Monday, March 31, 2014

Tuesday's Assignment


Good morning! Here are your tasks this morning:
  1. Role Play: Being a Stay-at-Home Dad 
  2. How does doing household chores help family relationships? Discuss three ways this could happen, and record your advice on Audioboo.com.
  3. How would you handle some of the problems of parenting? Post your advice, with a couple of pictures, on your blog.

Monday's Assignment

Here you go ... here are this afternoon's tasks:
  1. Publish on your blog your report on the field trip to Niagara Falls. If you did not go, make sure you interview your classmates who did.
  2. Add pictures. Edit it using the editing checklist.
  3. Comment on three of your classmates’ reports.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Updates on the Spring Bird Festival


Just in from Lisa Ward, who gave us our Great Lakes and Solid Waste workshops:





I talked about the Spring Bird Festival at Tommy Thompson Park at
the end of both presentations. It is a free event that happens in May at
the Leslie Spit, located at the south end of Leslie Street.

Due to Mothers' Day, the date of the Spring Bird Festival has been changed
this year to Saturday, May 10, 2014.

Can you please let everyone (instructors and students) know about the new
date for the festival and tell them that details are available at
www.trca.on.ca?


Everyone bird-loving, please take note!

Friday's Assignment

Great job, you brave souls who stayed through the afternoon's session to complete the Editing Checklist! Go ahead and check with each other your writing from this morning, and then practice with a partner this role play on Going Green, as a reward.


The above video from Liveleak Freaks

T.G.I.F.! Here come your tasks:

  1. Write a field trip report in the form of an email to a friend, and post it to your blog. Be sure to add some pictures
  2. If you didn't go, you're a reporter. Publish on your blog an article of 10 sentences based on interviews of those who went.
  3. Be sure to comment on at least three of your classmates’ posts.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Fearless Field Trip to to the Falls

Drummond Hill ghostbusters ... courtesy Chang
Tethered via technology, our three-car convoy took us to the frozen Falls, frozen cemetery, and a contrastive series of retail destinations. The finicky weather was no deterrent as our gang of new Canadians hoofed it over from the Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian Falls and back, followed by a glimpse of the ghost of Laura Secord from behind the locked gates of Drummond Hill Cemetery, where two hundred years and four months ago some 1,600 combatants fell as Canada's only-ever invaders provoked the worst battle of the War of 1812 on the gentle slope leading up to Lundy's Lane.
Taking us back to the present was a burger lunch and visits to the Outlet Mall, a thrift store, and other stops on the ginseng and wine route.



Be sure to check out all your classmates' pictures.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Wednesday's Assignment

Good morning! If you haven't already done so, you need to do so immediately. Register for the IEP Conference right away (details in yellow at the top), and email me your confirmation.


Today, we're having a special TRCA workshop on Great Lakes in the morning and on Solid Waste in the afternoon.


And tomorrow, it's off to Niagara Falls. Be sure to gather at the pick-up area of Don Mills Station at 8:50 so as to depart by 9 a.m.





Read the following account of the 1814 Battle of Lundy's Lane (how long ago was that?), and then follow again on this text-to-speech program:
Brigadier General Winfield Scott, United States Army, regarded the red-coated infantry before him. He had not expected to find the British in strength on this side of the Niagara River. His small, isolated brigade now faced an apparently superior enemy and could not rely on immediate assistance from his divisional commander, Major General Jacob Brown. A lesser man would have been daunted, but Winfield Scott - six feet, five inches tall, deep-chested, stern-visaged, and twenty-eight years old - decided to attack. What followed was one of the bloodiest and most hard-fought military actions in North American history. For nearly five hours, American, British and Canadian soldiers struggled desperately into the night in a close range, vicious battle. As one participant recalled, it was "a conflict, obstinate beyond description." When dawn came, more than 1600 men lay dead or wounded. In his interpretation of a still controversial action, Donald E. Graves fills in the planning and operational background of the Niagara campaign of 1814 - one of the most bitterly contested of military operations of the War of 1812. He narrates the action at Lundy's Lane and provides a thorough examination of the weaponry, tactics, organization, and prominent personalities of the two opposing armies. In what is possibly the most detailed analysis of musket-period combat to appear in print, The Battle of Lundy's Lane will appeal to readers interested in the much-neglected War of 1812, American and Canadian local and regional history, and the development of the U.S. and Canadian armies.
Enjoy watching this short video:

The Battle of Lundy's Lane from Canada's History on Vimeo.
Lundy’s Lane saw one of the deadliest battles ever fought on Canadian soil. On July 25, 1814, the American army proved that they were no longer a band of frightened militia, but were soldiers that could stand toe to toe with the British. Nonetheless, their losses at Lundy's Lane forced the Americans to retreat to Fort Erie, and they were never again able to advance into Upper Canada.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Tuesday's Assignment

Good morning!







