?
What can you see
in the National Museum of Australia?
Who won the 2006 Melbourne Cup?
What do you think about all of this?

Use the answers to these questions to write a short report about the Melbourne Cup, with your opinion about it at the end. You can compare it to other celebrations or festivities in Australia or in your country of origin.

2. Last Tuesday Luisa Odelli, one of the college career counsellors, gave a talk about educational & vocational pathways. She showed us two very useful websites with course and work information:

TAFE Find a Course and My Future. You should start thinking about your pathway for next year.

3. Today's ESOL Forum question is about drivers. First do this short dictation in Time4English: Advanced 3L, Bad drivers!.

Then go to the last entry of our ESOL forum and give your opinion. Don't forget to read everyone else's opinion before you write yours.

4. We are going to start looking at writing invitations and refusing invitations. Visit this website, English Works! and read the notes on how to write invitations. Choose one of the three invitations and on paper, prepare a polite reply saying you can't attend the event. Hand the reply to me and we'll look at the language and structure together.

This afternoon before we continue with The Castle, I'll give you some information about replying to Invitations.

Well, that should keep you all busy for a while! Happy blogging!

Last weekend I waslucky enough to go to Port Douglas for a couple of days. I was invited with my husband to the launch of the new Toyota Landcruiser. It was also a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first Toyota landcruiser in Australia. The theme for the launch was very Australian with horses and stockmen riding on the beach. Toyota was hoping that the new car could arrive on a barge to the beach but windy weather stopped that from happening. The other days I was free to explore the sights of Port Douglas including the Skytrain and the Great Barrier Reef.

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Week 3

2007-10-31T18:15:00.000+11:00

G'day all

I'm sorry I can't be with you today. I do hope you find the pathways talks useful and that they help you with your course choices for next year.

Take care and happy blogging!

Week 2

2007-10-24T17:43:00.000+10:00

G'day all!

First of all, well done on guessing the name of the tourist attraction in last week's post! I enjoyed reading the comments!

I hope you all enjoyed the Migrant Information Day yesterday. Please add to your blog writing portfolio, a short recount (about your visit there - who, what, when, where, why, how you went etc, and the sequence of events) or a report about what the Migrant Information Day was all about. Remember the structure and language used in each different text type!

Thanks to all of you for your emails last week. I have replied to you but will return your emails in hard copy form for you to make the necessary corrections.

As Geeta may have told you, next Wednesday you will have a talk by the College Counsellor. To prepare for that, please print off the Vocabulary worksheets for the talk. Next week, Geeta will get you in small groups to do this worksheet for the Counsellor's talk.

After that, you can start your research for your presentation.

Happy Blogging!

Week 1, Term 4

2007-10-17T17:05:00.000+10:00

This is a well known Australian tourist attraction! What is it? Where is it? Have you ever visited it?

Post your answer in comments but don't spend too much time doing this part of the lesson!

G'day all and welcome back for term 4. Welcome too to our new students. We hope you enjoy your time here with us as you improve your English.

I'm still waiting for some of you to write your report and your recount about Bundeena. It forms part of your writing portfolio (a collection of written texts on various topics) for this course. Please finish this today!

Another thing to do today is to send me an email (Ask me for my address if you don't already know/have it) and tell me how you felt when you had to do your oral presentations last Monday. Talk about what the hardest thing was, how you felt and if you learnt anything from the experience.

Once you have completed these tasks, you can see me for the information sheet about the topic for your oral presentation. I will not give it to you until you have completed the other tasks!

Enjoy the class and work hard!!!

Last post for Term 3

2007-09-26T18:00:00.000+10:00

G'day all

I can't believe that today is our last class already! The term seems to have gone so quickly, doesn't it?

Well, today is DEFINITELY your last chance to finish your report and recount. Then I want you to start doing research on a famous person for your practice oral presentation.

Of course, if you haven't logged on to the DET Portal, then you can't do anything... not even read this post!!

Have a great break but try to do some of the activities suggested on the sheet to keep up your English skills!

Happy Holidays!!!

Week 8

2007-09-19T13:48:00.000+10:00

What's this a photo of? Who took it? Where was it taken? When was it taken? Post your answer in "Comments" in this post!

G'day all

I can't believe that this is the second last class for the term already! I hope you are all up to date with the work you should be doing. By now the Webquest should be completed. If you are having trouble with the report please talk to me!

How are the reports and the recounts coming along? Nearly finished? They have to be ready by next Thursday so Ican check and correct them over the holidays!

