FINAL REFLECTION - POST 2

My best writing in my opinion is the free writing: the frog and the princess. I think it's the best composition I have done because I used new words that I learnt searching in the dictionary and searching on the web page www.wordreference.com. In this composition I was so inspired and I wrote, with my imagination, a love story between a prince and a frog, which is a princess.

My best oral presentation I think it was the last one. I speak about humor videos on youtube. In my opinion it was so fantastic to do this presentation, because I wasn't nervous and I had fun doing it. Also it was nice to work with Claudia, because in this way I could learn and share new interesting things with her that  were so useful. I have liked a lot working with her. The oral presentation was so long and it's too difficult to upload on the blog.

In the two works (the oral presentation and the free composition) I think that the vocabulary is new and richer than other's, the work I've done is more complete and more correct, but the most important is that I have enjoyed  them and I really wanted to do it so well. When I did them I didn't get bored. I love to do work when I enjoy it!

The future

I hope in my future I get to learn English almost perfectly. I would like to study English philology and to achieve it (to improve my English) I will probably go on my studies for 6 months or more out of Spain, in a country where English is spoken continuously. I would like to go to Ireland, Sweden or Canada, but also I would like to go to England or USA. I will go as an Au Pair, but now I haven’t found a family yet. I'm searching until I find someone who wants me to be in their house to do domestic tasks, to take care of sons and daughters, etc. I hope I can go as soon as possible! My wish is to learn English so well and to go back here with a higher level of this language.

As far as I learned in Castelló, I think that I have improve and developed a lot since 1st of Batxillerat, but I still have much! 

FINAL REFLECTION - POST 1

When I started 1st of Batxillerat I realized that I must improve my English if I wanted to get a good mark in English. So I decided to work hard to achieve this. We can see comparing my first writing and my first oral presentation in Batxillerat and the last ones. For example, in my first composition, I didn't use any connectors, I always spoke in the present, because I didn't know the how to use verb tenses effectively or really understand them! It was normal because when I went to ESO I didn't learn so much, and the level of English in 4th of ESO is so easy, maybe too much. Also in my first composition I used simple vocabulary and I didn't use complicated words. It was because I had a low level of English and I never had done writings for a blog. And now: if we look my last composition, we can find more connectors, the structure is better than before and I've put an introduction, I didn't do it in my description of a friend (my first composition) and there are no paragraphs!

When I did my first oral presentation it was terrible for me (I was so nervous), but I had studied a lot all of the new words that I had to say. As we can see in my presentation it seems that I was relaxed, but I wasn't! I didn’t speak with fluency, and my voice was trembling. When I spoke it seemed that I didn't know what I was saying because there are some times that I speak like a robot. In my last oral presentation there were more new words that I had learnt during Batxillerat. I also make some mistakes when I talk but I correct them better.

To conclude, I want to say that there's a personal development too: for example, in my first writing or oral presentation, I wrote about personal topics as: my friend, my leisure... The vocabulary that I needed was easier than in the last writing or the last oral presentation, because in these last ones the topic was more scientific and interesting to society. I think that in all of the details that I improve we can see a little more mature writing, and I am so excited and satisfied for that; the work has been worth.

SECOND ORAL PRESENTATION MARKING CRITERIA  

90%ORAL PRESENTATION+ 10%LISTENING TO PEER PRESENTATIONS 

POINTS 90%

8-9

6-7

4-5

<4

                       

Presentation 10%	Focused on  topic. Use varied, relevant  resources: powerpoint, multimedia, real material,… Agreed timing: 5-10 m	Mostly focused on topic. Use some resources. Agreed timing	Sometimes focused and/with a few resources Timing not as agreed	Not focused. Poor or abusive use of resources. Timing not as agreed	8
Body language & Eye Contact 10%	Holds attention of entire audience with fluid movements and the use of direct eye contact. Little reading from notes.	Some movements and gestures. Consistent use of direct eye contact with audience.Sometimes reading.	Very little movement or gestures. Minimal eye contact with audience.  Often reading.	No movement or gestures.  No eye contact with audience. Continuous reading from notes	8
Structure 10%	Open and closing remarks that capture the attention of the audience and set the mood. Use of discourse markers	Student displays clear introductory or closing remarks. Some discourse markers	Student clearly uses either an introductory or closing remark, but not both.Little use of disco. markers	Student does not display clear introductory or closing remarks. No discourse markers.	8,9
Content 30%	Interesting, new, relevant and clear info to the audience with some detail and depth.       Ideas organized.	Some good information and some irrelevant, often interesting with a little depth. Ideas often organized	Information not always clear and sometimes a bit superficial. Ideas often disorganized.	Information not relevant, unclear and not interesting, with little detail. Ideas disorganized.	27
Language 20%	Rich vocabulary, with synonyms, phrasal verbs, expressions, idioms... Correct and complex grammar use (Conditionals, passive, modals, perfect,continuous tenses) Varied use of sentence linkers	Varied vocabulary with some complex grammar and some sentence linkers and markers	Some vocabulary repeated. Basic grammar often (simple tenses, verb to have and be) and few linkers or markers.	Poor vocabulary, repetition of words, basic grammar only, with mistakes. Litte or no use of linkers and makers.	16
Pronunciation Intonation 10%	Use of fluid speech and pronunciation. Maintains the interest of the audience.	Mostly Satisfactory use of pronunciation and voice.	Some monotone voice and some incorrect words pronounced.	Consistently uses a monotone voice and  often pronunciation is wrong.	8
				Total---->	75,9

