Thank you!

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for your lovely comments! I read them all, but I loved your 'summary' at the end Jason! It really made me laugh! =-)

I would be happy to go for a drink on Friday afternoon if people are around or interested?  We still have quite a bit of work left this week so it may be hard to do before then, but I could sneak off and join you all somewhere if you are free in the afternoon sometime.  Perhaps organize amongst yourselves a bit and let me know if that suits you?

So you know, your listening exam is on Thursday 1pm in room 1A02 in the Mantell building.  Janice will be in the room with you and giving the exam as I have to do marking for another exam at the same time.

If I don't see any/all of you, have a fantastic time over the holidays!! Enjoy the well deserved break and I really look forward to seeing you all again after the holidays!

Good luck tomorrow on the ABES exam! Nearly finished!

=-)
Jennifer

Good luck!

Hi everyone,

I wanted to wish you all the best of luck on the exam tomorrow!! I am sorry we didn't get to see each other on Thursday or Friday due to the weather. I was still a bit snowed in, but I hope you all enjoyed the snow day and got out for a good snowball fight!  I definitely did!

So, I hope you all feel prepared and ready for the exam.  Don't worry, you'll be fine.  The listening exam is postponed til Thursday at 1pm as you know, and I will probably see you all then.  Also, I need to collect your final essays if you didn't turn them in already, so you can bring them to the staff room in Mantell, or if you are unable to before hand, to the listening exam.

Also, I am still more than happy to go out for that class drink if you would like this week, so please respond and let me know if you are all interested?

Good luck tomorrow and as I didn't get a chance to say it, thanks for a wonderful term.  I can't tell you what a pleasure it was to have such a fantastic class!  I really enjoyed it and look forward to seeing you all next term!

=-)
Jennifer

Vocabulary books for Monday

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the late post, but if you see this, please bring your vocabulary books tomorrow.  I promise, we will use them!

Hope you have had a great weekend!

See you tomorrow.

=-)
Jennifer

Online Discussion #4

Hi all,

This week's online discussion will be on the following topic:

Should individual citizens be granted the right to bear arms?

Everyone should write an original opinion and respond to the idea of at least one other student.  Think also of the different perspectives of the people that might be affected by this decision.

All opinions should be included as comments to this post and should be completed by the Thursday.

So, who will lead this week's discussion to be summarized in class on Friday?

=-)
Jennifer

Online Discussion #3

Hello everyone,

This week's online discussion will be on the following topic:

Do beauty pageants cause more harm than good?

Think about the participants and the effect it has on society.

Everyone should write an original opinion and respond to the idea of at least one other student.  Think also of the different perspectives of the people that might be affected by this decision.

All opinions should be included as comments to this post and should be completed by the Thursday.

So, who will lead this week's discussion to be summarized in class on Friday?

=-)
Jennifer

BBC PROGRAMS

Hi, Everyone!

Here are the links of the BBC programs I reccommend.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00vt24j/The_Apprentice_Series_6_Fashion/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00vv48z/The_Apprentice_Youre_Fired_Series_6_Episode_5/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tz2h4#clips


enjoy!

Amy

Wednesday afternoon class

Hello everyone,

In place of this afternoon's lessons, I have two exercises that you need to complete on your own.

1.  The first deals with recognizing plagiarism, as we have been discussing in our lesson.  This link will take you to an online quiz containing 10 questions.  Look at the questions and compare the original texts with the sample student texts.  Thinking about referencing and the copying of words and ideas, decide if these are a case of plagiarism or not and choose the appropriate response.  Once you have completed the quiz, you can print off the certificate to show your understanding of plagiarism.

https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/plagiarism_test.html


2.  The second is a website that deals with the topic of 'critical reading'.  This is in preparation for your assessment tomorrow as it deals directly with your ability to evaluate websites and information online.  The website is an online tutorial that you can follow and should take approximately one hour.  It is both explanatory, and you should read through the ideas it disucsses as they pertain to evaluating information online, and interactive.  There are short exercises and activities you can try as you move through the tutorial to test your understanding.

http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index.html


Please complete these website tutorials this afternoon and also finish preparing for the assessment tomorrow at 2pm.

Here is the new assignment for task 2 tomorrow:

TASK 2: WRITTEN ANALYSIS

A:         Write a report of 150 – 200 words on how to evaluate the reliability of a source on the internet.  In your report make specific reference to at least 3 of the gradings you have given in your example statements of fact and opinion in task 1.  (50 marks)

B:         (i) Select three of the five opinion quotations and in your own words write a short response which summarises the arguments chosen. (ii) Evaluate the 3 opinions saying how reliable you believe they are.  (40 marks)

Good luck everyone!

=-)
Jennifer

It will help you to write your critical reading task... Fact or opinion...

Just download this presentation... I hope that it'll help you...

Fact or Opinion.

Good luck!

Listening Books for Monday

Hey everyone,

Hope you have enjoyed the long weekend and caught up on some sleep!  Please bring your listening books for tomorrow's lesson.

See you in the morning!

=)
Jennifer

Useful websites for determining the reliability of a source

Hello everyone,

Further to what we were working on in our lesson today, here are some more useful university websites to help you understand determining the reliability of a source.  There are also a few practice exercises in the first link if you would like extra practice.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/infosuss/evaluating_information/index.shtml

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/languages/1-6-8-2-3.html

Thanks,

Jennifer

Online Discussion #2

Hello everyone,

This week's online discussion will be on the following topic:

Should junk food be banned from schools? 

Everyone should write an original opinion and respond to the idea of at least one other student.  Think also of the different perspectives of the people that might be affected by this decision.

All opinions should be included as comments to this post and should be completed by the end of the week.

So, who will lead this week's discussion to be summarized in class next Monday?

=-)
Jennifer

No books for Monday

Hi everyone,

Hope you are enjoying the weekend!  I have work for us to do tomorrow, so you don't need to bring your books.

See you all in the morning!

=-)

Jennifer

Weekly Discussion #1:

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the first of the online discussions!

This week's online discussion will be on the following topic:

Does technology cause more harm than good?

Everyone should respond to this post as a comment and give their opinion, as well as respond to at least 1 other student's point.

Then 2 lucky volunteers will give a short presentation on Friday of the class points of view and different ideas brought up by the students.

Good luck!

=)

Jennifer

Welcome!

To all students in my Pre-Master's class, I wish you a warm welcome to this blog site!

This class is designed to prepare you for a master's degree at the University of Sussex and all of the challenges you will face.  I have set up a blog for our class to help us communicate and provide the opportunity for you to post ideas, homework, ask questions, and even have discussions!  This blog will be an important tool for you to participate in class activities and stay connected to the other students and your teacher (me!).

I encourage you to use this blog as much as possible to participate in class and improve your chances of success at the University of Sussex.

I am sure that this will be an exciting term for all of us and I wish you the best of luck!

Jennifer