G'day all

I can't believe that this is officially the last post for the year and that means the last one for this AMEP class! My thanks to all of you who put in some hard work during the semester. I hope you enjoyed your class and the things you learnt. A big thank you must go to Rosa for writing the activites for you every week. I had a very relaxing time as I didn't have to come up with ideas week after week. Thanks Rosa!

As you know we had the oral presentations last Tuesday and Wednesday. I was very impressed by the quality of your powerpoint presentations. Well done! I hope you keep on getting better in this area so that in 2009 you'll be able to produce even better slide shows!

I hope you enjoy the Bubbleshare of the Presentations!

Have a very enjoyable and relaxing Christmas holiday. I look forward to seeing many of you in 2009 and remember you can always contribute to the blog even if you've left the class!

Be good and happy blogging!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

Week 7

G'day all

Not many more weeks left till the end of term. I hope you have enjoyed your time learning how to blog, use bubbleshare, audacity, wikis etc. You should be very proud of the hard work you've done and the work you've produced. I hope you'll continue it in the future.

I'm sure you're all full of ideas for next year and the possible courses you can do. Remember to visit the Counsellor in Building A if you need some advice and help. It is good to talk to someone about your goals and get advice on the best way to achieve them.

Next week will be a big week for you with the oral presentations taking place on Nov 25. I hope you're organised and ready to start practising in the next few days.

Don't forget BTN for listening practice too!

Lisa asked me for a few more holiday photos so here they are. These were taken in Verona and Venice. I was there visiting my daughter and my sister came with me. We had a great time! Next week, I'll add some photos from Beijing.



BubbleShare: Share photos - Craft Ideas

Week 6

G'day all

I hope you had a good weekend. I had a quiet and relaxing time which was enjoyable after a busy week at work!

I enjoyed reading your Recounts and I'll give them back tomorrow along with some comments. Most were very well done! I hope to see them posted on your blog along with some photos maybe?

I hope the small group of you who were in class last week had fun with bubbleshare! The results look good! I know that Seunghee and Orietta started on Audacity last week and after a few false starts were able to get it working! Let's see if you can complete the process today and produce an mp3 file!

Happy blogging!

These are some of the flowers in bloom in my garden at the moment.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

Week 5

G'day all

Where is the time going? I can't believe that it's November already! It's true that as you get older time goes more quickly!!

Today should see you all putting some of the photos from our excursion on your blog using Bubbleshare. Thanks to Rosa for doing the tutorial to help you. If you haven't got photos of your own I'm sure there are enough to go round!!

Also, Rosa and I think we have mastered the problems with Audacity so hopefully you can do the recording today.

Happy blogging!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Week 3

G'day again!

I know you found the listening difficult last Monday but well done for trying hard. I'll be looking forward to reading your reports in your blogs.

Today when you've completed the work that Rosa has set you about our excursion, I hope you'll have fun recording a piece and editing it on Audacity!

Happy blogging!

Some photos from my trip to Beijing

Here are a selection of photos from my recent trip to Beijing for the Paralympic Games. These photos are of Tian'anmen Square and The Forbidden City. I hope you like them!

Term 4, week 1

G'day all and welcome back to your English class.

I hope you all enjoyed the break. The weather wasn't very good but I'm sure that it meant you were able to do your holiday homework! LOL! (Ask me what that means if you don't know it) As I'd been away so much over the term, I was happy to stay at home and potter about! I did a bit of spring cleaning, worked in the garden and caught up with friends for lunch. As usual, time went by too quickly!

Open Rosa's blog and complete the work she's set for you for today.

Happy blogging.

I'm back!

I can't believe that this is my first post for term 3! I have been slack haven't I? Well I'm back now from my extended holidays so I'll have no excuse but to work hard for the remainder of the term!

Here are some photos of my trip to Ireland and Italy.


BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Week 10, our last week!

I took this photo on the long weekend when I went away for a few days.What is it a picture of? Where would you see one? What are they used for?

I can't believe how quickly the semester has gone and that we've come to the end of our time together! I hope you've enjoyed yourselves in the class and that you learned something!

Today, we're going to listen to two presentations as Mumu and Helen want to use powerpoint. The rest of you, of course, will have your turn tomorrow!

