My wish for Christmas

Nada, DL Teacher,
opening a Christmas present

One of the old Christmas traditions is for children to write a letter to Santa to make a wish and ask for presents, usually toys!  As adults we have our own wish lists.

A couple of weeks ago a number of columnists for the Sunday Herald were asked about their wish for Christmas.  Here is some of what they said:

"Dear Santa, could you please bring me world peace for Christmas?  If this is too tricky, I'll focus on what's possible .... My children skipping off to bed when I tell them it's bed time ... and staying in bed all night." Jessica Rowe

"I want to lose 10 kilos and grow five centimetres.  I want to have thicker hair, longer legs and fewer chins.... But as none of that is going to happen ... I want self-confidence to accept myself the way I am." Jane Caro

"I want what money can't buy: contentment, clarity, gratitude and - I dare ask? - happiness." Jacinta Tynan

"I am drowning in clutter.  Books I haven't read, CD's I no longer listen to, cupboards full of chaos.  So I don't want more stuff.  But if I could have anything for Christmas, I'd go for an extra hour in my days." Jo Stanely

What about you! What do YOU want for Christmas?  Share your wish under comments below.

As for us in Distance Learning, our wish for you is to continue to enjoy your lessons and improve your English so you could achieve your goals in Australia.  Needless to say, we also wish you a merry Christmas, a safe break and a fabulous new year.

Thank you for your participation in the DL program this year and for reading the blog.  This is our last issue for 2015 until we meet again from 4th January, 2016.  

Fall 2015 End of Semester Email

Dear BCTC Instructors: 

As the Fall 2015 semester winds to a close, I have a few updates to pass along about Blackboard and Distance Learning.  Even if your classes are taught face-to-face, there is still information here of use. . . 

Online Syllabi and Roster Verification.  If you are teaching a Spring 2016 online class, be sure to review these Suggestions for Online Syllabi.  There are lots of helpful tips here.  *New for Spring 2016* Some online instructors have been frustrated when students from other KCTCS colleges are dropped for non-attendance but the home college registrar does not process the drop.  Consider adding language to your syllabus to address this.  For example: "Students must submit Week One assignments by the stated deadline in order to remain in this course.  Students who do not meet the first deadline must withdraw--or take an E." 

Opening Bb Courseshells.  All BCTC classes are provided with a Blackboard courseshell; this shell is a great communication tool for you.  Use it to provide students with information about textbooks, course supplies as well as your syllabus.  Note: by default the courseshell is closed, use these directions to open your courseshell.  And you can open that shell at any time in order to get information out to your students. 

Technology Support Center.  Connie Rine (5-4608) runs the Technology Support Center out of Leestown A-101.  Check in with Connie for help using Blackboard, MS Lync, MS Office products and more.   

eMentors.  Another great resources for Blackboard and eLearning support are the college eMentors.  Our distribution list is a quick way to get an answer to a Bb question.  Contact us at: bl_ementors@kctcs.edu. 

Training Opportunities.  Additional training for Blackboard and other educational software such as Starfish, MS OneDrive, and more will be provided at the Changing Classroom Cultures Conference (February 19-20, 2016).  Also look for PD events scheduled during upcoming Division Fridays.   

BCTC Testing Center.  The BCTC Testing Center will reopen January 4 with greatly improved hours and scheduling.  Expect major updates in the new year as we move to an hours of operation schedule which will allow students to register for exams Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM; Wednesday, 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM; and Friday, 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM.  New Testing Center information will go live on our Web site next week.  Path: Academics >> Assessment & Testing.   

Online Readiness.  When advising students about online learning, be sure to encourage them to complete the digital literacy requirement and/or FYE 105 before taking online classes or as their first online class.  Additional resources are available online: o Academics >> Distance Learning >> General Information page.  

BCTC First.  Also when advising students, encourage them to enroll in Bluegrass online classes.  Doing so puts them in touch with program faculty who serve as academic advisors. To help with this process, here is a list of open, BCTC Spring 2016 online classes.  That list is also available from the Distance Learning Web page: Academics >> Distance Learning >> Schedule of Classes. 

Additional Information.  This email is archived in the BCTC Distance Learning blog along with other distance learning updates and announcements.  Additional information about Distance Learning is available on the Colle Web site: Academics >> Distance Learning. 

Phuong's creative side

Phuong, DL student, Cabramatta

Hi, my name�s Phuong and I�m from Vietnam. I�ve been here for 7 months and I�ve been studying by Distance Learning with my teacher, Frank, for nearly 4 months.

When I came to Australia, I wasn�t really acquainted with life here. It�s very different to my country. It caused me to feel a little bit bored and stressed, so sometimes when I feel weary, I do my favourite activity - water colour painting.

