Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Quiz Team Aguilera!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Xmas Quiz this morning where three teams competed: Gerry's Girls, Beanies and Maroon 4.

It was hard fought throughout and Maroon 4 just snatched it with a great final round and an inspired guess on how long the Amazon River was in miles in the tie-breaker. I thought Carlos' drawing of the Amazon was the deciding factor!

Anyway, very well done to Nicky, Fannia, Matt and Carlos who took the glory and I thoroughly enjoyed the chocolates that were shared afterwards.

Thank you very much for the Xmas card which I shall display on my mantlepiece at home directly.

Well done for a very successful first session and you have all done extremely well.

The yearbook is on the D2L and you will each get a colour copy of the magazine on Monday 7th January.

Have a wonderful break whatever you are doing and I wish you all a relaxing holiday, we have earned it!

All the best,

Mark

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Success part IV!

Dear all,

Seven fantastic presentations this morning and again, lots of interesting and diverse topics, so well done to all involved. Gerry was working hard too and he performed amazingly well when Sue asked him to demonstrate his hearing dog skills. He got some treats too, which were richly deserved in my opinion!

Next week I will see the whole class on Tuesday for the Xmas quiz and I HOPE to have the yearbooks then too, fingers crossed.

On Monday I only need to see Cameron and Lucy who will complete the reading assessment which won't take long.

All the best and very well done to all presenters, it was a great four sessions and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your skills develop.

Mark

Monday, 10 December 2012

The first few sessions in the Ne'er

Hi everybody.

This is how I plan to spend the first few weeks back after the Christmas holidays:

7th January 2013 - practice analysis of an oral presentation (in groups) - taken from the TED website.
8th January 2013 - finish off above in class.

14th January 2013 - assessment and discussion on presentation analysis (Oral Presentation Skills) - this also will be a talk from the TED website.
15th January 2013 - finish off assessment / remediation as necessary.

Now, there may be changes to the days I teach you here as we move into semester two as the timetables haven't been finalised yet, but:

Week beginning 21st January 2013 - listen to radio programme on 'Language' and answer questions (in groups), finish off questions / discussion as necessary.

Week beginning 28th January 2013 - assessment on listening (Comm 4 Listening outcome). This will be a radio programme and will follow the same pattern as the unassessed work from the week before.

Mark

One more presentation successfully negotiated

Dear all,

Well done to Laura who delivered a great talk this morning on how to sharpen knives which was high on levels of instruction and demonstration (with a home made cardboard knife no less!)

Nicky and Cameron will both deliver their talks in the session tomorrow which will conclude the presentations for this year.

Mark

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Presentations, round two!

Hello all,

Well done to the seven presenters who did the business this morning. We had some really interesting and diverse topics resulting in everybody passing. Thank you to Loana who took a photo of Fannia's 'artwork' as I called it this morning. From a blank canvas to a full breakfast, awesome!

Well done again and I look forward to the remaining talks next Monday and Tuesday.

All the best,

Mark

Monday, 3 December 2012

Blackwell Christmas Bookstall, Wednesday 5 December

Blackwell's Bookshop Christmas Stall
Christmas is just around the corner - and we here at Blackwell's would like to make your Christmas shopping just that little bit less stressful.

We will be bringing a selection of books, CDs, DVDs, children's toys, board games, eReaders, calendars, Christmas cards, stocking fillers and other gift ideas to you on Wednesday 5th December from 10am to 4pm.

So come and visit our stall in the foyer area next to the Refectory and take advantage of our special Christmas offers.

All staff and student will receive 10 percent discount on the day (excludes already discounted items and eReaders) Plus spend over £50 and receive a free I Love Santa bag!

We look forward to seeing you there.

Description: Picture (Enhanced Metafile)

Congrats to our first two contenders

Well done to both Carlos and Dan who presented very well indeed this morning and got us off to a flyer. Everybody in attendance agreed that they had been educated, informed and learnt lots of new things, so well done chaps. Tomorrow morning will see seven talks instead of the previously advertised six and Vicky will be joining that session. Don't forget your presentation plans too (this is an assessment too remember), which won't take you long to put together.

Cheers,

Mark

Sunday, 2 December 2012

Don't get tied up in knots

Carlos' presentation will be looking at knots as part of his talk. I encountered something similar to the photo below yesterday in my pocket. If you can relate to it, it should make you chuckle! Cheers.

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Good luck for next week

And please, do NOT heed the advice on the graphic below!

