Publication of your blog links

I've included a list of blog links here, but I never asked you if you would NOT like yours to appear on this list. If that is the case, all you have to do is let me know and your link will not be on this list. I'm sorry I did not ask before the publication :(

Oral Presentation Rubric

On Tuesday, we're discussing your oral presentations in class. Then, this rubric will make sense to you.

1- Form: ________/22
____/4 Posture & Gestures
____/4 Eye contact & Facial Expression
____/4 Pitch of voice & Delivery Speed
____/3 Enthusiasm & (Positive) Attitude
____/3 Use of index cards
____/4 Use of audience feedback (eliciting
questions)

2- Content: _______/33
_____ (3) Choice of topic & Clarity of purpose
_____ (3) Outline presentation & Organization
_____ (4) Introduction & Thesis statement
_____ (2) Change signals for headings
_____ (3) Relevance of information
_____ (4) Analysis vs. Facts
_____ (4) Conclusion & Restatement of thesis
_____ (3) Memorization & Mastery
_____ (4) Interest arousal
_____ (3) References

3- Language: _______/25
_____ (5) Grammar & Sentence structure
_____ (5) Vocabulary & Expression
_____ (5) Coherence & Cohesion
_____ (5) Discourse cues & Transition words
_____ (5) Pronunciation

4- Visual Aids: _______/15
" Pictures
" Posters
" Charts or Maps
" Overhead
" Real objects " Slides
" Video or Tape
" PowerPoint
" Board use
" Handouts

5- Timing: ______/5
Total: 100

New ground, new paths to tread on...

I've been reading some of the entries in your blogs and I'm amazed at how enriching the experience is. Thanks to this, you are no longer the anonymous face that sits in a classroom twice a week in front of me. You have become fully-fledged individuals. Each of us is a complex mixture of experiences, thoughts and an inner life that shapes our landscape as we keep hiking. I hope you experience the same as you read your classmates' blogs. Let me also encourage you to leave comments to one another as well. Keep up the good work!

Welcome!

This year has started with several new discoveries. Or rather what I have found is a glimpse into the world of possibilities in different aspects of my life. The one more relevant to you all is related to this chance of adding a new dimension to your experience in language learning. As discussed in class and in our website, one of the expectations for this class is that you write daily for 30 minutes. Keeping a journal in English will allow you to explore your own ideas, keep a sense of balance in your life, and develop your writing skills throughout the process.
One of the main tenets of developing your writing skills is that you actually do write! We hardly ever devote enough time to this art. By keeping your journal, you will be able to explore your ideas. We do not know what we think until we've written it down. Besides, exploring the depths of your mind and heart will have a therapeutic effect on your day. The fact that you will give yourself the gift of an inward look for a few minutes daily will help you unwind and find a sense of balance that will surely have a most positive effect on the rest of your day. Along the way, you will be honing your writing skills, since exploring ideas is what you are expected to do to write a good essay.
I hope you enjoy this activity. I know that it may look like a daunting task right now, but as you start doing it, you will develop a familiarity with the blank page in front of you. It should become your good friend, or a place of solace, or a time of reflection to be with just yourself.

Enjoy the ride!

