Monday's assignment

Good morning everyone,

Hope that everyone has enjoyed your summer vacation. Have a look at the above drawing and think how you can relate to it. Try to consider the following questions and then write one paragraph as a quick reflection on that picture. 

1. How do you see it?
2. What do you think the artist wanted to say?
3. What caused this situation from your point of view?
4. How can it be solved?
5. Give a title to the drawing.

                                                                      Ice heart can be warm heart

From this picture, we see a young woman and young man is standing on the top of the ice heart, but different and opposite spot of the heart. They can't touch with each other, because the heart is in deep water and block them to get together. But, we can also see in the deep water, the bottom of the ice heart is melting slowly. We can imagine the ice heart will be totally disappeared, and the two youth will be together finally.

We will meet many people in our life, and there will be prejudicing and misunderstanding between us and the others. In this circumstance, communication is the most important thing. We need to talk with them to solve the problems. This is the main point which the painter wants to tell us.

9 August 2016 Tuesday's assignment

Good morning all,

Task 1:

I hope that everyone had fun yesterday on our field trip. Let’s reflect here a bit!

Write one paragraph as a reflection to our ROM field trip yesterday and try to include the following thoughts:

• Why did you join this trip?
• What did you like the most?
• What was the  one thing that was completely new to you?
• What was/were the thing(s) that you did not like?
• Would you like to go there again? Why?
• How this trip has added to your “Canadian experience,” knowledge, learning … etc.?

 Task 2:

Click on the this link to practice our use of linking words. 

I didn’t count how many times I have been to ROM, but it was the first time I went to there with my classmates. I’m fascinated with archaeology and all kinds of ancient artifacts. Besides the ancient Chinese part, I’m very passion about minerals in the earth. So, I always stay at the pavilion of the samples of all kinds of gemstones. These brilliant and precious stones make me feel very excited. But, it is not the point what I want to say. Unexpectedly, I visited very particular exhibition named " The Third Gender" which is from Japan. Through this exhibition, I knew there was a special group of persons from 17century to 19 century in Japan. Historians call them "Wakashu" which were very young men. 
Most of them were from impoverished families and sent to the brothel by their family when they were little boys. They were required to pretend as women and taught singing, dancing, embroidering, even writing and reading poems. Some of them were adopted by rich persons or samurais as companions. Actually, it is just a kind of prostitution. I'm totally shocked by this exhibition. When I was in university, I tried to compare ancient Chinese culture and Japanese culture. So, I can add more materials.

I learned lots of things from Joseph yesterday. He explained the motto which embedded in the ceiling of the hall. In fact,  I have never paid attention to this, although I went to there many times. Joseph also told us the story of one famous mummy named Djed. Unbelievable, I explained some ancient relics from China in English. I think I should prepare sufficiently if we have chance to ROM again.
 

Thursday's assignment

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking service that extends your network circle.  

Task 1:

Write in point form up to ten accomplishments you have accomplished in your profession life. Make sure to start with action verbs.

Modified the dissertations for more than 50 college students and helped them get B.A.

Tutored students to finish their internship

Organized students to visit museums and inspired their interest in learning

Identified more than 400 ancient bronze mirrors

Task 2:

Create your ‘Power Statement’ now, don’t be afraid to go back as far as you need and write an inventory of your "15 minutes of fame." Use this website to help you out to create your profile. Click on this link and create your own profile. Make sure to use your ‘’Power Statement” to impress employers!

Task 3:

After creating a profile, try to connect with at least ten from your classmates today. 

Power Statement

My name is Jane. I had been an archaeology and history teacher for more than 16 years in China. I am a persistent and versatile person. Because of passion in archaeology, I continued on my education and got M.D in archaeology when I had a full-time job at a high school. In order to get more experience, I volunteered in three museums as a commentator at the same time. I taught my students how to identify ancient china bronze and jade vessels, modified dissertations for them, and tutored them to accomplish their study. All of them got diplomas in their majors.

Wednesday's assignment

National Occupational Classification

The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is a system of organizing information about occupations in Canada. Every occupation in Canada has a NOC job description, which provides listings of the main duties, employment requirements and job titles. These descriptions are identified by a four-digit code called the NOC code.

Knowing the NOC code for the job you are interested in can make online research easier and quicker. This is because many job search services organize their job listings and occupation information by the NOC code. Here’s how the NOC code works:

• The first number identifies the sector. There are 10 sectors in total (0–9). For example, 0 refers to management occupations, while 6 refers to sales and service occupations.

• The second number refers to the level of education or training the job requires (1–6). Generally:

1 requires a university education

2 or 3 requires a community college or apprenticeship training

4 or 5 requires a high school diploma and/or job-specific training

6 usually requires a short demonstration or on-the-job training

• The third and fourth numbers refer to specific occupations within the sector.

In the example on the right, the 2 refers to the sector Natural and Applied Sciences; the 1 means it generally requires a university degree; together, the code 2146 is the code specific to aerospace engineers. Because the NOC groups occupations that are similar to each other, it is easy to find information about occupations that are related to your occupation of choice. This can be useful if you cannot find a job in your occupation and want to broaden your job search.