Thursday, 22 November 2012

Web detox?

Here is an interesting weblink: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20322747

Could you do it?

My web detox

Rory said he found the experience "disorienting"

It seemed like a good idea at the time. As part of BBC London's Lonely London series, I was persuaded to spend 24 hours without using the internet or social media. The thought was to explore whether new technology does anything to make us feel more or less isolated.

Here's how it went...

20:00 GMT


I post messages on Twitter and Facebook explaining that I am going offline, turn on "out of office" on my two email accounts and turn off any data connection on my phone. Then I explain to my 14-year-old son, busy online as ever, what I'm doing. "That would be agony for me!" he says.

Screenshot of Rory's tweet

23:30 GMT


Later, I realise what a bad time it is for this exercise. It's American election night - the ideal news event to monitor via social media as well as watching on television. Tuning into the coverage, I find it much less compelling without the running commentary I normally get from my Twitter stream, and I go to bed long before the result is clear.

06:00 GMT


The alarm goes off, I reach for my phone - then realise I'm not allowed to look at the web. Turn on the radio to hear the result of the election - and go downstairs to watch Obama's acceptance speech. This time, watching without the distraction of Twitter is a better TV experience.

08:00 GMT


Usually I sit at breakfast with a device or two scouring emails and Twitter and various news sites. This morning I read the papers, then find I have time for the piano practice I usually forget.

Rory reading the newspapers

09:30 GMT


I have a doctor's appointment - normally I would sit in the waiting room fiddling with my phone. Instead I read a copy of the Economist retrieved from amongst the Grazias and Vogues. It's weeks old, but full of interesting material about technology issues and I emerge from the surgery feeling better-informed.

10:15 GMT


On the tube into London everyone appears to be transfixed by their tablet computers and smartphones. Normally I'm exactly the same - and with wi-fi available at stations I can be checking Twitter at every stop. Instead, I'm reading the paper - which feels many hours out of date. I wish I'd brought a book.

11:00 GMT


In the office, I quickly become aware that not only do I miss the web and social media, but it is impossible to do my job without them. Twitter has become my news agency for technology stories, my main means of communication with people in that field, and an important platform for promoting my content. And when someone rings me with a story, my first instinct is to go to Google to brief myself about the context - then I realise I can't. "I'll email you some background," the contact says. I have to explain why that won't work.

12:00 GMT


What I do manage is a couple of face to face meetings with colleagues, rather than emailing them. And, with little idea of how to carry on my job when offline, I find myself sitting around gossiping - and no doubt annoying busy people who are trying to get on with their work.

Rory at his desk

14:00 GMT


The psychologist Dr Michael Sinclair comes in to be interviewed by me for our BBC London report. He nods sympathetically as I describe my feelings of being disconnected. We talk about how easy it is to become addicted to social media - and he warns that this can lead to problems in engaging in the real world with family and friends.

15:00 GMT


We go out onto Oxford Street to ask Londoners how they would cope if they had to give up the internet. Just about everyone agrees that it would be impossible now for them to run their lives without it.

16:00 GMT


Later, with a story emerging for the next day, I am reduced to asking colleagues to print out emails and some information from the web. Cheating, I suppose, but the only realistic way of doing my job.

20:00 GMT


At home, and relieved that my self-imposed exile from the online world is coming to an end, I turn on the data connection on my phone and fire up the computer. With a sinking heart I see that 448 unread emails await my attention. Still, there's plenty to catch up with on Twitter before dealing with that - I'm back online and not a moment too soon. I've concluded that I just cannot function without being hooked up to the online world.

Conclusion


Rory Cellan-Jones

That is how it felt at the time. After a few days back online and sometime for reflection, I have come to a rather different conclusion. I now realise that constant connectivity, while vital for my job, has plenty of negative aspects. It shortens your attention span and could prevent you from having any sense of perspective about what is important and what isn't. So maybe a web detox is something we should all try from time to time.

Watch Rory's report on BBC London News at 13:30 GMT on Thursday 22 November, and read more about Lonely in London, BBC London's survey into loneliness and sense of community in the capital.

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Who is doing what and when for assessed presentation one?

Dear all,

Below is a note of what everybody is doing for their 'how to' talks. I know most of the topics, but not all at this stage.

Monday 3rd December at 9 in 425 - Carlos (climbing knots), Dan (paper craft).

