Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Participation, Missing Class, and Outside of Class Points

Hello ECA and ECI classes!

Remember: If you come to class, ask questions, participate in the discussion and put forth an effort to learn you will get 10 points every time you are in class.  



Work hard like these two students and you will do well. 


Coming to class and participating will only get you about 240 points. That only gets you a C in participation. If you only show up and sit quietly that is about 120 points or F.  That could really hurt your grade.

You need to do at least 5-6 out of class assignments to raise you participation points to an A. 

If you don't participate in class or miss a class, then you will need to do more. 

See below for ways to make-up missed class points and ways to lift your participation points if you are an especially shy student. 

I do not give you daily participation points if you are not in class, regardless of the reason why. It is simple: not in class=no participation points.

But it is possible to make up those points. See optional assignments below.

I only accept two assignments a week. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE SEMESTER. YOU CAN ONLY GET 14 POINTS MAXIMUM A WEEK.

Good luck!




How to get a good participation grade.

Here are three important things to say about your participation grade:
1.      Your participation score is your responsibility! Your teacher does not “give” you this grade – you earn it.
2.      Working hard in class is really important, but…
3.      To get an A for participation, you need to work hard outside of class, too!
In this class, your teacher will give you points for the work you do both in class and outside of class.

At the end of the semester, you can add up your points to find your grade.

Points
Grade
280+
A+
260-280
A
240-260
B
220-240
C
200-220
D
Less than 260
F


In-Class Points:
Come to class                                                                                                   5pts.

Participate                                                                                                          3pts.

Go above and beyond(volunteer, speak often, ask questions, etc)                             2pts.

Even if your absence is excused you do not get any points for participation.

Outside of class Points:
 (You must write a 50 word minimum summary in your notebook for all of these).
Task (see overleaf for examples):
Points Reward
Visit the English Help Desk, with a partner, for 15 minutes
7 per visit
Complete a learning activity online (see the back of this paper for more details)
7 per time
Read and write a review about an English language book or article
7 per time
Watch and write a review about an English language movie or TV show
7 per time
Write an article on a topic of your choice
7 per time
Complete a vocabulary record for each class
1 per class
* I will accept no more than 2 per week. Do not wait until the end of the semester.

Here are some examples of outside-of-class tasks:
Visit the English Help Desk: The Help Desk is near Mountain Coffee in the FLI Global Lounge. It is open every day from 9am – 4.30pm, and you can go any time. It is there to help you practice your English. You should not only go if you have a problem! It’s a fun way to practice.
You must:
1.      Choose a topic which you want to talk to a professor about, together with your partner – any topic is ok. Films, TV, music, foreign culture, how to improve your English… etc.
2.      Write a 50-word (min) summary of your conversation, including the time you went and the name of the person you spoke to. For example:
I went to the Help Desk on Thursday 33rd Octember with..., and had a conversation with Professor Jimmy about…. I told Jimmy that… He said… It was interesting/fun/boring because… I felt good/nervous/confused because… I learned…
Complete a learning activity online: There are loads of great learning resources online. Here are some:
Listen-and-Write (for listening): https://www.listen-and-write.com/
Cambridge English Online (language games!) http://cambridgeenglishonline.com/
BBC Learning English (everything!) http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
You need to write a 50 word summary of this! What did you do? When? What did you learn?
Reviewing books, articles, movies, or TV shows: Anything is ok to review, as long as it is in English (for TV/movies, you can use Korean subtitles to help you).
You need to write a review of 100 words or more. The review should have two parts:
1.      A summary of the book/article/movie/TV show (what was it about?)
2.      Your opinion about it (Did you like it? Why, or why not?)
You should write the two sections in two different paragraphs.
Write an article on a topic of your choice: Tell me your opinion about something. Anything is fine. For example, write an essay about Kim Yuna; or describe your feelings about coming to university. Try to write at least two paragraphs; minimum 100 words.
Complete a vocabulary record: In your notebook, make a note of new words that you learn in class. Your vocabulary map will help you with this. You should include (as a minimum):
l   The word in English
l   The Korean translation
l   The word’s part of speech (noun, verb, adjective etc).
l   An example sentence including the word
l  The meaning in English

Good luck – I hope you all get A+!

Hello Monday Night Classes!

Hello to my new students on Monday night! I am glad to meet you.

