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Vocabulary Games

Posted: February 16th, 2010, 10:49pm EST by pab

Thanks to Kate Britt for shouting out about a Free Educational Software... site (What's New, 2010.02.05). I've added a direct link to Vocabulary Games to the list of Course Links in the sidebar.

[33 words]

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"100 Little Ways You Can Dramatically Improve Your Writing" (Online Colleges, 2010)

Posted: February 4th, 2010, 12:27am EST by pab

The "100 Little Ways ..." post (Online Colleges, 2010) features a collection of short writing tips with pointers to resources of various sorts. If any of those areas sound interesting, by all means, check them out!

General
Grammar and Spelling
Creative Writing
Business and Technical Writing
Journalism
Writer's Block and Inspiration
Style
Composition and Organization
Revising and Editing
Computer and Web ...

Thanks to Carla Arena for pointing out that Online Colleges post by sharing it via Google Reader (2010.01.21). She calls it, "Great ... for writers, students, [and] educators," and I totally agree! I can hardly wait to add it to the Course Links in the Writing Studio Blog sidebar.

Reference
Online Colleges. (2010.01.17). 100 little ways you can dramatically improve your writing. Retrieved February 4, 2010, from [ow.ly]

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Writing IV: Exam Items (2009-10 [§1C])

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 8:00pm EST by pab

There are prompts for three essay items in the slideshow presentation below. Please view the entire presentation, and read and follow all directions carefully.

You will need to post an individual response to each item, in a single comment for each, on the three reflecting pool posts earmarked for your section (§1A or §1C, below), not on this post. I suggest that you compose and then grammar- and spell-check your responses in a word-processing application before posting them, because you will be unable to edit your responses after you post them as comments.

Section 1A	Section 1C
Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only)Developing Awareness	Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only)Developing Awareness
Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only)Facing Challenges	Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only)Facing Challenges
Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only)Achieving Satisfaction	Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only)Achieving Satisfaction

Writing IV 2009-10
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Writing IV: Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only)

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 7:55pm EST by pab

Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only)

Please post an individual response to item one, Developing Awareness (Writing IV 2009-10, slide 4), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing IV: Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only)

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 7:50pm EST by pab

Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only)

Please post an individual response to item one, Facing Challenges (Writing IV 2009-10, slide 5), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing IV: Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only)

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 7:45pm EST by pab

Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only)
Please post an individual response to item one, Achieving Satisfaction (Writing IV 2009-10, slide 6), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing IV: Exam Items (2009-10 [§1A])

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 6:30pm EST by pab

There are prompts for three essay items in the slideshow presentation below. Please view the entire presentation, and read and follow all directions carefully.
You will need to post an individual response to each item, in a single comment for each, on the three reflecting pool posts earmarked for your section (§1A or §1C, below), not on this post. I suggest that you compose and then grammar- and spell-check your responses in a word-processing application before posting them, because you will be unable to edit your responses after you post them as comments.

Section 1A	Section 1C
Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only)Developing Awareness	Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only)Developing Awareness
Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only)Facing Challenges	Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only)Facing Challenges
Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only)Achieving Satisfaction	Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only)Achieving Satisfaction

Writing IV 2009-10
View more presentations from Paul Beaufait.

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Writing IV: Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only)

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 6:25pm EST by pab

Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only)
Please post an individual response to item one, Developing Awareness (Writing IV 2009-10, slide 4), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing IV: Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only)

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 6:20pm EST by pab

Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only)

Please post an individual response to item two, Facing Challenges (Writing IV 2009-10, slide 5), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing IV: Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only)

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 6:15pm EST by pab

Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only)

Please post an individual response to item one, Achieving Satisfaction (Writing IV 2009-10, slide 6), in a single comment on this post.

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Yes, everyone, today is the day!

Posted: January 15th, 2010, 3:44am EST by pab

In this post, I'm sharing a reply to a puzzling question I received via mail after class today.

Yes, the deadline for Proto-Portfolios and Portfolios is today (Jan 15). Thanks to a class cancellation, when I had the flu in December, you have had an extra two days to complete your portfolio. If you heard the 29th, it wasn't from me.