Tuesday 4th December at 9 in 127 - Matt (learning Gaelic), Bethany (how to survive in the jungle), Fannia (perfect breakfast in bed), Sue and Gerry (hearing dogs), Scott (origami) , Iain (internet security), Vicky (how to make a mini Munny).

Monday 10th December at 9 in 425 - Laura (how to sharpen a knife), Nicky (how to make wine), Cameron (how to sing the Click song).

Tuesday 11th December at 9 in 127 - Loana (how to make a caipirinha), Denise (confidence tricks) , James (stages of child development), Mike (tomato growing for city dwellers), Raph (how to organise a gig for a band), Lucy (how to use silkscreen).

Cheers,

Mark

Friday, 16 November 2012

Are 'geek' and 'nerd' now positive terms?

Have a look at the weblink from the BBC below and if you have any comments, please do so at the bottom of the page as always.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20325517

Have a great weekend all.

Mark

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Comma comma comma comma comma chameleon


I hope you find this amusing, but I wouldn't stake my life on it...

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Yearbook deadline - Tuesday 13th November

Dear all,

Thank you to those members of the class who have already submitted their yearbook info.

Don't forget to send at least one photo and e mail me at mhetherington@stevenson.ac.uk with your words.

The entries I have received so far are wonderful! Date for submission is Tuesday 13th November.

All the best,

Mark

Well done to today's presenters



Dear all,

I thoroughly enjoyed the talks this morning and we had one helluva wide range ot topics, brillant!

You were prepared, structured and knew your stuff which is half the battle.

You may have felt nervous, but you delivered without SHOWING any nerves, so bravo to all concerned.

On Monday we will hear talks from Cameron, Denise, Bethany, Nicky, Lucy, Carlos and Jordan.

I hope you found the self assessment form I put together for you helpful as well as my general and specific feedback (assuming you can read my writing). It proably got worse by the time I got round to annotating Scott's sheet!

Whether you presented today or were just listening, I would like you to make comment below on how you thought the session went, what you learned, how YOU fared, what you made of the delivery techniques of others etc.

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

I will introduce the first assessed presentation brief on the 'how to do' talk next Tuesday which includes a plan that you have to do. The presentation and the plan account for two outcomes which in addition to the 'Digital Books' assessment will make three by Christmas, which is where I wanted us to be.

All the best and well done again,

Mark





Thursday, 1 November 2012

PowerPoint made simple


This should be quite helpful if you are just starting to use PowerPoint.

All the best,

Mark

Tuesday, 30 October 2012

'Horrorgami': How to build haunted houses out of paper

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20124705

This is an amazing wee article. Might be quite a handy link for when we do the real assessment. I will look at that after we have done the unassessed talks though, first things first!

All the best,

Mark

Selling yourself, unassessed talks and the great Randy Pausch

Dear all,

After my exertions on Sunday in Birmingham at the Seve Day golf tournament, here is a quick recap of what we have been doing over the last couple of sessions.

Yesterday and today we had time for you to look at prepping your unassessed talk and there are some really interesting choices coming our way, so bravo for that.

I also gave a short overview of how to use Powerpoint, which is on the D2L - please try to keep your slides tidy, free of mistakes and also uncluttered. This goes a long way. No Mr. Bean antics please!

We also looked at the 'Selling Yourself' TV show this morning (Tuesday) where we critiqued five eager candidates who wanted to enter the world of advertising (which is where I would most probably be now had somebody not tapped into my (unknown to me) skills for teaching).

Mo, Claire, Alex, Milli and Sarah all battled hard to get the ideal job and we looked at structure, appearance, clarity of voice, questions and answers amongst lots of other things. I really enjoyed your input this morning and made the first part of the class particularly effective.

I also mentioned the work of Professor Randy Pausch as somebody who I have a lot of admiration for. More information about Pausch can be found on the end slide of the 'effective and ineffective oral presentation delivery' slides from last Tuesday (on the D2L).

Here is the talk and although it is long, I think really worth a listen to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo



As always, let me know your thoughts on any of the above!

Cheers,

Mark

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Honouring Severiano Ballesteros

Dear all,

I have qualified for a golf competition that will be shown later in the year on Sky Sports. If you are around at 10am on Sunday and have the inclination, the scores from the Belfry in Birmingham will be updated live from the course using this weblink: http://uk.vpar.com/live/seveday

You never know, somebody has to win...but somebody also has to come last!

