You're Beautiful by Simon Armitage - Poetry Archive

You're Beautiful by Simon Armitage - Poetry Archive

Final Presentation Sep-dec09

2nd Term blog posts

For the second term, your teacher must find in your blog the following posts:

1. Climate change: your opinion and tips on how to stop climate change. (you can add video, images, links, games...)
2. Second life Avatar: Post  a photo of your avatar, add your teacher (Pionia Destiny), and your classmates avatars to your contact list in SL.
3. Cover letter for the entry level position job you selected. Follow the guidelines in the powerpoint presentation on unit 4.

1. Article related to your GREEN ENGINEERING final project.

• Select two paragraphs from your article.
• Choose  3 sentences per paragraph.
• Describe the parts of the words in the sentence.
• Select three words and find their definitions in an online dictionary.
• Visit at least two blogs from classmates and leave a comment. Add the link to your classmates blogs.

***** Rememeber: blogs entries must have

•  a tittle
•  an intruction to the topic of the post
•  images, links, videos relates to the content you are posting about.
• closing (invite readers to leave you comments)
• tags

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
image: C-Monster

The project is on!!! Go Green Teams!

Well, groups got together and are getting ready to look at green problems caused by their engineering fields.

Group 1: Henry Vasquez y  Miguel Fernandez  are from Electronic Engineering School and they will be working with Jaiver Castillo from Industrial Engineering    School.

Blog Action Day! URBE says we are here!

Bloggers from URBE... This is an invitation to participate in the Blog Action Day! This year the theme is Climate Change. On October 15th, bloggers from the world will post about this important issue. Let's our blog say what we think about it...



All you need to do is put up a post relating to the topic of climate change on October 15th and link to www.blogactionday.org somewhere in your post. Go to Blog Actio Day site and register your blog. Hope to see you all there...



Climate Change... is happening...Watch the video and leave your comment!


Interesting and powerful ways to get involved in Climate Change  movement:

• Register for the 350.org International Day of Climate Action October 24: www.350.org 
• Learn and act with The Nature Conservancy's Planet Change site: change.nature.org 
• Watch and help promote Current TV's green-themed video journalism at:  current.com/green
• Put yourself on the Vote Earth map and upload your photos, pictures and weblinks to show the world future you want to see: www.earthhour.org/home 
• Join the Greenpeace cool IT challenge campaign to turn IT industry leaders into climate advocates and solution providers:  www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change/cool-it-challenge

Project presentation May-july09

Task. 0. Introducing yourself and your new friends

Task. 0 Introducing yourself and my new friends

A. Read about Juan.

Hi, there! My name’s Juan Gonzalez but you can call me Juanchi. I’m from Maracaibo, originally. I live in Maracaibo, in Monte Claro. I’m 20 years old and I study engineering at URBE . My favorite subjects are mathematics and English. This trimester I am taking 4 classes and I am in the 7th trimester.

I love music, dancing, playing soccer, driving my car (I have a red sport car), surfing the net, studying English, talking on the phone with my friends, pizza , chocolate, my family , my country and my dog.

I hate onions, smoking, listening to hip hop, getting up early on the weekend, violence, war, injustice, and washing the dishes.

My dream is to travel around the world, visit the Pyramids in Egypt and The Eiffel Tower in Paris. Of course, I want to graduate from Engineering School and be a good engineer. I also want to learn to speak French, and Italian. I’d love to work in an important company and buy a house, get married and start a family.

About English, I love to learn new languages. I think English is very important. I listen to music and watch TV in English. It’s a good exercise. I also chat on the internet and have friends in many countries. I can write well, but I need to practice more. The most difficult for me is speaking. I want to practice in class and out of class, too. I hope I can make a lot of friends and practice speaking in this class.

B. Now it’s your turn to write about yourself. Add your picture.

C. It's time to meet two new friends. Use these questions to interview your new friends.

Name	What’s your name? Where are you from? What school in URBE are you from? How old are you? Where do you live?
Likes	What do you like doing? What things do you like? Love? Enjoy?
dislikes	What things you don’t like? Hate? Can’t stand?
dreams	What is your dream? What do you want to do with your life?
About English:	What’s your opinion about English? Do you like it? Is it important? What do you do to study English? How do you prefer to study English? What do you want to do in this class?

