Activities for our last classes together - May 3rd through May 8th

My Dear Students,

How quickly the time has passed! I will be meeting with each class one last time - I'll meet with the 7:00 class on Friday, May 3rd, the 7:00 pm class on Monday, May 6th and the 1:00 pm class on Wednesday, May 8th.

What's the plan? Well, I'll return your articles to your teacher with my comments and I'll collect your brochures. Then I'll feed you chocolate cookies (7:00 pm class, you already got yours! You should bring me a treat when I come to your class on Monday!!). Next we'll play a game in English.

To the 7:00 class who already ate their cookies and got to play Taboo with Taelor and me, we'll play some other games that will help us practice our English on Monday. I think we'll play "2 Truths and a Lie" and "Change your chair if..."

More details to come when I see you in class!

Sincerely,

Rose

Cookie recipe

To our last class I will be bringing double chocolate chip cookies I made at home.

Here is the recipe (from allrecipe.com)


2 cups all-purpose flour
 3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
 1 teaspoon baking soda
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
 2/3 cup sugar
 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 2 eggs
 1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees.
2. COMBINE flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set but still soft. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

The cookies are easy to make and I hope you enjoy them!

Activities for the week of April 22 - 26

This week you will be sharing your completed articles with me and the rest of your class. I hope you enjoyed this project!

I have a few questions about this project:

• What did you learn?
• What was the most difficult part of this assignment?
• What surprised you?
• If you were to do this project again, what would you do differently?
• What is the most interesting thing you learned in the interview?
• How did this project help you with English?

I will read your articles this week and return them to you in our next class. Our time together has passed so quickly, I can't believe our next class, after this week, will be our last! I am trying to think of how we can have fun in our last class and celebrate what we have learned. I am open to your suggestions!

Now, for class this week, after we have shared about our articles we will start talking about a place that is special to each of us.

Think about your favorite place. It can be specific like you grandmother's kitchen or general like the city of Cuenca. It can be small like the spot under a certain tree in your favorite park or big like all of Cajas National Park.

These are some of the questions we will be seeking to answer about your favorite place:

• Where is it?
• What are five words you can use to describe this place?
• What emotions do you feel when you are there?
• When did you first go to this place?
• What does this place look like? Describe it.
• What sounds do you hear when you're there?
• Is this a place you go alone or with others? If you go with others, who do you go with?
• What is special about this place for you?

After you have taken time to answer these questions, you will take this information and anything else you think is relevant, and create a brochure. This assignment may require a lot of imagination. If you chose a place like your grandmother's kitchen it may seem like a strange idea to create a brochure for it. But that's where the fun lies - I am asking you to draw upon your sense of fantasy! We'll discuss this more in class. I will bring examples of brochures and paper for you to use.

More interview questions

These are the questions thought up by the 7:00 class. Sorry for the delay in posting!

Past
Why did you come to Cuenca?
Where did you live last year?
What was your life like 10 years ago?
Where did you go yesterday?

Present
What do you do?
What do you like about Cuenca?
What is your favorite place in Cuenca?
What are you doing in Cuenca?
Where are you from?
Do you like to eat fast food?
Where are you studying?
Do you like Ecuadorian food?
How long do you stay in Cuenca?

Hobbies and Interests
What do you do in your free time?
What kind of music do you like?
What kind of traditional food do you like?
What is your favorite kind of music?
What is your favorite sport?
What do you do on the weekend?

Future
How long are you going to stay in Cuenca?
Do you have plans for the future?
Will you return to this city?
What do you think Cuenca will be like in 5 years?
Would you like to live in Cuenca?
What are your plans with your partner (spouse)?

Good questions! Good luck on your interviews. I look forward to reading your articles!

Interview Questions

In our 7:00 pm class, students thought of dozens of useful questions for the interview project. I promised to post them to the blog. I hope you can use some of these questions in your interviews. Remember to use your imagination and not limit yourself, if you can think of other pertinent questions, then go ahead and ask!

