Hello bloggers,

I think it would be great if you could post you thoughts about the Student demonstrations (sit-ins, strikes, etc) or Hydro-Aysen, or Monsanto buying the rights to Chilean seeds (http://movimientoantinwo.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/chile-el-tribunal-constitucional-acepto-el-requerimiento-de-revisar-la-aprobacion-de-upov-91/). Or any topic you find motivating enough.

The Best

In your opinion, who is the best in your field?

Tell me what you think. Say:

Who she/he is,

What she/he has done,

Why you like her/him.

Explain what makes her/him the best.

Please find some examples of her/his work in images and post them too.

280 words and 3 comments, please.

Since the idea is to write aobut some news we are interested in, I will choose my concern at the moment. Unfortunately, it is something negative I have mentioned. A couple of weeks ago a new law was voted. And the majority voted in favor of something that makes no sense to me. The law forces all agricultors and peasants to hand in all their seeds to an American, yes ! An American company to take over the agricultural business. What will happen is that agricultures and peasants in the future will have to buy the seeds from “monsanto” (An american company)which has a reputation for increasing the price of the seeds. But most importantly, that they are genetically modified seeds. Ok, we know that at the moment most of the corn, soya and some tomatoes are GM, but this law will mean that in two years time, we will all be eating ONLY GM food, which is just CRAZY. We don’t really know the effects this has on people, but we Do know that “round up”, the pesticide agricultures are forced to buy when monsanto takes over, is extremely strong, has caused a lot of deformities in babies born of women who work the fields. There is evidence that once the soil absorbs the pesticide, it cannot be used for any other type of crop. We also know that bees are disappearing from our planet because of the same product. There is a lot more information about this that I could list now and unfortunately, nothing is too positive. Those who support this law argue that GM crops are more productive, but those against say otherwise. And how crazy is it we are going to buy our own seeds from Americans at the price they decide on ?and to eat who knows what! I am sorry but with this, our politicians once again have shown the class they are. Especially taking advantage of the Hydroaysen controversy to pass the law. And the media has also reminded us how controlled information is.
Some links to look at
http://chilesintransgenicos.cl/

http://www.democraciadirecta.cl/s/

What do you think?
Write about a piece of news on a law or any issue that has struck your attention.
Mention when you found out
Why you find it surprising
In what way
Include any other information you find relevant.
Write a comment to your teacher and 3 comments to your classamtes.
230 words minimum

Okay Blogheads,


This week you have a free post.



Write 230 words about something you care about, find interesting or like a lot.



Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Hello everyone
Please remember to look at the post on March 29th, which explains how the blog will be evaluated this semester.
Kind regards,
Beatriz

Hello everyone:
I hope you feel like writing today. I’d like to tell you a bit about this image. To be honest, I found it hard to choose a picture. This is because there are so many pictures I like and they are in so many different contexts. I decided to go for something nice and simple. I took this picture in July 2010. I was on holiday and I had had a late night the night before. However, my husband and I woke up at around 6 and decided to go for a walk. We walked from the place where we were staying to the next village around. The village was really funny because it was basically three houses and a post office. Anyway, everything was closed because it was so early. We took a lot of pictures of the sun rising. It was a beautiful moment. I took this photo in particular. It is a very simple picture but what I like best about it, is the fact that it turned out just like I saw iton that morning. The light, the colors, the shadows, everything is exactly the way it was in my mind.
I love the way the sunlight hits the misty hills and you can see hills and more hills and more hills in the background. The image actually reminds me of the cover of a book I really enjoyed called “ghostwritten” by David Mitchell. The nicest thing I can think of is that I had a lovely walk on a beautiful morning breathing fresh air with someone I love.
Write about a photograph you like.

Say:

Who took it
What it shows
When it was taken
Why you like it
Upload it too

Include any other information you'd like to mention.
Write at least 230 words.

Add comments to your teacher and at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

Today we focus on the web.


Write about your Favourite Web Site. Say:



-How you discovered it



- How often you visit it


- Why you like it/What makes it special



- Provide a link and an appropriate image (200 words minimum) + 3 comments to your classmates.

Blog correction

Today we are going to start taking advantage of the blog as a language learning tool. Many experts who study second language acquisition believe that making learners aware of their mistakes or the mistakes of their peers helps them avoid similar mistake in the future. Obviously, this is a long process but they believe it is very useful in classroom-based instruction.
Today I would like each of you to choose a post from the person whose name is above yours on my link list and correct one of their posts. Things you can check include:
spelling, punctuation, missing words, extra words that are not needed, wrong words, wrong tense, wrong verb, noun or word forms, etc. Use the symbols I gave you last week. Remember?