Use these expressions to answer to your new friends questions:

Name	My name is…. / I’m from …… / I go to ……..school in URBE / I’m …….years old. / I live in…….
Likes	I love…… / I enjoy….. /I like to …….
dislikes	I don’t like to ……. / I hate……. /I can’t stand………
dreams	My dream is to ……. / I want to ……. One day.
About English:	I think English is……. / In my opinion …….. / For me ….. / I guess ……. / I want to …. in this class.

Now, write your new friends information here:

Name	Her/his name’s ……... She/he’s from ……... She/he’s a student from …………………… school. She/he’s …… years old. She/he lives in ………………...
Likes	She/he likes …+ing, She/he likes to ……., She/he loves …. + ing, she/he enjoys …+ ing
dislikes	She/he doesn’t like to ……. / She/he hate……. /She/he can’t stand………
dreams	Her/his dream is to ……. / She/he wants to ……. One day.
About English:	She/he thinks English is……. / In her/his opinion …….. / For her/him ….. / He/she guesses ……. / She/he wants to …. in this class.

Welcome Level 7 Class!!! Description of the class

Welcome, everybody!

This new trimester, we will be working with English for Work. But what is that? you may be asking yourself. Well, let's try to explain what it is about. To start with:

1. It is mostly about learning and practicing your English.
2. It is about learning English related to your field of expertise. So if you are a graphic design student for instance. You will be reading, listening to, writing and talking about English for Graphic Design and English for working as a Graphic Designer.
3. It is about learning English using technology. That means we will be using computers and Internet to find real updated information concerning your different interests. We are going to experiment and play with new ways to learn autonomously. Learning for life. Learning to learn. Learning by doing. Connecting and sharing your work with your classmates and the world. We will be reading and writing articles and materials related to your career, also..watching and listening to videos as well as making videos. We'll have the chance to use different tools to express your ideas and read about ideas. 
4. It is about learning and practicing your English in groups, in community. Be ready to meet students and teachers from the university and the world. Of course, there will be tasks you must complete on your own.

That was a general description of the course. Now, Let's check on how our classes take place:

• Classes are going to be held at the lab. If you can't come to classes, you can connect at home or wherever you have access to a computer and Internet.
• You need to get a google account, since we will be using different tools provided by Google. make sure to register to Gmail, Google Doc, and get a scoop at scoop.it
• Your Scoop is going to be your personal journal or electronic portfolio. There you will register everything we do in class. All your homework and tasks should be there.
• Every class will be a taken as a workshop or TALLER. Try not to miss your classes and if you do, keep your blog updated.
• Homework will be assigned for each one of the units covered in class. The dateline to hand in your homework will be the day of your test. It means you will have the chance to work on your scoops till the exam day.
• Corrections to writing will be done through Google documents.

Assesment
1st term
Workshops + Written Test: 10+10 = 20/20  30%
Workshops
* Get your scoop.it account 
* Writing an intro post
* Interview: Graphic Designer
* Using on line Dictionaries
* Content and Function words

2nd term
Workshops + Written Test: 10+10 = 20/20  30%
* Basic Sentence Structure

* Nominal Phrase
* Verbal Phrase
* Verb Tenses
* Referential Elements
* TOEFL Exercises

3rd term
Workshops + Final Project: 10+10 = 20/20  40%
* Skimming and Scanning
* Main Idea of a Paragraph
* Discourse Markers: Definition, Description and Instructions
May- August 2015 Final Project: Illustrating a story
Things you need to do to take this class:

• Get a Gmail account and register to Google services:  Google Drive. 
• Get a Scoop.it account. We'll be using this tool to curate the readings we will be reading. 

Instructions on how to get your scoop.it account and start curating and sharing your work.

