More Alumni Blogs! :)

Just so that you guys know… we are piloting a blog in the new high inter 1 course! Also, I have gotten permission from Terry and Bia to use blogging in my two writing 1 groups Here are the sites.

http://alumnihi1.wordpress.com

http://alumniwriting1.wordpress.com

Correcting Mistakes

Hi guys,

 It is me again. I was browsing through Renato’s and Cory’s students’ blogs and I have noticed that I have been a bit too leading as far as assignments go. What is our role as teachers in their blogs? How should we deal with our students’ grammar and vocabulary errors? Also, some of Renato’s students did stick with the topic (addiction) as a main theme for their blogs, but some other students simply wrote whatever they felt like writing. What exactly are we supposed to be doing? How much leeway are we supposed to grant students in this project? (Sorry about being so lost myself

Rick

First Entries …

Hi guys,

 My group has been able to write their entries in our blog (it2itaim) successfully. They seem to have enjoyed the activity and had quite a positive outlook on this project. I am sure that they will be enjoying the blog much more than the Song Project in Inter Teen 2. I know it is a lot more work on us teachers, but I believe the benefits as far as language learning goes are far more reaching than the original class project. Blogging allows for the development of a stronger, tighter rapport between teachers and students as well as amongst themselves. Teens tend to be aloof and quite reserved in class discussions, fearful of what others may think of them. Blogs will allow them to feel free and say whatever they want. Some of my students have already read what other students have written and have started to chat about topics they would not be addressing had we not started this blog project.

 I am not so sure where to go from now on. My original plan was to go ahead with the Little Mermaid prompts, but I have written extensive comments back on what they have already written (You guys are more than welcomed to take a peek at them) and there is a lot of room for them to already write something back to me. Some of the comments are suggestions for them to revise what they have written on their blogs in a very subtle way, by prodding them to just go further in what they have written. That is a great start to have them learn about revision from a writing point of view. Being more specific is learning how Americans write. I am going to go with the flow for a while and see where these comments I have made take us. My only fear is that my students and I start having a Teacher-Student blogging experience when what I really would like to do is to have them interact more with each other. If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears

Rick

Problems using the computers in the Learning Center

Grazi and I have been having problems accessing BRMA using the passwords provided in Marilena’s e-mail. It flags us as unathorized users. However, I was preparing the computers here at Itaim for my group’s visit next Monday, and I had no problems accessing the WordPress site using ALUMNI / ALUMNI as user and passwords. I do not know if you guys are running into the same glitch, and I was wondering if you guys have had any problems using the site at Alumni because of the limits imposed by CDP on some electronic addresses. Thanks. Rick.

Rick’s Inter Teen 2 Blog

I have just created my group’s blog (www.it2itaim.wordpress.com, just for the record). I told my students to think of a couple of things to say about themselves as an introduction of the group members and wrote one myself as a sample for my students to follow. I know that introducing themselves is an easy language task, but the purpose is for them to get used to writing a blog. Plus, I don’t want to discourage them with all the bureaucratic procedures of signing up at WordPress, etc. Also, I wanted them to have the sensation that this is going to be a light activity and not another way of assigning homework.

My plan is, once they all sort of introduce themselves, including their likes and dislikes, is for me to start commenting on their hobbies, and to encourage them to start doing the same. Next week, I am finishing a short video activity I have prepared on the Little Mermaid, where King Triton asks Sebastian to keep tabs on Ariel, which ties Northstar Unit 7 to a teen reality. I was thinking of making this blog a discussion forum for the topics we discuss in class. Many times, some students withdraw from class discussion for being shy and fearful of group pressure, but that on-line, may feel more at ease at sharing their thoughts.

I am not so sure we are supposed to be using the blog as an extension of our class discussions, or if it is supposed to be a looser, freer way for them to express themselves in English. Most of their posting should be done next Wednesday. At the end of next week, you guys will be able to see how our blog is going and I am really open to feedback