I have liked painting since I was a little girl; however, I�ve only known about water colours for the past few years. In my opinion, water colours are very light and limpid and when I see them, I want to use them to colour in my drawings. I know I don�t have a good sense of colours. My first painting with water colours looked really terrible! I didn�t know how to control the water and the colours. But I persevered and tried to study tutorials from the internet. I practised a lot and learned from experience. After one year, my water colour paintings started to look better. My favourite type of water colour painting is portraits. Painting the outline is hard for me but I�m trying to learn and practise when I have time. Completing a painting makes me very happy and I always paint to relax after a hard working week.

These are some of my water colour portraits I�d like to share with you. Hope you like them!

    

Thanks Phuong for sharing these wonderful paintings with us and congratulations on mastering this creative new skill.

• What kind of art do you appreciate?
• Do you think being good at art is a natural gift or is it a taught skill?
• Puong found that paining is a good way to cope with boredom and stress in a new country. What helps you cope with stress?

We'd love  you to share your comments below.

Ima speaks a different language

Ima, DL Student and
Software Developer

Distance Learning student, Ima, arrived in Australia with her husband 4 years ago.  She's a Software Developer so she can speak computer languages.  She's currently working at Fairfax which is her second job in Australia.  �It is good to change jobs and move around in software development�, she says, �so you keep up to date with different technologies�.

Ima recently started writing web page articles: Instructions for Software Developers.  She says that to help those starting to learn software development, she is simplifying some of the processes she found difficult when she was learning software development in Iran. The editor of the website that has published her articles has given her very good feedback on the clarity and usefulness of her articles.

Ima has also commented on the lack of women in software development in Australia. �In Iran, around half the software developers were women, in Australia it is only about one tenth, and this is a shame.� To help keep abreast with new innovations in software development, Ima belongs to a meet-up group for women software developers, where the group share new ideas and knowledge. Ima will be hosting a meet-up session at Fairfax in the next few weeks with a speaker from the successful Australian IT company, Atlassian, who will talk on the topic: assertiveness at work. Ima says that before coming to Australia she had heard that there was a lot of support for women here, but found this support concerns mainly health and medical issues and doesn�t extend to the workplace.

Ima started DL in Level 3 and has now almost finished her 510 AMEP hours with her teacher Heather from Navitas�s city college in Sydney.  She says DL has helped her a lot with her confidence and her technical and non-technical writing.  Her ambition is to set up her own company one day.

Check out Ima�s profile and web articles here but unless you too are a software developer don�t expect to understand them!

• Do you agree with Ima that women in Australia are under-represented or unsupported in certain jobs?
• Do you think there are jobs that are more suited to women than others and why?
• What is the longest time you stayed at a job?  How often should employees change jobs and why?

We like to hear your views - ADD YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!

White Ribbon Day - November 25th

In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly declared November 25th the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the White Ribbon has become the symbol for that day.

The White Ribbon campaign aims to raise awareness among Australian men and boys about the roles they can play to prevent violence against women.  The campaign asks men to stand up, speak out and act to say no to men's violence against women.  Men and women across Australia are called to wear a white ribbon as a visual symbol of their commitment to this cause.

If you're a man and know about or witness violence against a woman, what would you do?

If you're a woman affected by domestic violence, what would you do?

Find help here or speak to one of our Pathways Advisors who can refer you to a local organisation that can assist you.  All information is confidential.

For more information about what domestic violence means, refer to the fact sheets

A more confident communicator

Shirisha  and her new baby

I came from India to Australia in February 2014 with my husband.  We started our married life here in Canberra.  At the beginning I was anxious about the accent of Australian people.  I was afraid to go to the shops alone.  I joined AMEP Distance Learning in September 2014 with my teacher, Erika.  She has always been very friendly with lots of patience.  She has helped me correct my mistakes and suggested ways to improve my vocabulary.

Towards the end of last year, I got a job in a childcare centre as an educator.  My confidence level improved as I was communicating with colleagues and children.  A few months later I fell pregnant.  This was the happiest time of my life.  During my pregnancy my DL course helped me a lot.  During the lessons we talked about the stages of pregnancy, the delivery, the different services that mothers can have.  It helped me to communicate with many people like midwives and doctors for all my appointments.  Everything went fine and I felt confident talking to them.  I gave birth to a baby boy 6 weeks ago.

• How has your life changed since you came to Australia?

• Change can be exciting and challenging at the same time.  How do you feel about your change now and how do you think you will feel about it in 5 years time?

If you or your partner is pregnant and need assistance with the language of childbirth ask your teacher for our special programs.

