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!