Photos from the Photo Competition

Okay, I decided to put all of the photos up onto the blog, so that you can judge if you want to. The only thing is, is that you will have to explain the photos to me. You can choose only two photos - one from the "People" category, and one from the "Nature" category. I think that you can see which category is which. Remember that the competition ends tomorrow at 5pm. I have also decided to have the prizegiving at the student's end of year party in Great Taste on Wednesday, so I can announce the winners later that afternoon.

Photographic Competition

The students were asked to take one photo under the category "nature" and one photo under the category "people." These photos are in the L block lobby and will be voted on over the week. The closing day for the votes is this Friday (11th Dec.).

Put a tick beside the photo that you think is the best. The votes will be tallied this Friday and the winners will be announced next week on Monday the 14th December. There are three prizes for each category.

If you are passing the L block area then go into the main reception area and you can see them there and vote.

I will put the winning photos on the blog next Monday.

http://mrstoutsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/toyo-gakuen-university-homestay-english.html

You might find this interesting - especially if you are interested in making Japanese food.

TOEIC, Bridges, Photographs, Christmas, holidays

Hi everyone,

Well, it's been another long spell without writing anything. A lot has happened, so I'll just go through a few of them. Firstly, the students are all doing well with the TOEIC tests. They are actually sitting another practise test today from 9-11. If you want to know more about this test then look at the link on the side of this blog. This year I'm giving the students about 13 tests. These tests usually happen at the end of the week. I also do a resit on Wednesdays. The average is going up all the time, so I'm very pleased with the results.

The students have also been building their balsa wood bridges. They then broke them last week. I have a video of it, but unfortunately when I tried to put it up on the blog it didn't go up. (Perhaps it was too big!) If you would like to see it then I can give it to your student.

The students are also getting good at using the Smartboard. The students take it in turns to do a 5-10 minute grammar or vocabularly class and teach it to the rest of the students.

The students have finished taking their photographs for the photographic competition. The categories were nature and people. They will be judged next week. All of the photos are hanging up in the classroom.

I am going to be teaching the students a little about Christmas. I have already told them about the Santa Parade, but would appreciate it if you could also encourage your student to go and see it.

Well, that's all for now. Remember that the classes go through to the 11th of December, but I will be here until the 18th of December, so I am trying to encourage the students to come in and practise their conversations, even though all of the engineering classes have finished. So...the week from the 14th to the 18th December is not compulsory for the students to come, but I will be informally coordinating activities in the morning for anybody that comes along. I have told the students of these arrangements.

Also, I haven't really had any feedback from you as homestay parents about anything, so am assuming that things are going smoothly. Remember that if you would like me to go over some English, or bring a matter up for the students to discuss in class, then please contact me - if not through this blog, then mpryde@tekotago.ac.nz

Talk to you soon,

Michael