What a Great First Week!

Our school year started with a bang. Everywhere I looked, I saw our eager teachers and inquisitive students. Although most of our classes are full now, a few credit classes in San Marcos still have spaces:

• ESL 9, Pronunciation I, MW 11-12:20pm


• ESL 10, Pronunciation II, MW 12:30-1:50pm


• ESL 34, Intermediate ESL I, M-Th 4:30-6:50pm


• ESL 35, Intermediate ESL II, M-Th 8:30-10:50am


• ESL 103, Written Communication III, TTh 6-8:20pm


• ESL 130, Academic Reading I, MW 12:30-1:50pm


• ESL 131, Academic Reading II, MW 11-12:20pm

Please continue to help recruit appropriate students into these classes by Labor Day, Sept. 3, which is also the last day to add a credit class.

Campus Police continues to honor a grace period of not citing students in all lots during the first two weeks of the semester -- with the exceptions of handicapped and red zone areas, where violators will always be ticketed.

Campus Police also offers a 24/7 security escort program, which is very welcoming news to our evening students and staff. The extension to dial Campus Police is 2289.

If you are considering presenting at one of the upcoming CATESOL conferences, please note the following deadlines:

• Aug. 31 for the early-bird submission for the State Conference
• Sept. 7 for proposal submission to present at this year's San Diego Regional.

Finally, please respond to Monica's emailed call for your directory listing information, if you have not already done so. A timely compilation and dissemination of an updated dept. directory for this semester will greatly facilitate our intra-departmental communication.

Welcome to the Fall 07 Semester!

It's the start of a new semester! "Welcome" to all of our new instructors and a "welcome back" to each of our returning instructors.

This past intersession and summer, our dept. was able to offer a total of 88 class sections to serve the needs of our community. Not only that, our Fallbrook staff finally moved into a new office that Coordinator Gary just reported. Hats off also to Gary, Anna, and Grace for making so much effort to see to the completion of this remodeling project that was months in the making.

As usual, we tested hundreds of new students right after summer school. I would like to especially thank Carol, Tracy, Marty, Holly, Nimoli, Lynne, Matt, Caroline and other fellow teachers for helping to proctor the tests during their summer vacation. Of course, the office staff and support personnel have been working non-stop to ensure our many successes. I appreciate all of them very much.

In other news, the college has reported that credit enrollment headcount is up compared with the same period last fall. I hope our dept. maintains the same healthy growth, too, not just in credit classes but also in our noncredit segment.

To assist students who are facing financial hardships and obstacles that are preventing them from purchasing their required textbooks and/or class supplies, a book grant of up to $100 is currently being offered by the college's President's Associates.

In the "newspaper as a teaching and learning resource" department, there are three vying for your consideration.

1. North County Times, which is now freely available on a rack in front of our dept. office.
2. San Diego Union-Tribune, whose no-cost NIE program now has a new online ordering system.
3. Easy English Times, whose editorial board includes our very own Tami.

Last but not least, a new art exhibition will open at Boehm Gallery this weekend. But a sneak preview of "Rituals" featuring paintings from the private collection of Arthur Pienado and Native American artist Gerald Clarke will be held on Thursday from 1 to 3 pm. Please help spread the word among your students, too.

News from Fallbrook

Hi,

This is a test posting and a bit of info on the side. The new office at Fallbrook has been completed and looks great. The efforts of many, including Marty, the IS dept., and Norma Bean, have seen this project through many trials and tribulations. Among the amenities are: a 16 seat student lab for Compass testing, a sleek, modern counter and work area for the staff, two equipment rooms and a coordinator's office - with a door. There are still some adjustments to be made and kinks to work out but we're looking good (said in a Freddie Prinze's Chico and the Man voice.)

The college will be holding an open house soon so stay tuned for an invite - if you rate.

Welcome back!

Gary

A Brand-New Way

Since I assumed the dept. chairmanship last month, I have been thinking about a new way to involve the whole department in sharing ideas and communicating information. A department blog really fits the bill in being easily accessible to all on the Internet, allowing for interactions in the form of comments, and even serving as our departmental archives.

So, rather than send out weekly memos on matters that pertain to the whole department, I will use this blog to continually post department-related--

• news
• kudos
• activity reminders
• dates to remember
• resource links
• topics for discussions
• important messages
• and anything else that fits our needs.

Anyone in the world can read this blog by going to http://palomaresl.blogspot.com/, so you can just bookmark this web address and check back daily as a reader.

But it is easy to be a contributor to this department blog of ours. All you need to do is have a Google account using your Palomar email address and go through a simple six-step registration. After your free registration, made easy with an email invite you will receive in your Palomar email inbox, you will be able to leave comments on this blog or even write posts here.