Monthly Archives: August 2011

Let’s start blogging

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Since time immemorial, people have used writing to express different messages. In the 21st century there has been a revolution about who gets their writing published – in the new millennium anyone can share their thoughts with the whole world. In your own individual blogs, you will gradually develop an eportfolio of the development of your English skills. Here are the slides we discussed in class for your reference. This presentation is a modified version of Australian teacher/librarian Tania Sheko’s slides. She kindly gave me the permission to use and edit her presentation.

 

STARTING YOUR OWN BLOGS

Watch this video, to think about the principles of blogging once more!

 

1. CHOOSE YOUR BLOG SERVER

  • Blogger – you can sign in with you gmail.com username, possibly easier to use
  • WordPress – this is the one I’m using for the Exe blog, has more options than Blogger

2. REGISTER A NEW BLOG

  • ‘Luo blogi’ on Blogger, or ‘Get started here’ on WordPress
  • If all this is new to you, DON’T PANIC – just read carefully what is said on the screen, and follow the instructions.

3. CHOOSE NAMES CAREFULLY

  

  • for safety reasons, you are advised to only use your FIRST NAME as your username
  • the title of your blog MUST BE decent and acceptable for school use
  • try to get a URL for your blog that is as easy to remember as possible (the previous rule applies here, too – ie. no inappropriate names!)

4, CUSTOMISE YOUR BLOG

  • make it into YOUR OWN ONLINE SPACE
  • you can use ready-made themes, or change header pictures and colours if you like (NB. only use YOUR OWN or other free-to-use photos, check the CLASS WIKI for information on copyright!)

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  • you can add calendars and other widgets in the sidebar
  • you will be able to change the appearance and design of your blog later, too!
  • don’t worry, be brave to experiment!

5. WHEN YOU ARE DONE

  • send the URL of your new blog to me by email so I can make a link list of all your blog in the sidebar of this joint class blog
  • write your first blog post – it will be the corrected and edited version of your language learning history

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN WITH CREATING YOUR BLOG!

English learning stories

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Learning a new language begins a passage to another way of seeing the world and speaking it into existence. – Ray Suarez

When I was only 6 years old, and not even at school yet, we used to have a live-in nanny at home, as both our parents worked long days. Our young nanny was a great fan of the Beatles, and used to listen to their music on the radio all day long. (Gives you a clue about how ancient I am!) It was the lyrics of those songs that first made me aware of the English language, and even without understanding a single a word, the sound of it was really pleasing to my ears.

We all have our own individual paths into the English language, from the first encounter through easy terrain, and maybe the occasional hurdles and bumps on the road, to the present moment and beyond. We are now going to share our own written stories about how we have learned English.

Photo by ttewl on Flickr

Before you start, have a look at some of these examples of what other young people have written: Rachel / Ivy / Christine / Memory / Michal / Flávia

Here are some questions to help you get you started with planning your own story:

  • When and how were you first introduced to English? How did it make you feel?
  • Your first experiences at school?
  • Any funny stories from all your school years?
  • How has your learning developed over the years?
  • What has been the most effective thing you have done to improve your English skills?
  • Why is learning English so important for you?
  • What about the future?

Write your own story IN YOUR OWN WORDS. The idea is not to write a list of answers to the above questions. Your story will not only be written for me, the teacher, but for all the others to read, too, and eventually, after revisions and editions, it will be the first post in your online English blog. Remember that the more details you include in your story, the more interesting it will be for the reader. Give your story your own title. Use separate paragraphs, in which you focus on a specific topic, to give the story a pleasant structure. And finally, pay special attention to using different verb tenses in your story. This is a good online Verb Tense Tutorial,  to revise all the different tenses. There are also many exercises that you can do to make sure you know how to use them!

Photo by beana_cheese on Flickr

You can write your first draft either on paper, email a typed version to me, or print it at home. Whichever the format, please make sure that I will have it by Monday, August 22!