Thursday 30 August 2012

Please Note!


We are three weeks into class and the preliminaries are over. It is now time to get down to some serious work. I will need you to prepare for class, participate in the class activities and complete all the assignments. It is in your best interest. Remember you learn by doing. You must practice, practice, and practice! A few reminders:

1. Your presence is required at all classes. This is your education, your time to learn. Make the most of it. No one else can do it for you.

2. You need to be prepared for class. That means should have completed the assigned readings and activities before class time.

3. You need to remain focused during class time. Personal discussions are healthy and is scheduled before and after class time. During class time let us maximize the time we have together through meaningful discussions and activities.

4.Carry yourself as a professional at all times. Respect others and they in turn will respect you.

Have a great day and a great weekend. Below is your "Reading Exercise" for this weekend:

Read it and post your initial comments on the passage will discuss it further in class.

Remember in order to have a healthy discussion you need to actually read the passage.

HINT-HINT! Look up the meanings of the words that are italicized.

Perhaps the most important difference in life chances involves life itself. In 1992, men in the United States could expect to live 72.3 years and women 79.1 years. On the average, then, women live seven years longer than men. Although part of this difference is probably biological, the social contribution to differential life expectancy begins at a very early age and continues through the life course. At high school and college ages, males are nearly three times more likely then females to die. To a significant extent, this difference has to do with the more dangerous lifestyle (particularly drinking and driving) associated with masculinity in our culture.

The sex differential in life expectancy is more complex than the greater risk taking of young men, however. Even at the earlier ages just mentioned, men are more likely than women to die of cancer or heart disease. Consider men's disadvantage in heart disease, for example. Evidence suggests that men have this disadvantage not because they experience more stress than women but because, under the same levels of stress, they are more vulnerable to heart disease than women. Current thinking attributes men's greater risk of heart disease at least partly to the male gender role's low emphasis on nurturance and emotional relationships. Where women's personalities and relationship characteristics seem to protect them from this consequence of stress, lack of social support appears to leave men especially vulnerable to stress-related diseases. This suggests that, despite increasing female participation in politics and the labor force, women's life expectancy will continue to remain substantially higher than men's. The sex differential in mortality is likely to decline only when differences in personality and dispositions are reduced.

Brinkerhoff, David B., White, Lynn K., and Riedmann, Agnes C.1997. Sociology, 4th Edition, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth (pages 334-335)

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Reading Activity


Read the following passage and make a comment below on your initial thoughts.

The activity will continue in class where we will discuss the passage further.

If you are like many people, you enjoy sports in your leisure time. Many of us watch sports on TV, go to games and meets, and play tennis or golf in the time left after school or work. We may even chat about sports on the Internet. Many observers note that sports reinforce norms and values important to society, like competition and teamwork. Sports metaphors, such as "There is no I in TEAM," teach us that success is achieved by putting the group above individual glory. Slogans like "Winners never quit and quitters never win" reinforce values of competition and working hard to get ahead.

Nevertheless, organized sports have been criticized for several things. One is that they encourage potentially harmful male aggression. Another is that they direct minority students, particularly African American males, toward athletics-instead of academics-as a road to success. However, only a very small minority of high school athletes are able to support themselves through athletics. In fact, according to one estimate, only one of 12,000 high school athletes will earn money as a professional athlete; among those who make it, the average professional career lasts only three years. Nevertheless, the importance of sports in teaching and reinforcing norms and values, along with the role of sports in symbolizing and integrating communities, are important reasons why nearly every nation has encouraged athletics. Brinkerhoff, David B., White, Lynn K., and Riedmann, Agnes C.1997. Sociology, 4th Edition, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth (page 79)

Thursday 23 August 2012

Quiz results


Your quiz results will be ready for viewing by noon today. To view your results simply log into your Engrade account by clicking ENGRADE and view your results. I have included a complete answer sheet for you to review. Most of you did well but we are aiming for constant improvement.

As I mentioned in class, your assignments for this weekend are as follows:

1. Complete the take home exercise from the handout that was distributed in class.

2. Review pages 23-25 from our class text The Least You Should Know about English “The Eight Parts of Speech” .

3. Review the tutorial I sent you in Engrade.
It contains 3 activities to help to reinforce the concepts covered in “The Eight Parts of Speech”.

a. Flashcards
b. Matching
c. Multiple Choice

3. Complete Exercises 1-5 (page 26-28) Enjoy your weekend, but be sure to prepare for class. See you on Monday. I’ll be there at 5:00 pm for anyone who would like to see me.