Tentative Calendar 2007

1st Term

	Class Content	Assignments
Week 1	NO CLASS
Week 2	Tue Apr 3 Introduction. Discussion of syllabus. Creative Writing: exploring journal writing	Daily reading and writing 50-word piece on yourself Unit 1 TB exercises
Week 3	Tue Apr 10 50-word piece: writing workshop Reading log introduction: writing a summary and a reaction piece	Write a summary and reaction on article.
	Thu Apr 12 Unit 1 TB check - Defining/non-defining relative clauses Computer Lab: Create blogs	Complete Unit 1 TB exercises Bring journal with at least six entries (Practico) Do Unit 2 TB exercises. Due Thu Apr 26
Week 4	Tue Apr 17 Journal presentation (Practico): at least 6 entries Writing workshop: Journal sharing/peer editing	Bring Reading Log: First 4 pieces (Practico)
	Thu Apr 19 Reading Log presentation (Practico): at least 4 pieces. Group discussion of favorite reports. Intro to DrJ&MrH	Prepare first oral presentation. Read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: first 28pp
Week 5	Tue Apr 24 Oral presentations start (a) DrJ&MrH: Practico and discussion	DrJ&MrH: Read rest of story. Due Thu May 3
	Thu Apr 26 Oral presentations (b) Unit 2 TB check	Do Unit 3 TB exercises. Due Thu May 10
Week 6	Tue May 1: NO CLASS
	Thu May 3 DrJ&MrH: Practico and discussion	Write reaction paper to DrJ&MrH
Week 7	Tue May 8 DrJ&MrH: Turn in paper (Practico) Intro to Lord of the Flies (LOTF) Radio program	Radio program: Follow up writing Read LOTF: First 30pp. Due Tue May 15
	Thu May 10 Turn in radio program written assignment (Practico) Unit 3 TB check	Review for Units 1-3 test Do Unit 4 TB. Due Thu May 29
Week 8	Tue May 15 Test : Units 1-3 + summary + LOTF part	Read rest of LOTF by Thu Jun 7 Bring Reading Log: 12 reports due.
	Thu May 17 Reading Log presentation (Practico) Group discussion of favorite reports	Prepare 5’ Oral Presentation
Week 9	Tue May 22 Oral presentations (a)
	Thu May 24: NO CLASS (?)
Week 10	Tue May 29 Unit 4 TB check Oral presentations (b)	Do Unit 5 TB. Due Tue Jun 12
	Thu May 31 Unit 4 TB check	Prepare Journal for Practico. Choose two favorite pieces to share
Week 11	Tue Jun 5 Journal Presentation Practico (at least 27 entries) Writing workshop	Rewrite chosen entries based on feedback received in class.
	Thu Jun 7 LOTF discussion	Reading log Practico and oral presentations Due Thu Jun 18
Week 12	Tue Jun 12 Unit 5 TB check
	Thu Jun 14 Reading Log Practico: 18 reports due. Oral presentations (Practico) start (a)
Week 13	Tue Jun 19: NO CLASS?
	Thu Jun 21 Oral presentations (b)
Week 14	Tue Jun 26 Review and consolidation
	Thu Jun 28 First Written Parcial	Paper: Compare LOTF and DrJ&MrH – Due Jul 10 (e-mail)