The link to the actual competition and foundation is found at: http://www.seveday.com/

As way of giving you some background information, working with the Seve Ballesteros Foundation for Cancer Research UK, Seve Day is a European-wide charity golf tournament, run by Your Golf Travel, which gives all golfers the chance to play like Seve and be in with a chance of winning a trip for two to the US Masters in Augusta.

Seve Day is the perfect opportunity for all golfers to participate and celebrate one of the sport’s most talented and charismatic players a year after his death. 100% of the registration fee and all net proceeds from Seve Day will be donated directly to the Seve Ballesteros Foundation to help beat brain cancer.

Seve was and still is, a great hero of mine. I entered the competition primarily to swell the funds for the charity, but found out recently that I was one of the 72 players to qualify from an original field of 1,394.

I only found out yesterday that the competition is to be filmed by Sky Sports and will be shown later in the year. I just hope my bad shots are not caught on camera for all to see! So, if you are around on Sunday, log into http://uk.vpar.com/live/seveday and you'll see how I am faring.

I get back around 7am on Monday morning so cannot guarantee that I will be my normal effervescent self in class, but I shall do my best as always!

Have a great weekend all,

Mark



Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Missouri pastor stuns local politicians with shocking twist to his argument against equal rights for homosexuals

Thank you to Raph who sent this link on to me so that you could watch it. Stay with the talk as you will hear the twist.

As always, if you have any comments, please note them below.

http://now.msn.com/rev-phil-snider-preacher-gives-gay-rights-speech-with-a-twist

Many thanks,

Mark

Thursday, 11 October 2012

Book towns adapt to e-reader era

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-19814700


This article is worth having a look at. As always, all comments welcomed!

Cheers.

Vandalism? Fun? Communication?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19858746

I'd be interested to read your thoughts on this news item!

Have a lovely holiday everybody and I will see you all on Monday 22nd October at 9 where Alma will deliver her talk on research strategies.

Many thanks,

Mark

Friday, 5 October 2012

Harvard referencing

Proofreading IS important!


Essay writing slides

Here are some slides that might help you with any essays that you are writing for Marie. I will ask for one of your best ones in the New Year sometime and this will count for one of the writing outcomes for Comm. 4. I will post some info on Harvard referencing too shortly. Mark

Thursday, 4 October 2012

Post October holidays rundown

Hi all,

Below is a rundown of how I intend to manage the classes after the October break. On Monday (8th)you will each get feedback on the work you did for me on the 'digital books' assessment, and you'll get the opportunity to make any changes as necessary and complete any questions outstanding. You will still have the two hours on Tuesday (9th) as well, so we have plenty of time. So, post October holidays info then:

22/10 - Alma, our Head Librarian will deliver a session on research methodology.

23/10 - what factors contribute to effective and ineffective oral presentation delivery? An overview of PowerPoint use and the unassessed presentation brief will be given out.

29/10 - 'Selling yourself' analysis where we will evaluate presentation / communication skills using a recording from a TV show. The context is for candidates who wish to enter the world of advertising. Plenty of opportunities to critique the candidates!

30/10 and 5/11 - preparation for unassessed presentation on 'celebrity', using laptops / PCs.

6 and 12/11 - delivery of unassessed talks. I will give you a self-assessment form to fill in for your own keeping and I will provide supportive feedback, as will you and your peers afterwards.

13/11 - reflection on talks and I will take you through the next assessment brief - how to do the 'how to do' talk and devising a presentation plan.

19, 20 and 26/11 - work on assessed presentations

27/11, 3/12 and 4/12 - delivery of assessed presentations - class split into small groups as agreed in classtime.

Beyond that I haven't thought, so I will bid you a good day and wish you a lovely weekend!

Mark

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Article on Facebook use lowering exam results

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309612/Using-Facebook-lower-exam-results-20.html

Above is the link to the article and below it is printed out for you to read. This is an interesting discussion piece that you may wish to contribute to at your leisure.

Using Facebook 'can lower exam results by up to 20%'

By Nic Fleming

Offline: Three quarters of the Facebook users didn't think the site affected their academic performance
 
Three quarters of the Facebook users didn't think the site affected their academic performance
It is what parents of teenagers who 'revise' in front of the computer have long feared.
Students who use Facebook while they study get significantly lower grades than those who do not, according to psychologists.
A study has found that the exam results of those who used the social networking site while working, even if it was on in the background, were 20 per cent lower than non-users.
Researchers say the findings undermine the theory that young people's brains are better at multitasking on digital gadgets.
Study author Professor Paul Kirschner said: 'The problem is that most people have Facebook or other social networking sites, their emails and maybe instant messaging constantly running in the background while they are carrying out other tasks.
'Our study, and other previous work, suggests that while people may think constant task-switching allows them to get more done in less time, the reality is it extends the amount of time needed to carry out tasks and leads to more mistakes.'
His team studied 219 students aged between 19 and 54 at an American university.
The Facebook users among them had a typical grade point average - a score from zero up to four - of 3.06. Non-users had an average GPA of 3.82.
 
