Absence Oct. 16th

I will be absent for a training program all day on Tuesday, October 16, 2012. No classes!

What can you do with an IPad?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=GLnmpOE3B6g&feature=endscreen

It's simply amazing... See if you know how to describe all the features and applications used here...

Oral report grading form

Oral reports will begin this week. This is how I will grade your work:

Oral Report Subject: _________________ Name: ____________ Class: ____________

Grammar            5             10           15           20           25           30           35           40

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Content               2          4          6          8          10        12        14        16        18        20

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Knowledge (connaissance) about the subject matter  

2             4             6             8             10           12           14           16           18           20

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Pronunciation   1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10  

(Use www.dictionary.com for pronunciation, or ask me in advance.)        

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Presentation (looking at the audience, good visuals)            

1             2             3             4             5             6             7             8             9             10

_____________________________________________________________________________

Final score: ________÷ 5 = ________/20

In the spaces, I will make notes and give you comments...

Laptop Dad

In February 2012, North Carolina parent Tommy Jordan tried to teach his daughter a lesson. When his "lesson" went viral, he learned some difficult things himself...

This is from a major TV network in the United States.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47b9B_V5OA

One month later, Jordan, his daughter and his wife (the girl's stepmom) appeared on another major TV network:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/46651886#46651927  

It was amazing to me that so many Americans supported him -- seventy-three percent in one poll (sondage)!

Hmmmmm.......

Would you eat here?

The media are...

Media, like data, is the plural form of a word borrowed directly from Latin. The singular, medium, early developed the meaning “an intervening agency, means, or instrument” and was first applied to newspapers two centuries ago. In the 1920s media  began to appear as a singular collective noun, sometimes with the plural medias.

A Vast Wasteland?

From Wikipedia:

The Wasteland Speech was a speech given by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Newton N. Minow to the convention of the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961. The speech was Minow's first major speech after he was appointed chairman of the FCC by President John F Kennedy. In the speech, Minow referred to American commercial television programming as a "vast wasteland" and advocated for programming in the public interest.

"When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better.

But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your own television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly commercials — many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you'll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it."

Do you believe it or not?

An Australian man says he saw a UFO (OVNI) over the skies of Melbourne this past weekend. What do you think?

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/ufo-sighted-over-carlton-gardens-in-central-melbourne/story-e6frf7kx-1226479683210

Free university in Finland?

Take a look at the details:

http://www.studyinfinland.fi/tuition_and_scholarships/tuition_fees

Saturday morning funny...

I am grading homework this weekend. Look for your grades in the next class!

How much do British universities cost?

UNIVERSITY	PUBLIC OR PRIVATE ?	COST PER YEAR
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom	Public	11,229 euros
Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Public	4,323 euros (Northern Ireland residents)
New College of the Humanities	Private	12,228 euros

NYC's 'Soda Ban' Explained in Viral Video