Below are photos of ten of the beginner-level English language students we are teaching during the CELTA course. So far, I have taught 5 assessed lessons. They have been a great group to work with, and I've enjoyed the experience so far.
Today I purchased my first Montreal metro/bus pass. Here's what one looks like, in case anyone wonders (or cares):
Here is a short video of the 2006 National Geographic Bee finalists...amazing!
Link to Video
Well, I've made it through the first week of the CELTA course! So far, I've actually taught three assessed lessons:
Each morning we have "input sessions" on various teaching-related topics. Then, in the afternoon, we actually teach and try to implement the elements we've learned. The teaching is assessed not only by the tutor, but also by the other CELTA students. The immediate and ongoing feedback is extremely helpful in the development process.
As for the English language students, we have a class of ~12. Elementary-level English learners currently living in Montreal, the students come from Chad, Algeria, Mexico, Israel, and other countries around the world... I hope to post a photo of the class, probably next week.
The course has been amazing, and I eagerly look forward to next week. For now, I have an assignment to complete, and a lesson to prepare!
Recently, Microsoft released a Beta version of Windows Media Player 11. The GUI seems to have some of the Windows Vista "Look"... Download Available Here.
Since I'm in the process of organizing my CELTA course materials in a big binder I just bought, I thought I'd post a photo. I actually teach again tomorrow afternoon (detailed listening skills), so I'm working on the lesson plan also...
This was really nothing to do with the CELTA training itself, except as a "demo" lesson. The script was quite challenging to write; my "copy" is on the bottom half of the page:
In case you're wondering, the first line says, "What is your name?"; you can probably deduce the second line!
Well, I have successfully made it through the first day of the CELTA course! Today involved:
Our group consists of eleven individuals (including myself) from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Update: More photos of the weekend now on my photo journal!
Melissa and Ben Lambert
This weekend I am in North Bay to be the Best Man at my friend Ben's wedding. Last evening, after the rehearsal and setting up the reception room, four guys (Ben, Jo, Tim and I) came back to Ben's condo for a barbecue fit for kings. However, by the time we got everything cooked it was about 11:30pm. By that point, we were so famished the food (Huge steaks, potatoes/onions, and mixed vegetables) tasted amazing despite the late hour.
I don't know about you, but I was not familiar with the term "schwa". That is, not until I was asked to identify the schwas in a sentence, and had to look up what it meant! I was surprised to find that the "schwa" is a linguist's term for the most common sound in English speech!
"The sound is that slight 'uh' that so often serves as the vowel in an unstressed syllable. It is the sound of a in 'alone,' e in 'system,' i in 'easily,' o in 'gallop,' and u in 'circus.'"
For a complete explanation, see this article from the Random House website.
NASA has some incredible high resolution images of the earth, as seen from space, on the "Blue Marble" project website.
"The Blue Marble Next Generation dataset provides a monthly global cloud-free true-color picture of the Earth's landcover at a 500-meter spatial resolution."
Seasons Change Animation
Below is the composite image (which I've scaled down) for the month of May.
Perhaps you have noticed the new custom icon which now appears in the address bar beside my blog URL (at least in IE). Here is an article from Microsoft which explains about how it works in detail: How to Add a Shortcut Icon to a Web Page
Basically: Create a 16x16 pixel image and save it as a GIF. Then, use FavIcon from Pics (one of many free online tools) to convert the file to an .ico. Now you have a suitable file for the favorites icon.
However, Blogger will not host .ico files. This wasn't a problem for me, since I already have a paid hosting account for my website. If you don't have a host, then one of the following may work (but I haven't tried them):
Once you have the file hosted somewhere, then insert the code into your blogger template. Below is a image showing where I inserted mine. Whatever the case, it needs to be after the "head" tag, and before the "/head" tag.
The image below shows the extent of the radiation cloud from Chernobyl on April 27, 1986, shortly after the explosion. A radioactive fire burned for 10 days, causing 190 tons of toxic materials to be expelled into the atmosphere.
Image from WorldProcessor.com
I have been accepted to attend a month long Cambridge CELTA course beginning May 23 in Montreal. Related to TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), and as part of the University of Cambridge, this certificate is widely recognized around the world.
