Kevin's Level 5 ESL at Palomar

Last Day of Class & Last Writing

2009-05-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of the 16 week semester. We have studied a lot of things, both in English grammar and in content areas and general topics. The textbook has had a number of readings about important events and people. We also spent two weeks studying about careers and educational programs.

For the final blog entry of the semester, and as your final writing assignment, I'd like you to make a fairly long blog comment (two paragraphs of 4-5 sentences each)about the things you've learned in this class. You should mention the things that were most memorable and important to you, and maybe also some things that you need to study more about. Finally, write a little about what you plan to do in your studies over the summer and next semester.

This should be written as an informal letter to the other members of the class. If you want to end with some personal observations and goodbyes, that's OK too.

Hope to see you again in the future.

The Road Not Taken

2009-05-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

We have been studying modals in the past tense, such as must have/could have/should have. A few days ago we discussed things we might have done differently in our lives, and how our lives would be different now if we had taken that "other road".

Honestly speaking, I have a hard time thinking of any major regrets about my own life decisions. There are many things I might have done differently, but very little that has had a major negative effect.

The example I used was my decision not to marry my girlfriend in Peru. I could have stayed there and started a language school and club in a small town. I may have had sons or daughters and much more responsibility than I have now. Also, I may have been divorced by now, because it's difficult to marry someone from another country and culture and many of my friends who did so tell me they shouldn't have.

In the Comments section, write a short entry about something you might have done differently, and how your life would be different now if you'd done it. Remember: "Should have..." is used to express regret for past mistakes, "may/might/could have" is used to express possibilities that you don't necessarily regret.

Podcasts About "My Early Life"

2009-04-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

I will link the podcasts that Claudia, Sunikumar, and Hernan did in late February to this entry, so that everyone in the class can find them easily.

Lee is uploading only one podcast per week, so the students who did the podcasts on "Self Introduction" will have to wait awhile to hear them.

Go to the link and look for the name of each student. There are also podcasts by students from other classes as well:

http://daphne.palomar.edu/lchen/VOESL/VOESL.xml

"Love Conquers All" Reading

2009-04-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

We finished reading and discussing an article on college students' perceptions of relationships. The researcher seems to feel that young people are overly optimistic and have very high expectations for marriage and serious relationships.

We discussed whether unrealistically high expectations might have something to do with the very high divorce rate in the United States.

Today, the students will write their answers and opinions on the questions found on Pg. 52 of the reader:

a & b -- Has the number of marriages been increasing constantly? What happened between 1990 and 1995, and why do you think it might have happened?

c & d -- Has the number of divorces been increasing constantly? What happened between 1985 and 1990, and why do you think it might have happened?

Also -- What do you think has been the general tendency for marriage and divorce in your home country over the past 35-40 years (since the 1970s)? In other words, is society changing everywhere in its attitudes toward marriage and divorce?

2009-04-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

self introduction topic is very helpful to learn in the career awareness and also it is very good to prepare any one to have good interview.

Career Awareness Project

2009-03-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

This is our first day back after spring break. During the two weeks prior to the break, we completed (sometimes hurriedly) the materials in the Career Awareness Project booklet. The most important parts of the project materials were:

--Vocabulary and categories needed to describe yourself to others and to understand yourself better. These include (1) your values on CAP Pg. 5, (2) your preferences and aptitudes on CAP Pg. 6, (3) your strongest qualities as an employee on CAP Pg. 35, (4) your strongest "intelligences" in the Reader on Pp. 77-78, (5) your present skills and skills that you'd like to develop in the future on CAP Pg. 9, (6) your present education level and work experience on CAP Pp. 14-15, and (7) your short-term and long-term goals on CAP Pg. 12.

--Resources for job searching and finding information about careers, including EUREKA, Job Giant on http://www.sdreader.com/, and the Career Center webpage under www.palomar.edu/counseling/careercenter/.

