POST 6: MY FAVOURITE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY

My friends have been absolutely superseded by my computer! When I was a kid our old TV set was the technologycal device I loved the most and I I used to think that nothing would replace it as a source of entertainment. However, my computer has now turned into my favourite piece of technology to have fun with, so I spend more time sitting at my computer than being with my friends.

I got my first computer around fifteen years ago and I thought that it was like a magical, miraculous instrument. I just couldn’t believe my eyes: it was able to do complicated things, like counting words, arranging things alphabetically, or copying long texts in a second or two! This is the third computer I have had, I bought it some three years ago and I´m very pleased with it.

I usually use my computer to look for information, to find and prepare material for my classes, to watch things on Youtube, to send e-mails, to find out what my friends are up to, and a long etcetera, and I think I’ve been using it on a daily basis for quite a few years.

I especially like my computer because every time I have a doubt I just google for it and generally find the answer. Consequently, it has helped me solve many problems, like what printer and photographic camera I should buy, how to improve my TV reception, where to find things I need to get, etc.

For all the things I’ve mentioned and many more, I guess my life without my computer would be a lot more complicated and a lot less fun.

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This week's blog assignment is to write about your favourite piece of technology. When writing your post be sure you say the following:

-What it is.

-When you got it.

-How you use it.

-How often you use it.

-Why you like it.

-What life would be like without it

Make sure to write a minimum of 170 words and comment on at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs.

This time I would like you to include a picture to make your post more appealing.

CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT 2: WEB QUEST 2

Part 1- Carbon footprint!

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

Questions:

 What’s the average carbon footprint of a person?

Part 2 - Take these Recycling quizzes

http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/environmentplanning/waste_disposal/recyclingquiz.htm

http://www.quizmoz.com/quizzes/Science-Quizzes/r/Recycling-Quiz.asp

Questions:

Recycling just one glass bottle or jar can save enough energy to run your TV for__________

What are good ingredients for making compost?

What do we mean by recycling?

Where can recyclable goods come from?

Is this true? > Recycling aluminum uses only 15% of the energy required by virgin production

Part 3- Video: >> Top ten tips for recycling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjbSEIOUp4w

Watch the video and choose the best 3 tips in your opinion.

1.

2.

3..

POST 5: DREAMS

DREAMS

“I have a dream...” This is something I have heard many times in my life: these were the words that Martin Luther King repeated in his famous speech for racial equality back in 1963,  they were the words that Abba used to sing on every radio station when I was a university student, and they are the words people say when they talk about a recurring dream (“I have a dream that repeats over and over  again...” ).

This week you have chosen to talk about both kind of dreams, those you have when you are sleeping and those that come to your mind when you are awake .

Here are some questions to guide you to write your post.

1) What are dreams? Are dreams messages sent from our unconscious, predictions of the future, or what?

2) Do you usually remember your dreams? Do you usually dream in black and white or in color? Can you tell us about a recurring dream you have or the nicest dream that you can remember?

3) Do you ever daydream? Do you think you can achieve your dreams or  do you think that having dreams and aspirations is a waste of time?

4) If you had lots of money or political power what would you do with it?  What is your dream for the future?

Please read my sample post and make sure to leave a comment on 3 of your classmates’  posts and to write 160 words.

http://youtu.be/i3w9HaN-4Us

Dreams, dreams, dreams…

 “I’m dreaming my life away…” went a song that I used to listen to when I was a child. To me dreams are mainly representations of my hopes and fears, and also answers to my questions. So I pay a lot of attention to my dreams.

My dreams are usually very colourful and very well defined, sometimes they are  like short stories or films with characters, costumes, and  a plot. I rarely have black and white dreams, -unless my dream is about a silent movie!

I used to daydream a lot when I was younger, I used to spend hours thinking about the things I wanted to have, the places I wanted to visit, and the things I wanted to do. I think daydreaming is not a bad thing, provided that you start planning and begin doing things to make your dreams come true. The formula “dream + action”  has proved very useful to me.

If I had millions of dollars I would visit more places and buy beautiful things for me and people I love, but I would also help people to refurbish their houses so that they could improve their living conditions and I would run high-quality schools in poverty-striken zones with really committed teachers to help breach the gap between rich and poor people in our country –to begin with.

WEB QUEST 1: LONDON

SESSION 5 / WEB QUEST 1: LONDON

 

Continuous Assessment 2 is the first of two webquests we’ll have this term.