Today's class will be a bit shorter than usual due to the morning tea for us in the Student Association. Congratulations to all who willingly participated in the event. As you've probably heard, the Student Association Board have generously given us $1,500 towards our end of year excursion. That's all thanks to YOU and Sally's class.

Last weekend, I went up the north coast to Foster Tuncurry for the Great Lakes car rally. It is a really beautiful place! I tried out my new camera but as you can see from the photos I got more dust than cars!

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Week 7

2007-09-12T14:33:00.000+10:00

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Well what can I say? You were all FANTASTIC yesterday at the Car & Bike Expo! It was great hearing you use your English as you handed out show bags, evaluation forms, raffle tickets and food. You spoke clearly, were polite and very friendly. I had some very positive feedback from teachers from other sections about you all. Well done!

Last week we had a great excursion to Bundeena, didn't we? Not even the rain could dampen our spirits!!! I do hope you had an enjoyable day and got something out of it! I'm looking forward to seeing all the photos from the day.

Sally told me today about an article in the Sydney Morning Herald. Have a look at the article and answer these questions.

What is the article about?
When was it in the paper?
Which place is mentioned that you've recently visited?
Name 2 ways to get there.
What were the local people called?
Name 4 activities the locals used to do.
What's the beach called?
Name 3 things you can see there.

Use these answers to help you write a short information report about Bundeena. Use the guide from aa recent post to help you with the structure.

Then you can write a recount of last week's excursion. Do you remember the stages and structure of a recount? Ask me for a hard copy of how to write a recount if you're unsure.

Week 5

2007-08-29T16:28:00.000+10:00

G'day all,

I can't believe that it's week 5 already! We really have to get our skates on and get up tp date with all our work! remember that the work on the blog counts towards your reading/listening/writing assessment.. it is ongoing! I'll give you a printout next week of what you should have done by now!

I'm sure you are all working very hard on the webquest set by Rosa! Keep up the good work! I've included (on the blog) Rosa's instructions for writing an information report. Please use this to help you structure your report WHEN you have ALL the answers to the webquest!

I do hope that you will write your opinion on last week's forum question! I only saw 2 comments!!! By the way, Geeta told me that you were talking about smacking. Have a look athe the forum topic that we had in first term and read other students comments. Please add your opinion to the list!

Thanks to WeiYun for telling us about Chinese Valentine's Day! It was the first time I heard of it! Read all about it in her blog!

Please make sure too that you have a look Lei's blog and look at the beautiful flowers in the bubbleshare! Thanks too to her for last week's question and well done to those who named the QVB as the building in the picture!

A word of warning though, please make sure NOT to plagiarise other writers' work! DO NOT COPY LARGE CHUNKS OF TEXT TO PUT IN YOUR BLOG! It is illegal!

Well, I'd better let you all get to work! Happy blogging!

Report writing

2007-08-29T10:00:00.000+10:00

Reports: Information Texts (Factual Descriptions)

(With thanks to Rosa who published this on her blog)

The purpose of a report or information text is to describe facts. You can describe people, animals, places, events and objects.

The person writing the report informs the readers about the characteristics of the person, animal, object, place or event being described.

The readers read reports to get more information about those people, animals, etc.

Because we are dealing with facts, things that are always true, the verbs are usually in the present simple.

Because we are describing, we often use the verbs to be and to have.

Because we are talking about those people, animals, etc in general-not in a particular point in time-the participants (the people, animals, etc described) are used in a general way. If we are talking about Kangaroos, for example, we say Kangaroos are marsupial..., we don't say that the kangaroo is a marsupial.

You always start a report by introducing the topic you are going to talk about and telling the readers what that is (classification). You don't have to say Today I'm going to talk about kangaroos. You can start like this: Kangaroos are Australian marsupials.....

After the introduction you can have one paragraph to describe each different aspect (part) of the thing you are describing. For example one paragraph to describe what kangaroos look like, one to describe their habitat (where they live), one to describe their eating, procreating habits or characteristics.

The most important things to remember are:

STRUCTURE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION:
A statement of fact . It will include the name, group, topic: A Healthy Lifestyle is ..

DESCRIPTION OF PART #

One paragraph for each different part.

Exercise, what it is and examples
Diet, what it is and examples
Mental wellbeing, what it is and examples

LANGUAGE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Simple present & relational verbs (be, have, includes, consists of,...)

Swimming is good for ....Joggers have ... There are many foods....

Generic nouns
People... Doctors.... Children... A healthy diet...

Noun groups (article+adjectives+noun)
The mental health system...

