Your MP3 and Your Loanshark Presentation
Well, your exam is done!
Here’s an MP3 of it. Listen to yourself — to everyone, if you like — and then fill out the papers you can download from here.
And remember that presentation you prepared about what you’d do to get the money to pay back a loanshark? (The presentation based on the last discussion exercise we did together.) I’ll remind you next week — you’ll need to make that presentation on Wednesday, May 1st. So get cracking!
Also, this weekend I’ll be posting about the Discussion Leading schedule. I forgot to do it earlier. Make sure to check, and to think about the topic you’d like to lead a discussion about, just in case you’re first! (We’ll be starting discussions on May 5th or 7th.)
The Discussion Feedback Papers
Note: this is NOT for Midterm exams. For Midterm exam evaluation papers, please check here.
For Discussion Feedback sessions, we will use the following papers for feedback. Please make sure to print some up for yourself, and makes sure to bring them to class every time we have a discussion. (You’ll need extras, actually, for friends who run out.)
If you’re NOT leading, you need to print out this paper:
Student Feedback Sheet (PDF): You’ll be using this sheet to assign a grade to your groups’ leaders, to help your group decide on a feedback rating.
IF you ARE leading, you’ll need to print out these sheets:
Leader Feedback Sheets (PDF): You’ll be using the first sheet to give a feedback grade to your group(s) and, on the back, to rank students who were exceptionally good participators, or exceptionally bad ones. You’ll be using the second sheet to evaluate your own discussion leading-abilities.
As with all feedback, comments are important. If you don’t make comments, you’re not taking the feedback seriously enough, and will lose marks.
Midterm Exam Self-Evaluation Paper
This week, you’ll be having your midterm exam. After the exam, I’ll be asking you to fill out both of these papers for the exam:
Conversation Exam (PDF): a page for you to evaluate yourself in terms of your performance during the conversation exam, as well as to evaluate your participation in the past 7 weeks of class. Please make sure you include plenty of comments; without them, you’ll lose a grade point for not taking the exam seriously!
and
Project Evaluation (PDF): this is the normal group project evaluation paper. Make sure you list all the members in your group besides yourself. (Your self-evaluation is on the other paper.) This will help me to know how hard your group members worked, and who you think did the best during the exam. Again, please include comments unless you want to risk losing marks for not taking the exam seriously!
Everyone, good luck on your presentations!
Midterm Exam Presentation
For your midterm exam, which is on April 21st, you will be making a presentation on the following:
Imagine that, during the course of normal construction on campus, the University discovers a huge treasure of gold buried in the ground on University property. It is famous treasure, and of course will go to a National Museum. But the University will be compensated for the treasure, approximately 1 trillion won.
Of course, the majority of the money will go to construction, expansion, and improvement of University services: more books for the library, improved research facilities, more classroom, office, and dormitory space, and so on. But a certain amount — say, 5 billion won (5 million dollars) — will be set aside for students to decide what to do.
Your groups job is to “pitch” — that is, to suggest in an exciting way — a plan to the University. Maybe you think there should be an expanded study-abroad program? Maybe you think we need escalators on the hill between the front gate and the main campus? Or what about a fitness center for students? A bigger library? Smoking booths for smokers to protect us from their toxic pollution? More scholarships for outstanding students? A new biotech research complex that could combine ? A nicer cafeteria space?
It’s up to your group to decide on one project, and prepare a convincing pitch for it. You cannot use a powerpoint presentation or handouts, but you are allowed to use diagrams, pictures, and other props.
The best group (or, in the case of a tie, best two groups) will likely receive A (or maybe A+). Other groups will be competing for other grades as per the required university grading curve scheme. So remember, you’re not just in competition to create a great, reasonable, convincing, and exciting pitch for your project alone, but also you are competing against other groups.
After your (approximately 15-minute) presentation, there will be a few minutes for questions from the audience. You should be prepared to answer questions, as your answers will also be counted towards the competitiveness of your group.
We will form groups on April 14th for this presentation, and I will answer any more questions you have on that date. For now, start thinking about what kinds of realistic, exciting, and interesting projects you can suggest to your group.
Current Homework
An update regarding homework:
- You have a ten-minute group presentation on April 14th — next Monday — about your experiment with time-management and priorities. Remember that everyone in your group must speak and participate in the presentation, and that you will be limited to ten minutes, maximum. Practice. Condense. Find a way to explain the similarities and differences in your group both quickly and clearly. You may use a powerpoint but it should have not text on it. (And I recommend that you test it on the computer the day before just in case.)
- You have a five-minute presentation on Wednesday, April 16th, during which you will explain your plan to obtain two million dollars ($2,000,000, or almost 2,000,000,000 won) in one week. After your group’s presentation, you will have to answer questions from the audience. The best presentation gets a bonus of 2% on their final grade. (If any one presentation is deserving of this bonus, of course.) You may use a powerpoint presentation, but you must not put any text on the powerpoint slides — only pictures!
That’s all your current homework, except the midterm exam, which will be discussed in an upcoming post.
Handouts and Today’s Exercise (March 31st)
Here are the handouts from March 31st:
Self-Evaluation Form — Week 5 (PDF) (To be filled out and handed in by April 2nd)
Project Evaluations — for The Declarations Project (PDF) (to be filled out and handed in by April 2nd)
For both of the above, please write “Listening & Speaking — Day” at the top of the page.
Also, here is the PDF of the priorities exercise from today’s class, for after the second try at our Declaration Project presentations. I hope everyone brings some scissors to class!
Homework for March 26th
Well, March 24th is Easter Monday, so we won’t have classes. But you do have some homework!
On March 17th/19th, we discussed this handout:
The Christmas Declaration (complete PDF)
In your groups, you chose another social group (of which nobody in the group is currently a member) and discussed their problems and issues. Your homework, for March 26th, is to produce a written “Declaration” similar to the above for the social group you chose. You will also present your issues and your solutions to the class on March 26th. Your group will have five minutes of classtime to share your complaints and demands.
We will vote on the best presentation and bonus grade points will be awarded to the most outstanding group or speaker. Also, since you will be working in a group, you will be grading your groupmates in terms of their contribution to the project.
Homework for March 12th
This update is a little late, but for anyone checking, your homework for March 12th is to think of some questions you’d like to ask me. Since you’ve gotten to know one another a little better, it’s time you know more about me… and that I learn more about you!
Questions?
Well, today we had a cocktail-free cocktail party, and you met a lot of your classmates. I’ll be going through the information sheets and homework you gave me during the week.
Your homework for Wednesday morning is to think of a few questions that you would like to ask me. I won’t necessarily answer all of your questions — I do believe in privacy, after all — but I will be paying attention to who speaks up in class. Anyway, Wednesday morning is a chance for you to get to know a little more about me. We’ll start in on the harder stuff next week!
Homework for Week 2
Your homework for next week (March 10th/12th) is comprised of two assignments:
- Fill out the student information sheet I gave you, attach a picture, and return it to me on Monday morning at the beginning of class.
- Go for an outing of at least one hour with the group of students that you formed on Monday morning. Spend at least an hour speaking in English together. You will use email to collaborate on a report back to me about what you did, and how each of you felt about the activity.
- Spend some time this weekend thinking about how to “talk yourself up” — ie. how to present yourself as an interesting person to the people around you. Your goal is to prepare yourself to be a memorable conversation partner on the morning of Monday, March 10th.
See you next week, and have a good weekend!