The pre-course task involves completing a series of English language exercises. There are questions on parts of speech, the tense system, vocabulary, pronunciation, and more. Needless to say, I have been brushing up on my grammar skills!
The actual course involves instruction in the morning, and then supervised teaching practice in the afternoon. The "real-life" teaching sessions are critiqued by the instructors. In this way, I will be able to immediately receive feedback after putting into practice what I am learning.
Here is a 40 second humorous video clip in regard to English language miscommunication (Thanks Ben!):
German Coastguard (~2.5 MB)
Now that's an expedition!
"42,000 kilometers by foot, oar, ski and bicycle - The first human powered circumnavigation of the earth."
"In June 2004 a team departed from Canada on what is undoubtedly the world’s most grueling race: To be the first to travel around the planet (land and ocean) entirely by human power."
"Colin and Julie will be returning to Vancouver on Saturday, May 20."
This afternoon I had the opportunity to fly by helicopter out to a potential harvesting area with a couple of guys from our woodlands department. We spent over 1.5 hours in the air and also landed once at the site. Having never been in a helicopter before, I was glad for the experience. I also enjoyed the opportunity to see some of the field work required to procure wood for the mill.
-> More photos of the flight Update: Additional photos added!
In May 2004, I was in northern Afghanistan. Here is a glimpse of the local culture as viewed through my digital camera.
Photo by Scott T.
Elisapie is a girl's name in the Inuit language. A couple of weeks ago a missionary friend flew to Cochrane with a 6-month old Inuit girl she is looking after. From a town called Puvirnituq in the far north of Quebec, Elisapie was born north of the 55th parallel.
Welcome to everyone from across the country who found my posts about the Cochrane Tembec fire through web searches!
Various news sources are now reporting around 2M CDN worth of wood chips and lumber was lost in Sunday night's fire at the Tembec mill in Cochrane, Ontario.
Here are some links to various reports on the fire:
For the past few months I have been regularly using the new Windows Live site. A completely customizable site from Microsoft, Live.com allows the user to create pages containing personalized content such as e-mail, weather, news, and blog feeds.
For example: for my login, I have four tabs configured: Main, World News, Tech News, Blogs. Under Main, I have my e-mail, a calendar, and weather info. The two news tabs are self-explanatory. Under Blogs I have feeds from various blogs I look at regularly. With one glance, from one site, I can see who has added new posts to their blogs! Quite handy...
All logos and graphics are trademarks of their respective owners.
Monday morning we watched the water bomber do a few final runs over the site of Sunday evening's fire. Driving out to the lake a few minutes from town, we were also able to see the plane skim the surface of the water to refill its tanks. Using a method called "water scooping", the plane needs a mere 12 seconds, while touching the water for only 1350 feet, to load 1621-US gallons of water. This is incredible, considering the water is collected through just two ports, each 3 inches high and 5 inches wide! (see photo below).
The plane made its last run to the drop site while we were at the lake. On the way home we stopped by the airport where the plane, followed by the "bird dog", landed. Our friend Herb, a missionary pilot in the north, was with us. As we stood watching the water bomber refueling, the pilot came over and asked if we'd like to see the plane close-up. Of course, we said yes! He took us inside the plane, and explained the water bombing process.
What an amazing piece of machinery, simply packed with technology! I'm glad I had the privilege of taking an impromptu tour of the Bombardier 415 water bomber, owned by the Ontario Government.
Here is link to Bombardier's official site with some video clips of the plane in action.
Update: CBC's interview with Cochrane's Mayor: Audio Clip (455 kb - 3:53min)
By this morning the fire was basically out and the plume of dark smoke present last night was gone. However, the water bomber made a number of additional runs this morning to douse remaining hotspots. Still now, at 12:30pm, a helicopter with a water bucket is still dropping water on pinpointed locations.
So, the danger appears to be over. No word yet on the cost of this fire. As far as I know, no people were injured and no buildings were damaged. The fire burnt a large area of piled wood chips, as well as a number of stacks of 2x4s from the nearby Tembec sawmill.
I've posted more images here on my photo journal.
Also, here is a video (4.6 MB) I recorded of the water bomber last evening.
cochrane tembec fire
My Mother
