Sunday, October 25, 2015

Week#9 - Blog Building and Narrative Essay Start



To Discuss
- Midterms  (answers)
- Creating an About Me page and adding it to the top menu
- other blog wishlist items?
- types of resources (blogs) to find
- how to find them using Google
- guests next week
- Writing assignments


How to add an About Me page to your top menu


Searching for blogs on Google
Tips:
  • include 'site:blogspot.com'   or 'site:wordpress.com' in your search. 
  • include the word 'blogroll' in your search to find others' lists of blogs. 
  • click 'Search Tools' and select News/Blogs



Narrative Essay

Discussion Questions 
About Me Page  Show your About Me pages to each other.
  Share any questions, feedback, or suggestions.
Blog Links - Network Building Page  Which blogs will you link to?
  Which specific posts are of interest?
  Why did you choose those?
  What will you say about them?
Narrative Essays  What story might you tell that’s related to your blog?
  What is the point or ‘lesson learned’ from the story?

Assignments: 
  • Post your About Me page on your blog. Try to add a top menu link to it. 
  • Network Building Page
    Create a blog post that links to three specific blog posts. Add some personal commentary and/or opinion.  
  • (Optional) Post comments on the bloggers' posts 
  •  Write a narrative essay relevant to the topic of your blog.  This can tell your own personal story or the story of someone else (as long as it's related to your blog topic).  Please write the first draft of this story on a shared Google Doc. Due: by 8pm Nov. 1, 

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Post-midterm Assignment


Part#1 - Your 'About Me' page (due Oct. 26)
Write an About Me page for your blog that includes
- A short introduction
- Information about your interests and future plans
- A description of what you plan to do with your blog
Part#2 - Finding blogs of interest (due Oct. 26/28)
Find at least three blogs related to your blog topic. One of these can be in Korean (or other non-English language). Feel free to find more than three. Find these by Oct. 26
By Oct 28,  create a blog post that includes links and short comments about specific posts on those blogs.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Week#7 - Blog Plans & Midterm Prep


Odds & Ends
  • Thanks and kudos
  • Connecting with George Hello, I'm JustGeorgeJ. I run the blog which has been linked by your course tutor for your composition module. I am extremely happy that my site has been chosen as an example and I welcome any of you to ask my questions if you need any help.
    Happy blogging! 
    - JustGeorgeJ
  • Beyond Description! Sentence Tweaks


Blogs Check out the Blogger guide for information about creating menu tabs and categories. 
During the second half of the semester, we will focus on creating more blog content. The aim is to post things that help you achieve a goal. This could be getting a job, exploring your creativity, developing an expertise, building a personal learning network/personal professional network, and/or anything else you like.
What is your goal?  You can have more than one.
Search for blogs that produce the kind of content you want to produce.


Privacy optional. If you don't want your blog to be public anymore, you can share it with just your classmates. You can also keep it public, but hide your true identity.

Write an About Me page that includes
  • A short introduction
  • Information about your interests and future plans
  • A description of what you plan to do with your blog


Midterm
Midterm Wednesday, Oct 21
Written quiz
Sentence Error Correction focusing on
  • Articles/Determiners
  • Phrasal Verbs
  • Passive Voice
  • Subject Verb Agreement
  • Parallel Structure

One-on-one conference (after the written quiz or via Hangout)
  • Blog plans
  • Go over writings
  • Whatever You like

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Week#6 - Writer's Workshop, Passive Voice, and an optional request


Things TO DO in class- October 7, 2015

  • Meet in new groups - get feedback and suggestions on your descriptive writing. If you're not sure how to fix something, post it to the Sentence Challenges - Week#6 Doc. 
  • Post comments to the “Tech Thoughts’  Google Doc (optional)
     
  • Read and comment on at least two of your classmates' opinion essays (posted on their blogs)
  • Look through the materials on Passive Voice, complete a couple exercises, and post to your blog. You can also practice prepositions and phrasal verbs if you prefer. Go to Week#2 for the QR code.
Assignments: 
  • Post a total of three comments on your classmates' blogs.  If you see a post without a comment, post there first.  Do more than just agree or disagree - explain why. 
  • Revise your descriptive writing Google Doc
  • Start learning about 'About Me' pages and thinking about yours. 




sc-6.png

Writer’s Workshop
Work in groups to make any final revisions to your Opinion essays.  Post any ‘editing help wanted’ sentences on the Sentence Challenges - Week#6 Doc. 

Share your 10 Descriptive Writing Sentences.  See if your group members have any suggestions or feedback. Start hcombining them to create a well-structured paragraph or two.

Reminder: Your opinion essay should be published on your blog by Oct. 6 (11:59pm)




An Optional Request from Jeff (for a presentation he’ll be giving in Seoul on Friday)

Wanted: Your Thoughts on Using Educational Technology

What have you liked and disliked about the technology we’ve used in class so far? This includes  Google Docs, Naver Band, Blogger, and Quizlet.  Students from past semesters, this might also include Google+ Hangouts, English Central, and Google Translate for Speech Recognition.  Please be as specific as possible and share any suggestions on how teachers and learners could use these technologies more effectively.  Feel free to post anonymously or use your name if you’d like any quotes to be credited.  

Please post comments on the “Tech Thoughts’  Google Doc.  
If you would prefer to leave a video comment, you can use Clyp.it or the Clyp.it app and post a link to your recording.



Passive Voice
All of this handout text and exercises to practice passive vs. active voice can be found at: https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive
More info at: http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/style-and-editing/passive-voice

Exercises on Passive (Active or Passive)