Alemany Spring 2008 6:30 Level 5/6 Class

Last week, the California Supreme Court “overturned” (made a new decision that disagrees or opposes the old law) a 2000 “ballot measure” (a law people in California voted for) that limited marriage to “opposite- sex” couples (a man and a woman). Now, the court has recognized the right of all people in California to get married. This means that “same-sex” couples (two men or two women)  can now get married in California. Here is a link to to more information.

Hi everyone,

We have been studying information about the U.S. government and how it works.

Here is a website for American schoolchildren to help teach them some facts. You can click on different sections of the kite to see information for different grades. I am actually learning a lot by looking at the different links on this website !

Here is a link that shows the salary for the U.S. president, vice president and members of congress. I was wrong about how much money the president makes…he makes a lot more than $160,000 a year.

Here is a link explaining how the donkey became the symbol for the Democratic party and the elephant became the symbol for the Republican party.  It is because these animals were used by a cartoonist, Thomas Nast, in the 1870s !
I hope you find this information interesting and helpful.

Here is a link to  the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition.

They have phone numbers for speakers of English, Spanish and Chinese and can answer calls Monday to Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Here is another link with information on your rights on what to do if you or someone you know is “detained” (held by the police or the INS or ICE).

Hi everyone,

Last week in San Francisco there was a “raid” at a  Mexican restaurant called Balazo. A “raid” means “when police attack suddenly”.  ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Sixty-three “undocumented” workers from Mexico were arrested in the SF bay area because they don’t have permits to work in the U.S. The word “undocumented” is an adjective to describe people who don’t have legal papers to live and work in the U.S.

I was very unhappy to hear about this raid and I feel worried for a lot of my students who are also “undocumented”. Two teachers at Alemany put up some information on one of the bulletin boards at school on how to get help if you are stopped or questioned by the police or immigration officials.

Here is a link to a newspaper story about the raid last week. 

Last night on the TV program 60 Minutes, there was also a story about ICE and immigrant detentions. “Dentention” means to put someone in jail. Here is the link to that video. You can also read the story if you click on the link below the videos that says May 11th: Detention in America. Here is the link to the transcript.

A lot of teachers at City College of San Francisco are talking about this problem. Many of us feel bad about what is happening. We feel like it isn’t fair to arrest people who are only trying to work and help themselves and their families. I hope that the story on TV last night will help to bring attention to the need for fairness in how we treat immigrants who come to this country whether they are documented or undocumented.

Hi everyone,

Kiva is an organization started in San Francisco that helps link people here with other people around the world who need help with small business loans. It is a very interesting website and a great idea for how to help people suceed in other countries.

Here is the link for the TV segment on Frontline.

Here is a link for the Kiva website if you want to see how it works.

I think his is a good example of how technology is helping to connect people from all over the world in a very positive way.

Diane

Hi everybody! How are you? I took a train from Washington D.C. to New York on Sunday. I am really enjoying New York. Another teacher from Alemany, Bozena, is also here so we meet every day and walk around together. So far, we have visited the Museum of Modern Art, we have eaten matzo ball soup and chopped chicken liver sandwiches, we have walked to Central Park, and we have visited the Plaza Hotel. Today we are going to go to the hotel where the teacher’s conference is and check in. We need to get the schedules for all the workshops that will be given Wednesday through Saturday. But, first, today, we are going shopping on Canal Street and then we are going to go the the Metropolitan Museum and the Frick Collection (another museum). Tonight, we are going to go to the theatre and see a play called “The Seagull” with two famous actors named Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming. Wow! New York is great. I love it here. There is so much to do, we don’t have enough time to see and do everything we want. I’ll put together some pictures for you later and I’ll try to include an mp3. I hope you guys have a great class tonight and I’ll see you next Monday! Here is a picture looking out of the window at the Plaza Hotel at the buildings near the street Central Park West and a picture of Bozena and I drinking champagne.

Hi everyone,

I hope you all are having a good week off. I wanted to say “hi” and give you some information about what I have done on my vacation so far. This is a good opportunity for me to use the present perfect to talk about what I have done since the beginning of my vacation last Thursday. So, here is an mp3 for you to listen to. I talk about my vacation so far. I also made a short Google presentation with some photos you can look at. Enjoy ! See you soon.

dianes-vacation-in-ocean-city-so-far.mp3

Diane’s vacation photos

Hi everyone,

This is already on Robert’s blog…but in case you didn’t find it, look at this link of Robert’s picture talking on Blabberize. It’s very cool.

Hi everyone.

Here is Robert’s cool new blog ! Enjoy.

Hi everyone,

Here is a great list of Best Websites that you can look at.  They were put together by Larry Ferlazzo, a high school English teacher in Sacramento. Larry has won a lot of different awards for teaching and technology. He regularly sends emails to teachers and other people interested in technology, to show us new websites. Thanks very much Larry !

The websites Larry lists are divided into different categories. I just got an email today titled: The Best Websites to Practice Speaking English. Here is the link. I haven’t had time to look at this new list but I did look at one website that looks really fun. It is called Blabberize. (Blabber means “to talk alot” ) This website allows you to upload a picture, choose a “mouth”, record your voice and then post it. Sounds like a lot of fun. Here is the link for Blabberize.

I hope you have time to to look at more of these websites and learn about using them.