First Impression research project

Each class has been assigned five things most humans use to form a first impression of someone they meet for the first time.  Now each group in the class has to describe the role primacy effect, schemata, self-fulfilling prophecy and prediction play when we judge someone based on their body shape, clothes, hair, manner of speaking and expressions.

Each group has to summarize in 250 words the role one of the five things we judge people plays in making a first impression.  That means you must get your information online, edit, summarize it and present the important points in any program you and your group decide. Before you start writing you have to show me the sources you will use to write your summary.  You may use as many sources as you like but you and I have to agree the sources you have contain the information you need.  Along with the text you have to have at least five illustrations that show how your item can have a positive or negative effect on a first impression.

You will have time to do all of this project in class, but it must be completed by the end of this week; i.e. September 27, 2012.  If you have any questions please ask them in class. 

Catch up time!

I am aware there are new students who do not have their laptops and even others with mechanical problems which make it impossible for them to do the homework assignment that was given last Thursday for you to have turned in on Sunday, so everyone who has not turned in that assignment has until Thursday, September 20 to turn in the recorded reading task. The file you have to work on is on the home page of Schoology's English class.  Save the file like this:  yourname-ddmmyy then go to the assignment  folder to the "submit assignment" tab on the right side of the page. Don't forget this homework must be done in Word.

On Monday we will begin our daily reading task.  Please choose a book from the box at your group's table and send me an email with the name of the book you  have chosen.  You can only choose from the five books in the box at your table.  You cannot swap books with other tables or groups and once you have selected a book you must read it until you complete it, so choose carefully.  I will have detailed instructions on what you  have to write together with the daily writing, that is to say what questions you will answer or what words you will need to look up.  Everyone will be required to read from your selection  20 minutes each day while in English class so that even students who haven't received their laptops should be busy with this class task.

Finally, please make sure your laptops are fully charged when you come to school in the morning. Any student can charge his laptop in my class during either break.  I apologize for the late response to the Schoology questions some students sent me; God willing I will answer your questions more quickly in the future.  See you in class!

Laptops and ATHS

Gentlemen, this is something we posted for G10 students last year and it is still relevant today. The post is what I think should be your attitude about your laptops and how they fit in the English classroom.

  
We have discussed this before in your class; you cannot charge your laptops during class but I do allow charging during breaks.  Starting September 23 you will not be allowed to go to the IT staff during class to fix laptop issues because your laptop problems should have already been resolved; in other words all repairs will have to be made outside of class.

Please don't let anyone play with your laptop or don't carelessly leave it unattended.  Your laptops are a valuable learning tool that if taken care of will last you for many years.  Please respect it and respect and honor the reason for which it was given to you.

First Spelling Competition will be held on Thursday

G10-02 and G10-06 will have their first little friendly spelling competition on Thursday and it should be fun.  The words you will have to spell are the 28 adjectives we've been working on all week which are in your Schoology account files, PLUS the five vocab words found on page 2 of your ebook, Academic Connections used to describe the four faces of people in the table on that page. It would also be a good idea for  you to know the meaning of each of the spelling words just in case you're asked.  

The rules are quite simple.  In order to participate you must have finished the adverb-adjective exercise and show a completed paper to your teacher and that's it. There can be no talking while your opponents try to spell a word. After the second warning given to a team because a team member has been talking, that team will be excused from the competition.  There will be a prize given to the winners but that's to be announced later.

Also, your first ever homework assignment will be uploaded to your Schoology accounts by Thursday morning and due on Sunday, which means you'll have all weekend to do it.  The assignment must be turned in in a certain manner; you will receive instructions on how to do that on Thursday. I think that's all for now.  If you've got any questions don't forget to ask them in class........God wiling see you there!

10-02 & 10-06 Monday's work

If you have accessed your e textbook, we will begin to use it to do some writing exercises.  Look at pages 2 & 4 and get acquainted with the vocabulary on those two pages.  I will post a very brief writing exercise in your Schoology accounts for you to do in class that will focus on the material on those pages as well as get you to write using the adjectives and adverbs of the previous exercises.  So, look at pages 2 and 4 in your e-book and prepare yourself to work from those pages in class.  There is no written homework due on Monday.  Also, we will begin our daily reading on Monday with a visit to the library where we will collect the books we'll read in class.  More about that in classs.  God willing, see you then!

10-02 & 10-06....... here we go!

We're starting our first full week of school for the 2012-2013 academic school year and there's a lot to do so let's get started.  Last week we came up with adjectives to describe our first impression of several people we saw on the video, Without Prejudice.  Because these were adjectives that you, the student gave me, most likely you know what they mean; you could identify with them.  Now, I am going to introduce some more adjectives to you that you may or may not know.  Please go to your schoology accounts and download the file 1stImpression Adjectives and become familiar with them.  You can find the file in the files/link folder of your course in Schoology.  You are asked to write a synonym for the adjectives in the file.  We will do this much of the work in class and I'll tell you how and where to find the synonyms if you don't already know.  You will need to use these words (consider them vocabulary words) for a writing assignment we will do later in the week.  I will give you plenty of time to look up, know the definition of these adjectives in class, so don't worry this is NOT a homework assignment.  See you in class.

Heads up G10-02 & G10-06

This is a reminder to all students in sections 10-02 and 10-06 to bring your laptops with you to class on Thursday.  Your laptop should be fully charged and ready to be put to use.  Both sections will have at least two classes back to back on Thursday so you should have enough charge to see you through your class.  If you need to charge your laptop before coming to class, please do so during the first break after period one in the morning.  God willing, see you in class!

Welcome Back to the 2012-2013 school year at ATHS Dubai

Grade 10 students welcome to the 2012-2013 school year here at ATHS' Dubai campus.  I am happy to see you back here and am looking forward to a productive yet exciting year in Abdulkarim's Chaos Free Zone. 

The grade 10 blog will be your source for news and information concerning your English courses and my classes.  That means you will be expected to check this source daily for any news about homework or other assignments or about work done in class.  Bookmark this site in your laptops.  Any information that you need to know will be posted here by 4pm on any given day, God willing.  Because ATHS is now a fully online e-learning institute you can know about any of your classes at anytime of the day or night, no matter where you are.  That means you will never have an excuse not to know what it is you have to do or when it is due.  Keep your laptops charged and brains in gear and ready to work this year. 

We will have fun, learn a lot and work hard.  God willing at the end of it all, you will be smarter and better citizens of your country and we all will be better locals of the global community.  I look forward to working with you all.  Now, let's get this show on the road.