The portfolio due date is on the course calendar. I've reminded you and your classmates repeatedly, for instance, on the Writing Studio Blog, where you got the portfolio template:

Your complete portfolio for this semester is due – published and labeled on your blog – by Friday, January 15, 2010 (10:30 a.m. for 1A, and 12:10 p.m. for 1C, JST). [emphasis added]

(Writing Studio Blog: TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2010)

I announced the deadline and wrote it on the whiteboard in class on both Jan 6 and Jan 13, and sent it out via gmail, for example, in this mail message from the class calendar:

2010/1/5 Paul Beaufait
Portfolios due

The new portfolio template, with instructions for its use and completion, is on the Writing Studio Blog:

[writingstudioblog.blogspot.com] (2010.01.05)

The due date has changed from January 13, to January 15, 2009. [emphasis added]

I sent fresh reminders via gmail when I added specific class times to this description from that calendar event:

The new portfolio template, with instructions for its use and completion, is on the Writing Studio Blog:
[writingstudioblog.blogspot.com] (2010.01.05)

The due date has changed from January 13, to January 15, 2009. Completed portfolios, including Proto-Portfolios (§ 0.0), are due by the end of make-up class meetings:

- Writing IV, § 1A: 09:30
- Writing IV, § 1C: 12:10 [emphasis added]

(Writing Studio Calendar: Portfolios due, Jan 15, 2010)

...

(pab, personal correspondence, Fri, Jan 15, 2010, at 4:17 PM )

[299 words]

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Even in Kumamoto - Occasionally!

Posted: January 13th, 2010, 6:12pm EST by pab

Time to run barefoot in the yard!

[7 words]

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Portfolio for Writing IV (2009-10)

Posted: January 5th, 2010, 12:23am EST by pab

It is the beginning of a new calendar year, and almost the end of the current academic year. I hope you've enjoyed your winter break,
Now it's time to collect, showcase, select, and reflect upon your writing the past semester. This portfolio template is for you to:

Copy with permission, under license from the Writing Studio Blog (License, below);
Paste into a new post on your own blog, entitled Portfolio for Writing IV (2009-10) [in Compose mode];
Complete with data from, and reflections upon, the body of your writing on your blog for Writing IV; and
Publish with the label "portfolios" (plural, without quotation marks).

Your complete portfolio for this semester is due – published and labeled on your blog – by Friday, January 15, 2010 (10:30 a.m. for 1A, and 12:10 p.m. for 1C, JST).

///// Beginning of template: Copy from "End ..." (below) to here. /////
Student ID: vwxyz
[Please replace "vwxyz" (above) with
the last five digits of your student number
(without quotation marks). Then delete these remarks.]

Portfolio for Writing IV, Section 1A OR 1C
[Please delete the unsuitable class section and the word "OR" (above), along with this line of remarks.]
(See: Note 1, below)
0.0. OVERVIEWReviews, Posts, Words, and More(See: Note 2, below.)
[Please embed your proto-portfolios here {in HMTL editing mode}; then remove this line of remarks, including the square brackets.]
1.0. ESSAYS(See: Note 3, below.)
Please complete this table with data gathered from essays on your blog. See the Key (below) for definitions of the symbols in row one, and complete columns four through nine with numerical values (0, 1, 2, 3, ...).

1.1. Showcase	Short titles with links to blog posts	Dates yyyy.mm.dd	¶	W	C	L	P	M
2-01a (2009.10.07)
2-01b (2009.10.21)
(2-01c)
2-02a (2009.11.04)
2-02b (2009.11.18)
(2-02c)
2-03a (2009.12.02)
2-03b (2009.12.18/22)
(2-03c)
Totals	---	---

Key:
¶: number of paragraphs five (5) or more sentences in length
W: number of words
C: number of comments
L: number of links
P: number of photos or other graphics
M: number of other media included in post

1.2. Most Improved Essay(See: Note 4, below.)

Selection and Assessment: Which of the three essays that you've written and revised this semester shows the most improvement? What did you do to improve it? Remember that complete answers are better than short answers, focus on your writing (accuracy, appropriacy, content and organization, rather than graphics or other media), and explain at least two major improvements.

[Please remove these remarks, including the square brackets, then identify your most improved essay, and explain ways that you improved it here.]