Locate the NOC website (www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC). 

Task 1:

List the 10 sectors that the first digit of the NOC code refers to. In small groups, brainstorm three occupations for each sector.

0 Management occupations  H.R managers, legislators,  government managers.	6 Sales and service occupations  cashiers, bakers, tailors
1 Business, finance and administration occupations  accountants, auditors, receptionists	7 Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations  transportation drivers, pilots, plumbers
2 Natural and applied sciences and related occupations  biologists, historians, astronauts	8 Natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations  blasters, hook tenders, track bosses
3 Health occupations  doctors, nurses, pharmacists	9 Occupations in manufacturing and utilities  weavers, chocolate refiners,  wall paper printers
4 Occupations in education, law and social, community and government services  teachers, lawyers, counsellors
5 Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport  librarians, editors, coaches

Task 2:

Think of an occupation you would like to enter in Canada (either as a survival job, or in the occupation you are trained for). Which of the above sectors is this occupation in?

• Gemmologist 6344
  Jewellers, jewellery and watch repairers and related occupations

Task 3:

Find the NOC code for an occupation that interests you. Read the NOC description for this occupation.       

1. How many Major Groups are listed in this sector? What are they?
2. What types of occupations are within this Major Group (represented by the three-digit code)?
3. Read the example titles in the NOC description. Do you think knowing these titles can be useful in your job search? How?
4. Read the main duties in the NOC description. List the duties you think are most relevant to this position.

Major Group 63

Service supervisors and specialized service occupations

631 Service supervisors

632 Chefs and cooks

633 Butchers and bakers

634 Specialized occupations in personal and customer services

  6344

Jewellers, jewellery and watch repairers and related occupations

 Gemmologist

Main duties

Jewellers and related workers perform some or all of the following duties:

• Fabricate and repair precious and semi-precious metal jewellery, such as rings, brooches, pendants, bracelets and lockets
• Examine, cut, shape and polish diamonds using optical instruments, lathes and laps
• Examine, cut, shape and polish precious and synthetic gems using optical instruments, cutting disks and laps
• Appraise gemstones and diamonds to differentiate between stones, identify rare specimens and to detect peculiarity affecting stone values
• Set precious and semi-precious stones in jewellery mountings, according to specifications
• May supervise other jewellers.



• Employment requirements

  • Completion of secondary school is usually required.
  • Completion of a college or other program, or apprenticeship training in watch or jewellery repair or gemmology is usually required.
  • Experience as a jewellery, clock or watch assembler may be required.

  Additional information

  • Mobility is possible among the various jewellery occupations in this unit group.
  • There is little mobility between the jewellery occupations and the watch repairers in this unit group.

Task 4:

Prepare a short presentation for the class about this occupation. Include related job titles, main duties and employment requirements.

Wednesday's assignment

Good morning everyone, 

Please go back to yesterday's handout. There are two to three writing tasks that we have postponed. Each one of you is required to pick one of these tasks and write an email or letter to a friend.

After that, get a partner to edit it for you, following the system we had before. 

We are on a mission to help out with the movie project. I'll see you before lunch today.

Dear Lucy,

Do you come back from China? I miss you so much. Yesterday, I attended an interesting meeting. During the meeting, every staff should describe what the success is in your opinion and share one story with other colleagues. I didn’t prepare for it, so I felt very nervous when I heard the topic. My colleagues all did very excellent presentation. One lady who is from Korea talked about one of heroes in her country. She admired him because he sacrificed himself for his country’s freedom. A young man shared the story of himself, how he moved to Canada and adapted to live in this county successfully. I was impressed by a lady from Syria. She had to leave her county and brought nothing with her. Everything built from scratch when she moved to Canada. She overcame many barriers, language, settlement, and all kinds of cultural shock. Then she found a good job not only supported herself, but also sponsored her family to immigrated to Canada. Now, they live in this new country happily and successfully. I think I have gotten full of positive energy from their stories. It's very helpful.

I hope you would come back soon.

Best Regards

Jane

Edited by Amin

Do you come back from China? I miss you so much. Yesterday, I attended an interesting meeting yesterday. During the meeting, every staff should describe, what the success is in your opinion and share one story with other colleagues. I didn’t prepare for it, so I felt was very nervous, when I heard the topic. My colleagues all did very excellent presentation. One lady who is from Korea talked about one of heroes in her country. She admired him because he sacrificed himself for his country’s freedom. A young man shared the story of himself, how he moved to Canada and adapted to live in this county successfully. I was impressed by a from lady from  Syria her country. She was forced had to leave her county and brought nothing bring with her. Everything built from scratch when she moved to Canada. She overcame many barriers, language, settlement, and all kinds of cultural shock. Then she found a good job not only supported herself, but also sponsored her family to immigrated to Canada. Now, they live in this new country happily and successfully. I think I have gotten full of positive energy from their stories. It's very helpful.