Those who did not use the site also said they devoted more time to studying, spending an average of 88 per cent longer working outside class.
Three quarters of the Facebook users said they didn't believe spending time on the site affected their academic performance.

More privacy fears over 'stalker button'

Facebook faces fresh criticism from privacy campaigners after launching a 'stalker button' which lets users track a potential victim's every move.
The 'subscribe to friend' feature collects everything a Facebook user does, such as sharing photographs and comments and puts it on a list that is constantly updated.
Some users' locations will also be displayed throughout the day.
Potential stalkers will have to be 'Facebook friends' with their intended target to see the list.
But users will not be told who is monitoring them.
Big Brother Watch said: 'This new "stalker button" enables burglars and ex-partners to track people in real life more easily.'
Facebook said the feature was being tested on a 'small percentage of users'.
But most of the remaining quarter admitted it had a harmful effect, with many saying it made them put off their work.
Professor Kirschner said that he expected to see similar results in younger pupils.
He also said he was not 'demonising' Facebook and pointed to the distracting nature of all social networking.
'We should resist the fashionable views of educational gurus that children can multi-task, and that we should adapt our education systems accordingly to keep up with the times,' he said.
The study by the psychologist from the Open University in the Netherlands will be published in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour.
It will compound fears over the superficial approach that experts say is encouraged by an increasingly distracting online world that promotes multi-tasking.
In the influential book The Shallows, Nicholas Carr argues the internet has given rise to 'cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking and superficial learning'.


Tuesday, 2 October 2012

Save FE March & Rally - 6 Oct 2012

Save FE March & Rally - 6 Oct 2012


Students are invited to participate in the EIS-FELA march and rally being held in Glasgow on 06 October 2012. The march and rally are in support of EIS-FELA members who are experiencing unprecedented cuts in FE Teaching Grants which are leading to hundreds of FE lecturer redundancies and fewer FE courses, leading to fewer FE students at our FE Colleges.

The march assembles at Holland St in Glasgow at 10.30am and marches to a rally at the Strathclyde Suite of Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Susan Quinn (EIS President), Larry Flanagan (EIS General Secretary), Penny Gower (EIS-FELA President), Robin Parker (NUS Scotland President) and other speakers will address the rally.

Please support your EIS colleagues in FE by attending this march and rally.


Remember, you will get free tickets to this event in Glasgow if you go and see Donny Gluckstein and he is in the same workroom as Marie Sheerin. Bus leaves at 9.15 from Waterloo Place.

Mark



Digital books blog discussion

Hi all,

So those of you in attendance this morning will now have read the article by Will Self on digital books and the argument surrounding whether or not this will constitute a threat to writers.

As I have said before, I think I am somewhere in the middle of the argument on digital books (not a stance I take in many other aspects of my thinking) in that I like the idea of feeling the book, annotating if I feel the inclination and displaying texts in bookcases. That said, there is something to be said for storing info electronically in a portable way, ideal for travel which is something that I am very fond of.

So the question is, are you a fence sitter like me on this subject or are do you have a firm view on the subject of digital books?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and also what you thought of the assessment from Tuesday, whether it be how you think you fared, the content itself, actually doing the first assessment for me or anything along those lines really. Go on, get typing why don't you!

No specific questions, just a general chit chat. Over to you...

Mark

Protesting against the cuts on Vesting Day (1/10/12)




Thank you to Laura, Sue, Gerry and Raph who helped in our protests against the savage cuts that are to be imposed on Edinburgh College and FE in general. The Senior Management Team were unwilling to accept the petitions that were signed by many hundreds of students and staff across the three (former) colleges. The Evening News however were very happy to receive the documentation and interested enough to interview various staff and students. Hopefully a balanced overview of the protest will be printed today. If it is, it will be posted on your blog directly. In the meantime, here are a few pics from last night. I was impressed that Sue and Gerry got home and changed into red and were still early for the protest, great work!