Blog or Journal Topics

1. List the top 10 experiences in your life. Think about it for a moment, letting your mind roam free, keeping your pen on the page – writing all the time.
2. Collect motivational statements about writing or creativity or perseverance. Use them to keep yourself writing.
3. Describe yourself as if someone else were describing you to a third party.
4. Write about a creative person you admire but don’t know personally. If necessary, do a little research to find out more about this person’s creative gifts.
5. In one week, write for at least a half-hour in three different places. After the week is over, reread what you wrote. Look for variations in tone.
6. Warm up by reading one page from a book you enjoy.
7. Write about your first experience with death. Who died? When? What did you know about death before the event, and what did you know after?
8. Create two or three characters from facets of your personality. Put them in a car, driving to the coast in Argentina. Who drives? Who navigates? Give them a topic of conversation.
9. Write a monologue in which a character vents his rage. As the monologue develops, add clues that suggest the character is more fearful than angry.
10. You are afflicted with a rare (and getting rarer) disease in which you can only tell the truth, the whole truth. Now, introduce yourself to someone you don’t know. Tell your whole life story if you have to.
11. Write about a lie you told. Did you confess up later? Were you caught in the lie? What were the consequences?
12. Write about something that happened to you that made you very angry at the time but now seems funny. Recall the event in as much detail as possible, writing it down exactly as it happened.
13. Fictionalize an idea based on a real event but stick to the facts as they took place, simply changing minor details such as names and the characters’ appearance.
14. Try to remove all forms of “to be” from one of your short stories, without disrupting its flow.
15. Write a poem inspired by a political event.
16. Listen to music that you haven’t heard in ages. Write about the memories that come back to you.
17. List 10 things you’d like to accomplish in your lifetime and why.
18. Write a commencement speech that you will give to your classmates at graduation ceremony.
19. Appreciate the ordinary: Write about a girl/boy growing up in small town Argentina.
20. Talk to people who are considered successful in their work. Ask what limitations they’ve overcome, what limitations have spurred creative solutions and what limitations they’ve learned to live with.
21. Write about what mystified you as a child. How did you feel when you found out what was behind the mystery (for example, when you found out who the Three Wise Men really were)?
22. Draw or visualize what chaos feels like for you. Write a description.
23. What kind of people make you feel uncomfortable? Why? Write a dialogue between yourself and one of these people.
24. Write six ways to describe the smell of fallen leaves.
25. Write about a place you loved or hated. Incorporate all the senses in your description.
26. April Fool’s Day! This is like our “Day of the Innocent” on December 28. Write a humorous short story in which the main character is duped by an April Fool’s prank.
27. Do you believe in astrology? Try writing a horoscope for your friends. See if they believe it!
28. Starlight, starbright. Attempt to write a short story where all of the action takes place at night.
29. Write a scene in a short story or poem using variations of one color to create a specific mood. For example, using the words “blue,” “periwinkle,” “aqua” and “sky,” create a cool, clean feeling.
30. If you were a college professor of the course “Life 101,” what would you teach your students?
31. Read the daily paper with your morning coffee. Circle the stories that evoke the most emotion from you. Now, choose one and compose a letter to the editor about it.
32. What event would you never write about, and why?
33. Write a journal entry about someone close to you who is no longer in your life.
34. Spend a little longer than half an hour writing a short story. Ignore grammar and spelling, just keep writing.
35. And the dish ran away with the spoon. Personify everyday objects, and create a children’s story.
36. Browse the personals section in your local newspaper. Based on the details provided, create an expanded profile of that person.
37. Shut your eyes. Is the breeze moving? Is it cold or warm outside? Write everything your senses detect.
38. Simplify. To practice writing concisely, write simple scenes, simple paragraphs and simple sentences.
39. Try to be creative despite sensory overload. Work in a crowded mall. Walk a busy city street. Try to write.
40. List 10 expressions or idioms you found particularly interesting. Pick a couple and write short dialogues in which you use them.
41. Think about your most emotional moments. Write a bout how you could use them in your work.
42. Snoop around for anecdotes, gossip and stories. Write a story with a lively main character based on a piece of gossip.
43. Get a book of quotes. Circle the ones you like best. Write about them. What does each make you think about?
44. Write the first line of your novel. Then, try to puzzle out how an entire novel can grow from that one seed.
45. Fictionalize your life experiences. Write a story based on an event in your own life.
46. Write a story where the main character portrays a stereotype. By the end of the story change her attitude and behavior into a realistic character.
47. Go through one of your earlier stories and highlight the descriptive words. Now, think of other words that might work. Look for unusual images.
48. Read a book or short story. Take notes. Look for word play, puns, irony and wit. Why do these passages strike a creative chord within you?
49. Write a list of 10 people you have seen today that have potential for fictional characters.
50. Transitions are an important part of a story. Write a story where the setting changes several times. Practice transitioning from one scene to the next.
51. Write a “silent scene” in your fiction. Create a powerful scene without using any dialogue.
52. Write a letter to your favorite elementary school English teacher. Be sure to send it!
53. Grab a dictionary and randomly select five words. Use them in an opening paragraph to a short story.
54. Think about a time when you were strongly passionate about a political issue. Write a story in which the main character is affected by this issue.
55. Today’s journal entry: What do you avoid doing more than anything? Why?
56. We usually picture ourselves as the good guy. For fun, write a story where you are the bad guy.
57. Take a scene from an earlier short story and expand it. Describe the colors, sounds, scents and feelings.
58. Research an exotic, remote destination. Use this as the setting for your next story.
59. Reread one of your favorite books. Then, write a poem from one of the character’s point of view.
60. Write a children’s story where all the characters are food items.
61. Practice your dialogue. Take one of your short stories and rewrite it into only dialogue between characters.
62. Visit a thrift store and pick out the most unusual object. Write a story about where the object has been.
63. If someone were to write a book about your life, what major events should they include?
64. In the summer months, vacationers escape to tropical beaches and relaxing locales. What would paradise be like for you? What would you do there?
65. Where’s the creepiest place you’ve ever been? Write a horror story about it. Make up additional characters as needed.
66. Look up the meaning for your name in a baby name book or on the Internet. Does your name match your personality? If you could rename yourself, what name would you choose? Why?
67. Think about your childhood. What was the most memorable summer you had? What makes thus summer stand out from all others?
68. Reread one of your favorite books from childhood. Write a journal entry about why you liked it so much.
69. Write a scene in which you make a minor character vivid through a single quirk or personality trait.

