This document outlines classroom norms and policies for a university sociology course. It emphasizes the importance of attendance, being on time, turning off cell phones, and submitting assignments on time. Late assignments will not be accepted without documentation of an emergency. Exceptions will not be made for common excuses like computer issues, being late due to tight pants, or other foreseeable problems. Students are responsible for managing their time and submitting assignments on schedule.

2. 18
twitter: @eugenio_fouz
my method
1 @YouTube videos (extracts of films, how to videos, grammar engvid) &
@euronews videos
2 music, songs and lyrics via @google
3 @BBC_podcasts (learning English category), audios from textbooks
4 links to exercises and notions on Business English via @google &
@moodle
5 readers (Oxford Bookworms, Burlington Books, etcetera)
6 role playing
7 dictations
8 translations (written texts, news from @guardian, @DailyMirror,
@HuffPostUK, @Independent, @TheObjective_en) and using
dictionaries (WordReference)
9 essay writing
10 vocabulary (list of words: verbs, nouns, adjectives, basics, connectors,
etcetera)
11 grammar (notions of grammar, basics, practice, examples, exercises, false
friends, phrasal verbs, idiomatic expressions, etcetera)
12 practice (exercises, conjugation of verbs, words, oral talking, blackboard
writing, peer work, reading aloud, asking questions, flash cards, etcetera)
13 tests (mock tests, controls, exams, progress exams, unmarked tests,
surprise tests)
14 Parallel Papers (packs of copies including how to do pages,
theafterexampage, functional language reviews, shortlisted words,
grammar notions, reminders for the student)
15 worksheets (handouts with exercises, vocabulary, grammar and basics)
16 textbook (following the syllabus)
17 notebook (exercises, basics, notes, grammar, essays, dictations,
homework)
18 planning (teacher´s copy) and feedback from students
*

3. A strategy of my own to be good at English language
twitter: @eugenio_fouz
Personal note:
read books: essays, poems, articles, novels
use dictionaries
speak English
work pronunciation
listen to the radio (BBC, euronews alive)
study grammar (Swan, Murphy)
practise continuous self-evaluation
participate on social networks (Twitter, Facebook)
deal with phonetics
be curious about culture
travel to the UK and English speaking countries
skype
watch YouTube videos
read English newspapers (The Huffington Post, The Daily Mail)
Professional note:
move around the classroom, speak English, use dictionaries
3.11.2017

4. A tentative teacher´s schedule (classroom)
28 February 2019
BOOK (textbook: grammar, vocabulary PRESENTATION)
reading texts aloud time for exercises in class + homework
Wordlist.- pack of copies [@moodle / hard copies or printed copies]
Parallel Papers or PPA: revise, Q.A, write some expressions
DICTIONARY use
Time for NOTEBOOK correction of exercises on board
AUDIOS from the BOOK. Repetition. Solving out exercises
Parallel Papers [PPA].-Explain, comment papers on grammar, functional
language or texts
How to (teach how to tell the time, how to say an email address)
Time for Virtual Platform (@moodle) – check some points, ie., grammar
syllabus, recommendations, warnings.
READING texts aloud
AUDIOS, PRACTICE (exercises linked from the net with answer keys)
Worksheets (pair work).-exercises to do and correct in the classroom
Reading the Graded reader in class. Select vocabulary
Lyrics and songs (selection)
Short dictations
Mini test
Essay writing (how to, opinion, brief texts)

5. Functional language
Q.A (question and answer) – oral class
Surprise Tests
Revision time (conjugation of verbs, vocabulary, how to issues, spelling,
BASICS)
Videos, GIFs, proverbs
Write short messages in English
Translate messages
Situations (problem solving)
Role-plays
AOB (Any Other Business)
___
E. Fouz.-
28.02.2019

6. Do not feed cheaters!
2 March 2019
In tests, controls and examinations teachers must avoid questions on
BASICS which could be easily copied on a slip of paper. Do not feed
cheaters!
In case a teacher would like to check the student´s learning of the days of
the week, ordinal numbers from 1st to 12th, for example, he shouldn’t
directly ask like this “write all days of the week in order” or “complete the
numbers missing on the following list first, se……., th….., fourth
………..ninth … “
Another way might be as follows:
a/Pass these messages into Spanish
She will meet her friend Joan next Thursday at 5.44
__
*Are you coming with us to the zoo tomorrow?
**You mean, tomorrow Tuesday?
__
E. Fouz.-
2.03.2019

7. Emergency kit for a teacher
1/one or two readers
2/dictionaries
3/grammar book (Swan, Martinet, Murphy)
4/moleskines
5/ballpens
6/propelling pencils
7/MP3 player (BBC podcasts)
8/specific textbooks or manuals (Business English)
9/smartphone (audios, videos, newspapers)
10/chargers
11/newspapers: Huffington Post UK, Daily Mail
12/videos: euronews, YouTube, imgur
13/laptop (internet)
14/rucksack
15/diary