After that you'll need to make sure that all your blog entries are complete. As a final writing activity, you can send me an email declining the invitation I gave you this morning! Remember to follow the points we looked at in class!!

To complete the forum activity, have a look at today's topic and write your opinion. Ask me for help if you don't know or are unsure of what to do! I'll check your entries as soon as I can!

Well, that's about all from me! I'm looking forward to our excursion on Wednesday. Let's hope the weather is good!

Thanks for being a great class and I've enjoyed teaching you. All the best for the future and I wish you every success in all that you do!

Take care.

Week 9

G'day all

It's hard to believe that this is our second last computer class. I think the semester has gone very quickly, don't you?

Well done to those of you who correctly guessed that last week's item was part of a clothes hanger! Some of you were not quite sure of the spelling though! Good luck with today's picture! (clue: it's the white thing!)

We've nearly reached 101 health tips in the wiki. See if you can add a few more tips today! Think of tips to do with dental or back health as well as tips for safe lifting etc!

Are there some jobs that only men should do? Or women? What are your thoughts about this topic? Go to the discussion forum and post your opinion there. Ask me for the password.

As we have new headphones today, I would like you to go to the Time4English link and listen and complete the news story Clean home: sick babies. Then wite your opinion of the story in a post in your blog.

Did you know that your blog forms part of your writing portfolio for this course? Therefore, in order to achieve competency in this unit you need to have completed certain tasks. Check the handout from your teacher and tick off the items that you have completed. If you have any questions, see your teacher.

If you still have time, have a look at these idioms and complete the quizzes.

Happy blogging!

Week 7

G'day all!

Well You all had such fun with the quiz last week that I just had to give you another one! What is this object in the photo?

Rosa and I were thrilled with all the ideas for healthy living you put in the wiki last week! Have a look at how many her class have added and see if you can add some more! Remember we want to get to 101! Before you add something, READ through the list so that you don't double up!

Have a look also at Rosa's blog post for today. She asks some interesting questions which I hope you can answer!

During today's class you should also find the recipe for the dish you're going to cook for Wednesday's health Expo. Check it out on CalorieKing to see just how healthy it is! (Go to last week's post for the link)

Today there is time for you to do some research for your report and oral presentation. I hope that by now you have all chosen the tourist attraction you wish to write and talk about.

Remember the points you have to include so make sure you find that information!

In case you don't know, Monday 9th June is a public holiday (do you know why?) so there won't be any class. Have a good week and let's hope the Health Expo is a huge success!

Week 6

What is this? Post your guess in comments G'day and welcome to another class. I hope by now that you have caught up on all the work you're supposed to have done on your blog. Today is your last chance to catch up so get a move on....

As the Health Expo is on June 4 we need to focus our attention on Health and Lifestyle. Go to our f2f wiki, the Events page, and follow the instructions below the Health Expo.

Let's see if we can do it! As you'll be preparing food to 'sell' on the day, we have to turn our attention to healthy recipes. Think about what you're going to make and write the recipe in your blog. Add a picture from the net. To help you with the nutritional values of the dish you're preparing, look at CalorieKing and you can see if what you've chosen is indeed a healthy option!

That should keep you busy so i won't give you anything else to complete today!

Happy blogging!

Week 5

Some of the colours in Sydney gardens at the moment!

G'day and welcome to another week.

I enjoyed reading your posts on If I could be an animal I'd be a... Have a look at your classmates blogs and write a comment with your opinion. I got a chance this week to look at all your blogs and I wrote a comment on most of your posts. Check out what I wrote!

Some of you are doing GREAT work! Lots of posts, photos and links! Have a look for yourselves and see what you think! I especially like Helen and Lisa's blogs as they have done more than the set work! Well done!

Did any of you look at the site on formal writing last week? I guess you won't want to now as you've already completed the assessment for Andrew!! Have you tried the online environment game or checked out yappr? If not do so now!

Once again I need to remind you about headphones/microphones so you can listen to the texts on Time4English or check out podcasts!

Not many of you have completed the recount from a few weeks back. Please do this today. You can print off the text structure from the blog page to help you.

When you've done that, check out Time4English and have a look at Upper Intermediate/Advanced , Module 4- the world. You can do the listening on 4F and when finished that, you can try some grammar practice with 4B, 4C, 4D & 4E.