Source: Writer's Digest Magazine. No. 12. December 2002

Your Porfolio Assignment

What is a portfolio?

A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student's efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas of the curriculum. It should represent a selection of students' best work or best efforts, student-selected samples of work experiences related to outcomes being assessed, and documents according growth and development toward mastering identified outcomes.

Paulson, F.L. Paulson, P.R. and Meyer, CA. (1991, February). "What Makes a Portfolio a Portfolio?" Educational Leadership, pp. 60-63.

Key Characteristics of Portfolio Assessment

• A portfolio is a form of assessment that students do together with their teachers.
• A portfolio is not just a collection of student work, but a selection - the student must be involved in choosing and justifying the pieces to be included.
• A portfolio provides samples of the student’s work which show growth over time. By reflecting on their own learning (self-assessment), students begin to identify the strengths and weaknesses in their work. These weaknesses then become improvement goals.
• The criteria for selecting and assessing the portfolio contents must be clear to the teacher and the students at the outset of the process.
• The entries in an EFL portfolio can demonstrate learning and growth in all language domains/skills, or can focus on a specific skill such as appreciation of literature, or writing.

Essential Elements of the Portfolio

It is important to include all of the following:

1. Cover Letter “About the author” and “What my portfolio shows about my progress as a learner” (written at the end, but put at the beginning). The cover letter summarizes the evidence of a student’s learning and progress.
2. Table of Contents with numbered pages.
3. Entries - both core (items students have to include) and optional (items of student’s choice). The core elements will be required for each student and will provide a common base from which to make decisions on assessment. The optional items will allow the folder to represent the uniqueness of each student.
4. Students can choose to include “best” pieces of work, but also a piece of work which gave trouble or one that was less successful, and give reasons why.
5. Dates on all entries, to facilitate proof of growth over time.
6. Drafts of aural/oral and written products and revised versions, i.e. first drafts and corrected/revised versions.
7. Reflections can appear at different stages in the learning process (for formative and/or summative purposes.) For each item - a brief rationale for choosing the item should be included. This can relate to students’ performance, to their feelings regarding their progress and/or themselves as learners.
   Students can choose to reflect upon some or all of the following:

i. What did I learn from it?

ii. What did I do well?

iii. Why (based on the agreed teacher-student assessment criteria) did I choose this item?

iv. What do I want to improve in the item?

v. How do I feel about my performance?

vi. What were the problem areas?

Adapted from http://www.anglit.net/main/portfolio/default.html

Assessment

Criteria for a finished portfolio might include several of the following:

• Thoughtfulness (including evidence of students' monitoring of their own comprehension, metacognitive reflection, and productive habits of mind).
• Growth and development in relationship to key curriculum expectancies and indicators.
• Understanding and application of key processes.
• Completeness, correctness, and appropriateness of products and processes presented in the portfolio.
• Diversity of entries (e.g., use of multiple formats to demonstrate achievement of designated performance standards).