Circumstances of place (where), time (when)
Twice a week ... . In the evening or at night ....

Circumstances of manner (how)
Everyone can keep healthy by exercising regularly.

A challenge!

2007-08-22T14:10:00.001+10:00

G'day all,

It was great to see Lei's bubbleshare with the photos of last week's class! What a beautiful job she did with Vicky, Bo Ram and Umma's hair! Not to mention what she did to my eyes!!??? Make sure you click on the link and have a look for yourself!

Some of you are falling a bit behind with the work so you need to catch up!! Look back over the past 4 weeks posts and complete the tasks. Remember, if you have the internet at home you can access your blog!

On Monday afternoon we started to talk about men's jobs; women's jobs. What do you think? Are there some jobs better suited to one sex than the other? Why? Why not? Click the link to the Forum and give your opinion. (Try to register yourself but if you can't then ask me for the username and password) Let's see if Rosa's class will join in!

Rosa has set an interesting task for her class and I'm going to ask you to do it too! It's called a webquest. Click on the link and follow Rosa's prompts/questions! It will be a bit harder for you because you have not done all the work on her blog, but give it a go anyway! I'll give a prize to the first 2 students from my class who complete it all!

Good luck and happy blogging!

Instructions!!

2007-08-15T17:14:00.000+10:00

G'day all,

What good work you did last week listening to the podcast with Patricia and answering the questions about the Library! If you haven't done the work then PLEASE do it first thing today!

Very well done to WeiYun who looked at Rosa's blog and correctly answered the question she asked! Well done too to WeiYun and Lei who've been working on Voicethreads!The rest of you should try it today if you've got photos or you can choose some off the web!

As we started to look at the language of Instructions on Monday, you can log on to Time4English and do the following activities:
Grammar book: 6A-6B-6C
Intermediate level: 2A

Please tell me when you have finished this work as you have to print it off to show me that you have completed the activities.

On Monday mornings we have also been looking at How we learn so have a look at the Advanced section and look at 1 About Language and complete 1A-1B-1C-1D.

If you still have time after all that, please have a look at Vacation English and do the topic Australian Language Topic 3 V3.6

Happy Blogging!!

Something new and exciting!

2007-08-08T17:31:00.001+10:00

Try this new and exciting thing today! it's so easy to register! Just open the website link and sign up! Then start having fun!! There is a bit of a problem recording here at the moment so do the writing and try recording at home! Good luck!

Library tour!

2007-08-08T13:55:00.000+10:00

G'day all,

Thanks for all the work you did on your blogs last week and a big thanks too for helping Sally's class to create blogs. To those who didn't do any of the work, then please do it today so that you don't fall too far behind! It can happen very easily!

On Monday, we went on a tour of the Library. Patricia showed you a power point presentation of the rules and regulations and then took us on a walk around. I hope you all know where to go to find the English language section (what's the shelf identification number for ESOL?)

To consolidate your knowledge of the information you heard, you can listen to a podcast that Rosa did with Patricia last year. The answers to this podcast make up your first assessment this term. Please print off the questions, listen to the podcast and write down the answers. When you finish, write your name on the page and hand it up to me!

When you finish this important work, you can join Voice thread and create your own if you have photos!

Happy blogging!

Time for work!

2007-08-01T14:44:00.000+10:00

G'day all!

Last week I hope you had fun creating your blogs and writing your first post! However, there is work to be done and you have to do it today to catch up! Please read last week's post and complete the activities requested. Any questions, please ask for help!

When you have completed ALL the activities, I'd like you to add a permanent link to my blog. Also add the links to English4U and any other link you think you might like!

Happy Blogging!

A new beginning!

2007-07-24T18:23:00.000+10:00

What's this a picture of? Where would you find it??

G'day to all the new students for semester 2, 2007 and welcome to our class blog.

I know some of you have done this task before but, before we start, you should think a bit about good computer habits. Some of you are a bit lazy and sit very awkardly at the computer! It is very important to get used to having good posture when you are working on the computer so that you don't get back pain, etc. You will find very useful information and some language exercises here: Computer Health. Read the information first and then answer the Computer Health quiz.

When you finish answering the quiz, print it and keep it in your folder in the blog section. Yes, you will have to get a ring folder to be well organised with your class notes. I'll speak more about this on Monday! Geeta and I will ask you to look at things done in previous lessons. Some of you really need to get organised!!

Now try this game to learn about computer words. You can also do this other game with more computer vocabulary in English.

