Final Assignment

Hello, and welcome to a new week! It's our final week of class, so I wanted to thank you all for the very nice experience. I enjoyed working with you all and I hope that we'll have another class together in the future. If not, I wish you the best of luck; if I can help you in any way, please feel free to contact me through my Sitzman ABC blog.

Remember that this Saturday is our last day, so we'll need to finish our presentations. Also, any blog additions or changes you want to make need to be made by Friday at noon at the latest, so I can take your comments into account before our class.

Now, your homework:

For your last assignment, I'd like you to do a self-assessment of your blog this bimester. I'll take your comments into account when I evaluate your blog posts. I'd like you to be honest, so if you'd prefer not to post this to your blog, that's OK; you can send it to me by email instead.

For your self-assessment, I'd like you to write a couple of sentences about each of your posts, including a score for each on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest). You should take into consideration first of all your English use (Vocabulary, Grammar, Mechanics, etc.), as well as your promptness, completeness, and your interaction with your group partners and their blogs.

You had 5 assignments, so you'll have to write your comments for the 5 posts. To remind you, they were:

Week 1: Paragraph about your eating habits

Week 2: Ideal location for a business in Costa Rica

Week 3: Explanation about your mid-term presentation

Week 4: Story using travel vocabulary

Week 5: Outlining debate topics

For example, you could say:

Week 2: 9/10. I feel that I did a good job with this post, since I followed the guidelines completely. I explained the type of business I was talking about, as well as the factors that such a business would need. I also identified good places in Costa Rica for such a business. I commented on my partners' blogs, but I took off a point since I was two days late posting my assignment.

So, do that 5 times, and you should be fine. Remember that you can also email me this assignment if you feel uncomfortable posting it to your blog. You can also take this opportunity to give me feedback about any aspect related to the class.

Thanks again, and good luck! See you all on Saturday!

Week 6 Homework

As I mentioned in class, you've got two things to do this week.

First of all, you should re-write your story from week 4, taking into consideration the corrections we made in class. If you need to, you can add information to make the story better. When you're done, post the edited copy of the story to your blog.

Secondly, you should prepare your final presentation. We'll be doing them this Saturday, so you should be ready! We'll be picking random names, so if you're not ready, I'll have to lower your presentation grade some. So, please be prepared to do your presentation. If we can't finish all of them on Saturday, we'll finish them up in our final class.

Here are the guidelines for your final presentation:

1. You will be the teacher for 10-15 minutes. You'll be in charge of leading the class in some sort of activity that is related to your objective. Speaking of that...

2. Your presentation should have an objective. Everyone should be able to complete the phrase "After my presentation, my students will be able to..." Basically, what should your students take away from your presentation?

3. You can (and should) use games or other interactive activities in order to make sure that most students are able to participate and learn from your presentation. Still, those activities should somehow help you and your student fulfill your objective.

4. Almost all of you decided on a topic in class, but as a reminder you can present on anything related to education, business, or professionalism. Some suggested topics I gave you were:

-Interview skills

-Presentation skills

-Coping with different cultures

-Lead a well-structured debate

-Highlight an aspect of language or language learning

When you're planning your presentation, again, remember to keep in mind that your students should be doing most of the action; you shouldn't just stand in front of the class with a PowerPoint slideshow while they sit in their desks and listen to you talk.

So, if you're having any problems planning or have any questions, please tell me. Also, if you'll need me to help you get any resources, tell me before Friday. Good luck, and have a great week!

Week 5 Homework

I still can't believe the shoes on the left are older than Felipe.

Hello! You have two things to do for this week's homework. 

First of all, check out your group partners' blog posts where they wrote a story using week 4 vocab, and leave a comment on their blogs. Some of you have been doing this diligently in the past weeks--if that's you, good work! If not, please get to work! I know that sometimes there have been problems with posting comments to your blogs (or your partners' blogs in this case). If that happens, you can also leave your comments on your own blog, and just mention that it's a comment.

Also, if your group partners haven't finished their story posts, then you can leave a comment on another classmate's blog.

Secondly, I'd like you to think about more debate/discussion topics. Do this in two parts:

1. You should come up with a general topic, and then identify two opposing viewpoints that students could represent in a discussion (much like we did in class today). 

2. Then, I'd like you to write a paragraph or two saying which side of the debate you'd represent, including as many details as possible about why you see things that way.

The general topics we discussed in class today were globalization, internet, cellphones, religion, green energy, animals, and social networking. You could use one of those topics, but I'd prefer it if you could think of something different, just to make your brain work a bit.

If you have any problems with or questions about this assignment, please tell me as soon as possible. Have a great week, and keep on rocking!