--Information for finding out about Associate Degree and certificate programs at Palomar College and through ROP (which sometimes has programs at other colleges instead of at Palomar). The main resource for this information is the College Catalogue under www.palomar.edu/catalog/2008/contents.htm. You can look under any subject offered at Palomar, find out whether it has a program leading to a degree or certificate, and see exactly which classes you need to take to earn it.

--Information about the American education system, particularly Associate (AA), Bachelor's (BA/BS), Master's (MA/MS), doctorate (PhD), and other professional degrees available from different kinds of institutions. You should understand the tradeoff between time and money spent on studying and potential for future earning. With the exception of the PhD, more time spent in school generally means more money earned after graduation. However, some trades that don't require a lot of formal education or training can pay very well if you have good aptitude for them, especially if you become a manager or start your own business.

The next writing project will be a Self Description, using the material in the first part. This should be a fairly long (250 word+) paper about yourself, written in the first person. It is a good opportunity to develop a description of yourself that you can use in future job interviews or discussions with educational counselors.

Tonight: Please write a comment to this blog about the things you learned in the Career Awareness Project. By the way, your blog comments count as quiz grades.

A Trip To The Moon

2009-03-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

Apollo 13 Ahmad Jahangiri
3-9-09
We watched excerpts of the movie "Apollo 13",we found 19 step from movie to trip one Apollo
to the moon.step one showing how much scientist think about residency of material during the
passed Earth atomiser with that temperature. It was first item to save " APOLLO 13"
and finally hero was that engineers to made situation for himself to more help full .

Apollo 13 & Step-by-Step Processes

2009-03-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today is the start of the eighth week of the semester.

Last week we watched excerpts of the movie "Apollo 13", and wrote out the steps involved in a normal Apollo mission with moon landing. We then wrote in past tense the steps the Apollo 13 mission had to improvise in order to return safely to Earth, in particular the extraordinary use of the real "hero" of the story: The LEM.

Sixth Week

2009-02-25T18:34:00.000-08:00

We are nearing the end of the sixth week of the semester. This week we started study of the passive.

We will use it to discuss some aspects of the early U.S. Space Program, particularly how a normal Apollo mission would complete a journey to the moon (present tense; step-by-step procedure). Then we will use it to describe how the Apollo 13 mission required changes in the procedures to return the astronauts safely home (past tense).

Personally, I am very proud of this story as an aspect of American history. I think it demonstrates the ability of Americans to improvise solutions under changing circumstances... though I wish nowadays we could just learn how to plan things out in advance before diving blindly head-on into perfectly preventable disasters!

Fifth Week

2009-02-18T20:24:00.000-08:00

We're finishing up the first of five major writing assignments, a narrative on "Early Memories". The students are also learning to use wikipedia.org and EUREKA, a database on career information.

They type the papers on MS Word and email them to me as an attachment. Most of the students now know how to do this fairly well.

When we start the chapter on passive forms, we will work more with the movie "Apollo 13" and the history of the U.S. Space Program.

Hello there!!!

2009-02-18T20:20:00.000-08:00

I was looking into wikipedia and it was very interesting .

my weekend

2009-02-09T19:49:00.000-08:00

my weekend was ok. I curen't play soccer on saturday or sunday but I gat all day to eat.Thas all I did on my weekend besides my chores.

my weekend

2009-02-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

Hi teacher:
My weekend was not good,I was sick and I have had a lot things to do, but I couldn't.

I went to my bed and I played games with my children and we read books, and we were talking about their school,It was fun,we cooked sandwiches and enjoy to share the day,and we went to sleep early, the next day I felt better and we ate our breakfast together and we played with our dog,we watched TV and we ate popcorn with lemon, leter we preapered our things for Monday and we went to slept early. that's all our weekend. bye

MY WEEKEND

2009-02-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

My weekend was O.K on Friday i went to a friends reprise birthday party .
Saturday went to another birthday party and Sunday i staid home.

THE END

2009-02-09T19:37:00.000-08:00

On my weekend was somthing boring because it was all the time raining.But I did different things like I woke up at 11:20 then I was alone at home then i decided to play video games.At the same day at Saturday evening me and my brothers and one of my cousin went to a Japanese restaurant close from my house to eat a delicious plate called Ramen.At the next day I didn't to much just i washed my clothes at the laundry and at the same time i watched a movie.