On Monday, new students were introduced to the novel called Opal Crazy. This is set in the town of Lightning Ridge in New South Wales. The story also mentioned Coober Pedy. Look at the links to find out more where these places are and what they have to offer tourists. Write in your blog which town you'd like to visit and why!! Then do a Google search for Olympic Australis 1956!!! Then read the article Are opals bad luck? Post a comment on what you think!! Are you superstitious? What do you do to avoid bad luck? What do people in your country consider bad luck or superstitious? Write a list in your blog!

If you have still have time, you can look at Time4English and look at the useful page on tenses. Go into Grammar book, then select T and look at the Tenses chart and the past tense irregular verb list. Ask me for the username and password if this is your first class.

For those who want a challenge, look at Rosa's blog and see if you can answer the questions she's asked about the photos! Rememer to write the answers in the comments section of Rosa's blog!

Until next week, happy blogging!

Our last class for Semester 1, 2007

2007-06-19T19:41:00.000+10:00

Have a look at this Bubbleshare that Rosa put on her blog as some of you are in it!!

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Well today we say 'goodbye' to some of our classmates for ever! We wish you all the best for the future in whatever you do! We hope you continue to do well in Australia and that you sometimes remember your English class with us! I'm looking forward to seeing some of you again next semester and to doing even bigger and better things on the blog!

We have a shortened class today due to the Student Association presentation and our end of Semester lunch but remember, you can log on to the blog from home or come in to the library over the next few weeks! It's good to try and keep up with our English from home etc! Even those who are leaving us can 'pop in' to the blog whenever they feel like it!!!

For today's class, some of you have to finish your Resumes from last week. The rest of you can log on to Time4English and work on Intermediate Level Unit 7 and do the new exercises in 8. If you want to revise your Grammar, have a look at Adverbs of Frequency.

As some of you work quickly, you can listen to the NEWS story on the Home page of Time4English and complete the exercises on the text 'Worms could stop allergies'. It's really interesting! As a final activity for the term, I'd like you to add a comment to this week's post telling me what you liked best about this blog this term!

So, it's goodbye from me and goodbye from some of you too! Happy holidays to all!!

Second last class!!

2007-06-14T06:35:00.000+10:00

G'day all,

Well what terrible weather was experienced by Sydney and the Central coast last weekend! I'm sure you all saw the pictures of the floods and the terrible damage they did! It was very sad that so many people died in the bad conditions. Did you stay indoors or did you have to go out in the rain? I spent most of the weekend at the computer trying to finish work for my course and do some administration work for TAFE.

Great work last week on guessing correctly that the bird in the picture is a Rainbow Lorikeet and that the bush is a Grevellia. Of course you were correct too that the picure was taken by me in my backyard. Read Betty's comment in my post about a lorikeet. Where is the bird now, Betty?

It's hard to believe that the end of the semester is here. That means that for some of you it will be your last computer class and probably the last time you look at the blog! Remember, even when you leave this class you can still access this class and blogs! It would be good for your English to keep it up! You could write a journal of what's going on in your life and new course and keep us up to date. Remember too, you can always leave a comment in my blog to contact me or email. That is of course, if you want to stay in touch! Maybe you'll be happy to say goodbye!

I set some work last week on writing Resumes which I don't think anyone got to. Perhaps you could go back to that post and complete the work. When you finish, you can listen to Rosa's podcast with Katerina who used to work in the Multicultural Unit. As Rosa suggested to her class it may help you with course selection or future pathways. Print of the questions if you need to.

As we won't be here next Thursday, it's bye bye for a few weeks. Good luck to those who are leaving and thanks for being great students. I've really enjoyed teaching you all and I wish you all the best for the future.For those of you coming back for another semester, well I'll be seeing you soon and I look forward to a bigger and better Semester 2!

Take care and happy blogging!

Writing resumes!

2007-06-07T06:41:00.000+10:00

What kind of bird is this? What kind of bush is this? Where was the photo taken? Post your answers in 'comments'

G'day all,

It was great to see the fantastic work you did with Bubbleshare last week! Some of you are very creative and certainly don't need me to teach you anything on the computer! Well done!

Some of you are learning to drive or have recently got your licence so you may be thinking about Buying a car. Have a look at Time4English, Intermediate and do the exercises on Buying a used car. Remember to give me a copy of the work you do. When you have finished, write an opinion in your blog about buying a used car in Australia!

As we are soon to start work on Instructions/Processes etc, I thought that I'd give you some instructions today! Some of you are seriously thinking about going to get a job so it's a good idea to get your CV/Resume up to date. Today you can start to prepare one in class.

