Meeting Reminders
Dear student,
Hope you are well.
Below are a few reminders that may be of help to you to prepare for your lessons. Ask your tutor how they would prefer to be referred to or called, usually their name will be in the chat area. Before lesson starts check you have you the following:
- A notebook
- Writing materials
- Your textbook
- Completed, and sent homework by the deadline
- Your questions for the tutor
- Texted your tutor (attendance message, at least 5 minutes prior to start, in Skype chat etc)
1. Writing materials: pen, pencils, ready for use, before you start your lesson. So you do not have to waste time looking for it once the lesson has started. You may also often need to use an Arabic keyboard, during lessons, so this would useful if you are familiar with how to use one.
2. An exercise book: to write your notes, tips and homework in? Keep your exercise book and any work that you have done safely, as you may be asked about it by the tutor. Lost exercise books are lost work, and lost tips. You will not be able to recall a whole exercise book worth of lost work. The tutor is not obliged to go over several months worth of work that may have been damaged, misplaced, or lost.
- Your exercise book should be for the sole use of your Arabic work only, and not an exercise book that you use for other school work or unrelated notes. Exercise books fill up quick so do have a few ready to use in advance.
- Your page headings should be by topic such as ‘nouns page’, ‘verbs page’, ‘prepositions’ etc or other wording that suits and helps you. This would be better than writing all types of words and information mixed in with others on every page.
- Try to date your work, and/or mark it by lesson number.
3. Your textbook. do you have your textbook ready? This may apply to some students and not all.
4. Have you done the homework and sent it to your tutor, on time? Do you have a physical copy of the homework in front of you so you can reference it quickly? Please remember to send homework, well in advance, for the tutor to mark it. Homework sent on the day of your lesson will not get as much detailed attention, if any, as homework sent two, or more days in advance. Homework should have your name and date on it, so as it does not get mistaken or mixed with someone else’s homework. Don’t forget each homework has a deadline for submission, usually by 6pm the day before your next lesson is due. This may sometimes differ depending on instructions given by individual tutors.
5. Do you have your questions ready for the tutor? This could be regarding the lessons, homework, Arabic in general, the textbook, exams or resources.
6. Text your tutor in Skype/Zoom/etc chatbox; Let your tutor know that you are present, ready and waiting by sending a quick text message. This could be between five and fifteen minutes before the lesson is due to start. Avoid calling the tutor as she/he may be finishing off a lesson. A text message to say you are present, and ready will suffice. Your message will also act as an attendance record, in the event of any misunderstandings requiring timeline proof. This is also mentioned in this link to our terms of service.
If you feel you need more practice with a particular skill you should try and give yourself some default homework. Default homework usually means that whether or not the tutor remembers to give you homework it still remains your responsibility to do some form of homework or revision. It is also better to evidence this homework by sending what you have done, to the tutor. This could be written work or a list of words that you are memorizing or any outstanding homework. Default homework applies whether or not you miss the lesson, so yes even if you or the tutor are absent you should be doing default homework.
Remember that you should be attempting to increase your vocabulary, and sentences every day. You have a target quota of vocabulary to learn and understand each year.
Google Classroom.
Depending on the tutor and type of lesson; you may be required to use Google Classroom as part of your lessons with the tutor. Your tutor shall let you know how to use it if you have not done so previously.
Currently the main sections that you should be using in Google classroom are:
Under enrolled:
- To do – shows work assigned, missing, and done.
- The classroom – shows homework.
- The stream – shows postings by the tutor.
Names and sections may change in future due to updates by Google Classroom. Always navigate Google Classroom, by your self, so that you are familiar with where to find the different sections.
Any further questions or comments do let your tutor know. Thank you for your time.
Good luck with learning.
ADLS Language admin.