Happy Memories!

Here is a photo taken at the class barbeque, held at Nancy's place during the break. Everyone had so much fun and I have read many wonderful postings on the class blogs. I am sorry I missed it. Thanks Nancy!

The Home Stretch!!

I hope everyone had a good restful break and that you are energized for the last hectic weeks of the semester. This was the last day of our trip to Halifax Nova Scotia. Imagine our surprise when we were hit with a snow-storm!!

Can you believe that the semester is almost over? Before you know it, you will be studying for finals. No doubt, some of you have already started working of final projects for some of your classes.

In writing class, this is the time in the semester when you should be looking at your work with a critical eye and looking for ways to improve your writing. By now, you know the errors that you most commonly make and you should have proof-reading strategies in place to help you self-correct. Writing outlines and draft copies should be the norm, rather than the exception. You should also be exploring different rhetorical patterns for introductions and conclusions.

With our (Blogs) all students should have at least nine blog entries by April 10th. Remember, informal writing is as much a part of the coursework as your formal writing assignments are.

I look forward to seeing photos and hearing stories of the BBQ at Nancy's! I hope you all had a wonderful time.

See you in class!

How about a Broadway Show?

I told you in an email that I would post some information here about "Les Miserables". After searching the web, I believe that if you want to get the best idea of what this musical is all about, you must visit the official website. The address is
http://www.lesmis.com/

I really hope you will be able to join us! Last semester some students joined me on an evening to see "Phantom of the Opera" and it was magical. I know you won't regret it.

Break Time!!

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a fantastic break. I've had a nice time at home and had a chance to get caught up on a lot of paperwork here.... sleep too! (happy sigh) Not a lot of fun, but it was still a nice feeling to get it done with. How about you? I am looking forward to hearing all about your break and the adventures that you went on. :)

I hope to have some photos for you... of a reunion! This weekend we are having meeting of old friends that haven't seen each other for .... years! I wonder if they will recognize me?

See you next Tuesday!
Gail

Jet Lag!

My husband and I just returned from a conference in San Francisco and I am sooooo sleepy! We took the red-eye home and since we fly economy, it was very difficult to sleep in that cramped space. Can you manage to sleep on a plane? If so, please give me your secret so I can try it next time. Anyway, the time difference, combined with the sleepless night, has me in a bit of a fog.

Although we were there on business, we did manage to see a little of the area around San Francisco. It is such a beautiful city and so clean! The temperature is much, much warmer than here, and the air has a wonderful clean crispness to it at this time of year. The hills are green and gardens are filled with beautiful spring flowers, already in bloom, and leaving traces of soft scent on each corner. Within the city itself, the neighbourhoods or districts are as distinctive as the people that live there. The most impressive aspect of the city was the fact that they are so environmentally conscious! There are recycling bins everywhere for us to separate our trash, the busses and trams are electric and posters and signs everywhere remeind us that we all should try to make our Earth a better place to live for future generations. The city had a wonderful feeling to it and I immediately knew that I could be happy living there.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. I would love to go back again some day to be a tourist there and to visit more of the state. If you get a chance to visit, go! You won't regret it.

Web Class...what did you think?

Hi there!

It was great to see you all yesterday again. I am so sorry that your schedules will not allow you to visit the United Nations with us this Friday, but perhaps I can organize another tour later in the semester! It would be really interesting.

Can I ask for your honest feedback about yesterday's web-workshop? Did you find the websites to be helpful? Are there any sites that are particularly interesting to you, or do you have any other websites to suggest? The reason for the class was to (hopefully) give you tools that you can use to understand why you are always making the same mistakes, and to help you find exercises for additional practice that you can do on your own, (when we are not around to help)!

I will add the links from yesterdays class on the left hand side of our blog, so they are easily accessable.

Would you like to visit the United Nations?

Hello there! Wow, isn't it cold? I think this is the coldest day of the year so far. Remember to layer your clothing, and when you are in classes, take off your coats and hats... believe me, it really helps!

Have you had the chance to visit the United Nations yet? Would you be interested in doing so? Professor Bramble and I are trying to organize a Friday visit for our classes. It is only $8.50 per person and includes a full tour with guide of the UN. If you are interested, please respond to this blog by adding a comment below. We are thinking of trying to organize a tour for February 16th. I'll give you more information in my next posting.