Guns and/or Roses

Just for the public record, here's the video we watched in class today (and here are the lyrics):

Also, here's the video for "Estranged." I was originally going to use this song instead, since it's less well-known than November Rain, but the video is even more bizarre, believe it or not:

The song is great, but the video's a bit of a mess.

I'll post this week's homework assignment in a few minutes, so please check that out and complete it.
So, have a great rest of the weekend, and see you next Saturday!

Flyswatter

Even if the word apparently isn't in a dictionary, "flyswatters" do exist. Here's the Eels song we heard in class.

The video's a bit confusing.

Week 4 Homework

Hi Everyone! You've got a few things to do this week:

First, please be sure that you're caught up with any blog posts from previous weeks. This week you won't have to comment on your partners' blogs, but if there's anything you want to say to them, you still can leave a comment, of course.

Second, your blog homework for this week is to write a short story using the vocabulary words from the crossword puzzle we used in today's warm-up. You can make it either fictional or non-fictional, but try to make it interesting! As you surely remember, the words were all nouns, but you can convert them to verbs, adjectives, or other parts of speech if you want. 

I'm sure that you all have the words, but in case you want a reminder, the words were:

suitcase - business trip - insurance - credit card - export - cruise - flight - journey - luggage - transport - passport - sightseeing - airport - Euro - theft

If you have any questions, please tell me as soon as possible. 

Thanks again to the people who did their presentations today--they were very good! And thanks to Esteban and Juan José for their patience; we'll have their presentations next week.

Have a great week, and see you next Saturday!

Regarding A Class Question

Hi! If you recall from our class yesterday, there was a question regarding how to make a word ending with "s" possessive. For example, we talked about things that could belong to someone named Carlos or Phylis (my mom's name). 

Apparently, I was correct: there are two ways of making those possessive: by either adding and apostrophe+s, or simply an apostrophe. So, we could say:

Carlos's car or Carlos' car  OR  Phylis's children or Phylis' children

You can find a much more extensive explanation, including more tips for using apostrophes in general, here, here, and here.

Have a great Sunday!

Week 3 Homework

Get a watch, Gaby. :)

Your homework is to write a paragraph or two on your blog about your presentation this coming Saturday. The possible topics below are very general and broad, so you should think about what you want to talk about and focus your ideas. After you've done that, your blog post should be like a movie preview. That means that you should tell us a little bit about your topic, like why/how you chose the topic, and maybe give a few hints about what you'll cover in your presentation. Remember, when studios make movie previews, the intention is to catch the audience's interest and make them want to see the movie. Your "presentation preview" should do the same thing.

Second part: Comment on your partners' blogs for their week 2 homework (about good places to locate businesses in Costa Rica, and why). Also, if I commented on your previous blogs and asked a question (including how you could fix an error or two), please reply to those comments.

Third part: Finish exercises 2 and 3 from "Words at Work" on p. 66.

Now, remember that your presentations are next week. Yes, everyone always has work and exams, and I'm sorry about that,* but you need to be prepared to present. Your presentation should be 5-10 minutes per person (depending on your topic and if you're alone or in a group). Bring any materials you'll need, and remember that any interaction you can encourage between you and your audience is a good thing! Here are the three possible topics:

TOPIC 1:

Plan and present a travel itinerary. You should identify who'd be traveling, where you'd go, and what you'd do when you get there. Also explain why you chose the places you did. The trip could be for business or leisure, and it could be domestic or international. You can use (and present) vocabulary from Unit 7 in the book to help enhance your presentation.

TOPIC 2:

Invent a new product or company and present it, or present an interesting, existing product that is important to you for some reason. You can also outline ways to improve an existing product. In any case, you should identify what the product is or what the company does, where it could be used, why it's useful or could be useful, and who can/could use the product. You can use vocabulary from Unit 8 to supplement your presentation.

TOPIC 3:

Based on p. 84 in the text (along with our class and blog discussions from this past week), present a proposal to open a new company or to relocate an existing company. You should obviously identify what company you're talking about (or what your imaginary company would do). Talk about where you would locate it, as well as why the location you're proposing would be a good one. You can talk about a place in Costa Rica or abroad.

If you don't like any of these topics and want to suggest a different one, contact me as soon as possible. Good luck, and have a great week. See you on Saturday!

*But not that sorry.

Note For Class Tomorrow

If you see this post before tomorrow's class, I wanted to mention that we'll be having class tomorrow in San Agustin's new building. Apparently there will be a loud children's festival at the main building, so it's a better place for us. You can ask Kenia in the office for directions, but it's at the end of the street from the office, on the second floor.