Instructions:

You are going to spend a week in London evaluating tourist locations for an end of year study trip.

Here is a list of things you want to do while you are there.  Follow the links and fill in the table.

Half Day Outings

London Eye

http://www.londoneye.com/

The British Museum

http://www.britishmuseum.org/

The Tower of London

http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/ (including Crown Jewels)

Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum

http://www.madametussauds.com/london/

The Natural History Museum

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/

The Tate Modern Art Gallery

http://www.tate.org.uk/

Full day

Kew Gardens

http://www.kew.org/

Camden Market

http://www.camden-market.org/
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You can find zones here:

London Tube Map: 

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

For each location say:

What day you will visit,

How much you will have to pay to get in,

Which Tube station you will travel to (nearest to location), and the zone it is in.

What will you do on the other days? (2 full days / 4 half days / 1 full day / 2 half days)

Search the web for other things to do in London.

What is the total cost?

POST 4: READING

When I was a kid my father used to keep all the newspapers he bought in a room, along with some magazines, books and the notebooks my brothers and I had worked with in the previous years, and also old cards and toys.  Everything in this messy little room (huge for a little six to eight year old boy like me) was laid on some improvised shelves my dad had built, and, for some unknown reason, he forbade us to get into it.  So being in that room was thrilling and exciting,  because we suspected something misterious was hidden in there, lurking somewhere in  the books or in the magazines.   That way, after  stealthily closing the door behind us,  we sat on the floor of this room and read most of the stuff that got into our hands and, without noticing it, we became magazine and book worms.
This week you have chosen to write about Literature and Books, so below you will find  a sample post and some questions to guide your writing. Please choose one or two questions to write the introduction and about the things you like reading, but answer all the four questions about a book you have read recently.

Introduction: Your reading habits. (Answer 1 or 2 questions)
-Are you a book worm or do you only read books from time to time?
-Did you read books when you were a child?
-How many books have you read in your life?

Things you like reading. (Answer 1 or 2 questions)
-What sort of books do you enjoy reading? Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?
-Who is your favorite writer?
-What is your favorite book?
-Who is your favorite character from literature?

Tell us a little about a book you have read recently: (Answer all questions)
-Did you enjoy it?
-How long did it take to read?
-Briefly, in one or two sentences, what is the story about?
-Who would you reccomend it to?

Make sure you write at least 140 words and leave comments on three of your classmates’ posts.

I want those two books! I answered decidedly when my father, who had taken me to a bric-a-brac street market,  asked me what I wanted him to buy me.  I was around six years old back then and, since we didn’t have a TV set at home, reading was my favourite thing to do, and I devoured  Disney cartoons, fairy tales, short stories and kid’s novels.  So, answering Dad’s question was easy. I still wonder were those two  books ended up.
Now I enjoy reading short stories and novels. I really like Julio Cortazar’s short stories, so I think I’ll start rereading  them one of these days, and I enjoy reading  both fiction and non-fiction novels.  I have read a lot of detective stories written in English lately, mainly by Ruth Rendell and P D James, but my favourite writers are some Latin american authors, such as, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Marquez and Isabel Allende.
I recently read a book called “A Special Relationship”, by Douglas Kennedy. It’s about an American  journalist in her late thirties who gets pregnant to a British correspondent she meets in the middle of a war. Everything is a bed of roses at the beginning, but suddenly things change dramatically and her life becomes miserable. It didn’t take me too long to read this novel  because the story is very catchy and is surprisingly well written, especially considering the fact that the author of this book is a man, but the main character and first person narrator is a woman; he is able to write as if he were a woman very convincingly.  I wouldn’t hesitate to reccomend this book to you.

POST 3 CAREER-RELATED WEBSITE or AN EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD

Since in order to write today’s post you can choose ONE of two options, I have written two sample posts to guide your writing (See below).

Post 1 (Instructions).
Write about a career-related website that you enjoy visiting.

You should:
- provide a link
- describe the website (sections, features,etc)
- say how often you visit the site
- explain why you like the site.

Make sure you add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ posts.
-Word Count: 130

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Post 2 (Instructions)
Who is a person/expert on your field that you admire?

Say:
-Who she/he is.(short biography)
-What she/he has done. (examples of their work)
-Why you like her/him.
-Include his/her image

> About 130 words
Remember to add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ posts

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The BBC English learning website.

Whether you’re a student or a teacher, you should visit BBC Learning English. To me,  it’s one of the best sites to look for different kinds of information related to teaching and learning English as a second language.