2.0. COMMENTS

Showcase	Short titles of posts with links	Dates of comments yyyy.mm.dd	Numbers of words in comments	Qualities of comments**
2.1. Your first comment on your instructor's blog*
2.2. Your best comment on a classmate's blog*
2.3. Best comment by a classmate on your blog*
2.4. Most comments on:	Short titles of posts with link	Dates of posts yyyy.mm.dd	Total number of words in comments	Qualities of comments**
2.4.1. Any one of your essays*
2.4.1.1. When did you respond to those comments?	---		---	---
2.4.1.2. How did you respond to those comments?	---	---
2.4.2. Any of your other posts*
2.4.2.1. When did you respond to those comments?	---		---	---
2.4.2.2. How did you respond to those comments?	---	---

----------
* Current semester comments on essays and other posts
** Please list the most important qualities of comments on each type of blog post. That is, explain briefly what makes comments good.

2.5. Recent comments displayDoes your blog display recent comments from blog visitors in a prominent location, for example, in a sidebar, header, or footer widget? Where, or why not? Please explain.

2.6. Additional reflections on comments

[Please remove these remarks, including the square brackets; then write out your reflections on both giving and receiving comments here.]
....

3.0. BOOK REVIEWS

3.1. Showcase	Short titles with links	Dates: yyyy.mm.dd	Words	Comments
Example:	Vampire Killer	2007.05.16	39	1
BR 2-01
BR 2-02
BR 2-03
BR 2-04
BR 2-05
BR 2-06
BR 2-07
BR 2-08
BR 2-09
BR 2-10
BR 2-11
BR 2-12
BR 2-13
BR 2-14
BR 2-15
BR 2-16
BR 2-17
BR 2-18


---	---	Totals:

Note: Please calculate and list book review Totals for words and comments without including those from the example (above).

3.2. Best Book ReviewSelection and Assessment: Which of those book reviews do you feel is the best that you've written this semester, and why? Remember that a complete answer is better than a short answer, focus on your writing, and give at least two reasons to support your assessment.

[Please remove these remarks, including the square brackets; then identify your best book review, and write out reasons for selecting it here.]

4.0. BLOG LAYOUT, LABELING, LINKING, and MEDIA

Showcase	Yes	No
4.1. Does your blog display an archive?
4.1.1. Does the archive display the titles of posts?
4.1.2. Is the archive organized by month?
4.1.3. Is the archive at or near the top of the sidebar?
4.2. Does your blog display a cloud or list of labels in the sidebar?
4.2.1. Do your labels include these required labels (typed accurately):	---	---
"books" (plural) AND "reviews" (plural)
"essays" (plural) AND "portfolios" (plural, without "proto-")
"quickposts" (plural, with no space between quick and posts)
"links" (plural) AND "media" (plural)
"movies" (plural) AND "websites" (plural)
"brainstorms" (or "brainstorming"), "essay prep.," AND "free-writing" (or "free-writes")
4.2.2. Does your sidebar display other labels?
How many other labels have you attached to three (3) or more posts? ___ other labels attached to three or more posts	---	---
Which labels, and to how many posts each? Please list those labels instead of www, xxx, yyy..., and list numbers of posts instead of n, m, o... (in parentheses), below. www (n) xxx (m) yyy (o) zzz (p) ...	---	---
4.3. Links and media	---	---
4.3.1. Do your blog posts this semester include photos or other graphics?
Does your blog profile include a photo or graphic representation?
How many of your blog posts this semester include photos or other graphics? ___ posts including photos or other graphics	---	---
4.3.2. Does your blog include posts with multiple links?
How many of your posts this semester include three (3) or more links? ___ posts including three or more links (including this portfolio!)	---	---
4.3.3. Does your blog include other media?
How many of your blog posts this semester include other media? ___ posts including other media	---	---
What kind(-s) of media have you included in posts this semester? Please list the kinds here: ... ... ...	---	---
What media content that you originally produced, if any, do your blog posts for this semester contain? Please list and explain each item briefly, and add short links and dates (yyyy.mm.dd) for reference. ... (short link, date) ... (short link, date) ... (short link, date)	---	---

4.4. Overall presentationWhat have you done to enhance the overall presentation and readability of your blog? List and explain the three most important content, display, formatting, layout, or other presentation changes that you have made on your blog this semester.

5.0. ADDITIONAL REFLECTIONS ON YOUR BLOG AND YOUR WRITING FOR ITPlease feel free to include reflections on both class work and homework, as well as on the content of this portfolio (proto-portfolios, showcases, selections, and reflections).