Winners are grinners!

Julian, DL teacher
celebrating Melbourne Cup win

As is the tradition in Australia, last Tuesday we celebrated Melbourne Cup day in our DL office in Sydney.  They say it's the race that stops the nation.  Although we were not as lucky as people in Victoria who enjoyed the day off as a public holiday, we still managed during our work day to have an office sweep where staff were able to bet on one or two of the horses in the race.

We watched the race together in anticipation wondering which of us would win a prize. The very lucky winner was our DL teacher, Julian, who emerged after teaching his DL lessons just in time to be told he'd won not only one but two prizes: 1st and 2nd, for the two horses he placed a bet on.

When asked how he felt about the win Julian said, "I was thrilled because I'd never won anything in my life apart from a chocolate wheel raffle at Guildford Primary School fete when I was a young boy.  Since then I haven't been so lucky.  In the previous two years, the horses I selected for Melbourne Cup unfortunately died after the race, so this win is a highlight for me."

We asked Julian what would he do with the money and he said, "I could go on a trip to Majorca in Spain or buy a new Ford Mustang but given that it was only $30 I gave it to my wife instead to pay the bills."

• What is special about this year's Melbourne Cup results?
• Have you ever won anything?
• What would you do if you won a million dollars?
• They say "you've got to be in it to win it". What are your thoughts on gambling?

Don't forget to share your answers or comments below.

Always wanted to comment but don't know how?

There have been some very thoughtful stories and comments this year on our Navitas Distance Learning  blog. 

Writing a comment on the  blog is a great way to feel part of our Distance Learning community. Also it's a marvelous way to use English in real life. You can add your thoughts on a story, answer a blog discussion question or write your own question.

So here's a video for you this week on how to comment. Before you can add a comment you need to sign in with a gmail or a google account. Here's a link to another video: How to make a google account 2015.

So let's go! 

• Do you comment on Facebook or other blogs?
• What type of comment is interesting?
• Comments can sometimes be negative. Why is it important to always write positive comments? 

From an AMEP student to a worker with AMEP

Malaykham, DL Office

Malaykham works as part of the admin team in our Distance Learning office in Sydney.  She came to Australia from Laos as a migrant 4 years ago.  Although she had a bachelor degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from her country, she was unable to work in that field in Australia because she felt her English was not good enough so she started attending AMEP Level 2 English classes.

From there Malaykham learnt that as an AMEP student she was also entitled to do a SLPET course (Settlement Language Pathway to Employment Training) so she enrolled in a Business Administration course with a Navitas college.  As part of the course she had to do 2 weeks of work experience with an employer.  It was fate or good luck that brought Malaykham to Distance Learning where she did her work experience.  During this time Malaykham demonstrated ability to get the job done well.  She designed a complex Excel spreadsheet that impressed the manager so she asked her to stay on for paid part-time work.  Three years later Malaykham is still working with DL, now full-time with a whole lot of other skills up her sleeve.

Surrounded by Distance Learning teachers Malaykham's English had to improve!  She says "It's handy to be able to ask teachers to explain things in English and help me check my writing." Despite that Malaykham admits she's got more work to do on her English.

We're pleased to see Malaykham progress in English and work skills.  We not only value her admin skills but enjoy the lovely meals she cooks and brings to share with us in the office from time to time.

• Do you think it is a good idea to change career in Australia?
• What do you plan to do after the AMEP course?
• What do you think employers in Australia value the most in their employees?

KCTCS Technology Summit

Technology Summit
November 20, 2015
Hosted by: Jefferson Community & Technical College: Southwest Campus

View schedule and session descriptions:


Agenda

8:30 - 9: Registration
9 - 9:20: Welcome & Announcements
9:30 - 12:20: Concurrent Sessions
12:30 - 1:30: Lunch (sponsored by Dell)
1:30 - 3:20: Concurrent Sessions
3:30 - Wrap Up & Door Prizes

Register Today!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A story of commitment - 510 hours with DL

Teacher Jo and her student, Sula

Last week something special happened to me.  I met one of my students.  In my opinion she is a very special student.  Sula started and finished her 510 hours of English with me in Distance Learning.  We have been studying together for about 2 1/2 years. She started as a level 2 student and has just finished with her Certificate 3.  I really admired her because although she was working 2 jobs, she rarely missed a lesson and even when she was sick we would have a chat about what was wrong.

Over this time we became quite close.  She advised me on Thai cooking and herbs.  As well as studying Your Call, I advised her about Australian life, her pregnancy and all sorts of things.