Folder vs. Portfolio

Your folder is a collection of your class work. It should include the following documents:

1. Class Notes + homework
2. Handouts: Texts & Other documents

> Writing: rough drafts, sketches, works-in-progress, and final products.
> Grammar
> Literary Elements (Short Stories)
> Songs and any other handout

3. Journal Themes: Those given by the teacher or collected by the students

Tests & Quizzes: checked by your teacher and corrected, revised, or rewritten by you.

Course Syllabus

I.E.S. Lola Mora – English Department

English Language IV - 2007

Prof. Carlos Lizarraga,

MSEd English / MSEd TESOL

calizar@arnet.com.ar

Course schedule

Tuesday: 8:20-10:30pm
Thursday: 9:10-11:20pm

Overview of class

This is an annual language class for prospective teachers of EFL/ESL whose main objective is to enable you to hone your linguistic skills in English up to a native or near native speaker’s level of proficiency. By the end of the year, you will have acquired a level of fluency and precision that will allow you to excel as a teaching professional.

By going through the process, you will be able to empathize with the experience of your future students acquiring a second or foreign language. Furthermore, you will need not only to reach a [near] native level this year but also to acquire a solid foundation of academic skills every educator needs to develop. For this reason, this class has a strong emphasis on reading, writing and global awareness.

Objectives

By the end of this year you should:

• Read with ease virtually all forms of the written language, including abstract, structurally or linguistically complex texts such as manuals, specialized articles and literary works.
• Have no difficulty in understanding any kind of spoken language, whether live or broadcast, even when delivered at fast native speed, provided you have had some time to get familiar with the accent.
• Take part effortlessly in any conversation or discussion and have a good familiarity with idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms.
• Express yourself fluently and convey finer shades of meaning precisely. If you do have a problem you can backtrack and restructure around the difficulty so smoothly that other people are hardly aware of it.
• Present a clear, smoothly-flowing description or argument in a style appropriate to the context and with an effective logical structure which helps the recipient to notice and remember significant points.
• Write clear, smoothly-flowing text in an appropriate style.
• Write complex letters, reports or articles which present a case with an effective logical structure which helps the recipient to notice and remember significant points.
• Write essays, summaries and reviews of professional or literary works.

Source: C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages,

which equals the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English examination.

General expectations

The basic tenets of this class are respect, honesty, work ethic, and curiosity. As a prospective teacher, you should develop the qualities that you will expect from your own students. A love of learning, hard work and empathy toward others are the characteristics that will ensure you will be a successful student and teacher.

As part of your training to become a teacher, you are expected to achieve a high level of proficiency. Therefore you should plan to devote a minimum of two hours in preparation for every class period you attend. This includes reading and writing on a daily basis.

You are expected to read every day. Being informed of the latest news in town, the province, the nation and the world is a good way to build a solid knowledge foundation. Also, articles from respectable publications and literary works available online are a valuable option. Your daily reading is a formal component of your grade for this class.

You are expected to write your morning pages every day. You should plan to devote between 25 and 30 min. to your creative journal writing. Extensive practice in expressing yourself freely is indispensable for you to become accustomed to articulating your ideas coherently and cohesively. This writing should be collected in a journal that is also required to pass this class.

If you are not already, you are expected to acquire some basic computer literacy. Part of the assignments will be available only online, and their completion will be online as well. Therefore you should expect to become adept at using the Internet, email, and computer-produced texts.

Attendance and involvement are expected in every class. You should get to class on time, have your material and assignments ready, use only English throughout the entire period, and strive to excel in every activity. In a word, you should be a good language learner.