Questions about the past:

• When were you born?
• Where did you study? 
• What did you do when you were a child?
• Where did you grow up?
• Have you traveled to another country?
• What was the most beautiful country you have visited?

Questions about the present:

• Why are you here?
• What is your profession?
• What do you do for a living?
• Where are you from?
• What do you like about Cuenca?
• What do you think about the people of Cuenca?
• What is your opinion about the culture of Cuenca?
• What is your opinion about education in Cuenca?

Questions about hobbies, interests and activities:

• What do you like?
• What kind of music do you prefer?
• Do you like dancing?
• Which is your favorite disco?
• What do you do in your freetime?
• What is your work?
• Do you have a hobby?
• What kind of activities do you do here?
• Did you enjoy the festivities in Cuenca? or Do you enjoy the festivals in Cuenca?

Questions about the future:

• What would you like to be doing five years from now?
• Are you planning to live in Ecuador?
• Would you like to marry an Ecuadorian person?
• If you are not planning to live here, would you like to come back?
• What other country would you like to visit?
• What will be the thing you will miss the most?
• Would you eat ethnic food like worms?
• What would you change about this country if you could?

Excellent questions, everyone! I look forward to reading your articles after you do your interviews. By the way, I would not like to eat a worm, especially not these worms. 

Activities for class the Week of April 15 - 19: Interviews

This week we will be working on our interviewing skills as we act as expert journalists. I've been listening to a lot of interviews in podcasts from National Public Radio. One of my favorite shows is called Fresh Air. Maybe this is where I got the idea to do activities based on conducting interviews. If you want to hear some really interesting and thoughtful interviews, I recommend listening to the Fresh Air podcast. Many of their interviews are available online at the link I provided above.

Anyway, I think interviews provide great practice in speaking and listening. This is what we will do in class this week:

1. As a class we will create a list of as many interview questions as possible. We will start by working in small groups to think of questions then we will come back together as a large group to make a list of the questions we came up with. After we get past the common questions we'll have to use our creativity and really reach beyond standard interview questions. 
2. Next, we will practice interviewing each other. Half of the class will be journalists and the other half will pretend to be a tourist visiting Cuenca from the United States. I have a bunch of cards with information about the 50 US states. Each "tourist" will be given a state information card. The tourist will use this information along with any other details they choose to make up about themselves. Maybe the state you choose is California and you decide you're an organic vegetable farmer who also breeds miniature horses for the circus. Whatever you want, it can only make the interviews more interesting! Journalists will be paired with tourists to conduct a short five minute interview then we will switch up. We will conduct as many interviews as possible.
3. The final part of this interview process will happen out of class! 
1. Your assignment is to interview an English speaking tourist or a foreigner who is now residing in Cuenca. I know you've seen a lot of these people in the Parque Calderon or wandering down Calle Larga with a guide to Ecuador or a map in their hands. If you have difficulty finding a subject to interview, contact me as soon as possible and I can help you!
2. Choose 5 - 10 questions for your interview. We will come up with many more in class but the interview should only take about 10 - 15 minutes. If you think of other questions outside of class that you'd like to ask your subject then that's great, no need to restrict your imagination!
3. Interview your subject. I recommend working in pairs on the interview, but no more than two people should interview the same person. Interviewing tips:
1. Approach a potential subject in a friendly manner. Tell him or her that you're a university student studying English and that you'd like to ask that person a few questions.
2. Take notes or record the interview while it is in process. If you are recording the person's interview, ask permission first.
3. Ask easy questions first (name, where are you from, etc.) and then get into more detailed questions. Feel free to stray from the script if other questions come to mind during the interview.
4. If you are first meeting this person, avoid overly personal or invasive questions.
5. Spend about 10 - 15 minutes doing the interview. Some people will love being interviewed and they'll talk for hours, others are more shy and less talkative. 
6. After the interview is finished, thank the subject for their time. 
4. After you complete the interview, write a short article about the person you interviewed. As I said before, two students may interview the same subject, but I'd like each student to write their own article. The article does not need to be long, maximum one page in length. We will turn in and discuss the articles in the next class.