  1. Today we start off with this survey on the programs here at MicroSkills LINC. Complete it first.
  2. Role Play with a partner: Riding in a Carpool. Repeat with another partner. Check your pronunciation and intonation.
  3. Check the spelling on your blog postings, on each other's, and on mine. Tell each other about any spelling problems.







Sunday, March 23, 2014

Monday's Assignment

This week we celebrate this wonderful land of Canada that's been, as the national anthem goes, kept glorious and free by God. Canadians, you may find, also take pride and personal responsibility for their land. They're are some of the most environmentally conscious folk around. Hopefully, with this week's lessons, workshop, and field trip, you'll also get a greater appreciation and deeper care and concern for our surroundings.
  1. Listening and Vocabulary 1: Saving the Earth
  2. Listening and Vocabulary 2: I Love Trees
  3. Since coming to Canada, how have you found the quality of the environment here? How have you observed Canadians in regard to their care for the environment? Based on your experience, write three sentences about Canada's environment and three sentences about Canadians' attitudes towards it. Address your email to a friend overseas and post it on your blog.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Wednesday through Friday's Assignments

Good morning! First, complete this survey. What is it about? Can you guess? Who created it?




Then check out this LINC Family Forum.

  1. Put up a post on any subject you are interested in.
  2. Write at least three comments on different posts.
  3. Put a link to your forum post in your blog.
  4. Listen and take notes from this introductory video.
  5. Identify 3 future Enterprise Toronto events of interest, and discuss with a partner.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Our next field trip is scheduled for next Thursday for Niagara Falls, pending the availability of carpooling, failing which we may be headed for a Cold Calling Workshop or a buffet lunch.




Find the Job, or Jobs Find You? Check out Job Alerts via Email

You can try finding a job, or you can try to have the job find you. How would you like to see something like what I got this morning in my email:

There are 17 new jobs since your last job alert:
Date PostedJob TitleLocationEmployerSource
Mar. 13College instructor (MS Office- MS Excel & MS Outlook)EtobicokeCanadian College of Business, Science and Technology Job Bank
Mar. 13Instructor, heavy equipment operators - community college (Job-1216 - Heavy Duty Mechanic Professor / Instruc)TorontoRed Seal Recruiting Job Bank
Mar. 11Early childhood education instructor - college level (EXPERIENCE TEACHING EARLY CHILDCARE ASSISTANT)ScarboroughCanadian All Care College Job Bank
Mar. 10Music teacher - conservatory of music (PIANO/VOCAL TEACHER)BramptonOntario Conservatory of Music (Head Office) Job Bank
Mar. 10Music teacher - conservatory of music (VIOLIN TEACHER)BramptonOntario Conservatory of Music (Head Office) Job Bank
Mar. 10Instructor - private training institute (Accounting and Payroll Instructor)TorontoAcademy of Learning Job Bank
Mar. 07Business college teacher (to teach QuickBooks, ACCPAC, SAP FI)Toronto1326318 Ontario Inc. o/a Metro College of Technology Job Bank
Mar. 07Technological institute instructor (Software Quality Assurance instructor)ScarboroughPURES COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY Job Bank
Mar. 07Computer training instructor (Database Testing)TorontoRoyal College of Canada Job Bank
Mar. 07Computer training instructor (ETL Projects and UAT Training)TorontoRoyal College of Canada Job Bank
Mar. 06Teacher, English as a second language (except elementary, high school or university) (Substitute Teacher)TorontoCanadian Language Learning College (CLLC) Job Bank
Mar. 06College teacher (English, French, Sciences Math)MississaugaScholars Education Centre Job Bank
Mar. 06Instructor, college (Legal Administrative Assistant Instructor)MississaugaCDI College Job Bank
Mar. 06Nursing instructor (RN & RPN needed for PSW Course)TorontoEvergreen College Job Bank
Mar. 05College instructor (Web Development with PHP & MySQL) (NOC: 4131)ScarboroughCanadian College of Business, Science and Technology Job Bank
Mar. 05Computer training instructor (Computer Skills-EXPERIENCE TEACHING MS OFFICE)ScarboroughCanadian All Care College Job Bank
Mar. 05College instructor (Web Development with PHP & MySQL) (NOC: 4131)ScarboroughCanadian College of Business, Science and Technology Job Bank
Neat, eh? Additionally, in their email, they suggest other jobs that you might qualify for:

Click "Subscribe" to add an occupation to your subscription:
Related OccupationsJobsJob Market Information
Median WageOutlookReport
SubscribeRecreation, Sports and Fitness Program Supervisors and Consultants
323 $/hn/a+ more
SubscribeEducation Policy Researchers, Consultants and Program Officers
233 $/hn/a+ more
SubscribeOther Instructors
4718 $/hn/a+ more
SubscribeElementary School and Kindergarten Teachers
3836 $/hLimited
(1 of 3 stars)
+ more
SubscribePost-Secondary Teaching and Research Assistants
419 $/hn/a+ more

How to get those emails? All you have to do is to fill out this form and sign up for JobBank's Job Alerts!