My weekend

2009-02-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

This is all about my last weekend. I always work on weekend so last weekend I worked. When I finished work I went home than I took rest one hour.I spend my free time with my parents at evening because there was raining outside so I preffered stay at home. I took dinner with my parents. I eat indian food. It was good weekend . I enjoyed it by watching TV.

My weekend

2009-02-09T19:23:00.001-08:00

My Weekend

2009-02-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

Well, my weekend was pretty good, I stayed at home with my daughter and my wife, because outside was raining and we couldn't go anywhere. So we saw movies over the weekend.
anyway!!! this is my last weekend. I hope the next weekend will be better.

My weekend

2009-02-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

My weekend was normal, just work and after that i went to home with my family, normally i spend time with them but now the economy is not really good then i have to work any day or any time but anyways I am happy to have a job doesn't matter if i have to work weekends but when i have free weekends i like go to the beach,the mall,play with my daughter and cook and sometimes rarely i study.....but i have to study more because i write very bad.

My Weekend

2009-02-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

Hi,

i had a very nice weekend, it was my husband's birthday and also we planed to go San Francisco to visite my parents then i prepared a surprise party for him at my sister's house there and we all had great time over there meeting of my family and also having fun at the party as well as going for shopping made my weekend.

And i surprised my husband by preparing of that party and presenting of a beatiful wristwatch.

My weekend

2009-02-09T19:19:00.001-08:00

MARICELA TORRES

My weekend was so boring I just stay home the hole day watched TV and slept, Then later in the day we order pizza that was on Saturday.On Sunday we went to julian to see the snow there was no snow so we came back . we went to eat to the Chinese food after we finish eating we went to the mall we walk around the mall and,I bought some boots for myself. so I went back home.

my weeken

2009-02-09T19:16:00.001-08:00

My weeken was great because Iwas working all weeken and I went to visit my family. We ate together on restaurant, them we went play on a casino. I coulden't study but I did my home work I helpped my daughter to do her homework after we watched a movie that It is all Idid on weekend. but I have thougt about how inproved my English skills.

My Weekend,

2009-02-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

It was a good weekend for me, I got up early last Saturday because I'm drove to Ensenada I'm visited a friend. She has a store in the principal avenue of the city, so we was in there the full day. I'm traveled with mi Daugther. We come back late at home next day. My husband bought diner and we spend the rest of the day together.

Wy Weekend

2009-02-09T19:08:00.000-08:00

My weekend wasn't real good, becouse i had a car accident with my sister and i'm sour right now, becouse of the impact.:(

my weekend

2009-02-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

Hello!!!!
It was a really unusual weekend , I went to LAX dropp off one of my aunt, she came to visited us and also she went to see her Doctor .
After that I just rested at my house.

My Weekend

2009-02-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

Not a real great weekend for me, but it was restful. It rained a lot. My dad went to a church retreat in Pine Valley, and I stopped in at his house to pick up the mail, bring in the newspaper, and check on things. He's almost 88 years old, but he gets around pretty well. He complained that it snowed all weekend there, but... how many times does he get to see snow in San Diego County anyway?!

My weekend

2009-02-09T19:04:00.001-08:00

My weekend was very bad because it was raining all the time, I was working hard with my brothers in construction and I didn't have time to visit my family, only I visited my father on Sunday in the afternoon. We went to eat pizza and I went to shopping with my father because he needed something . I didn't have time to do my homework.

My weekend

2009-02-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

Alireza Yahyavi

I was worked during the weekend, and I had a real busy weekend, But when I backed to my home I was surprise because my family got the birthday's party for me,They invited all families and friends, They cooked a lot of foods, I had a very good time at Saturday's night with friends and family.

2009-02-04T20:27:00.001-08:00

2009-02-04T20:26:00.000-08:00

Hi Mr. Kevin i did it

hi

2009-02-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

Hi teacher how are you?

hello

2009-02-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

hi teacher.

how are you. your class is very interested.