After that, you should post the correction with the symbols and ( the corrected version )on your blog.
E.g. I go T (went) there in 2009

Once you finish you should visit www.plataforma.com and do the activities for Unit 3: Tools of the Trade.

good tech

To think of my favorite piece of technology is rather simple. I have two, though.
I think the first one is my mobile phone. That is for a very simple reason. I like the idea of integration. For me to have a camera, the music I like and a diary with the numbers of poeple I want to ring, is really good I can't believe I used to memorize so many numbers! My brain must be deteriorating big time nowadays. The best part of it is the organizer. This is the only way I get to pay bills on time, send "boletas" on certain dates, etc. I love it. I got it in 2007 and use it all the time.
The second item I'd like to mention is the external disc drive. I think when you have lost all your info because your PC died or because you got it stolen or whatever reason, it can be really tragic. That is why I learnt we need to save info on a safe place that "ideally" will not collapse or disappear. I have complete books, whole albums of good music, and lots of documents that have taken me hours to download or write myself and don't want to lose. I don't remember when I got this ,but it was long ago. Could I live without them? Hell yeah! I would have to get used to it, that's all.

Describe your favourite piece of Technology.
Say:

- How you got it
- How long you have used it
- How often you use it
- Why you like it

Describe how life would be without it (200 words minimum
1 comment on your teacher's blog & 3 commments to your classmates.

Free topics

Hello everyone
Movies is somehing I personally like.
Write about your favorite movie.
say:

When you saw it.
Why you liked it
Who's in
Include any other relevant aspect you consider important.

write 180 words minimum. Post 3 comments on your classmates blogs.

post I

Hello Everyone:
Today I'd like to tell you about a place I have enjoyed. The truth is, I have been lucky enough to visit several places. Having said this, there are still a lot of places I'd like to visit in and outside Chile.
Even though there are many places in the north and south of our country I could mention, today I'll refer to a place that captivated my heart in 2010. This is a National park called “Abel Tasman” in the north of the south island of New Zealand. I guess the reason why I liked it so much has to do with many factors. It was a very particular day. It started really cloudy but it was sunny at times. I think it also rained at one point. I did a 4 hour walk through this park which had some really dry bits, some really wet parts, deserted bits, and dark areas. I also got to meet people from different places. I even got to hear some Chileans on the ferry.
The most amazing thing about it was the giant ferns. I’d never seen such big ferns before. They were actual trees (They are a national symbol). Moreover, I got to see a number of birds & insects and the whole scenery was awesome.
What I really like best about New Zealand in general is how “laid back” people seem. I guess it has to do with the fact that there are so few people (Around 4 million in the whole country!). You can travel for miles and not see anyone. I really like that.

Well, now it is time for you to share. You can use www.wordreference.com as a dictionary.

Write about a place that you enjoyed visiting. Upload a picture.
Say:
When you went there
Who you went with
What you did there
Why you like this place
Post 3 short comments on different class blogs.
(180 words minimum)

Assessment.

Dear all:
On this post I will explain how the blog work will be assessed.
Two marks will be averaged. Mark 1 is for continuous assessment (i.e. coming to class and posting IN class).If you come to class & write the right number of words, plus the ideas your are asked to express, you get 2 points. If you don't come to class & post from anywhere else within 24 hours, you get 1 point. After that, there are no points,but you can still write for the sake of learning.
Mark 2 is for 3 particular posts that will be evaluated in terms of (ideas, word range & grammar). If the post is not there when it is marked, you get a 1.0 for that post. These 3 marks are evaluated and give an average final mark.

Ps: You can use www.wordreference.com but NO translators.

These two marks will be averaged and will give your final mark :)

First task

Hello

Plese follow instructions

Your first task is to create a blog and to link all your classmates. Then you have to write a short introduction of yourself.To begin with you need to create a gmail account or use one you already have.

Then, go to blogger.com and follow the instructions.

Please remember to change the language during set up so that your blog is in English.

1. If you have a google account: sign in first, if you don’t have a google account: create a google account
2. Go to: http://www.blogger.com/
3. Click: create your blog now
4. Name your blog
5. Choose any template you like
6. Go to dashboard, scroll down to the bottom of the page & change the language to English.
7. go to design, add a gadget, link list
7. Start posting (intro!)