8. Extra something
29 April 2019
Extra something
E.Fouz.-28.04.2019
We, as teachers, might improve the active participation of our
students in the classroom by means of certain strategies. We could
teach something new on the blackboard, write some rare expressions
(idioms, false friends, abbreviations), get our pupils involved in a
singular practice such as a specific role play activity, e.g.: a phone
conversation with a famous movie star, or just provide them with a pack
of new words.
We might as well suggest they copy a wordlist on their notebooks, turn
some sentences into the negative or the past simple tense, et cetera.
These could be the extra something to those students coming to the
classroom in any of our subjects, namely English language, Latin, Ethics
or whatever
___
METHOD

9. Graded Readers (help with vocabulary)
23 February 2019
Reading a Graded Reader in class.
Students work in pairs jotting down unknown words or expressions onto
their blocs. They make a note together of about ten expressions. They
copy these on the board and the rest of students (or the teacher) writes
their meanings in Spanish.
Reading might be easier if students get a little help with vocabulary.
Sample:
BASSET, Jennifer William Shakespeare Oxford Bookworms.Chapter 6
John and Amanda: lazy, playwright, suddenly, clever, laugh (v), pile, wig
…
George and Fran: Falstaff, put (v), playgoers …
__
E. Fouz.-
February, 2019

10. Mini tests dictated by the teacher
2 March 2019
MINI TESTS dictated
The teacher dictates 3 or 4 exercises on BASICS, that is, vocabulary essentials,
numbers, telling the time, formulaic language, verbs, idioms, conjugations,
transformation of short sentences, et cetera) to be done immediately in the
classroom by the students.
All the students are to stay sitting separately as if taking an examination,
although the activity equals a simple test.
AIMS:
a/ check that your own teacher´s talk (pronunciation, intonation, English
language) is clear.
b/ check the students´ s understanding as well as their knowledge of spelling,
vocabulary and grammar
c/ check the students´s progress on elementary points, that is, see if they still
have problems with any aspects of verbal tenses or vocabulary METHOD
**
SAMPLE
Write all months of the year in order. Make 2 sentences of a minimum of 6
words using “June”, “her” in the present continuous tense negative
Put these numbers in letters: 2nd / 12th / 15th / 20th / 23rd
Conjugate the past simple tense of the verb TO SPELL in the interrogative form.
Translate one form into Spanish
Name 4 idioms from the wordlist from lesson 4 (cf. Aula Virtual / @moodle; PPA.
Second term. Business English 2)
__
“DICTATE: to say or read (something) aloud for another person to transcribe or
for a machine to record: to dictate some letters to a secretary” (cf.
Dictionary.com)
E. Fouz.-
2.03.2019

11. Mr. Douglas Smith,
Dept of Sociology. Western Kentucky University, USA
Classroom Norms:
“I expect you to be in class. Little interaction can occur between us if you are
not. To encourage class attendance I will distribute sign-in sheets on
randomly selected days. I will also pass out a sign-in sheet if one is requested
by class members. Attendance points will be levied based on your attendance
on the days the sign in sheets are passed out.
NOTE:
I understand that sometimes things come up in life. As an adult you have to
decide what in your life deserves attention at any given time. I do not need to
be informed of why you miss class. Excuses do not change the fact that you
weren’t here and therefore missed out on whatever we were discussing that
day.
Arriving late to class, talking, reading the newspaper are not acceptable
classroom behavior and are disrespectful to your instructor and other students
who want to listen and learn. ALL cell phones should be turned off before
entering class. Similarly, if you are likely to have a regular problem with
getting to class on time, please let me know in advance.
Late assignments will not be accepted without penalty unless accompanied
by a doctor’s excuse or another form of official documentation of an
emergency. Assignments will be submitted through Blackboard, so if you are
absent, you can still submit your assignments. They are still due on the day of
class. If you are anticipating: computer glitches, extremely tight pants, being
the victim of street crime, bad planning, a Senate filibuster, embarrassing
messages from “Mom” on your Facebook, animal attacks, hurtful comments by
close friends, good lovin’ gone bad, terrorism, a disappointing credit report,
seeing your new brother-in-law on Cops, Cheaters, or Here Comes Honey Boo
Boo, being struck by space junk or trapped under an impenetrable dome,
unforseen cataclysmic acts of God, fear of intimacy, sequestration, rural
rebound, inflammation due to chronic dry ere, urban malaise, a Christmas
stocking full of coleslaw, funding cuts to higher education, a date ending in an
interview by Chris Hansen, the paralysis of analysis, rude tweets, demonic
possession, trouble with your Toyota accelerator, loss of hope in your
audacity, a pants haunting lasting more than four hours, the debilitating
shame of buying a Justin Bieber CD, the release of Diablo III, undergoing
enhanced interrogation techniques, dating a Kardasian, PTSD from Miley
Cyrus twerking it, losing your sociology mojo, vigilante justice, the total
destruction of Galador, or anything else that might interfere with your
assignment writing, get it in early!
The teacher reserves the right to alter these requirements based on class
interest and needs”
*