Happy blogging!

Week 4

The Fab Four!

G'day all

I hope you all had a great weekend and I especially hope that all the mothers among you had an extra special time yesterday! I had a busy time going twice to the airport! Once to pick up my eldest daughter and then to drop another one off!! Then it was home to a relaxing afternoon and a DVD!

I haven't had a chance to check on the progress of your blogs but I'll be doing it this week! I hope you're all up to date! I'll be giving you a checklist next Monday to make sure your on track!

Rosa's class is also learning how to write formal letters and she has a useful link on her blog. It's called speakspeak writing formal letters. Have a look for yourself!

The following text is from Rosa's blog and I'd like you to do the exercises too!

Water Saving:

This term Andrew is going to be talking to you about the environment. There is a new online game called Mission H2o. It is on water conservation and teaches players how to improve water usage at home. You can win an ipod if you play all the games. Tell your kids and friends about it! Closing Date: Friday 30th May 2008 at 5.00pm.

Personal Texts:
As you know, a blog is very useful to express your own thoughts and opinions. View this blog from one of Sally's students (AMEP-B 2007), Bo Liang's Blog. Do the same topic as Bo, If I could be an animal....

Choose and animal you would like to be and write about it.

Did any of you manage to get a look at yappr and check out the videos? Hopefully they'll open from here. You really do need headphones/microphones very soon if we're going to do podcasts!

Happy blogging!

Week 3

G'day all!

Well some of you had great fun last week playing with the photos on Bubbleshare! I hope you can all post them on your blogs this week so that we can all view them! I found out from Rosa that when you go to paste your Bubbleshare photos on your blog post, you must click on the Edit HTML button first. This lets you paste the photos. Remember to switch back though!

I hope you all enjoyed Helen's video clip of Andrew's singing !

I'm sorry I can't be with you today but as I told you this morning my meeting at AMES was changed. You can all go back and read last week's post and complete the work on the Recount! This will form part of your writing portfolio for assessment.

Have you identified the flowers from last week's post? Put a comment in the post! What about the floral emblem of NSW? Did you find out its name? Add a picture and a short description to your blog!

If you run out of things to do, have a go at some Time4English activities or Issues in English. (The icon for this is on the desktop)

Bye for now! Happy blogging!



BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

Term 2, week 1

These flowers are from my garden.Do you know what they are?


Gday all and welcome back for Term 2!Did any of you go to Canberra for the Olympic torch relay? Or to the city on ANZAC day to see the march? What did you get up to during your 'free time'? It was a bit hard to do much outdoors though due to all that rain! Imagine, there haven't been as many consecutive wet April days since 1931! 13 in fact!The photos from our lunch turned out very well, didn't they? I hope you all remembered to bring some photos today so you can create your own bubbleshare after you've finished your work. If you forgot then you can use some of mine, ok?Today, I'd like you to write a recount of what you got up to during the last two weeks! Read below how to write a recount. Post it in your blog!Recount texts: The purpose of a recount is to inform or entertain by retelling past events or experiences. You can recount personal events, factual incidents or imaginary incidents.

The structure of the text is:

An orientation which tells about who, when and where the event or incident occurred.

The detailing of a sequence/list of events in the order in which they happened. Throughout, there may be some personal comment about the events.

Some language features of a recount are:

• mainly past tense verbs


• action/doing verbs ie walked/caught/saw/played/bought


• adverbial phrases ie on the way/in the city/on the train


• specific participants ie my friend/his daughter/our neighbours


• personal comment ie I really liked it/some people were a bit afraid


• details of time ie about two o'clock/after lunch/in the morning

You can have a look at some model texts to get some help/ideas. You can click on the link and read some recounts written by former AMEP students.

Happy blogging!

Week 6

G'day all!

I can't believe that this is our last computer class for the term! We really have not done very much work so we'll have to be very busy in Term 2!


I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. I spent this afternoon with some friends at a BBQ. Luckily for us the rain held off and we were able to sit outside.

I'm pleased to see that you've made an effort to get your work up to date on your blogs. You can finish off all the bits and pieces today so that we can start new things after the holidays. Please make sure you have headphones by then. it makes it easier to do listening! If you can get some with a microphone that will be even better so you can record.