But it’s not only about learning, it also has lots of articles related to culture. It’s a great site where students can do exercises, read pieces of current news, practice their listening skills, improve their pronunciation, and even have fun playing games, watching videos  or chatting with people from all over the world.

If you are a teacher, you also have lots of options, for example you can download up to date material for your classes, that you can adopt or adapt,  get new ideas to improve your lessons or exchange information with other teachers.

Some of its regular features that I like include, among others,: “Words in the News”, which contains written and video stories; “Express English”, in which people are asked about their opinions on different things -Each week there’s a new topic and the interesting thing is that you can also join the conversation; “Quiznet”, which gives you the chance to increase your vocabulary on different topics; and I also like “6 Minute English”, a short radio programme that helps you improve both your listening comprehension skills and your vocabulary while you learn about an interesting issue.

I like this site because everything in it has been carefully done by very professional people, it’s very user-friendly, so you can find things easily, and everything is interesting and down-to-earth, I mean , it is related to real life.  For all these reasons I visit this site on a regular basis and I strongly reccomend it to you. The address to this website is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

An expert that I admire

“What a great activity! It’s interesting and fun to do”. This is what I usually say when I see English text books that have been written by Penny Ur.  But Penny is more than an experienced  text book writer, she´s a remarkable English Language Teaching author who has helped teachers develop their teaching skills, that is to say, she teaches teachers to teach.

 I don’t know much about her personal life, all I know is that she is Israeli or American and that she studied at Oxford and Cambridge  Universities.  I also know that she has travelled extensively giving conferences worldwide and has written lots of papers, which are very teacher-friendly, I mean, it’s very easy to understand what she is trying to communicate and her tips are really helpful.

Some of her most prominent books, among others,  are: Five Minute Activities, A Course in Language Teaching , and  Grammar Practice Activities. When I was studying in London I used one of her books, which was called Proficiency in English, if I remember well.

Although her books are more concerned with the teaching of grammar than on improving your communicative  skills, I like her because she is able to teach structures in an interesting and meaningful fashion, which is something that not many writers are able to do. Finally, there are writers concerned with Teaching English as a Foreign Language who have written long, boring and hard to understand papers. Instead, she has written short and clear documents that say more than a million pages.

POST 2: A SINGER/BAND YOU LIKE or A CONCERT/EXHIBITION YOU'VE BEEN TO.

How can you mend a broken heart? I don’t mean to ask you this question, this is  just the title of a song that one of my favourite groups used to sing back in the early 70s. This band was called The Bee Gees. Have you ever heard about them? Maybe you have listened to some of their disco music songs that were included in the 1977 movie “Saturday Night Fever”, with John Travolta in it.

This British band was made up of three brothers, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.  During the late 60s and early 70s they sang brilliant pop music songs, but in the late 70s their style evolved into disco music. The songs they played that I like the most were recorded before they started singing with a “falsetto”.

I like this band because their songs have beautiful lyrics and the harmonies they produced were breathtaking for me when I was a teenager. It’s hard to say which of their songs is my favourite, the list is long because they are all so beautiful in their own right: To Love Somebody, Massachussets, My World, Melody Fair, Run to Me, etc. Wow! I’m starting to feel nostalgic…
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This week you have two choices to write about:
- A singer/band you like.
Or:
- A concert/exhibition you've been to.

 Please, include the following:

 

band / singer >>
- name
- what do you know about them?
- what type of music do they play?
- why do you like this artist/band?
- what's your favorite song? why?
- publish a picture or video
Remember to write 120 words minimum and make 3 comments on your classmates posts.

concert/exhibition >>

- what was it?
- when did you go?
- where was it?
- why did you like it?
- mention more details about it
- publish a related picture or video

- Make sure to write 120 words minimum and make 3 comments on your classmates posts.

HOW TO INTRODUCE A TOPIC AND LINK YOUR SENTENCES

 

PUTTING YOUR IDEAS TOGETHER

Here is a “helping word” to students in trouble, I mean, several words that will help you when you find it hard to write something  because your ideas are not connected.

These expressions are used to introduce a new topic:

-as for, in regards to, concerning (en cuanto a, en relación a)
-in reference to, with regards to (tocante a , concerniente a )
-about, concerning (acerca de)

You can use these words (Connectors) to link your ideas.