First, open Microsoft Word.
Then, click on the small x in the top right hand corner (not the one in the red box)to open Microsoft Office online.
Next,type 'Templates' in the search box.
Find Resumes/CV
Click on 'Basic'
Choose number 11 (you'll have to count) - Chronological resume - vertical theme.
Select 'Download now'.
Click 'Accept'
Finally, click 'Continue' and start writing in your information!

Happy blogging!

Lots of news!!

2007-05-30T20:52:00.000+10:00

G'day all,

We have some students leaving and others joining the class this week so 'goodbye' to Geva and 'Hello' to Hussein! I was very excited to learn on Tuesday that Nancy 2 is going to have a baby too so 'Congratulations'. Look out any other Nancys in the class!!!I also heard yesterday that Amal had a little baby girl a few days ago. They are both still in hospital and won't be home for a few more days as unfortunately, the baby has to have a little operation. I met Vlatko's sister last night and she told me that Vlatko was in hospital for 5 days and had to have an operation! We'll ring him this morning so he can tell you what happened to him!

I thought that seeing you have all been working so hard getting your portfolio of work up to date that today we'd try to get everyone registered with Bubbleshare and create a story board with pictures and words. If you don't have any photos of your own, I'm sure we can upload some for you to use!!!

Next Tuesday between 12 and 1pm, there will be a Pathways information session by teachers from other sections to give you help in choosing a course for Semester 2 if you're not returning/repeating Level 4. I hope you can all make it. I will prepare you for the session next Tuesday. If you're not able to attend I'll give you the handouts anyway. Now is a good time too to make an appointment with the counsellor to get some advice/help/ideas about what's good for you and your future study/work plans.

Of course I don't want you to leave me but I have to inform you of the options available to you!!!

Check out Rosa's post for this week if/when you've done finished with Bubbleshare!

Happy blogging!

What an improvement!

2007-05-23T15:33:00.000+10:00

G'day all!

I'm sorry that I had a go at you all last week about not having done any work but I had to! I know you were filling in your time in class but you weren't producing anything that I could see! What a big improvement this week though?? Nearly everyone has started to complete the work set and some of you have finished it all. Well done to you! You know who you are!!!!

By all accounts, the Health Expo was enjoyed by all! Well done everybody! I'm just sorry I missed out on all the food (except for Tina's yummy pancakes, thanks). Make sure you check out Sophie's blog and watch her 'bubbleshare' slide show!

Please take today's lesson to finish off the activities from last week. If you are up to date with EVERYTHING then you can go Time4English and start work on Module 6 -Hobbies from the Level 4 Lower Intermediate section. Remember to document what work you do and make a copy of the more challenging exercises so I can see what you've done! Have a look too at the NEWS section of the Home page. Check out last week's item about gym memberships! Remember to click on the SOUND button that appears on the left of the screen when you open a listening activity.DO NOT DO THESE ACTIVITIES UNTIL YOU FINISH THE OTHER SET WORK!

Okay all, this is my last post from home as I'll be back on Monday so beware!!!!

Happy blogging!

A big thank you but an important request too!!

2007-05-16T10:44:00.000+10:00

My lovely flowers

G'day all,

What a big surprise last Friday to receive such a large bunch of flowers from you all! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! There were also some chocolates hiding in there too! I think they may have been from Stojan and Silvana so a big thanks for those too and the Mother's Day wishes as well. I trust that all you mums had a good day on Sunday. Perhaps you could put a little post on your blogs and let everyone know what your families did for you or what you did for your mothers! (Boys, you can write from the male point of view!) When is Mother's Day celebrated in your country? Is it as commercial as here in Australia? When was the first Mother's Day celebrated?

My knee is improving every day. I can now walk without crutches! I can't go up and down stairs easily and walking on uneven surfaces is hard for me too. I still have the brace and will have to wear it for another 4 weeks. I'm not driving yet but hope to try that after the weekend. I will be back at work on Monday week. So get ready!!!!!

Well the Health Expo was a huge success as usual thanks to the fantastic support of the AMEP students. A big thanks must go to Sally who had to do all the planning and organising of the AMEP classes on her own! I only had to make a few phone calls to arrange the wonderful prizes and the Paralympian's visit. I hope some of you won something! I'd like you to write a recount of the day in your blogs and to share photos if you can. I will correct and assess this recount as part of your writing portfolio so make sure you do it!!!!