FIRST ORAL PRESENTATION MARKING CRITERIA  

90%ORAL PRESENTATION+ 10%LISTENING TO PEER PRESENTATIONS 

POINTS 90%

8-9

6-7

4-5

<4

                       

Presentation 10%	Focused on  topic. Use varied, relevant  resources: powerpoint, multimedia, real material,… Agreed timing: 5-10 m	Mostly focused on topic. Use some resources. Agreed timing	Sometimes focused and/with a few resources Timing not as agreed	Not focused. Poor or abusive use of resources. Timing not as agreed	8
Body language & Eye Contact 10%	Holds attention of entire audience with fluid movements and the use of direct eye contact. Little reading from notes.	Some movements and gestures. Consistent use of direct eye contact with audience.Sometimes reading.	Very little movement or gestures. Minimal eye contact with audience.  Often reading.	No movement or gestures.  No eye contact with audience. Continuous reading from notes	4
Structure 10%	Open and closing remarks that capture the attention of the audience and set the mood. Use of discourse markers	Student displays clear introductory or closing remarks. Some discourse markers	Student clearly uses either an introductory or closing remark, but not both.Little use of disco. markers	Student does not display clear introductory or closing remarks. No discourse markers.	7
Content 30%	Interesting, new, relevant and clear info to the audience with some detail and depth.       Ideas organized.	Some good information and some irrelevant, often interesting with a little depth. Ideas often organized	Information not always clear and sometimes a bit superficial. Ideas often disorganized.	Information not relevant, unclear and not interesting, with little detail. Ideas disorganized.	21
Language 20%	Rich vocabulary, with synonyms, phrasal verbs, expressions, idioms... Correct and complex grammar use (Conditionals, passive, modals, perfect,continuous tenses) Varied use of sentence linkers	Varied vocabulary with some complex grammar and some sentence linkers and markers	Some vocabulary repeated. Basic grammar often (simple tenses, verb to have and be) and few linkers or markers.	Poor vocabulary, repetition of words, basic grammar only, with mistakes. Litte or no use of linkers and makers.	15
Pronunciation Intonation 10%	Use of fluid speech and pronunciation. Maintains the interest of the audience.	Mostly Satisfactory use of pronunciation and voice.	Some monotone voice and some incorrect words pronounced.	Consistently uses a monotone voice and  often pronunciation is wrong.	6,5
				Total---->	61,5

COMMENTS!

1) HELENA

2) SONIA

3) ANTONELA

NEWS - AWESOME!!!

Taking a deep drag on his cigarette while resting on the steering wheel of his truck, he looks like a parody of a middle-aged lorry driver.

But the image covers up a much more disturbing truth: At just the tender age of two, Ardi Rizal's health has been so ruined by his 40-a-day habit that he now struggles to move by himself.

The four-stone Indonesia toddler is certainly far too unfit to run around with other children - and his condition is  set to rapidly deteriorate.

But, despite local officials' offer to buy the Rizal family a new car if the boy quits, his parents feel unable to stop him because he throws massive tantrums if they don't indulge him.  

His mother, Diana, 26, wept: 'He's totally addicted. If he doesn't get cigarettes, he gets angry and screams and batters his head against the wall. He tells me he feels dizzy and sick.'

Ardi will smoke only one brand and his habit costs his parents £3.78 a day in Musi Banyuasin, in Indonesia's South Sumatra province.

But in spite of this, his fishmonger father Mohammed, 30, said: 'He looks pretty healthy to me. I don't see the problem.'

I think that it's unbearable, and impermissible. I don't believe that his healthy is ok, like her mother says. His parents aren't responsible, and it isn't necessary, what kinds of parents would want that his son smoke? Not a normal ones.

From: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40024399/ns/today-today_health/t/smoking-toddler-kicked-habit-thousands-more-addicted/

DIALOGUE

HURRICANE KATRINA'S DISASTER

Hurricane Katrina had many social effects. Initially, many lives were lost, while many more were disrupted. Hurricane Katrina left hundreds of thousands without access to their homes or jobs, has separated people from relatives, and inflicted both physical and mental distress on those who suffered through the storm and its aftermath.

The government lacked sensitivity and humanitarian assistance to the majority of the population. This disaster caused many deaths, floods, failure of health care, shortage of drinking water, food, etc.. Slowly it has been returning to normality, but for a time the population has lived how they could, without technology. And everything built in that town was destroyed in a moment, and all the amenities and technology  were useless.

Nature destroyed everything. We realize that we depend on it, and we can not keep going at this pace at which we move, destroying it, if she does not want us to destroy us. Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest tropical cyclones, destructive and expensive to ever hit America in decades. United States went through a crisis, and also were busy with the war in Iraq, also was not accepted by the UN.

NEWS - JUST IN TIME

THE RETURN OF JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

We haven't had any notice about Justin Timberlake until now, when he debuted his multi-platinum solo CD, "Justified". He has made new friends and he has done things like help Bill Gates unveil Microsoft and MTV's new joint digital music service and he's acting, lending his voice to the new Shrek 3 film.
He also stars in a film with Cameron Diaz, but he had to word harder if he wants to success of acting, too. Justin missed out on two film roles because he sounded like a 12 years old! He should take lessons from the manly George Clooney, said the article.

From: Today, Music, Karl Blackwell.