Tuesday's Assignment

Good morning! What are you wearing? Did you get your clothes fitted? How was the customer service?



Here are your tasks for this morning:

  1. Check out the vocabulary of clothing alterations.
  2. Practise this dialogue on Shopping for Clothes.
  3. Add two rounds of dialogue to it using your new vocabulary of clothing alterations, and check it with two partners before publishing.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Monday's Assignment



Welcome back! Did you have a good March Break? Did you do any shopping? Was there a funny situation? Here's a week on the theme of Customer Service.

Here's your assignment for the afternoon:

  1. Register for the IEP Conference (see announcement at the top).
  2. Complete your work for the morning.
  3. Write a trip report on your visit to the AGO. What did you learn there? Include 3 lessons and some pictures (you can steal them from this blog).

As an introduction, here are some tasks for this morning:

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

How numerate are you ... in English?

Many adults struggle with math in the UK, and the Government has come up with a test to see how serious the situation is.


For many newcomers, the situation is different. They have a strong background in math but lack the ability to express their thinking in their second or other language. Feel free to check out your English numeracy ability, converting the currency to Canadian, e.g. 25p to 25 cents and ₤290 to $290:


graphic


When you have finished, check out the significance of the question levels from "entry" to "gold."

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Trip Is On - AGO, Here we come! And What a Trip!!

More than 80 participants showed up this morning for a fruitful trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario! After an introductory visit to Canada's Group of Seven, Krieghoff, Henry Moore, and Norval Morrisseau, it was free touring and lunch. Some of us went back in after lunch to take a second bite of the goodies at the AGO. What a glorious day it was!




March Break Activities


From 3D scanning at Toronto Public Library and special discounts on tickets, to skiing and skating and spring flower shows, there's plenty for you and the kids to do next week.

  1. 680 News
  2. Toronto Star
  3. Toronto Sun


Thursday, March 6, 2014

Kitchen all cleaned

Yay! See you tomorrow!

Thursday Assignment

Good morning on this beautiful snowy Thursday! Just like looking at a Krieghoff painting!


Here are your tasks for this morning:
  1. Update your blogs using the editing checklists and corrections from yesterday afternoon.
  2. Watch 8:00 - 8:10 of this video. What benefits are available?
  3. Role play: Filing Taxes
  4. Check out this Prezi  and write down three facts about Cornelius Krieghoff. Check the pronunciation of his name with a partner.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Happy Wednesday!

Just 1 1/2 hours away, the world takes in a spectacle:
Frozen: Lights that usually reflect the water of Niagara Falls illuminate the ice after it froze over on Monday


Enjoy the rest of nature's art here! Then enjoy the manmade stuff on Friday.


If you haven't signed up for the IEP Conference on April 11, be sure to do so right away.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Tuesday's Assignment

Welcome back!
 

Here are your tasks:
  1. Watch the first video without CC and take dictation from 3:30 - 3:40. Click CC or this to check your answer.
  2. Practise this dialogue with a partner, and perform it to another pair of partners. If it's cool, make an audioboo.fm recording and put it on your blog with a link back to the eslpod.com dialogue.
 

Monday, March 3, 2014

Monday's Assignment

Bonjour! Welcome to a week on paying taxes in Canada!



And here are your tasks for this afternoon:

  1. Complete your work from the morning if you haven't done so already.
  2. Watch this video and write down the names of Canada’s Group of Seven. Take notes on each of them.
  3. Post your notes with a sample picture by one of Canada's artists on your blog.



You may find these a little taxing, but your tasks for this morning are:
  1. Complete this Speaking Task.
  2. Complete this Listening Task.
  3. Complete this Reading Task.
  4. Complete this Writing Task.
 This Friday, we have a field trip made possible by our provincial taxes! Guess what this place is:



We'll be leaving at 9:30 a.m. from Don Mills Subway Station. Let's meet outside the coffeeshop in Don Mills Station about 10 minutes before that, and head off to St. Patrick Subway Station.

Recognize any faces? Check out these photos from last year's trip!

Answer key to editing checklist appetizer

  Int excel