As I told you, I will be substituting for Todd Teacher until he returns to school. He was seriously injured in an accident and needs to rest for at least 4 weeks. You might only see me 3 more times, or you might have me for the rest of the semester. It depends on how quickly Todd's injuries heal.


On this blog, I will try to keep you up-to-date on assignments and things we discuss in class. You can also comment below if you have any questions.

My 3:00 and 6:00 classes will be identified as ECG and my 4:30 class will be identified as ECG-1. Be sure that you are reading the right blog as I have 4 different classes this semester.

ECA-Tuesday (9 and 1:30), Friday (10:30 and 12)
ECI-Wednesday (1:30 and 3), Friday (1:30 and 3)
ECG-Monday (3 and 6)
ECG1- Monday (4:30)

Next Monday, bring your books, a notebook(not a laptop) and a pen!

Have a nice week and weekend!

Monday, September 15, 2014

Google Drive Instructions

Hello class! Here are some instuctions on how to write a Google Doc and then how to share it with me. Some of your classmates have figured it out. Ask your classmates or me for more help. Good luck!


1. Log into e-mail. Go to the top right and click on the "apps" icon (seen above circled in red).
2. Click on "Drive" icon under "app" icon.
3. In "Drive" click on "Create" on the left of the page. Then click on "Document."
4. Be sure to name your document in top left. Write in the document. Then click "Share."
5. Click Share in the top right after writing your essay. 
6. Add my e-mail address under "Invite People."
Now, I can see your essay, make corrections and send it back to you to rewrite or keep.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Welcome back!

Hello students! Welcome back from your Chuseok holiday. I hope you had a great and relaxing time with family. 


Over the Chuseok holiday, I went camping and hiking at Palgongsan with my son, my friend and my friend's daughter. What did you do?

Today in both my ECI and ECA classes, we will mingle, write rough drafts and start unit 6 in our Listening and Speaking books. We will also watch an interview with a famous Korean!

Bring your outlines from last week, notebooks, pens and  Listening and Speaking books.

See you soon!

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Greetings ECI students!

Hello my handsome, beautiful and lovely ECI students! It was a pleasure meeting you yesterday. Thanks to all of my proxies who represented me well. I hope by the end of the semester we can know each other well enough that it will be easy to answer questions about each other.

 
I was born in 1978..this ^^^ was the biggest hit that year. 

 The most important things to remember from yesterday: Come to class, be prepared, relax and speak English. If you do these things you should get a good grade in my class.

Also, get a gmail account and connect with me on Facebook. It will be easier to stay connected this way. Our writing assignments will be turned in via Google Drive.

Tomorrow, we are going to review paragraph structure and try to get started on some new material in our books. Please bring all of your materials: books, notebook, pen!

Remember the paragraph's structure?

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

ECA-First Day

Hello my lovely and smart ECA students. I hope you are ready to start the new semester. I am very excited about seeing your faces twice a week. I think we are in for a great fall semester.

I love Indian food. What's your favorite food?

It was nice to get to know you today and to answer some of your random questions. My favorite might have been: "When did you buy your pants?" A very funny question!

On Friday, we will work primarily on a writing assignment. I want us to make sure we are ready to attack our writing assignments with vigor. Be prepared to think, speak, write and edit!

We will be outlining our thoughts for an opinion paragraph. I want us to pay particular attention to organizing our thoughts. Oftentimes, this is the most important part of essay writing. If your ideas are not organized, it will make your essay very difficult to understand. While the outline seems like an easy exercise, it is also an important exercise. We must take our time and carefully organize our ideas.

ummmmm.....hamburger.


See you Friday!

Monday, September 1, 2014

Welcome to the Fall 2014 semester!

Hello students!

My name is Whit Altizer and this is my classroom blog. As you can see below this is a blog where I post ramblings, extra credit assignments, thoughts on class and other information. This is a platform where you can ask questions, review or post your thoughts. I hope you find it helpful.

This summer I biked from Incheon to Busan with a friend. What did you do? Comment below!

As we prepare for an excellent class this semester, let's remember that studying English will prepare you to be an active world citizen. It can unlock doors in life, business, love and travel. Come to class ready to learn and improve as a person! I look forward to watching you grow.

To prepare for class please do the following:

1. Connect with me on Facebook: Whitney Altizer.

2. Get a gmail account: example: "smartstudent@gmail.com" and e-mail me at mrwhitteacher@gmail.com and say "Hi!".

3. Relax. Smile. Speak.

See you this week.