All the best, Mark




Sunday, 30 September 2012

College management snub to staff (and students)

EDINBURGH COLLEGE MANAGEMENT SNUB TO STAFF

The EIS union at Edinburgh College notes:

1. that the new management is refusing to receive a petition signed by many staff and students asking it to join with us in defending FE from further swingeing cuts. Management claims that such a petition is 'inappropriate.'

2. we have been refused the opportunity for a representative of the teaching staff to address the vesting day event.

For the new college to be able to serve the students and the community it is essential that it works with, rather than ignoring, the very people who deliver education. It is entirely appropriate that the petition is presented at the vesting day event as the Minister who plans to cut the new college's funding by 24% (according to management's own figures) will be present.

So we invite any (students, support staff and lecturers) who have not done so, to sign the petition and if possible to come to the Assembly Rooms on George Street, at 5.30pm, Monday 1 October to join staff and students expressing their concerns at the direction the management is taking.

Thursday, 27 September 2012

This made me laugh


A good example of how language really is polysemic (multiple meanings).

Mark

Monday, 24 September 2012

Cheating!

Today we looked at the 'Cheating rife in Universities' article and associated points of interest surrounding plagiarism, academic dishonesty, pressures that students face and lots more besides.

If you have any comments you wish to add to the discussion, please note them below.

All the best,

Mark

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Local news articles and analysis

Here are some links that are pertinent to what we discussed in class today!

This article is a rejoinder to the Isabella Blyth piece that we evaluated today: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/02/sardinia-siblings-combined-age-818?CMP=twt_gu

This article is an update on the snakes on the loose situation in the capital: http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/17-snakes-escape-in-lothians-during-summer-1-2507089

Cheers,

Mark

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Off to a Flyer!

I really enjoyed the session this morning where we dissected 'The Flyer' and had some healthy discussion.

If you would like to make any comment about the short film, please do so below in the comments section!

All the best,

Mark

Punctuation booklet

Hi all,

This morning I gave you all a punctuation booklet. If you were not in class today, please come to 115 and pick one up from me. It is just something we put together for you and you can refer to it at your leisure.

You don't have to complete anything from within the booklet if you don't want to, but you might find some of the material of use, interesting and even amusing in parts!

Many thanks,

Mark

Monday, 10 September 2012

A little bit of background info on the maker of the film we'll watch tomorrow

Here is a link to Andrea and some of her work that may be of interest to you.

http://vimeo.com/aharkin

http://www.andreaharkin.net/ - but please don't be tempted to watch 'The Flyer' before tomorrow if you can so we can use the class for groupworking and discussion purposes.

Thanks,

Mark

Reflective writing

Dear all,

If you have any comments to make on the 'please allow me to introduce myself to you' task you did this morning, please note them below.

I look forward to reading your thoughts and was most impressed that some of you wished to type your piece out, bravo!

All the best and I shall see you all tomorrow in 127 where we will watch 'The Flyer'.

Mark

Thursday, 6 September 2012

We like to stretch you as Scott said in his class with you today...


And I believe Mr. Armstrong had a canine friend. Here he is above. And he is valuable by the way! I think we can all agree that we still much prefer Gerry though when it comes to dog adoration. See you all on Monday.

Tuesday, 4 September 2012

Purrfect photo

Here is a photo of our cat as promised, who is called Zara but is actually male! She seemed particularly interested in the golf in this snap and still hasn't worked out where the balls go when they are potted when watching snooker. The clue is that they are not BEHIND the TV!

Types of Communication - the A2L way!







Who says learning can't be fun!







Monday, 3 September 2012

Can't Spell, Won't Spell

The photo below is of a poem by W. N. Herbert. Any thoughts?

Tuesday, 28 August 2012

Scottish Poetry Library visit

Thank you to all of you who were able to make the trip to the SPL this afternoon. I hope you enjoyed the experience and that you will visit the library again. Thank you to Lizzie who gave us a wonderful tour. The website address is: http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/

All the best,

Mark

Monday, 13 August 2012

Introduction to your studies with me

Hello!

You will be studying two Units with me - Communication 4 (FA1W 12) and Oral Presentation Skills (DON4 12). I'm sure we will have a few laughs over the course of the year, share experiences and I aim to learn from you guys too! The course attempts to develop your communication skills in reading, writing, talking and listening. There are quite a few assessments, but all of them come back to these basic, but important, skills. Furthermore, given the nature of the course, and the high calibre of the student, we like to stretch you a bit! The first session will be about getting to know you, defining communication and giving an overview to the programme of study.

All the best,

Mark