I hope you would come back soon.

Best Regards

Jane

Monday's assignment

Good afternoon everyone,

In order to get familiar with the Canadian workplace, there are a lot of things we need to consider. 

Here is a list of business idioms that are taken from this website. Please go over them and try to understand each one’s meaning and then follow the tasks below.

Task one: 

Pick five to six of the following idioms and use them in sentences of your own.

Task two:

Compose a short story about any event/meeting that has happened to you at your previous workplace. Use at least five to six from these idioms n your story.

Take three:

Request two from your peers to check and edit your work before you publish it on your blog.

time’s up--- Doctor Li will retire tomorrow. Today is his time's up.

touch base--- Our team has a new mission in Paris. The commander will touch base with each of us later.

twist someone's arm--- Ali opposed to this plan, so we need someone to twist his arm.

under the table--- Corruption is the severe problem in this country. Many deals are under the table.

up in the air---  Which university he will choose is still up in the air.

uphill battle--- For me, being an archaeologist is an uphill battle. I need to persist on and be diligent.

upper hand--- He’s the upper hand of this field. If you have any questions, you can ask him.

white collar---I n some countries, white collar's salary is much more than blue collar.

win-win situation---I f you teach me maths, I will tutor your English. We will be in win-win situation.

word of mouth--- This company doesn’t need to advertise their product. Its reputation comes from word of mouth.

writing on the wall---  The woman got angry, so her kids knew the writing on the wall.

yes man--- Don't be a yes man. You should tell him what you want.

Edited by Rosie 

time’s up--- Doctor Li will retire tomorrow. Today is his time’s up.

touch base--- Our team has a new mission in Paris. The commander will touch base with each of us later.

twist someone's arm--- Ali opposed to this plan, so we need someone to twist his arm.

under the table--- Corruption is the severe problem in this country. Many trades are under the table.

up in the air---  Which university he will choose is still up in the air.

uphill battle---

upper hand--- He’s the upper hand of this field. If you have any questions, you can ask him.

white collar---I n some countries, white collar’s salary is much more than blue collar’

win-win situation---I f you teach me maths, I will tutor your English. We will be in win-win situation.

word of mouth--- This company doesn’t need to advertise their product. Its reputation comes from word of mouth.

writing on the wall---  The woman got angry, so her kids knew the writing on the wall.

yes man--- Don't be a yes man. You should tell him what you want.

Task two:

It will hold a teaching method contest in our school. Every team is excellent, so the competition is cut-throat. Susan is the upper hand of our team. She assigns task to every member to prepare all kinds materials. It makes sure that we can go ahead of the curve. Last Friday, we talked about our project and presented opinions one by one. Susan always hits the nail on the head. Finally, we revised the project and gave the thumbs up. We believe our plan will catch everybody off guard.

time's up	"Time's up" means that the time for something or someone has ended.	I think his time's up as the CEO. They're going to replace him as soon as they find a suitable candidate.
touch base	To "touch base¨ means to make contact with someone.	Let me make a few phone calls to try to get an answer to your question. I'll touch base with you later today.
twist someone's arm	To "twist someone's arm" means to persuade or convince someone to do something that he or she does not want to do.	The owner thought the advertising budget was a little high. We had to twist his arm to get him to agree to it.
under the table	Something done secretly (and usually illegally) in the business world is done "under the table."	To avoid paying taxes, they paid some of their employees under the table.
up in the air	If something is undecided, it is "up in the air."	We're looking for a test market right now, but nothing has been decided yet. Everything's still up in the air.
uphill battle	Something that is difficult to achieve because of obstacles and difficulties is an ¨uphill battle.¨	Winning the election is going to be an uphill battle. He doesn't have a lot of support at the moment.
upper hand	If someone has an advantage over someone else, he or she has the "upper hand."	He was more experienced and well respected, so he had the upper hand in the argument.
white collar	A ¨white collar worker¨ is someone who works in an office (customer service, management, sales, etc.) The opposite of a white collar worker is a ¨blue collar worker.¨ A blue collar worker is someone who works with his or her hands (manufacturing, construction, maintenance, etc.) ¨White collar¨ (and ¨blue collar¨can also be used to describe a job, position, or place.	There are mostly manufacturing positions here. There aren't a lot of white-collar jobs here.
win-win situation	A "win-win situation" is a situation where everyone involved gains something.	We were happy to get the contract, and they were happy to get such a good price. It was a win-win situation.
word of mouth	If something spreads by "word of mouth," people hear about it by informal conversation with friends, family members, acquaintances, etc.	A lot of local restaurants rely on word of mouth to get new customers.
writing on the wall	The "writing on the wall" refers to the evidence and clues that something (usually negative) is going to happen.	I'm going to get my resume ready. I can see the writing on the wall.
yes man	A ¨yes man¨ is someone who always agrees with his or her superiors.	The company isn't looking to hire someone who is going to try to make a lot of changes. They're basically just looking for a yes man.