Click the PLAY button for an AUDIO version on this post.



Note: It is not too late to add your sentences to my blog.

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Words often Confused (Set 2) LAST SET :-)


You’re

your

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Woman

Women

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Who’s

Whose

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Were

Wear

where

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Weather

whether

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Two

Too

to

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Threw

Through

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Their

there

they’re

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Than

Then

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Right

Write

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Quiet

Quite

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Principal

Principle

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Piece

Peace

Words often Confused (Set 2)


personal

personnel

Words often Confused (Set 2)

Passed

past

Words often Confused (Set 2)

Loose

Lose

Words often Confused (Set 2)


Set 2 covers 17 pairs of words that are often Confused. Please review page 14 through page 17 and write a sentence for each set of words.

For better organization I will use one post per pair of words. This post may be used for the first set of words.

Lead
Led


Write a sentence for each word then move to the next pair and do the same in the appropriate post. All subsequent posts will contain only the pair of words, and all you need to do is write a sentence for each word below the post.

Plan for today!


As per our class schedule, today, by class time you should have completed Exercise 1-5 as well as the proof reading exercise.

Exercise 1 & 2 we will cover in large groups

Exercise 3 & 4 we will cover in pairs

Exercise 5 will be done individually

Most importantly do not forget we have a quiz scheduled for today. So study your words and review the explanatory pages e.g. loose, lose. Focus on the spelling and usage of the words.

You are also required to email the proofreading exercise using the teacher/student email feature provided by Engrade.

Be prepared for class to ensure that you maximize your learning. I will be available in class today at 5:00 pm. If you need clarification on anything or just would like to chat come to class early.

Friday 17 August 2012

Missing the action!


T. Flowers
S. Neal
T. Panting
R. Pinks
Contact me.

A writing exercise for you!


Words Often Confused

Advise is a verb. (Pronounce the s like a z.)

I advise you to take your time finding the right job.

Advice is a noun. (It rhymes with rice.)

My counselor gave me good advice."

Review and when you are ready write 1 sentence for each word.

The words in this post are:

advise
Advice

A writing exercise for you!

Words Often Confused continued

Accept means “to receive willingly.”
I accept your apology.

Except means “excluding” or “but.”
Everyone arrived on time except him.”

Review and when you are ready write 1 sentence for each word.

The words in this post are:

Accept
Except

Thursday 16 August 2012

A writing exercise for you!


Words Often Confused

The following posts will be pairs of words from Set 1 chapter 1 of our class text. For each set I will write the rule and you will be required to demonstrate your understanding of the concept by writing an original sentence for each word in the set. Don’t do the math; it will seem larger than it is. Take it one pair at a time and “poof” you are done!

Use an before a word that begins with a vowel sound ( a,e,I,o, plus u when it sounds like uh) or silent h. Note that it’s not the letter but the sound of the letter that matters.

An apple,
an essay,
an inch,
an onion,
an umpire,
an ugly design (the u’s sound like uh)

Use a before a word that begins with a consonant sound (all the sounds except the vowels, plus u or eu when they sound like you).

a chart,
a pie,
a history book (The h is not silent in history)
a union,
a uniform,
a unit (The u’s sound like you)
a European vacation, a euphemism (EU sounds like you)”

Review and when you are ready write 1 sentence for each word.

The words in this post are:
a

an

Create your individual blog


To create your individualized blog using blogspot.com you will need to first have a gmail account. If you do not already have one simply create one by following the steps provided in the tutorial by imsbm.com

How to create a new gmail account: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLAQ5xeqahg

After you have created your account you move on to creating your own blog. The instructions are in the video by Jan Mckhilado.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSs3XXSCuoE .

After successfully creating your blog, go on to create your first blog post and introduce yourself. There is no word limit to your introduction so feel free to talk about yourself. When you are satisfied with your entry, publish the entry. Remember to copy your blog address and post it as a comment under this post so that I can visit your blog.

Have fun!

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Welcome to my new University of Belize students


I am happy to have you all in my class this semester. If you are enrolled in Developmental English Meeting on Monday and Wednesday at 5:30-6:45 in AS102 then you are a part of this class.

The intention of this blog is to make you comfortable with using technology as a learning tool. I will be posting weekly updates relating to class schedule, class discussions, class expectation, assignments and links to online practice and resources to name a few.

You are to be responsible and check the blog as it will contain important reminders and due date that you will need to be aware of.

I look forward to an interesting semester with all of you.