1. Get an account:  http://feedback.scoop.it/knowledgebase/articles/100859-how-do-i-create-my-scoop-it-account. 

2. Get your topic: http://feedback.scoop.it/knowledgebase/articles/311027-how-do-i-create-my-first-topic. When you get you are selecting your topic, think of what topic related to your field of expertise you are passionate about. Do you like illustrations? sound design? or packaging?

3. Publish content to your scoop.it: http://feedback.scoop.it/knowledgebase/articles/91526-how-do-i-publish-content-on-my-topic. Now, that you have your scoop.it account, it is time to post your first Scoop. To do this, just got to google and look for info on the topic you are passionate about. For instance, if you what to know about Graphic Design write the word graphic design and google it. You will find lots of resources there. Try to select articles from magazines, books, or respected universities or institutions related to your field of expertise. You need to select readings since we will be working with language and how it's used in those readings.

4. Post via a URL

• If you have a URL that you'd like to scoop to one of your topics but aren't on that page, you can simply click on the New Scoop window on top of your topic page, then enter the URL and Scoop.it will gather the rest of the information (that you can also edit afterwards).
  
• Check Alessandra' Briceño's Scoop.it for a great model on how your scoop should look like at the end of the level 7. http://www.scoop.it/t/graphic-desgin-by-alessandra-briceno
• Register to our Facebook group . Make sure to write name, last name and class session you belong to when posting at our social network.
• Facebook private messages will be your direct line with your professor. If you have any doubts or need any help, that's how you will contacting her.

Benchmarks:

• At the end of this class. I should have:
  
  • Read my class guidelines
  • Met my new classmates
  • Worked with the introductory task
    
  • Registered at Google and have a Gmail account.
  • Registered to Google doc.
  • Opened my scoop.it account and posted my first entry.
  • Registered to our Facebook group

Assignment for this class:

• Post your first scoop.it entrance: Introduce Yourself . Tell us about you and your life as a student.Add a photo of yours or something you have designed.
• Interview a Graphic Designer. Use the questions in the link.You can also use google doc and then post the link to your document in your scoop.it. Send me a private message when it's ready.
  

Hope you learn and have a great time during the time we are going to be together. If you have any questions, please let me know. Send me a private message in my Facebook account.

Keep on shining Love and Peace!

This week 08/06 - 13/06

Class 07: Week 08/06-13/06

In this class we worked with our projects. Teams got together and started working on their projects. IF you haven't got a team yet... join one. Check the teams that are already working and find out if they need a new member. You can visit the May-July09 team's page and contact the members. Ask them to allow you to join them.

We also discuss about leadership and assigned to check out a Leadership presentation you can find here, and write a comment in your blog about what you think a leader is.

Since you will be drawinfg a mind map for your project, we talked about how to draw a mind map. Here, Mind maps ... how to. it's a great video to watch and get some tips on how to draw mind maps.

If the problem is that you can't think of a problem for your project: visit one of these blogs for green ideas. Best Blogs to Save the world

Finally, we tried to watch David Merril's Video on TED Talks

Remember to write in your blogs... what we did and discussed this week. You should be working on your wiki page collaboratively and in your blog individually.

Have fun and if you need any help let me know... Google talk is always there....

Keep on shining Love and Peace!
Doris3m

Leadership:What does it take to become a leader?

This is a really good presentation with words and concepts related to being a leader. Are you interested in being a leader? Are leaders important? What are some of the tips in the presentation you think of practicing to be a good leader?

Leadership - Training by Spreadminds

View more presentations from mhdbadr.

More on leadership? Her you have these nice quotes:

Big Dog's Leadership Quotes

Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing. - Warren Bennis, Ph.D. "On Becoming a Leader"

Write your comments in the comment area...

Electronic Engineering Technicians

Working as an Industrial Engineer

Is Software Programming a Good Career?

Working for Shell!!!

Working for Google!!!

Well, I want to work there....





What do you think? Can you make it there? why not?

The Story of Stuff

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Bloggers May-July09!

Welcome Bloggers ..... ! The adventures begins.... We are really excited for this new edition of English for Work. This group of engineers to be look very promising and we are sure we are about to ship off in a great journey...











