The Digestive Siystem

For the next class please print the digestive system document, BUT only the first 12 pages.

What kind of doctor do you want to be?

This is your assignment for the next class, and it is very simple. 

1. You are going to make a list of 5 specialties that you are interested in. 
2. You will describe, in no more than 50 words, what that specialty is, 
3. and why you want to study it. This has to be in YOUR WORDS, 50 to 100 aadditional words. 
4. You will make and PRINT a word document and bring it to class. 
5. You will give a mini presentation, individually, on ONE of the five specialties, but the trick is that I will tell you which one to talk about.
6. You can NOT read your presentation.
7. Take this quiz . It is fun.

Know what you're talking about; talk about yourself!

What we're trying to do here is get you to be an amazing public speaker. So, how do we go about doing that? We do it by getting you to do presentations, and then a few more presentations... and a some more presentations after that. You get the idea.
Let's look at some tips from the Toastmasters website.

1. I will make sure you that master these tips not by memory, but by constant work; http://www.toastmasters.org/tips.asp 
2. Make the right moves. Don't hold up the wall, it won't fall.. http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCategories/FreeResources/NeedHelpGivingaSpeech/TipsTechniques/GesturesGetMoving.aspx 
3. Your visual support is vital to your presentation;  http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCategories/FreeResources/NeedHelpGivingaSpeech/TipsTechniques/VisualAidsPowerPoint.aspx
4. Let's avoid this;  http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCategories/FreeResources/NeedHelpGivingaSpeech/TipsTechniques/10BiggestPublicSpeakingMistakes.aspx 
5. If you lose it and things go wrong, this link will help you;  http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCategories/FreeResources/NeedHelpGivingaSpeech/TipsTechniques/WhenThingsGoWrong.aspx 

And now the rules:

• Presentation will be about YOU!
• Tell us five things we do not know about you... GET creative talk about something which most people don't talk about.
• You have to talk about your past, present and future.
• You can bring any visual support you need, except PowerPoint or any computer based projection.
• You will leave a comment, mentioning the tip you think is most helpful, and why.
• You have to talk for a minimum of two minutes and a maximum of three.
• YOU CAN NOT READ YOUR PRESENTATION.
• Presentations will be on Monday September 15th, and it is part of your grade.

THE SKELETON

For this activity, I have borrowed from my fellow teacher Ariel.

The first thing you need to do is print this document, because we will use it in class. You must have YOUR OWN COPY in class in order to work. You can print on recycled paper.

Next you will test your knowledge at this link for practice. This link is for practice at home. 

In class, you will do an activity withis information. If you can bring a laptop or a table.

You will need to work in teams, but you will have individual work by the end of the class.

Parts of Specch and Parts of the Body

• In class, we saw the different Parts of Speech, and how they work. Go to this link to review how the parts of speech work, The first thing you are going to do is go to the link below and study how they work.

http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/parts-of-speech.html 

• We also looked at the different parts of the body. You worked as a team and made a list with your classmates and we shared them in class. For your homework, you need to follow these steps.

1. Memorize and translate the body parts in this list. Did you have al of them in your exercise?
2. After studying them, do three exercises to test your memory; face, head, and body.
3. By now you are an expert on the vocabulary parts!
4. You will find appropiate images; 1 for the head, and 1 of the human body. Paste them on PowerPoint slides. Then, tag a minimum of 25 body parts (minimum 10 for head and face).
5. Finally you will send it to my email, ralfortiz@gmail.com. The suject of the mail, AND the name of the file is YOUR_NAME_bodyparts. For example PETER_PARKER_bodyparts.
6. The deadline for sending the email. is Thursday, August 28, 2014, before midnight

• For the next class*, you and your team will teach the class a yoga or tai chi routine, using commands. Remeber (1) every member of the team MUST speak individually, and (2) to bring comfortable clothes, so that we keep uniforms clean.

* Group 1: next class on Monday, August 25th at 10 A.M.
* Group 2: next class on Friday, August 29th at 9 A.M.
* Group 3: next class on Friday, August 29th at 11 A.M.

• Finally, after you read the complete assignment, leave a comment in the comment section with your name and group.

If you have questions, contact me.

#SuccessIsYours

Dr. Ralf & His Pupils Battle the Bad Grammar Zombies

As move on with your writings/blogs/essays/readings, you need to pay lots of attention to your spelling and your grammar. There are many words which are commonly misspelled, but they are spelled as other words, thus your spell checker does not pick up on those mistakes.

As if spelling weren't enough trouble, there is all that punctuation that must be taken care of. Rules here, rules there, rules everywhere.

Now, I'm afraid I have some bad news and some good news for you.

The bad news is that you MUST apply and follow the rules. The good news is that you have Doctor Ralf on your corner! I know it goes without saying, but having Doctor Ralf on your corner (when facing English Grammar) is like El Santo at your side when facing mommies (from Guanajuato or anywhere else). You know, like having that fully loaded shutgun when you need to battle zombies. Chainsaw-wielding, gunshot-toting English-teaching-machine Doctor Ralf is here next to you as you face The Bad Grammar Zombies. Furthermore, we could say that it is like having Gandalf if you are a hobbit going into Mordor. It has been said that it is like knowing Batman is coming as your facing grammar's Joker... I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point by now.

So it is very clear that I am here to help you, but you have to roll up your sleves and join the struggle... do your part. Kill those zombies. As it would be said in a movie "They ain't gonna kill themselves", but there are things only YOU can do for YOURSELF.

Here are some links to help you along the way.