12. My own syllabuses on English language
23 February 2019
[Harry Styles, singer “OneDirection”]
A foreign language teacher should create his own syllabuses on grammar, lexis,
pronunciation, readings, listenings, writing, et cetera. One of my students claimed one
day in class they were being taught the same old things year after year (points of
grammar, namely the present simple tense, the saxon genitive, some plural nouns) in a
never-ending circle. Teachers were just following a formula according to the rules of
programming. We have been learning foreign languages the same way we learnt
everything by memorisation. I thought the student´s complaint was fair. Nowadays I try to
teach something new every year.
A functional language syllabus might be as follows: 1.greetings (hello, hi, good
morning, goodbye) 2.cardinal numbers from 1 to 10 (one, two) 3.how to tell the time
(what time is it?) 4.days of the week 5.seasons of the year 6.how to say the date (February,
20th) 7.how to answer the phone (hello, this is Tom Smith / who is calling, please?
8.months of the year …
A lexical syllabus might be like this: 1.the English alphabet (a, b, c, d, e ) 2.colours (red,
yellow, blue, green) 3.school stuff (book, pencil, dictionary, board, computers ) 5.people
in school (teachers, students, secretary) 6.members of a family (father, mother, sister,
brother, daughter) 7.clothes (shoes, socks, jeans, trousers, shirts, coats, jackets) …
A grammar syllabus should contain: 1.nouns (man, woman, subject, learning, student,
school, examinations) 2.adjectives (shy, important, happy) 3.verbs (auxiliary verbs and
lexical verbs) 4.adverbs (slowly, calmly, very, too, clearly) 5.prepositions (of, before, after,
in, on) 6.pronouns (personal pronouns of subject) 7. skeleton of verbs (to read read read)
8.primary auxiliary verbs (to do, to have, to be) 9.modal auxiliary verbs (can, could, may,
might, will, would) 10.regular lexical verbs (to play, to cry) 11.irregular lexical verbs (to
put, to quit) 12.present simple tense of lexical verbs in the affirmative ( I speak English,
she speaks Spanish) (to do, to be, to have) 13.personal pronouns of subject ( I, you, he,
she ) 14.the four demonstratives (this, these, that, those) 15.articles (definite article -the-,
indefinite article -a/an-) 16.saxon genitive (John´s room) 17.present simple tense of
lexical verbs in the negative and interrogative (John does not like chocolate, Do you speak
French?) …
(…)
__
E. Fouz
23.02.2019

13. Pedagogy notes: teacher´s lists, sources, mottoes [Business
English]
21 January 2018
Marks excel list / attendance term excel / planning week term (lessons, tests, controls,
notebooks)
Notebook / AV notebook worksheets / PPA verbs, texts, practice
Words / audios / texts (reading aloud) / notebook revision / Q.A in the classroom
*
BOOK exercises / surprise TESTS / handouts / worksheets
Videos YouTube / songs and lyrics / situations in life
*
AV notebook paper. Include reading texts in the pack, exercises
Business topics – Morse code, telephone manners, email rules, CV, saying numbers
Urban legends / Good manners / Debates on British culture / BASICS.- vocabulary.
Colours, numbers, parts of the body, objects, house elements, etcetera
*
Pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar
*
Reading easy (short texts) / Reading medium (news from newspapers: The
Independent, The Huff Post) / GIFs – AV, social media / Proverbs, mottoes, sayings,
AV, twitter, Pinterest, imgur, tumblr, YouTube
*
Communication – Question / answer / Challenge. Ask words from list of vocabulary
(available on AV) orally- mark oral points – list / Challenge. Ask verbs from list of verbs
(available in PPA) orally- mark oral points – list
*
Eugenio Fouz.-

14. Secret message (complete that on the blackboard)
2 March 2019
The teacher writes an easy message on the board of the classroom. There
would be one or two words left out. The students should complete the
message with the missing words, later in the class period.
AIM of the activity: stand out a verbal tense, a peculiar expression.
Revise typical mistakes or solve out doubts related to grammar, spelling,
et cetera.
This formula can be used to introduce a new topic, e.g.:the past simple
tense, idioms, question tags, false friends
SAMPLE
She h…… w…….. a lot today. Let her go out for a walk, dear!
__
[KEY: has worked. Introduction of the present perfect tense]
*
__
E. Fouz
2.03.2019

15. Teacher´s stuff (book, pen, bloc)
twitter: @eugenio_fouz
post-it, markers, transparent wallets
stapler, staples, adhesive tape
moleskines, books, dictionaries
rubber bands, ball pens, mechanical pencils
cell phone, charger, cartridges (pencil)
pencil case, calendar, rucksack
rubbers, tippex, manuals (grammar, phonetics)
readers, newspapers, MP3 player
*

16. "Yes, I am a
dictionary
fan"
-E.F-