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Spring Quarter 2012   Course ESL 084A (7220)  

 

Instructor and Class Information

 

Instructor:        Ev Piersma

Dates:            April 2nd  – June 15th

Office:             R130 – Adjunct Area

Days/Time:    Monday to Friday, 7:30 to 9:20 am

Office Hours:   by appointment

Classroom:    R109  

To contact me by phone:  Call (425) 564-2745, and leave a short message.  

No Class:      May 28th

E-mail:              epiersma@bellevuecollege.edu

School Closure Information:  (425) 401-6680

 

 

Outcomes

For spring quarter, our English lessons are about your goals, health and medicine, emergencies, hunting for a job, and work topics. For each of the topics, by the end of the quarter, successful students should be able to:

 

Speak So Others Can Understand

·         Remember and use common vocabulary and basic grammar (be, have, do, and other verbs in the simple present, present continuous, and past tenses).

·         Learn and use different strategies (plans) to help you speak better.

Listen Actively

·         Understand longer conversations, stories, and instructions.

·         Ask clarification questions correctly when you don’t understand.

·         Use who, what, when, where, and why to improve listening and respond appropriately to conversations.

Read With Understanding

·         Read common and some new words; show you understand stories and vocabulary.

·         Use context clues to find the meanings of words without a dictionary.

·         Scan to find important information in a story.

·         Use who, what, when, where, and why to help you understand a story better.

Convey Ideas in Writing

·         Fill out simple forms, write a short letter, and address an envelope.

·         Learn to plan before you write a paragraph.

·         Write paragraphs with good form (indent, margins, a topic sentence, etc.).

·         Use the simple present, present continuous, future and past tenses.

·         Find mistakes in your own writing.

      Set goals for your English and keep track of progress every week.

 

 

About Class

 

 

Attendance

To go to the next level, you must show progress in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.  Attendance is important for your progress to the next level.  The teacher will take attendance every day. If you miss 20% of the total class time (20 hours), you will receive a grade of “No Progress” for the quarter.  If you come to class more than one-half hour late or leave more than one-half hour early, the time you miss is part of the 20%.  Also, if you miss the CASAS reading and listening tests, you will receive a grade of “No Progress.”   This is very important. 

 

 

Bellevue College Email and access to MyBC 

All students registered for classes at Bellevue College should get an e-mail account.  You can use your student e-mail, and you can log in to MyBC. You can use email to tell your teacher about absences. Also, your Bellevue College student e-mail account is a way for your teacher to e-mail you if there is an emergency about your class or if there is other important information you need to know. To create your account, ask your teacher for help or go to:  https://bellevuecollege.edu/sam. 

 

 

Public Safety

The Bellevue College Public Safety Department provides personal safety, security, crime prevention, and other services to the campus community, 24 hours per day.  Their phone number is 425 564 - 2400. Public Safety is located in K100.  You can also get more information about Public Safety at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety .

 

 

Textbooks

The Level 4 books are in one package:  Future 2Student Book with CD/Workbook Package. The teacher will show you the books and give you more information about this package on the first day of class.  You will also need to have a dictionary.  Level 5 students must use an English-English dictionary, but Level 4 students may use a translation dictionary. One excellent English-English dictionary for ESL students is the Longman Dictionary of American English.  Books are available at the BC Bookstore.  

 

 

Grading

The teacher will mark your tests and homework using these marks:

 

100 - 96%

4

É

=  Excellent

95 - 86%

3

P

=  Good

85 - 80%

2

P –

=  OK

79% and below

1

–

=  Needs more work

 

The teacher will use your school folder during conferences.  The papers in that folder will help show how much English you learn.  Do not remove any papers that teachers attach to your school folder.  Some of the things in the folder are:

1)  homework assignment sheets from each quarter at BC,

2)  Goals Progress sheets from every quarter at BC,

3)  an ARM sheet with all of your CASAS scores from every quarter at BC, and

4)  examples of your writing from that school year at BC.

 

 

Make Progress

Students in ESL classes at Bellevue College should make progress in their level.  If there is no progress, students may not continue in the classes.  The teacher looks at your attendance, classroom work, and tests (including CASAS tests) to decide your progress.  The teacher will tell you at the end of the quarter that you need to improve.  If you don’t improve, you might not be able to register for classes in the future.

 

 

Privacy

We do not wish other people (parents, spouses, friends of students, and so on) to speak for students about school performance because this can slow student growth and progress. We do this because we would like students to speak for themselves and be independent.  We also do it because federal law (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) says that we must protect the privacy of student education records.  It is BC policy to keep school performance between the school and the student. If a student asks for a parent, spouse, or friend to be at any instructor-student discussion of academic performance, instructors will look at each situation and make the final decision. You can see all of this policy, Arts and Humanities Commitment to Student Growth and Development, at www.BC.ctc.edu/artshum.

 

 

Disabilities Resource Center

Students with disabilities who have accommodation needs are required to meet with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) office, room B132 (telephone (425) 564-2498 or FAX (425) 564-4138), to establish their eligibility for accommodation.  The DRC office will provide each eligible student with an accommodation letter. Their website is: http://bellevuecollege.edu/.

 

Students who require accommodation in class must review the DRC accommodation letter with each instructor during the first week of the quarter.  Students with mobility challenges who may need assistance in case of an emergency situation or evacuation should register with the Disability Resource Center

Some people may have a special medical problem.  If you have information to tell me about a medical problem, please see me after class or come to see me in my office.  Then, we can plan for an emergency.

 

 

If you have a disability and need special help in class, I can tell you more about our Disability Resource Center (DRC).  

                                                                

 

 

 

Calendar for Spring Quarter 2012

 

 

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

April

 2

start of quarter

3

 

4

 

5

6

 

9

10

11

12

13

 

16

 

17

18

19

20

 

23

24

25

26

27

May

30

1

 

2

3

4

 

7

8

9

 

10

11

  

14

15

16

17

18

 

21

 

22

23

24

25

 

June

28

holiday

29

30

31

1

 

 

4

5

6

7

8

 

11

12

13

registration begins

14

15

Quarter Break:  June 16th to June 24th   

Summer Quarter Begins:  June 25th, 2012

 

 

Sometimes BC is closed because of bad weather or other special reasons.  If you think school may be closed on a regular class day, you can check before you leave home.  Here are some easy ways to check.

o   Call (425) 401-6680 and listen to the recording.

o   Listen to local radio or TV stations.

o   Check the BC website http://bellevuecollege.edu/status.