Germán Rodríguez http://germanj1990.blogspot.com/
Mariangely Diaz http://mariandiazeng.blogspot.com/
Kevelin Sanchez http://kevelinsanchez.blogspot.com/
Veronica Franco http://vero09.blogspot.com/
Vanessa Villasmil http://vanessavillasmilurbe.blogspot.com/
Juan Piñeiro http://juanpineiro.blogspot.com/
Yilda López http://losoyi.blogspot.com/
Yanina Alviilar http://lyaninaalvillar1@gmail.com/
Luis Delgado http://delgado8838.blogspot.com/
Luis Urdaneta Paz http://urdanetaluis88.blogspot.com/
Ricardo Schilling http://rikrdos6.blogspot.com/
Ignacio Davila http://ignacio1819.blogspot.com/
Carolina Zambrano B http://angelapeace.blogspot.com/
Asdrubal Polidor http://asdrubalpolidor.blogspot.com/
Jessica Cuello http://jessicacuello.blogspot.com/
Ignacio Davila http://ignacio1819.blogspot.com/
Alexander Castellano http://castellanos1988.blogspot.com/
Luis Duran http://duranlt.blogspot.com/
Phoebe Gomez http://phoebet711.blogspot.com/
Jose Borjas http://jaborjasblog.blogspot.com/

If you are not in the list yet... let me know and I will add your name and blog link...

Green: Webcast

Webcasts are an excellent way to get trained for free using the internet. This is an example of a great webcast that explains how IBM is going green. According to them:

Creating Eco-responsibility in Your Business

"Going Green" can help organizations dramatically reduce costs and improve the overall efficiency of their operations. Many executive boardrooms are keenly focused on becoming more eco-responsible. This informational session will help you gain an understanding of the financial, operational, social/regulatory, and global value of "Going Green". Presented by: Rich Lechner, Vice President, Marketing and Strategy, IBM Enterprise Systems, IBM

This webcast took place on 25 Feb 2008 | 29 min Audio

These are the links to the webcast, slides and transcript:

Webcast: Creating Eco-responsibility in your business

Alternative media formats

Slides Transcripts Printer-friendly slides PDF Text transcript (audio/video)

After you watch the webcast, please write a post in your blog about the financial, operational, social/regulatory, and global value of "Going Green" you listen to and read about in this webcast. Also write about, How does this webcast can help you to be a green engineer in your field of expertise?

Welcome May-July09 Class!

Welcome, everybody!

This new trimester, we will be working with English for Work. .... But what is that? you may be asking yourself. Well, let's try to explain what it is about. To start with:

1. It is mostly about learning and practicing your English.
2. It is about learning English related to your field of expertise. So if you are an engineering student for instance. You will be reading, listening to, writing and talking about English for engineers and English for working as an engineer.
3. It is about learning English using technology. That means we will be using computers and Internet to find real updated information concerning your different interests. We are going to experiment and play with new ways to learn autonomously. Learning for life. Learning to learn. Learning by doing. We will be watching and listening to videos as well as making videos. We'll have the chance to use different tools to express your ideas and read about ideas.
4. It is about learning and practicing your English in groups, in community. Be ready to meet students and teachers from the university and the world. Of course, there will be tasks you must complete on your own.

That was a general description of the course. Now, how the classes take place:

• Classes are going to be held at the lab. I f you can't come to classes, you can connect at home or wherever you have access to a computer and Internet.
• You need to get a google account, since we will using different tools provided by Google. make sure to register to Gmail, Google Reader, Google Talk, Google Doc, Facebook and Blogger
• Blogs are going to be your personal journals. There you will register everything we do in class. All your homework and tasks should be there.
• Every class will be a taken as a workshop or TALLER. Try not to miss your classes and if you do, keep your blog updated.
• Homework will be assigned for each one of the units covered in class. The dateline to hand in your homework will be the day of your test. It means you will have the chance to work on your blog till the exam day.
• Corrections to writing will be done through Google documents. Share documments with your classmates and your teacher for helping with editing.
  
• Comments and reflections are going to be our way o validate that we are learning.. that's why they are sooooo important.
  