She had flown from South Australia to Queensland to visit relatives and on the way home stopped in Sydney and we arranged to meet.  When we saw each other in the lobby of her hotel she ran to me and we had a huge hug!  It was so lovely to finally come face to face after so much time meeting on Skype.  We went off to a caf� and talked non-stop for a couple of hours before I finally had to go.  When we said goodbye I thought what a committed student she had been and how proud I was of her. 

Well done Sula for your commitment and hard work and congratulations on finishing the marathon AMEP race with Certificate 3 and finally catching up with your teacher face to face!

• Do you know how many hours you have left in the AMEP?
• What do you hope to achieve by the end of your AMEP journey?
• How can we best help you and how can you help yourself achieve your goals?

A new turn for Natalia

Natalia - DL Student
Navitas College, Campsie

I moved to Australia from Russia in December 2014 and started my AMEP Distance Learning lessons in July 2015.  From the very beginning my teacher, Karin, suggested I focus on my specific needs.  Since I was actively looking for a job we put all our efforts into improving my skills and knowledge in this area.

Karin provided me with the necessary materials and we practised vocabulary related to employment and interview questions.  Karin was extremely supportive and spent an enormous amount of time helping me adjust my resume and cover letter to Australian standards, like no other employment agency did.  I started to send my new resume and cover letter in reply to job ads.  I got a number of calls back and one of them invited me for an interview with a telecommunications company.  It was my chance!  I managed to get through the first interview successfully.

Karin told me that I could have 2 hours of interview practice sessions with DL teacher, Craig.  Craig walked me through the job interview session package and gave me a lot of tips on understanding interview questions and how to answer them.  We discussed general etiquette questions, dress code, greeting standards and other details that are crucial for a successful interview.  Finally, Craig organised a mock interview session for me that was actually very helpful since I had a second interview with that employer later that day.  Within a couple of days I got a job offer as a Quality and Reporting Analyst.

I believe that my participation in the AMEP and the professionalism of my DL teachers were the key to my success in employment.  I am very lucky that I had the chance to meet my Navitas DL teachers.

                   
Although Natalia gives credit to her teachers, her teachers think that she thoroughly deserved the success.  They describe her as "extremely organised, focussed, with a strong professional background".  They also believe that students such as Natalia are proof of what can be achieved with hard work, dedication and a clear sense of purpose.  

Well done Natalia and we wish you very well in your future career!

Why not build your confidence with the additional 2 hourly sessions of interview practice with one of our trained teachers!  Ask your regular DL teacher who will be happy to organise the referral.

DL Workgroup Meeting Notes

Meeting notes from October 7, 2015

Graffiti Removal Day in NSW - 18 October

Have you ever seen graffiti on walls, signs or buildings in your area?

What do you think of graffiti?  
Why do people do it?
Is it art or vandalism? 

Did you know that the estimated cost of graffiti vandalism to the Australian community is a massive $2.7 billion a year, money which could be used to build new schools, hospitals and roads.

Last year the Graffiti Removal Day  in NSW saw 2000 volunteers remove 21,000m2 from about 275 sites, saving the government and private property owners an estimated $1.5 million.

To volunteer to help with the cleaning or to nominate a clean-up site in NSW, you may visit this website: Graffiti Removal Day

What do you think are the benefits of participating in community events such as these?
If you're not from NSW, what does your state do about vandalism?

To share your views about graffiti you can add your comments to this post.

A traditional Chinese remedy for coughs and colds

The weather in Sydney has been changeable lately, one minute it's freezing and the next minute gorgeous.The change in season can bring coughs and colds and natural remedies are often the best! Here is a traditional Chinese elixir from Ross's student named Ha, who lives in Lake Cargelligo, NSW.

Ingredients                            
3 kg of lemons                      
800 grams of raw sugar        
300 grams of honey
White vinegar as needed
a large glass jar with a screw top lid
                                               

Method
1. First wash and dry the lemons, then slice them into rounds 5 mm thick.
2. Next sterilise the jar and lid. Click here for how to sterilise jars
3. After that place the lemon slices and sugar into the jar in layers until the jar is full.
4. Next pour the honey into the jar on top of the lemons and sugar.
5. Pour white vinegar into the jar enough to cover the lemons.
6. Finally seal the jar tightly and keep for 6 months.

Use: Place 2-3 slices of lemon and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice in a mug then pour in boiled water. Stir and drink when warm, eat the lemon if you like!

Ha says "This can help you to avoid sore throats or coughs, reduce the fat in the blood and help the liver take the poison from your body. For this reason drink this everyday to help avoid illness."

Talk with your teacher or write a comment below.
What natural remedies do you use for illness? What is the remedy? Does it prevent or cure the illness?