Read all about it! Welcome to a bulletin aimed at keeping in touch with you on a less formal basis than by your marking slips and problem-related emails or telephone calls.
WHAM BAM SPAM
As our email in trays are daily invaded by rogue visitors peddling spam, it might be timely to advise all students to signal their legitimate correspondence with an appropriate subject. It would be regrettable if an innocent enquiry were to end up in the cyber-bin of unsolicited advertisements for hedonistic self-advancement, all for the want of a meaningful identification.
MAKING THE MOST OF MARKING
May I respectfully request that all students submit worksheets one at a time in order to profit from tutor comments on any previous worksheets.
On several occasions in the Practical Phonetics Unit I have felt obliged, in the interests of fair play, to return worksheets unmarked, knowing full well that they have been completed in advance of receiving the previous submission, in which case errors have been repeated.
I have experienced students who submit all modules for the unit in one batch or multiple modules. What you may save on postage, you will undoubtedly lose on informed comment and scope for improvement through error-prompted guidance.
The purpose in returning all marked worksheets is the frequent provision of regular course feedback thus mirroring face-to-face tuition at a distance.
ESOL FOR WORK
I shall be in attendance at the launch of the above new qualification at the University of Manchester at the end of November and promise to detail in a subsequent newsletter any useful outcomes.
EX CATHEDRA
In this section of the newsletter I propose to offer teaching tips of a practical nature.
One of my subject areas is British Citizenship, when I prepare students for the Life in the UK Test.
There is a fascinating lesson available in your pocket, purse or wallet (if teaching in the UK) in the form of British currency.
When did you last take a good look at the coins and notes?
What is the significance of the motto on the 2p coin? Why the thistle on the 5p coin? What do you know about Britannia on the 50p coin? Why the serrated edge on some coins? What does “nemo me impune lacessit” mean on the £1 coin? Who said “standing on the shoulders of giants” and what does it mean? (£2 coin) Who are the famous people on the notes?
Do some research and treat your students to a lesson with a difference!
POST SCRIPT
If you have any ideas for inclusion in this newsletter, please drop me a line.
Ken Milgate
Chief Examiner