• Make sure to visit your classmates blogs and follow them in google talk, google reader, twitter, facebook or at the efluniversity. O f course, you can text message them in their phones. Connection is the key to success in this experience.
• Get an avatar in SecondLife. We will try to experiment getting together in 3D worlds to meet interesting people there. Add your teacher as friend.. Pionia Destiny is my name. Join the secondlife group in the EFL university to ask questions about how to have a second life to learn and practice your English.
  

Assesment






Things you need to do to take this class:

• Get a Gmail account and register to Google services: reader, Google talk, reader and blogger.
• Get a blog at Blogger. For instructions on how to that get the power point presentation from our box or follow the tutorial prepared by Vance Stevens.
• Register to the EFL University Ning social network. Make sure to write name, last name and class session you belong to when registering at our social network.
• Take these surveys:

About your English Class
May - July 09 EFL Survey
Click Here to take survey

About Integrating Technology in the English Class
May - July 09 EFL Digital Literacy
Click Here to take survey

Benchmarks:

• At the end of the first term. I should have:
  
  • Read my class guidelines
  • Met my new classmates
  • Worked with the introductory task
    
  • Registered at Google and have a Gmail account.
  • Registered to Google readers and added my classmates' blogs
    
  • Registered to Google doc.
  • Downloaded Google Talk and activated my IM.
  • Opened my Blogger account and posted my classes reflections.
  • Registered at the EFL University Ning social network
  • Registered to Second Life and created an avatar
    
  • Taken two surveys

Assignment for this class:

• Write your first blog entrance: Introduce yourself. Use Task 0. Get the task from the file box.
• Add a second post with your new friends' blogs

Hope you learn and have a great time during the time we are going to be together. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Keep on shining Love and Peace!

Good bye...Jan-April 09 English for Work Group!

Hi, there! we are getting to the end of our journey... wow time flies.. Hope you keep on blogging and keep in touch. I wish you the best of luck!

Well, for this term you're supposed to post your resume and the report about your project. Please answer the following questions in your blog:

1. What's your opinion about working in the project?
2. Could you work well as a team? were you a good team member?
3. What was your project about?
4. Was it easy for you to find information about it?
5. What were some of the resources you and your team used to work on this project?
6. What was your role in the team?
7. Working with the wiki...how was it?
8. What about the resources posted in the blog? were they useful?
9. What are some recommendations you will give to improve working in a project?

It's not a good bye ... it's a see you around...

Goodbye | Forward this Picture

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”

Final Project.. Environment: Engineering Solutions to a Green Problem

Introducing Our Collaboration Wiki for our final project

Environment: Engineering Solutions to a Green Problem

This group project is about EFL students from Rafael Belloso University presenting a proposal to solve environmental issues from the point of view of different engineering fields.

The class will be divided into groups with students from the different engineering schools in URBE:

• Industrial Engineering
• Electronics Engineering
• Computer Sciences Engineering
• Informatics Engineering

Goals:

1. To identify environmental issues affecting the world and the country we are living in.
2. Select a methodology to propose a solution to the problem from different point of view of the engineering fields.
3. Propose an engineering solution to a green problem.
4. Integrate technology and web 2.0 tools into the EFL for work class.
5. Use Critical Thinking and Multiliteracies
6. Work efficiently in a team
   

Deadline: April 14th, 2009

Groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 will be presenting at WIZIQ

EFL Students from Rafael Belloso University by Nellie Deutsch

Get your own Virtual Classroom

Assigned Readings
Team Work

• How to be a effective team member
• Team work and team building: how to work as a team

Presenting

• The three P's of presenting
• 10 presetations Do's and Taboos
• The Mechanics of Presenting
• Avoiding Techno Errors
  

Leadership

This is a really good presentation with words and concepts related to being a leader. Are you interested in being a leader? Are leaders important? What are some of the tips in the presentation you think of practicing to be a good leader?

Leadership - Training by Spreadminds

View more presentations from mhdbadr.

Write your comments in the comment area...