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING IN CLASS THE PAST 3 WEEKS? I HAVE SEEN VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE FROM YOU (EXCEPT FOR 2 OR 3 STUDENTS!) THAT YOU ACTUALLY CAME TO CLASS AT ALL! SOME OF YOU HAVE NOT ADDED A POST TO YOUR BLOG SINCE MARCH. THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH! MANY OF YOU WILL FAIL THE READING/LISTENING/WRITING COMPETENCIES OF YOUR COURSE AND THEREFORE YOU WILL NOT GET A CERTIFICATE BUT WILL HAVE TO REPEAT THIS COURSE AGAIN NEXT SEMESTER. HERE IS A LIST OF THE WORK I HAVE TO SEE ON THE BLOG OR IN MY HAND WHEN I RETURN ON MONDAY WEEK. NO EXTENSION WILL BE GIVEN.

Listening:Answer the questions on the podcast Patricia: Librarian. You can publish them in you blogs or hand them to me.

Reading: Complete the readings and worksheets from last week's post on health matters ( Better Health Obesity: Obesity & Better Health Skin Cancer: Skin Cancer)

Writing: summarise the articles you read and listened to in Time4English about Hot Chips cause Cancer (7J) and Take-Away Food Dangerous (7Y). Give your opinion.

Writing : Write your opinion about the topic Thin models.
Read about it in the Sydney Morning Herald and the ABC7news.

Writing : A recount of yesterday's Health Expo. (If you didn't go then you have to write a recount of what you did all day!)

A break from me!!!

2007-05-08T15:10:00.000+10:00

G'day all,

Well I must have needed another holiday but I certainly didn't want one like this!!It feels very strange to be 'hanging' around while everyone is at school or work! My husband has given me a list of jobs to do... phone calls to make...bills to pay on the phone or internet etc! I'm certainly not running around or even walking for that matter!

Luckily, you still have work to finish from last week and I'll be waiting to see the results of your efforts on your blogs or on paper. I hope you remembered your headphones today so that you can listen to the texts on English4U!

By now you're pretty organised for the Health Expo. You all have jobs and know what to cook, don't you? A very big thank you to Sally who now has to do most of the work on her own. Thankfully, Anita has agreed to help her. I know too that you will all do a great job. I hope that I can get there for a little while if I can get someone to drive me. I won't know until Monday or Tuesday.

When you have finished all the work from Rosa's post from last week, write up the recipe of the dish you plan to cook for Wednesday. You can also use Google Images to add a picture to your post. I'll look forward to reading them! If I don't have your blog address (if your name is not on the list on my blog page), then please email me with the details. Unfortunately I left the details on my desk last Thursday and I haven't been to work since!

Have a good week and missing you!

A new term!

2007-05-02T19:00:00.000+10:00

Some photos from my trip!

This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

G'day all or as we say in Irish, Dia Dhuit (literally it means God be with you),

It was great to see all of you back in class this week! I missed you all even though I had a fantastic time during my trip overseas. The main purpose of the trip was to visit my family in Cork, Ireland, but I was also lucky enough to visit 2 cities in Scotland, and Bangkok in Thailand. I visited the capital of Scotland which is called Edinburgh, and another city called Aberdeen. It was the first time in those 3 cities so I really felt like a tourist!

Thanks to all of you who wrote in Comments about the photo in the last post. I'm sorry that more of you didn't actually go on the excursion and see the cottage!!

Ok, enough writing and on to some work! I was talking to Rosa today about our topic Health and Lifestytle and I told her that we'd looked at Food and Fashion on Tuesday. I couldn't believe it when she said that her level 4 class are actually looking at similar topics at the moment, so as I unpacked boxes in my new office, Rosa prepared a BLOG lesson for her class which is perfect for us!

This year the Student Association is once again holding a Health Expo and they have asked AMEP to be involved.To be prepared for it we are looking at some of the issues over the next few weeks.

Please go to Rosa's blog and start working on the exercises and activities she's mentioned. Check out the fantastic bubble share photos from 2006! Do you recognise any of the people????There is also a forum question for this week that you should answer AFTER you've completed everything else! Rosa and I think that there may actually be enough work for 2 weeks for you if you do it all properly! Before you write anything, check out Anastasia's (from Rosa's class) blog from last year. There is a photo on her blog that I think you'll be interested in seeing!

Happy blogging!S

Last blog for term 1

2007-03-28T18:10:00.000+10:00

Where is this building? What's special about it?

G'day all,

Well I had great plans for this week's blog but time has got the better of me and I won't be able to do it!

Thanks to my class for helping Sally's class last week. I'm sorry that I haven't had a chance to add the links to my blog but I'll do it as soon as I can.

