Environmental Disasters

This unit is a study of how the environment is rapidly changing due to destruction, disaster, and misuse. Find an article than discusses an environmental disaster and link it to the blog. Make a comment about the problem and the solution (if there is one).

Aral Sea Disaster

http://www.orexca.com/aral_sea.shtml


Our next unit contains readings about the Aral Sea Disaster. Read this article to preview the unit. Choose 3 words that you don't know and write the words and their definition in the comments section. Also, comment on what you hope to learn in this unit.

Today's Class

Class Today:

Here are your assignments-

1. Make sure you have done the blog assignment from 10/21 about podcasts. If you haven't, complete it today.
2. Create a graph or chart from the information you collected by interviewing students. Make sure the graph is easy to understand, easy to read, and accurately depicts the information. I will have large sheets of paper for you in the classroom and markers.
3. We have been studying reading strategies using information about language learning. http://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/TOEFL_reading1.htm Click on the link. This reading discusses the development of the English language. Read the passage and answer the questions. On a sheet of paper, write down your score for the first section (questions 1-10) and the summary question.
4. We have also worked on word definitions in this unit. http://wps.ablongman.com/long_licklider_vocabulary_1/45/11759.cw/index.html Click on this link and complete the definition activity.Choose the exercise titled "Choosing the best definition." Then choose Exercise 1 multiple choice. Write how many questions you completed correctly on your notebook paper.
5. On Tuesday, be ready for a quiz over your vocabulary words from this week! Have a Happy Halloween!

Podcast

Podcasts are a series of digital media released online. They are rising in popularity due to the number of people with Ipods. Find a podcast that interests you. Listen to it and link it to this post, write a 4-5 sentence summary about it. Then write about whether you think podcasts are an effective tool for your field of study (business, engineering, education, etc.)

Bilingual Education

Read the following article about bilingual education on the New York Times website:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/education/09ipod.html?ref=bilingual_education

Do you think ipods are a constructive way to teach bilingual education?

What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks?

Learning Styles

Use the link below to read the article about learning styles. Make a comment about which learning style you are and 3 ways this can make you a more efficient learner.

http://www.how-to-study.com/study-skills/en/other-helpful-articles/49/your-preferred-learning-style/

Class Today

Here are the assignments for the day:

1. click on this site
www.college.cengage.com/collegesurvival/watkins/learning_companion/1e/students/timed_reading.html

Choose one of the readings to do. Follow the instructions. Complete the activity then record your score on the handout sheet.

2. Choose 2 more stories and do the same thing.

3. At the bottom of your page it says FOR or AGAINST. If you are FOR the chinese healthcare system, you need to look at articles online to discover reasons the chinese healthcare system is good. If you are AGAINST, you need to look at articles online to discover reasons why the chinese healthcare system is bad.

4. When you are done, find your other teammates and work together to plan your debate

Chinese Healthcare System

Find an article that contains information about the healthcare system in China. Link the article to this post and then write 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses of their system.

Cause and Effect

For this week's homework, find a cause and effect article and link it to this site. Here are some good places to look:

http://www.nytimes.com/

http://www.arkansasonline.com/

I can't wait to see what you guys find! Make sure to list one of the cause and effect relationships you found by your link! THANKS!

Continuing Ideas

Class today went really well! I think everyone is understanding what continuing ideas are. As you read Reading 1 over the weekend, make sure to circle the continuing idea markers and then underline the continuing idea they are referring to! You also might want to start studying for the vocab quiz!

You guys did a great job with your summaries! I'm enjoying learning more about you!

Enjoy your weekend!

Welcome to class!!

Hello Students! What a great first day! I think we are going to have a wonderful semester! My goal is to prepare you guys to be successful in all of your Harding classes. I really enjoyed learning more about you.

Some of the skills you guys want to improve on include: increasing reading speed, working on grammar in sentences, finding the key word, figuring out the main idea, figuring out what a word in a sentence means, and being able to read without using a dictionary to look up every word.

For the 1st blog assignment due on THURSDAY before class I want you to write a short summary about yourself. Tell me what you profession/career you are interested in. At the end include what you want to learn in this class. Here is an example:

My name is Meg Eddins. My life is centered around the church. My greatest wish is for my family and friends to be christians. I have been married to my husband (who I met while I was a student at Harding!) for almost 9 years. We have 3 beautiful, compassionate, energetic, kind daughters. I was a teacher and I love everything about teaching. I hope this class will help you to learn the skills needed to be a strategic reader.