Remember to log on to the wiki and do the work that has to be done. Have a look at what Rosa's students have done and see if you can do the same!

When all your work is up to date, have a look at the comments I've written on your posts!

Have a good week and have a great break from English classes for 2 weeks. i know I'm looking forward to having some time off!

Happy blogging!

Week 5

What is this structure and where is it?

G'day all!

It seems like ages since I wrote in the blog because of the holiday last week. I hope you're all ready to work today! It very important each week that you read what I write and then do any classwork I set before you go and do other things!

By now you should have all done the Library podcast and posted your replies in your blog. Then you should have gone to the ESOL wiki and completed the 2 tasks there. Last time you also had to post a comment on my post about the pictures. (I can see only 3!!)

Go back through the blog to access the links!

When you have finished these 3 tasks, open the link to Rosa's blog and look at the Harmony day photos. Write an account of the day's events in a new post on your blog. You can copy the photos if you'd like to. Ask me how if you can't do it!

After that, look at the activities on the Easter Show. That should keep you busy for 2 hours!

Happy blogging!

Week 4

What's the reason for these pictures on my blog today? Add a comment to this post.

G'day all and welcome to another class in the computer room!

I hope you all had a great weekend. As I told you this morning I had a very enjoyable time! The St Patrick's Day party on Friday night was full of fun, food and fabulous friends! By now, I hope that you understand the significance of the event! Even though Irish people do not eat special food on the day, I did cook some traditional recipes so that my friends could taste some Irish cooking! Have a look at the recipe for soda bread and Irish stew and see if you'd ever cook this food.

Do you have a special day in your country? When is it? How do you celebrate? Are there special dishes prepared and eaten? Write about the event in a post in your blog. Add links and photos too.

Have you figured out the pictures? Have a look at this link to help you!

Remember to go to esolf2f (use the link in the side bar ) and add your info on the World map if you haven't already done so. Then do the second exercise too!

Please remember to buy headphones so that you can do the listening activities required as part of your English course.

There will be no class next Monday as it's the Easter Monday holiday. I hope you all enjoy the short break. Perhaps you'll visit the Easter Show with your families!

Happy blogging!

Week 3

Bondi Beach

Cronulla Beach

G'day all

I hope you all had a good week and a great weekend. I had visitors up from Melbourne so we were very busy showing them the sights! I think we visited every beach from Cronulla in the south to Palm Beach in the north.

I realise that most of you did not listen to the podcast with Patricia last week so I'd like you to go back and do it today. Remember to print off the questions to make it easier.

When you have finished that, go into the ESOL wiki and follow the instructions to add your name on the world map. Ask me for help with voicethread if you need it.

If you have time, look at Rosa's blog and read about International Woman's Day.

Have a good class and happy blogging!

Week 2

G'day all

I hope you all had a good weekend. The weather turned out to be quite good even if it was a little cool! I had a quiet time and apart from Friday when I went to lunch in the city, I stayed around home. What did you all get up to? Did any of you go to the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade? Did anyone go to the cricket yesterday? How did you spend your time? Writ about it in your blog! Add a photo or two as well!!

I was impressed by the blogs you created last week and I look forward to reading them all every week. Well done. Please put a link to my blog on yours and perhaps any other link you think is important. Ask me if you dont know how to do this.

By now you've all settled into AMEP-A and hopefully have learnt a few things the past couple of weeks. I believe that you all went to the library recently and had a tour of the library with Patricia. To consolidate your learning and to help you improve your listening, I'd like you to listen to the podcast with Patricia. You can print off the questions to help you. Post your answers in your blog under the title LIBRARY.I'll give a small prize to the first person to post the answers correctly!

Our AMEP-A class

BubbleShare: Share photos - green toy news


Have a good week and happy blogging!

A new year!

Welcome all to AMEP-A.

I hope you enjoy your time in this class. For many of you, it will be a different way to learn English. We will use Blogs to post written texts and listen to podcasts. We will even try to create our own podcasts!

There will also be opportunites for you to create slide shows and show off your photographic and other skills to all the class!

The important thing is that you enjoy yourself and develop your English skills at the same time!