RESULT – SUMMARY
So – Therefore, – as a result – thus – Consequently, – in this way – in short – in brief
CONCESSION
However, – Nevertheless, – despite – in spite of – yet – although – though – still …
CONTRAST
Instead – in comparison – but – on ( the ) one hand – on the other hand – by contrast – whereas – otherwise
ADDITION
Also – and – Furthermore, – Moreover, – in addition ( to ) – besides – above all…
REASON
Because – since – as - because of , due to – thanks to - that’s why – that’s the reason why -
EMPHASIS
As a matter of fact, – in particular – Of course, – In fact, – indeed – in any event…
ILLUSTRATION
For instance – for example …
REPETITION
Similarly – likewise – in the same way…
SEQUENCE
First – next – then – finally – at last – eventually – in the end…In conclusion,
Firstly – Secondly- thirdly…

And here are some useful phrases for opinions:

- Many people claim that…
- It is true that….
- This is not an exaggeration … even though…
- I tend to dis/agree with …
- In my view…
-As far as I'm concerned,
- In conclusion, – To conclude,
- I can understand… However, …
- As we have seen/will see, there are ( at least ) two sides to this issue.
- I am convinced that we can / deal with this situation /improve this situation / solve this problem…
- This is an issue that / can be solved / must be faced …
- Another aspect of the issue is…
- In my opinion, the advantages of… far outweigh the disadvantages…
- We can argue that… but…
- Personally I am in favor of…..

On these websites you will find some exercises on connectors.

http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/grammar/engineering/transitions/2.xml

WELCOME

Hi dear students and welcome to my blog. I hope that you learn new things by writing your posts  and that you find the experience interesting.

Here you have some important information that will help you organize your posts and improve your writing skills:

HOW TO WRITE A COMPOSITION

Different Parts of a Composition:
Whatever you choose to write for a composition, you usually follow the same basic structure: Introduction/Opening + Body + Conclusion/Closing

1. Opening (1 paragraph)
-It consists of a presentation of the topic (use an "attention grabber": something to capture the reader’s attention).
-It contains the ideas you are going to deal with (a quick overview of what’s coming)

2. Body (2-3 paragraphs)
-The body is a group of paragraphs that develop on the main idea as introduced in the opening.
-Each paragraph argues, describes, explains, discusses, defines, clarifies, illustrates or whatever on the opening statement.
-One idea is discussed in each paragraph.

3. Closing (1 paragraph)
-It can be a summing up, reviewing or restating the main idea in different words or briefly stating your opinion, feelings or suggesting a solution, or some “food for thought” or a wish…

Ensure the concluding paragraph is not too long; three or four sentences will be enough.
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How can you write an attention grabber?
By...
-Making an unexpected statement
-Using Humor
-Using a relevant quotation
-Posing a Rhetorical question designed to arouse curiosity without requiring an answer
-Shocking the Audience with an unexpected fact or statistic

Examples:
A good attention grabber: "The death penalty is the most premeditated of murders"; “Elvis is not dead...”; “Who said that the countryside is boring?”; “Seagulls are just rats with wings”; “Hating seagulls is like being racist or homophobic”

A bad attention grabber: “Today I have to write about...”; “the topic of this post is...”

POST 1. MY AUTO BIOGRAPHY

My Auto Biography

Hello everybody and welcome to your first blog session. Today you are expected to write your auto biography. Please follow the instructions carefully and have a look at my sample post to get inspired. You may upload a picture if you like.

Can you spot me in this photo?

Make sure you include the following:

- Birth info
- Studies info (elementary/high school/ univ)
- Family info
- Hobbies
- Others...

Remember to write at least 120 words and make comments on three of your classmates posts.

Who am I?

Let me tell you a little about myself. I was born in Santiago, Chile, and grew up in Santiago, in the Patronato neighbourhood.  After I finished my wonderful kindergarten days,  I went to Rafael Sanhueza Lizardi School, where I became a book worm,  and then to Arturo Alessandri Palma High School, where I made some very good friends and developed my liking of English. As a result of that, I studied to become a teacher of English at Universidad de Chile and after some further study in London,  I took my master degree in Education in 2007 at UMCE and received my degree from there last year.

I´m the fifth oldest of a large family of seven children (and probably the gray sheep!)

I have a lot of hobbies, for example, I like drawing and painting; listening to music, singing karaoke and playing the guitar; I love reading (and used to write embarrasingly lousy poems) and watching movies (especially dramas and good comedies); I enjoy having long conversations with my friends over a coffee or some delicious food; plus a long etcetera. But what I like the most is travelling, so I’ve already been to quite a few countries.