I hope everyone has fun with this assignment! I used to be very shy (and I still am sometimes) and this would have been a difficult project for me to start when I was younger because of my dislike of approaching strangers. However, I think working with a partner on the interview will help those of you who are shy. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about this assignment!

Schedule Change

I will now be meeting with level 4 intensive classes once per week. I will meet with the 7:00 am class on Fridays, the 1:00 pm class on Wednesdays and the 7:00 pm class on Mondays. This is the tentative schedule for the remainder of the term:

7:00 AM Class
April 19
April 26
May 5

1:00 PM Class
April 17
April 24
May 8

7:00 PM Class
April 15
April 22
April 29

Being Minnesotan

What does it mean to be a Minnesotan? What does it mean to be a Cuencano? Well, the second question is one you are better able to answer.

A friend sent me a link to the "38 Things Minnesotans are Too Nice to Brag About." The title refers to the fact that typically people in my state are very humble. We don't like to talk about ourselves, especially the things that give us pride. People in Minnesota are also known as being nice or kind. I think both of these things are good!

Click on the link to the 38 Things... to learn a little bit about my state and the people who come from there. Of course there is a little humor there, we don't all have bad hockey haircuts, eat tater tot hot dish and wear ugly pants. But some of us do. You can learn about a few of the things that were invented in the state where I come from.

I love the music of both of the musicians featured on this page, by the way. Listen to the the songs!

Back to my question about what are great things about being Cuencano, or Ecuadorian - what can you say about that? Add a comment!

Lesson 1

By now we have had our first class together. I only had a little time to answer questions in the 7:00 pm class but we'll make that up next week and soon all three of the classes will be on the same schedule. 

This is my schedule with the Level 4 classes:

Monday and Wednesday: Patricia Palomeque's 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm classes

Tuesday and Friday: Eulalia Moscoso's 7:00 am classes

In our first classes together, this is what we did:

·         Introduce myself

o   From Minnesota

o   Mathematics and Elementary Education teacher

o   Fulbright Program

o   Teaching level 4 students, and working in the Speaking Corner in the Multimedia Center

o   How I learned Spanish

·         Language study

o   Speaking

o   Listening

o   Writing                                                

o   Reading                                              

·         Our classes together

o   Twice per week

o   Focus on speaking and writing

o   Planned activities each week

·         My philosophy as a teacher

o   Constructivism

o   I am here to teach you what you want to learn – you need to let me know what that is!

·         My promise to you

o   I will come to class with well thought-out plans for class

o   I will be prepared

o   I will answer any and all questions honestly and to the best of my ability

·         My expectations for you

o   Pay attention

o   Immerse yourself in English

o   Participate in activities

o   Help your classmates and ask for help when you need it

o   Ask questions

·         Our activity today

o   I have written eight questions for you that will help me get to know you better

o   The questions are written on cards 

o   Work in small groups, each group member will answer the question. Find a new question to answer every 5 minutes.

·         Questions

1. Why do you want to learn English?
2. What is your history?
3. What is your dream?
4. What is your nightmare?
5. Who are you?
6. What are your strengths, gifts and abilities?
7. What do you need?
8. What does your ideal day look like?

·         Homework

o   Write a half-page introduction of yourself, like a short autobiography. Your introduction must contain the following elements:

• Your name
• What you are studying
• Why do you want to learn English?
• Answer any three of the other questions from class (questions 2 - 8, see above), your choice! 

Welcome!

I created this blog for the level 4 English students I meet with at the University of Cuenca, as well as the Speaking Corner students. The purpose of this blog is to supplement our class time together.

I will post information about our lessons and your homework. Sometimes I will add additional activities that will give you some extra practice.

Please add comments! Tell me what you like about our class, what you don't like. What was your favorite activity? What activity should I skip next time? :)

Ask me questions, give me suggestions, tell me what you want to learn. Say hello!

The next time we meet I will tell you about this blog. I might ask you to post a comment to the blog as part of an assignment so be prepared!