Now that MOST students have their blogs "up and running" it is time to ask you to check out each others blog and to post some comments. Click on the links on the side and add a comment on at least two blogs. Learn to use the blog as a form of communication and expression; the more practice you get using it, the more comfortable you will become in your written English skills.

New Class Blogs!

Welcome to old and new students alike! This is our shared space, and I am looking forward to learning about the new group of students here on blogger.com. As you can see, I have changed the links on the right side of the blog. I have the new student links listed at the top and the "pro's" lower on the page. Feel free to leave comments on each other's blog and on mine too! If you are having any trouble and need to ask a question, don't be shy to ask for help. Post a message or send me an email, and I'll be happy to help.

Each week, students are expected to write a "page" in their blog. You can follow the suggestion in the text-book for ideas, or you can write about other things that interest you... but you MUST write!! :) Putting your knowledge into practice is the only way to improve your writing skills. You can see how the students who wrote frequently really improved as the semester progressed, you will too! Also, it is a fun way to share your stories and photos with family and friends.

I have a question for you. What is the most enjoyable thing you have done here in New York since you've been here? What would you recommend to the new students? Please post a comment and respond if you have any good ideas.

Happy New Year!!!

Hello everybody! Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Welcome back to a green??? New York City. What happened to the snow? :) This is the oddest winter I have experienced here yet. Do you know that my husband was golfing here on January 6th? Unbelievable!

Our vacation was fantastic....! Mexico was relaxing and beautiful, we had fun swimming in the sea, trying new food and exploring the area of Puerto Vallarta. Everybody was so kind and helpful. We had an amazing view of the sea from our room and watched the most spectacular sunsets each evening.

After Mexico, I went to Canada to visit my mom and family. It was wonderful! I spent some quality time there, and it felt good to be home again. Mom and I spent hours chatting and getting caught up.

Now I am back in NY and happy to be back at work once again. I am teaching EBS and a writing workshop this semester. I am looking forward to it very much and to adding new students on my blog links.

hmmmmmmmm....Do any of my old students have any advice for the new students? :)

Exam Day....

Here is our EBS Class on the last day. Don't they all look so happy? :)

Wow, I cannot believe that today is the last day of classes already! The semester has flown by and it has been the best one yet. I have so enjoyed all of my classes and the opportunity to learn so much from my students. Thank you for a wonderful class! I am going to miss keeping in touch with you all through these blogs... will you keep writing on yours after this class is over???
I will.. please drop in now and again to visit and post a comment!

News Flash!

I received a phone call tonight from Carole ( the woman who is helping us book the tickets). She has confirmed our tickets, and the ticket price is actually less expensive than she originally quoted. They are 33.75. I will try to find out which section we will be sitting in before class tomorrow. :)

Phantom again??

Hello!! Yesterday you asked me to check again into the possibility of going to see" Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway. The ticket office said that there is a very good possibility that we could get tickets For Thursday, December 7th for the evening show. ( I will know tomorrow for sure) The price is 43.75 per ticket and we have reserved ten tickets at the student rate. The regular rate is 71.00. If you are interested, let me know and bring your money to class tomorrow. If anybody wants to invite a friend to join us, we have a few extra tickets but I will need their money tomorrow as well. Post a comment if you have any questions.

Also, I have found some great links for help on writing a research paper, a research report and a term paper.. I've put the links on the side bar... Let me know what you think!
Ciao, Gail

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We celebrated Thanksgiving early this year with wonderful friends from school. I believe it was the happiest Thankgiving I have ever had. Our guests were so happy and helpful. They were so understanding too, especially when the oven caught on fire ( I am serious) :) and as a result, they had to wait a bit longer for dinner to be ready. In the end, everything was fine and it was a very joyous occasion. Matthew was so happy to meet everyone too...now he knows why I love my work so much!
Thank you very much for coming!

I wish I would have been able to invite the students in my other class too but we didn't have enough plates or chairs... maybe we can do something another time???

Introducing!!!

So here we are! These are our class members (minus the professor)...at a workshop on citations at St. Johns, and working hard in writing class..no, really!