Next Thursday, Gordana is going to take both classes on an excursion to the Rocks. This is a very beautiful part of Sydney and an important historical area. During the excursion you will visit many places and I'd like you to look them up today so that you have some information before you go. When you look at the Rocks link, be sure to check out the Interactive map, the Rocks discovery Museum and the Sydney Visitor Centre. Have a look here for some history of the area. One of the places that you're sure to see is Cadman's Cottage. Have a look at this interesting place. When you have explored the Rocks on the internet, write a post on your blog of one of the places mentioned. Remember to use your own words and do not plagarise anyone's work. NO COPYING AND PASTING OF INFORMATION!

Have a look at this link to Earth Hour. What is it? Are you going to do it? Write about it in your blog. may be a photo???

Remember to check out Time4English and try some of the listening exercises. Instead of Easter eggs this year, perhaps you could get some headphones for next term so we can start recording. When we come back we'll try Digital stories so can you bring some photos on a USB, camera etc?

Well, have a great holiday and enjoy your free time away from TAFE. I look forward to seeing you all next term- relaxed, refreshed and ready for work!

Happy blogging!

The Bridge's birthday!

2007-03-21T17:29:00.000+11:00

Who are these three?? Write your answer in comments!

G'day all!,

Great work last week on working out who St. Patrick was! Some of you found the answer really quickly while others were searching for ages! Some of you just hit the right websites!
Well, today's class is going to be quite short due to the Harmony Day morning tea and the Job Placement talk. Therefore, I'm not setting you any tasks except to check out Rosa's blog and do her suggested activities if you have time. Remember, you can always finish them at home if you have access to the internet. Remember too that you can use the library computers on Fridays!

I know some of you walked across the Harbour Bridge last Sunday. Wasn't it a great day? I know that I really enjoyed myself and proudly wear my tattoo on my arm! I was also lucky enough to go to the old Fort Street School (which is now a National Trust Building called the S.H Ervin building) and get a Certificate to acknowledge my historic walk! If you click on the link here, you can see where you can order a certificate for yourself.If you walked last Sunday, maybe you'd like to write something in your blog and add a photo or 2! I tried to do a Bubbleshare like Rosa but couln't get my photos to finish uploading! I'll try again tonight at home! (it didn't work, sorry. I'll keep trying!)
Happy blogging!

Well done!

2007-03-14T09:53:00.000+11:00

Who is this man? Why have I put his picture in my blog this week? Poat your replies in Comments!

G'day all,
What a clever bunch you all are! Last week's answers about 'skivvies' and the Wiggles were well done. I'm sure those of you with young children knew the answers easily! (I did hear some of you singing 'Hot Potato, Hot Potato'!)

Some of you are falling behind with the work on the blog! I realise that some of you had problems with your blogs and have had to create new ones. It is important to do the work I set you each week. If you are having trouble , please speak to me! This is a class to help you to improve your English skills in a different way but if I can't see evidence of your work, it's hard for me to know how you're progressing!

Congratulations to you all with list of ways to learn English outside the classroom. Read Rosa's post and check out the forum to see all the answers! While you're there, check out this week's froum topic.

As you have had 2 visits to the library with Lisbeth, I'd like you to listen to the podcast with Patricia the librarian and remember to PRINT the worksheets so that you can answer the questions more easily in your blog. Try to present your answers in a clear and easy to understand format. It's better if you can listen with headphones so that you don't disturb your classmates.

You've been working with Sally on a puzzle for Harmony Day which sounds great! Have a look at Rosa's blog for some questions about Harmony Day! Check out Time4English too for the exercises on culture.

There is a new program on the computers in FG.20 now. It's called Issues in English. I'd like you to open it and have a look! It's very popular with other students. I hope you enjoy it too.

Good luck to all of you going on the Bridge walk on Sunday! Perhaps I'll see you among the 200,000 people!! I'm walking 1pm!

Happy Blogging!

Thursday's class

2007-03-07T13:06:00.000+11:00

G'day all,

Happy International Women's Day to all you ladies in the class!!

Well what a clever bunch you all are to guess last week's picture! It is indeed a banana plant and the photo was taken from my backyard. (The plant is actually in my neighbour's garden). Congratulations to Vicky who was the first to guess correctly. Well done!

A big thank you to all the students who attended the annual general meeting of the Students' Union today. They were lucky to have you there! I hope you enjoyed the free lunch! I hope too that you understood (or could hear) what Kylie was saying. The students having lunch were very noisy, weren't they?