HELLO MR. STAFF

2009-02-04T19:36:00.001-08:00

HI KEVIN!
HOW ARE YOU?
HOW WAS YOUR DAY TODAY?

HELLO!

2009-02-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

Hello Teacher.

This is my first time here.

sunil

2009-02-04T19:34:00.005-08:00

Hello,I got your invetation.

Hi

2009-02-04T19:34:00.003-08:00

finely i did it.

hi

2009-02-04T19:34:00.002-08:00

HEEEELLLLOO1

2009-02-04T19:34:00.001-08:00

HELLO TEACHER,THANKYOU FOR TECHING US,YOU ARE VERY NICE TEACHER.

2009-02-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!!!!!!!

Hello!!!

2009-02-04T19:33:00.000-08:00

Helllo everyone, my name is Diocelina. How are you guys doing today?
Diocelina,

2009-02-04T19:32:00.003-08:00

hello ali how are you today did you went to worck today.

(^_^) hi

2009-02-04T19:32:00.002-08:00

Hi

2009-02-04T19:32:00.001-08:00

hello

RICHARD MORALES

2009-02-04T19:31:00.001-08:00

GOT IN

2009-02-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

This is my first posting

2009-02-04T19:30:00.001-08:00

Hello dear friends,

this is my first post.

2009-02-04T19:29:00.000-08:00

Hi, everybody

hi,teacher

2009-02-04T19:28:00.001-08:00

I got it!

Hello

2009-02-04T19:28:00.000-08:00

Hello teacher this is the first time i doing flog and i don't have any idea what to write to you.

Something New For Spring Semester '09

2009-02-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

I will try... "try" being the key word here, to set this up as a class blog. Supposedly by adding each student's email address, the entire class can make entries to a single blog. If it works like most things here, it probably won't work. However, being the teacher I'm obligated to keep trying.

Apollo 13

2008-10-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

The students are writing a paper about the step-by-step procedures for a normal Apollo lunar mission. We watched sections of "Apollo 13" over the past couple of weeks and saw how the procedures had to be improvised after the service module exploded on the way to the moon.

This is a warmup practice for their own original papers about a step-by-step procedure. I want them to see how passive constructions are interwoven with normal declarative sentences in technical writing, and to use the MS Word function that indents and numbers bullet points automatically (which I find annoying at times...).

Fall 2008 Blogging

2008-09-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here we go again! I'm showing the students how to use this account to keep a journal. Tomorrow we will set up their blogs.

One More Tiiiiime... THE BLOG

2008-04-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Twelve weeks into the course, and some students still have trouble getting logged in and making an entry! Today they're to write about anything they want, as a typical diary entry, and to comment on another student's blog. Many of them have had their entries deleted for reasons unknown, and some just haven't been writing anything.

There have been an headachingly large array of complications with this site, and I don't think I'll use it again next semester. It seems like all I do is troubleshoot problems and nag them to make entries.

Another Entry

2008-04-07T19:44:00.001-07:00

This is a free-writing project for my students, most of whom never post anything unless I tell them to. After a month's layoff, I've told them to each post something about the past weekend or the past month.

During that time, we've studied the Career Awareness materials on weeks between the Spring Break.

Today's Class

2008-03-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

The students haven't used the blogs much this semester. Tonight I want them all to make an entry, and to comment on another student's entry.

They can write about their weekend, or about the section of "Apollo 13" we watched in class last Thursday, or about anything else they think of.

The New Semester

2008-02-04T19:29:00.001-08:00

I'm showing some students how to set up the new blogs for this semester.

Monday After Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

I've been checking student blogs, but not doing much blogging myself on this site. Today, they are to make an entry about their Thanksgiving weekend.

There are only two weeks left in the semester! Next semester, I think I'll introduce this blogging part later in the term. They need to understand how to send and receive emails first! Trying to open email accounts and blogger accounts similtaneously confused some of the students too much, especially the ones who didn't have much computer experience in the first place.

Well, at least now they have the mechanics of emailing an MS Word document to me down... for the most part.