• From TheOatmeal.com, we get a humorous way to look at the use of the semicolon (;). http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon

• Another area of difficulty for many is the correct use of the apostrophe. some people think thay are for plurals... others just don't think about it at all. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe

• Also from TheOatmeal.com, 10 words you NEED to stop spelling incorrectly. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

• On a more serious side, The Grammar Book has rules and quizzes to check how well you have learned the rules. http://www.grammarbook.com/

Now you have a chainsaw to start cutting grammar zombies in half. You just need to pull the chain and start shredding. Have fun.

The present of what was the future in the past

Watch the video from 2008, and take notes about what this futurist has to say. How many of these have come true?

I also want you to pay attention to how he speaks in public, and take notes on how he does this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz02IhU-AuE

Pay close attention to what he says, we will discuss it in class.

TOEFL reading

Follow the links and practice:
ExamEnglish 
4 Tests
or Test Magic to continue practicing structure.

You have a week to practice.

Bourdain On Mexico

Read what the great Anthony Boudain has to say about Mexico. Once you have finished reading, do this:

• Write a 300 word essay (introduction, body and conclusion - NOTE; do not indicate "introduction, body and conclusion", that should be clear ) with your opinion.
• Include a glossary (in English) of the words you had to look up (remember we have the very useful Dictionary. com). 
• I want to read your ideas in English, so DO NOT copy and paste or translate. 
• You will print your writing (NO cover page please) and bring it to class on Tuesday. In case you have no ink, remember you can print at school or at a cybercafe. 
• There will be no extensions.

You must never lower yourself

On Wednesday we had quite a talk. I found this video by one of my musical heroes, Henry Rollins. This man is quite an extraordinary person, and on this video he has a lot to say to young people such as yourselves.

Listen to Henry talk, as many times as you need to, then write me an email telling me what you take away from it, or if agree, or if you don't.

* Where he says "your President" he is talkig about Obama, not the president of Mexico.

Talking about the past

We have been talking about the past this week. For today's activity you have to write a story of something that happened to you in the past. For this activity you need to follow these rules:

1. Use the grammatical forms we have seen, AT LEAST ONCE (present perfect, simple past, past continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous).
2. A minimum of 400 words. A maximum of 500 words. NO less, NO more.
3. Use vocabulary from all the units we have seen.
4. Be very careful with spelling and grammar.
5. Save it in a Word document and mail it to ralfortiz@gmail.com as an attachment with the title ThePast_FirstNameLastName [for example, ThePast_RafaelOrtiz].
6. DO NOT use translators.
7. I will only grade documents sent by 5 p.m. NOTHING after that time. 
8. The work counts as your attendance to class. Consequentely, no work means no attendance.

Backpacking versus Flashpacking

How would you like to go backpacking or flashpacking around the world?
You are going to research online in order to build an itinerary for a 2-month backpacking trip, and another one for a two-month flashpacking trip in your designated area. Both itineraries must show the true difference between these concepts.
Rules:

1. Every thing has to be in the budget; food, entertainment, transportation (from San Luis Potosí and back) and accomodation.
2. No clubbing. Take a cultural interest in the cities you are visiting; museums, real restaurants, cultural festivals, sightseeing, and one sporting event if possible.
3. Include real schedules and fees for transportation.
4. You can not use translators or copy and paste your text. 
5. you must explain your choices and decisions.
6. Your itineraries must be saved in powerpoint presentations saved as Backpacking_team#, and Flashpacking_team#.
7. Both itineraries have to be mailed by the end of the class to ralfortiz@gmail.com
8. Look at the Travel Channel and the Food Network for recommendations.
9. Don't waste your time.

Places:

• Team 1. Australia: Fridé, Luz, Sophie
• Team 2. England, Scotland & Ireland: Paco, Sandra Rubio
• Team 3. New Zealand: Lalo Castro, Betzabeth, Alex
• Team 4. India. Gustavo, Karina, Tony
• Team 5. Malasya and indonesia: Lalo Mejía, Saide, Dulce
• Team 6. Vuetnam and Thailand: Jorge, Sandra, Julio
• Team 7. Russia: Edgardo, Michelle, Victoria
• Team 8. Finland, Sweeden, Norway: Esther, Vernice

Who has time to read?

I most certainly hope you do.
In college I read voraciously. I frowned upon books on tape, but I didn't really mind having tape on my books, battle scars. I did, however, listen to tons of music on tapes as I read (my faithful Sony Walkman). I wrote notes on the margin. I read on the bus. I read while I ate. I read on park benches. I read on my way to class. I read in classes which I did not find particularly interesting. I read in bed. Hell! I bought a book by Gabriel Zaid "Cómo leer en bicicleta" hoping it would enlighten me or awaken my senses, in order to safely carry out such a hazardous task. In all honesty I should point out that I haven't had a bike since I was 18, and that reading and riding (pun intended) was not the point of book anyway.


I am not a fan of listening to books. We must read, it is the aerobic workout of the brain. Nowadays, reading seems to be more of a challenge (as a result of time constrains for many, but mostly due to plain laziness). There are mp3 files which allow you to get some material in. I want to direct your attention to The New Yorker for downloads. These are short stories that have been published in this fine magazine. This is a way to get to know stories that, otherwise, we might not come in contact with. Having said that, you will go to the archive. Just click on the title "A Head Cold" to LISTEN to the the podcast on your computer. By the end of tonight you will email me (ralfortiz@gmail.com) an essay; a word document (300 to 350 words). If you do not know what an essay is go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essay . I do NOT want a critic's opinion or something from the internet. I want YOU to write it. The attachment must be saved with the TITLE_your last name. I will only accept the eamils that comply with the criteria and which are sent by 9:00 PM.
  Download it later if you want to listen to listen to it again, and I sincerely hope all of us can find the time to read.