During her talk, Kylie mentioned about an evening's activity that's happening for board members out in Parramatta. She talked about a party where people have to dress up as an Australian hero, icon or sports person etc. She said people could dress up in coloured skivvies (what are these?) and come as the Wiggles. Have you heard of them? Do a Google search and find some info about them. Just write one or two lines in comments about who or what the Wiggles are.

On Tuesday, we had a game that involved countable and uncountable nouns. Have a look at this activity from Time4English as a little revision. New students, please ask me for the username and password. Go into Grammar on the left side of the page and click on Articles 1&2. There are quite a few new words on the second page!

Excellent work on the Forum last week! You certainly made it very hard for Rosa's class to come up with more ideas for the list. Have a look and see what they've added!

Have a look at Rosa's blog and try listening to the podcast with Lisbeth. It will give you some information about her! Hopefully, you can all hear it on your computers! Remember to bring your headphones!

As Rosa mentions in her blog, it's the 75th birthday of the Harbour Bridge on 18th March! On that day the Bridge will be closed to traffic and people can walk across it. You have to register for the walk so why don't you follow the link here and see if you can still register!

Well, that should be enough to keep you busy for a while! Remember to ask me if you need help. Have a good class and happy blogging!

What a week!

2007-02-28T13:22:00.000+11:00

What's this a photo of? Any idea? Post your answer in comments! I'll give a small prize to the first person who answers correctly in comments and identifies the 'thing' and tells me where the photo was taken!!!!

G'day all,

Once again it's blog time! I hope you all had fun doing the work on the Queen Mary 2 last week. There is some very good work in the comments for last week. I'll be checking your blogs soon as I think some of you may have posted your answers there. It's good to see the new students' blogs also. Well done!

I forgot last week to give you the username and password for the forum so please remind me to give it to you today so that you can add your opinion! I think the latest topic is very relevant as it is what were were talking about in class on Tuesday and your 2 week homework activity! Please READ the instructions CAREFULLY BEFORE you add your opinion.

Your work for this week is from Rosa's blog post called It's still summer!. Read the post CAREFULLY and complete the activities. There are also instructions there on to add links and images to your blog.

Happy blogging!

Now to work!

2007-02-21T11:16:00.000+11:00

G'day all,

Well this new Blogger has kept me busy trying to work out how to do all the posts, colour changes and template changes! Even Rosa was struggling yesterday tring to make the size of the sidebar headings smaller but we failed! This new Blogger is easier in one way, but not entirely flexible! I'll do my best!

Anyway, those of you who have old blogs might as well keep them as evidence of all the great work you did last year. Once again, I have included links to Rosa's 2007 blog and Time4English. I hope you make use of them.

Did any of you go to see the Queen Mary 2 or the QE2 cruise ships yesterday? They certainly caused a sensation in the harbour. The photos in the paper are amazing! I heard though, that the traffic jams and transport chaos were not good at all!

Do a search on Google and find out the following information about the ship!
1. When was she built? and where?
2. How big is the Queen Mary?
3. How many people can sail on it?
4. How many crew are on board?
5. How long did she spend in Sydney and where is she going next?

Post your answers in Comments.

When you finish, open the link to podcasts and forums and look at this week's topic and add a comment. Remember, you just click on Post New Messsage to leave a comment and don't forget to put your name at the end of the message.

Happy Blogging!

Welcome to 2007

2007-02-12T15:51:00.000+11:00

G'day AMEP-A new and returning students! It's great to be able to blog again in a new year! We also have an extra hour each week and the class is in the morning so Vlatko and Stojan can join in!

I've kept the same template but it's a new BLOG name and address! You'll see all the links to last year's work are on the side. For new students, click on http://marion-cork.blogspot.com and you'll see what we got up to last year!

For my last year's students, I'd like you all to create a new blog and add links to last year's posts etc. I'll help you with that during the lesson.

For the new class members, you'll be starting from scratch anyway so just hang on!

I'm looking forward to a good semester's work from you all! Hope you enjoy it too.

Cheers!

Sally's class

2006-08-01T16:02:00.000+10:00

Anita
Artem
Cuifang
Dong
Hongshan
Khammun
Leticia
Priscila
Sveta
Teresa

2007 Semester 1 Students

2006-08-01T15:42:00.000+10:00

Alisha
Emi
Fang
Fawzia
Geva
Ghasaq
Jean
John
Lina
Magda
Maria
Marta
Nancy
Nancy2
Ruby
Shila
Sophie
Stojan
Tina
Vicky
Vlatko
Yang
Yi Han
Zahida