See you then!

Bag or Back? Have you ever had problems
with these two words?

If you're wanting to work on pronunciation, check here. It explains a bit about minimal pairs and will give you a link to a great site to practice them.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check the previous post for this week's homework. Until then, good luck, and see you on Saturday!

Week 2 Homework

This dog seems worried... about his cholesterol, maybe.

Hi everyone! Sorry for the slight delay in posting this homework; I've been having internet problems. Then again, I imagine that not all of you rushed right home after class yesterday to eagerly see what your homework assignment was! :)

For this week, I'd like you to please do two things. First of all, I'd like you to read your partners' blogs and make a quick, constructive comment for week 1. The groups will be simple:

Alejandro-Andrea-Esteban;
Felipe-Gaby-Juan José; and
Juan Miguel-Ricardo-Ronald

If these groups work well, I'll probably have you stay with them for the rest of the bimester.

Secondly, I'd like you to write a paragraph or two about an ideal location for a business in Costa Rica. This will be related to an activity we'll be doing in class next week. Mention first of all what kind of business you're considering, and then mention some characteristics an ideal location would have. Then, identify the best place(s) for a new business to open up in the country.

If you have any problems or questions about the homework, please leave a comment or email me. 

Finally, remember to try to participate in the online conversation club (see the previous post for times and sign-on instructions).

Good luck, and see you next weekend!

Online Conversation Club

In addition to the Conversation Club at El Patio in Palmares, there's an Online Conversation Club available to CCCN students. It's free, it's easy, and it's a good way to practice your English.

To participate, use Instant Messenger. When you're signed in, add 

extensionconversationclub@hotmail.com 

to your contacts, and you're ready! The contact will be online during conversation club hours. To chat, simply say hello. There are different teachers administering the sessions, and each teacher will provide discussion topics. You can also use the club as a chance to ask any questions you may have about English or your class.

The schedule for this bimester is as follows:

Morning: 9 am -12 noon: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

Afternoon: 3 pm - 5 pm: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

Evening: 6 pm - 9 pm: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday

Saturday: 1 pm - 4 pm

Try to take advantage of this opportunity to practice English! Have fun!

Conversation Club on Saturday After Class!

For anyone who's interested and free on Saturday afternoons, there's a new, informal conversation club in Buenos Aires, Palmares. It'll start around 12, as soon as the morning classes finish. You can see more details and directions on the flyer above. As I said, it's informal, and not directly sponsored by the CCCN, so you can also feel free to bring any friends who may want to participate and practice English.

I would go myself, but I have to work on Saturday afternoons. But I've heard good things about the food and the atmosphere at the place, so I hope that some of you will be able to take advantage of this opportunity. Good luck, and have fun!

Possible Job Opportunity

Your classmate Ronald told me that the ICE was recruiting people with high levels of English, so I told him I'd pass the info on to the whole group. I included more information on my other blog (click here for more details), but I should mention that it's this Friday, so if you're interested, try to check it out as soon as possible. Thanks, and thanks to Ronald for the tip!

Week 1 Homework

Hello! If you're a student in the class, I've linked all of your blogs in the gadget in the right column, so be sure to check out your classmates' blogs. 

Your homework for this week has two short parts:

1. Write a paragraph or two on your blog about what and how you normally eat. You can use the two paragraphs on p. 52 as examples (they're the ones we read in class). Be sure to focus on general aspects of how and what you eat in your family. Is the way your family eats common for most families in Costa Rica, or is it different? Be sure to give explanations and complete thoughts in your blog.

2. Check out the "Verb Patterns" about gerund and infinitive patterns in your text book on page 60. Then please complete exercise 4 on page 61 (text) and exercises 1 and 2 on page 41 (workbook). 

If you have any questions or problems with this homework, please tell me by leaving a comment. Have a great week, and see you on Saturday morning!

Two Quick Links

I was reading some articles on the internet the other day and I came across this article about pickling different things:

What The World Pickles

I thought it was interesting, since we'd been talking about pickling things in class on Saturday. While I read that article I also came across this one:

The Best Condiments In The World

It mentions Lizano sauce and a few others, and I thought you might be interested in reading it.

I'll put up this week's blog homework later this afternoon. Have a good day!

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my blog for the Advanced Program, Level 5 at the CCCN in Palmares!

My name's Ryan Sitzman, and I'll be teaching AP-5 this bimester. If you're a student in the class, I'm looking forward to working with you. If you're just here by coincidence or curiosity, you're also welcome.

In a day or two I'll be compiling the students' blogs and putting links to them on the sidebar to the right. In the meantime, I'll hope to see you in class tomorrow!