Example on how to go Green

Wow! Even the NBA goes green. I found this interesting article about basketball players that go green. If you go to the NBA site, you will find the following tips on how we can go green:

Tip #1: Surfing the Net?
Shut off your home laptop or desktop computer, monitor and printer when you aren't using them. You can cut energy costs by shutting off devices you're not using them.

Tip #2: Time for a Tune-up
Get regular tune-ups for your car's engine, change the oil and keep your tires inflated properly. Proper maintenance can increase your car's fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

Tip #3: Simply Unplug
Are you charging your cell phone or other electronics? Unplug chargers for cell phones, cameras and other hand-held products when they aren't charging so you can save power.

Tip #4: Stopping for Snacks
When you're taking a snack break, look to only take only one napkin when you order food or beverages, and refuse a bag unless you really need one.

Tip #5: Fill Up for Gas?
Check your tire pressure. If we kept our tires properly inflated, we could save 2.8 billion gallons of gasoline a year and help curb global warming pollution

for more tips.. go to the NBA site.

Now, they also have a you tube channel, there you can find some interesting ideas on how to go green and save the world... the green engineering way.

Steve Nash's Efforts to Go Green
NBA All-Star Steve Nash discusses his interests and efforts to give future generations a healthy environment.

Best Blogs for Those Who Want to Change the World

Environment

Check out these blogs to learn about changing the world through the environment.

16. How to Save the World: Dave Pollard shares environmental philosophy and more on this blog.
17. Worldchanging: This blog encourages readers to change their thinking to support a more sustainable world.
18. Change the World: HGTV’s blog will tell you how to change your world without losing your mind.
19. Green Tech: Through Green Tech, you’ll learn about the newest, most innovative green developments in technology.
20. Gristmill: Gristmill is full of environmental news and commentary.
21. Sustainable Food: This blog discusses practices and actions for more sustainable food.
22. GoodGuide: Check out GoodGuide to find products that are safe, healthy, and green.
23. Animal Rights: This blog focuses on the cause of animal rights.
24. Green Blog: This blog helps business leaders choose environmentally friendly solutions.
25. Sustainablog: Check out this blog to learn about sustainability, green business, and environmental politics.
26. Bright Green Blog: This blog discusses alternative energy, wildlife, living green, and more.
27. Stop Global Warming: Read this blog to learn what you can do to help put a stop to global warming.
28. Green Fork: Learn how to eat well and eat sustainably from this guide.
29. TreeHugger: TreeHugger shares green news and sustainable design with a modern twist.
30. Green Inc.: See how your business can be more environmentally friendly from this blog.

________________________________________________________________ Taken from: Best Universities

Green TED Talks

Continuing with our TED Talks, this one is about global warning and having a greener world. The presenter.. is AL Gore..

Al Gore: New thinking on the climate crisis


In this brand-new slide show (premiering on TED.com), Al Gore presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists recently predicted. He challenges us to act.



General Motors veep Larry Burns previews cool next-gen car design: sleek, customizable (and computer-enhanced) vehicles that run clean on hydrogen -- and pump energy back into the electrical grid when they're idle.

Talks John Doerr: Seeking salvation and profit in greentech



"I don't think we're going to make it," John Doerr proclaims, in an emotional talk about climate change and investment. Spurred on by his daughter, who demanded he fix the mess the world is heading for, he and his partners.

What do you think about this?

Adjectives and Adverbs

This is a great way to practice your adjectives and adverbs:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/ks2_activities/english/adjectives_adverbs.shtml

TOEFL Test Practice

The TOEFL Test: Test Of English as Foreign Language.
The essential exam for entry to universities in the United States. Academic language.
Try the free practice material on this site:

• iBT Reading test
• iBT Listening test
• Structure Tests (Paper-based format)
• Vocabulary test

Who is it for?
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) measures the ability of nonnative speakers of English to use and understand North American English as it is spoken, written and heard in college and university settings. Most people who take the TOEFL test are planning to study at colleges and universities where instruction is in English. In addition, many government agencies, scholarship programs, and licensing/certification agencies use TOEFL scores to evaluate English proficiency.

