Monday, September 13, 2010

Academic Calendar

Looking at the academic calendar is one of the most important things to do at the beginning of every semester. This applies to all students, tutors, faculty, and staff members. Links to CUNY academic calendars can be found below. Please find the correct one for your college.

Baruch College Academic Calendar
http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/registrar/due_dates.htm

BMCC Academic Calendar
http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/calendar/academic_calendar.jsp

CCNY
http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/current/registrar/calendar/index.cfm

Hunter College Academic Calendar
http://registrar.hunter.cuny.edu/subpages/academic_calendar.shtml

Kingsborough Community College Academic Calendar
http://www.kingsborough.edu/sub-registration/office_of_registrar/academic_calendar.html


I know of a tutor who, when he was still new to the college, did not know about the academic calendar. On one Tuesday that was a Monday schedule (as indicated on the academic calendar), he did not show up for the labs and workshops he was supposed to be teaching that day, because he did not know about the academic calendar and therefore did not know about the schedule change for that specific date.

Keep an eye on the academic calendar throughout the semester. Enter the holidays and the days of schedule-change into your PDA or organizer.

Copyright: © 2009, 2010. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at CUNY.SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Beware of CUNY Web Sites With Outdated ACT Writing Info

Looking at the web sites of English departments, writing centers, and other CUNY web sites, I noticed that they have not updated their information about the new CUNY ACT Writing Exam yet (as of today). All these CUNY English departments and writing centers still have the old ACT Writing information on their web sites.

For an updated and good practice exercise for the new ACT Writing Exam, go to - http://cunyenglish.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-cuny-act-writing-exam-practice-1.html

I am writing this to caution you, so you won't be detrimentally reviewing out-of-date ACT Writing information now that the test has changed. If you are looking at information that describes the ACT Writing Exam with the following out-of-date information, discontinue reading information from that site.

Out-of-Date CUNY ACT Writing Exam (No Longer True)
- A 60-minute test requiring you to write a letter (starting with "Dear ...." usually addressing some elected official or community leader)
- The writing prompt has two proposals from which you have to choose one and support your position in your letter

Again, if you come across websites (including CUNY websites) that still describe the ACT Writing with such outdated information, leave that site. They haven't updated their information yet.

The new CUNY ACT Writing no longer requires you to choose from one of two proposals. Instead, it provides a short reading and you have to write in response to the reading. For more information, go to:

http://cunyenglish.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-cuny-act-writing-exam-practice-1.html


Copyright: © 2010. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.com and life.SpirFit.com

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

New CUNY ACT Writing (CATW) Practice Exercise 1






The CATW (CUNY Assessment Test In Writing) has been in place since the Fall Semester 2010 (replacing the old CUNY ACT Writing Exam). The main focus of the new CATW is writing an essay in response to a short reading. You have 90 minutes to read the passage and write the essay. You may find some CATW practice exams and additional information at:

http://spirfit.org/Academy/catw



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Copyright: © 2010, 2011. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.org
Keywords: CUNY CATW Exam, Kingsborough, Hunter, Baruch, CCNY, Queensborough, Brooklyn College, BMCC, writing, revising, paragraph