As was the case with Daniel yesterday, only eight people showed for the class today. We went over the quiz for lesson 9 and the corrections. I passed the corrected papers back to those who were there. The rest are in the box. We also reviewed the writing and pronunciation of dates, as they seem to get lost and revert to English on the larger numbers. We read some accounts of the FIFA World Cup and the NBA playoffs, which they said they enjoyed. Finally, in Chapter 12, we went over the Ud. and Uds. commands, as well as the Practica A. 1 and 2 on page 290-1.

The pace of the class is a problem, any way we go. There is a wide range of grasp of the lessons so far. I think that a few of the students would be troubled if we slowed the pace. Others would be very grateful. I also think that any changes should be based principally on the needs of those taking the course for credit, not those of the auditors. When the course was given a few years ago, it comprised three semesters (six lessons per semester), but most students did not take the third semester. At the present rate of progress, we may have to delay the test for lessons 10-12. I am going to review the quiz for lesson 9 with them when I go in on Friday. We will have lots to discuss at our meeting.

Monday's test was ready in the "box". I also made copies prior to arriving. The students were not enthusiastic about having to take the quiz. Most commented to me that the pace of the class is too fast and I noticed discouragement among many of them. Consequently, we did not take the quiz. I handed it out so it could be studied. We worked as a group, pairs, and individually. I will give the same quiz plus another page or two on Wed.
We are scheduled to give the examen 10-12 on the 17th, I suggest we do so on the 21st. Thomas' "acividad especial" on the 18th should be a study hall/test prep time. I will prepare that examen 10-12 today and begin reviewing the material wed. after the ch 10 quiz. along w/ pronunciation.

Friday, June 4, 2010 class

I picked up the chapter 9 quizzes for correction, and told the class they should expect a quiz on chapter 10 on Monday. We read through the section on Central America, pp. 258-261. Getting into chapter 11, we started to read "Haciendo diligencias" but as there didn't seem to be much comprehension of the story, we left that, and moved on to "Hace...meaning ago" with the Practica on p. 269. Then we worked on present subjunctive forms of regular verbs, and got about halfway through the exercize on page 271. It's a slow go for most of the group.

Thanks to Carlos who walked me through the blog, beginning with the sign in at the upper right corner, so that I would be able to post messages on the blog, as well as receive them.

Well class was canceled today. Hopefully, the summer teachers can read this blog. Let me know.
Carlos