The good language learner

1. … is highly motivated to learn the language. He is willing to practice the new language. He actively seeks opportunities to use the new language and communicates with it whenever possible.
2. … wants to communicate with native speakers of the language. She empathizes with them and is interested in their ideas, experiences, attitudes and customs.
3. …is relaxed about his new language and can live with uncertainty. He is willing to abandon his first language reference system and to think in the second language.
4. … tolerates difficulties and frustrations. She is not afraid to make mistakes and learns from errors.
5. … is self-critical, adventuresome, independent, open, outgoing and friendly.
6. …understands that language is arbitrary and makes inferences about the language he is learning. He constantly searches for meaning.
7. … has an aptitude for learning languages. She can distinguish different sounds in a second language and understands the grammatical functions of different kinds of language elements.
8. … relates new things to those previously learned and can convert passive knowledge into active knowledge.
9. … is systematic about language learning and uses specific techniques of effective study. He can adapt to almost any learning condition.
10. … accepts responsibility for her own learning and sets her own goals.

Source unknown

Evaluation

The evaluation consists of parciales, practicos and attendance. The grade for the class is determined by outstanding class performance or by your performance in the final exam.

There will be three parciales: two written term tests and the presentation of your portfolio. Practicos include essays, unit tests on textbook and literary works, journal, reading logs (article summaries and reactions), oral presentations, class involvement and participation, etc. If you cannot be present to any of these evaluation instances, it is your responsibility to let your instructor know ahead of time. If you do not or cannot, you will be excused only if you provide written proof of the reason for your absence. If you fail to do so, you will get a grade of 0 on that particular instance. In any case, alternative arrangements are at the discretion of your instructor.

There are two ways to pass this course. One is through class performance (promocion), and the other by taking a final exam.

Class performance

Students who fulfill the following requirements will be exempt from the final exam:

a) a passing mark in at least 75% of practicos – with no make-up opportunities;

b) a passing mark in all three parciales with an average of at least 70% - you will get a chance of taking a make-up exam for each written parcial;

c) 75% class attendance.

Final exam

At the end of the year, there will be two types of final exam, one for students in good standing (alumnos regulares), and another one for auditing students (alumnos irregulares)

Final exam for students in good standing (regulares)

Students who fulfill the requirements listed below will be considered ‘in good standing’ (regulares) and will take a final exam consisting of a written and an oral component. For the oral section, students are required to present their Portfolio.

Requirements:

a) a passing mark in at least 50% of practicos;

b) a passing mark in all parciales with an average below 7

c) 50% attendance

Final exam for auditing students (alumnos irregulares)

Students who do not fulfill these requirements will need a take a final that may include any content from practicos. This means that the exam is likely to be longer. Also, the instructor will require the presentation of a portfolio with all of the contents listed below, such as journal entries, reading log, essays, etc. The exam will be written and oral, and a passing mark in both is demanded.

Assignments

Portfolio

It should include the following artifacts:

• Your research on a current topic or a collection of articles on current issues. It will include:

• Summary of articles, or extracts from books, etc. – cite source and date of publication.
• Reaction paper.
• General longer essay or report on topic of choice based on a set of articles – due at end of the process
• Reflection piece on your learning with each topic

· Essays assigned in class. You should include

o Corrected drafts if applicable and/or correction of a graded essay

o Analysis of your own strengths and weaknesses on each corrected essay with improvement goals you set for your next writing assignment

· Personal reflection on any content from class, any current or philosophical issue.

· A selection of your best journal entries.

Creative Journal/blog writing:

Three weekly entries of about 20/30 min each. Handwritten or online. Go to http://lmel4.blogspot.com/ to get instructions.

Oral presentations

On topics of your interest based on your research for your portfolio or specifically assigned by your instructor.

Required texts

Gude, Kathy & M. Duckworth (2002). Proficiency Masterclass. Student’s book. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gude, Kathy & M. Duckworth (2002). Proficiency Masterclass. Exam Practice. Workbook with Key. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Stevenson, Robert Louis (1886). Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Penguin Popular Classics.

Golding, William (1954). The Lord of the Flies.

Huxley, Aldous (1931). Brave New World.

Bradbury, Ray (1953). Fahrenheit 451.

Recommended texts

Nelson’s Proficiency Practice.***