Listening -- Measures ability to understand English as it is spoken in North America.

Structure -- Measures ability to recognize language that is appropriate for standard written English.

Reading -- Measures ability to read and understand short passages similar in topic and style to those that students are likely to encounter in North American universities and colleges.

Writing -- Measures ability to write in English on an assigned topic. In this section, you will have an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to write in English. This includes the ability to generate and organize ideas, to support those ideas with examples or evidence, and to compose in standard written English in response to an assigned topic.

More links to more practice_

1. 4Test

2.TOEFL QUIZZES

3. TOEFL http://englishteststore.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4451%3ATOEFL-iBT-Listening-Idioms-Test-001&catid=113%3Aenglish-vocabulary-tests&Itemid=361

Verb Tenses

Active and Passive voice

Modals

Now.. this is the workshop:

1. Look for an article related to your field of expertise.
2. Post it to your blog. Make sure to add the link where you got it from.
3. Write a short summary of the article. Give your opinion about it.
4. Select two paragraphs from your article.
5. Read the paragraph and select two examples of eight parts of speech: verb, noun, pronoun, adjective, the adverb,  preposition,  conjunction, and  interjection. Also, look for suffixes, and prefixes.
6. Write three sentences and tell about the verbe tenses.

Suffix and Prefix

What is a suffix?
A suffix is a word ending. It is a group of letters you can add to the end of a root word*
e.g. walking, helpful

*A root word stands on its own as a word, but you can make new words from it by adding beginnings (prefixes) and endings (suffixes).
For example, 'comfort' is a root word. By adding the prefix 'dis' and the suffix 'able' you can make new words such as 'discomfort' and 'comfortable'.

For more practice go to: BBC skillwise

What is a prefix?
A prefix is a group of letters which you can add to the beginning of a root word* to change the meaning of the word. e.g. mis + fortune = misfortune

*A root word stands on its own as a word but you can make new words from it by adding beginnings (prefixes) and endings (suffixes).
For example, 'comfort' is a root word. By adding the prefix 'dis' and the suffix 'able' you can make new words such as 'discomfort' and 'comfortable'.

David Merrill: Siftables, the toy blocks that think

David Merrill is a grad student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab. He and his fellow students in this group work on new technologies that give us more and better abilities to do things we want to do. His main interest now is the Siftables project, the subject of his TEDTalk, on which he works with Jeevan Kalanithi. In another field of inquiry, Merrill is looking at ways to access digital information in the wider world, when we are away from a traditional computer.

A musician himself, Merril also has a deep interest in new musical interfaces. His Adaptive Music Controller is an instrument that learns its player (rather than the player learning the instrument). And working musicians should check out his AudioPint, a portable case that consolidates instruments, effects and audio processors into a gig-safe rugged housing.

Bill Gates: How I'm trying to change the world now

Bill Gates hopes to solve some of the world's biggest problems using a new kind of philanthropy. In a passionate and, yes, funny 18 minutes, he asks us to consider two big questions and how we might answer them. Watch the video and write a comment on those two questions.

Bloggers of january- April 2009 Trimester

Welcome new bloggers! This is the list of our bloggers for this trimester:

Moises Manzano http://mjmc14.blogspot.com/
Susana Pascal http://susanapascal.blogspot.com/
Jose Duarte http://josesproductions.blogspot.com/
Dianella Gómez http://dianeindustrial.blogspot.com/
edison gonzalez http://edisongonzalezpaz.blogspot.com/
Hector Ferrer http://hector120190-hector.blogspot.com/
Dimas Aguilar http://dimasaguilar.blogspot.com/
Ruth Toledo http://ruthtoledo.blogspot.com/
Alexander Castellanos http://castellanos1988.blogspot.com/
Anyela Marin http://anyelamarin.blogspot.com/
Juan Fereira http://fereirabriceno.blogspot.com/
Karin C. Alvarez http://karinangels.blogspot.com/
Jose Manuel http://www.jomarocha.blogspot.com/
Aizquel Labarca http://aizquellabarca72.blogspot.com/
Sarai Gonzalez http://sarah-gonzalez.blogspot.com/
cesar Frisancho http://cesar-frisancho90.blogspot.com/
Daniel Reaño http://danielreano.blogspot.com/
Israel Ospina http://industrial-isra.blogspot.com/
Carlos Carruyo http://srmemphis.blogspot.com/
Greisy Marin http://crazy0289.blogspot.com/
Carlos Parraga http://carlosparraga1990.blogspot.com/
Ricardo Garcia http://ricardo-kadaj.blogspot.com/
Alejandro Ricciulli http://www.djoutlex.blogspot.com/
Mariel Hidalgo http://www.marielhidalgo88.blogspot.com/
Ricardo Sandrea http://www.ricardosandrea.blogspot.com/
Eduwin Mendez http://www.eduwinmendez.blogspot.com/
Estefania Gonzalez www.estefaniagp.blogspot.com/
Jesus Hernandez http://xyroz88.blogspot.com/
Jose Manuel Rodriguez http://www.jomarocha.blogspot.com/
Alexis Medina http://www.quark17.blogspot.com

Add this list to your blogs... Copy and paste it.. Then visit your partners blogs..

Welcome class of January -April 2009

Welcome, everybody!

This new trimester, we will be working with English for Work. But what is that? you may be asking yourself. Well, let's try to explain what it is about. To start with:

1. It is mostly about learning and practicing your English.
2. It is about learning English related to your field of expertise. So if you are an engineering student for instance. You will be reading, listening to, writing and talking about English for engineers and English for working as an engineer.
3. It is about learning English using technology. That means we will be using computers and Internet to find real updated information concerning your different interests. We are going to experiment and play with new ways to learn autonomously. Learning for life. Learning to learn. Learning by doing. We will be watching and listening to videos as well as making videos. We'll have the chance to use different tools to express your ideas and read about ideas.
4. It is about learning and practicing your English in groups, in community. Be ready to meet students and teachers from the university and the world. Of course, there will be tasks you must complete on your own.

That was a general description of the course. Now, how the classes take place:

• Classes are going to be held at the lab. I f you can't come to classes, you can connect at home or wherever you have access to a computer and Internet.
• You need to get a google account, since we will using different tools provided by Google. make sure to register to Gmail, Google Reader, Google Talk, Google Doc, and Blogger
• Blogs are going to be your personal journals. There you will register everything we do in class. All your homework and tasks should be there.
• Every class will be a taken as a workshop or TALLER. Try not to miss your classes and if you do, keep your blog updated.
• Homework will be assigned for each one of the units covered in class. The dateline to hand in your homework will be the day of your test. It means you will have the chance to work on your blog till the exam day.
• Corrections to writing will be done through Google documents.

Assesment




Things you need to do to take this class:

• Get a Gmail account and register to Google services: reader, Google talk, reader and blogger.
• Get a blog at Blogger. For instructions on how to that get the power point presentation from our box or follow the tutorial prepared by Vance Stevens.
• Register to the EFL University Ning social network. Make sure to write name, last name and class session you belong to when registering at our social network.
• Take these surveys:

About your English Class
January - April 09 EFL Survey
Click Here to take survey

About Integrating Technology in the English Class
January - April 09 EFL Digital Literacy
Click Here to take survey

Benchmarks:

• At the end of this class. I should have:
  
  • Read my class guidelines
  • Met my new classmates
  • Worked with the introductory task
    
  • Registered at Google and have a Gmail account.
  • Registered to Google readers.
  • Registered to Google doc.
  • Downloaded Google Talk and activated my IM.
  • Opened my Blogger account and posted my first entry.
  • Registered at the EFL University Ning social network
  • Taken two surveys

Assignment for this class:

• Write your first blog entrance: Introduce yourself. Use Task 0. Get the task from the file box.
• Introduce yourself and two new friends. Click on the link and use those questions to interview your partners.
• Post the interview in your blog. Add a photo of your partners.
  

Hope you learn and have a great time during the time we are going to be together. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Keep on shining Love and Peace!