6.0. ADVICE AND SUGGESTIONS FOR YOURSELF, YOUR PEERS, AND YOUR SUCCESSORS

____________________
Notes:

This portfolio template derives from Writing Studio Blog templates for Writing IIIc and Writing IVc (2007-08), Writing III, §§1a & 1c, Writing IV: Portfolio, §§1a & 1c (2008-09), and the July 7, 2009, Portfolio for Writing III.
Please use the same code in section 0.0 that you used to embed your proto-portfolios (PPFs) in the footer of your blog, which you should already have revised to display your 2nd (fall) semester PPF first.
The essays section (1.0. Essays, above) derived from Proto-Portfolio 2-02 (2008).
The essay selection and explanation item (§1.2, above) differs from that in the July 7, 2009, Portfolio for Writing III. Please read the new item carefully before making a selection.

____________________
License:
This portfolio template is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Please attribute to "the Writing Studio Blog, 2010.01.05" (with link, but without quotation marks).

///// End of template: Copy from here to "Beginning ..." (above) /////

[approx. 30 new words in wrapper and template {2010.01.05}]

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Please attribute to "The Writing Studio Blog" (without quotation marks).

Screencast Intro. to FreeMind

Posted: November 27th, 2009, 1:11am EST by pab

This is an under 10-minute intro. to FreeMind that I found on the ICT Guy's blog (2009.06.24). It also is a good intro. to Aussie English, for those of you planning to study down under next spring, or simply interested in getting an earful of another variety.

Introduction to FreeMind from Darrel Branson on Vimeo.
[47 words]

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Outline Derived from Sample Mind-Map (previous post)

Posted: November 26th, 2009, 8:25pm EST by pab

The screenshot below depicts an outline derived from the mind-map in the previous post (Sample Mind-Map for Language Learning Story Essays, 2009.11.26). Though the black text headings in the blue sections are a bit hard to read, they represent the Introduction (preview of main points) and Conclusion (summary of main points) for an essay.

[55 words]

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Sample Mind-Map for Language Learning Story Essays

Posted: November 26th, 2009, 7:02pm EST by pab

Using Freemind software available in Mac labs on campus @ KGU, I prepared a sample mind-map to guide you through preparation of your next essays, Personal Language Learning Stories: Past, Present, and Future (2-03a, fall semester, 2009-10). Though making your own maps is not a requirement for the current assignment, please feel free to do so, and to post your maps in essay prep. posts on you blogs, where your classmates and peers can admire and comment on them as you develop your outlines and complete your essays proper.

You are also welcome to post your outlines (draft and revised), whether or not you derive them from mind-maps, in order to document various steps in additional posts that you label "essay prep." (without the quotation marks), along with any free-writing that you do on topics related to the current assignment. If preliminary and revised versions of your maps, outlines, free-writing passages, and complete essay drafts differ significantly from each other, and you explain the differences and cross-link between separate posts, those separate posts may serve as evidence of your progress through the current assignment. If, on the other hand, you make only minor revisions in one or more of your essay prep. posts, please remember to update word counts at the foot of those posts.

I saved a couple different views of the sample mind-map as graphics for display in this blog post. The second and third views below show expansions of different sections of the map itself. Please note that the topics and sub-topics displayed in the expanded view of the Body section are only suggestions, rather than a complete catalog of all possible key points and supporting information. What goes in you own maps and/or outlines should reflect your personal language learning experiences and plans.

____________________
Note: If you click on the graphics, they should display in new browser tabs or windows.

[313 words]

PS: I forgot to mention the original source of inspiration for this essay assignment, Tim Murphey's (1998) students' Language Learning Histories, and their predecessors.

Reference

Murphey, Tim. (1998). Language Hungry Students' Language Learning Histories II. Nagoya, Japan: South Mountain Press.

[+ 40 words]

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Link List Addition: British Council Grammar Movies

Posted: November 17th, 2009, 11:34pm EST by pab

This preview post announces a link that I'll be adding to the list in the sidebar (Course Links). The link leads to a short catalog of movies on a British Council website. The movies focus on various grammar points: Tenses, Verbs, Functions, Structures, and Other items.

LearnEnglishProfessionals: Grammar Movies

I discovered that British Council site with the help of blogging aficionada, Carla Arena, who Twittered yesterday about a post by Ana Maria Menezes, a colleague in Brazil. Ana Maria had created a post about those and other Grammar Videos a couple days earlier on her Life Feast blog (2009.11.14).

Both Carla and Ana Maria called the British Council movies "fantastic." I can hardly wait to check them out. If any of the grammar points detailed in the Grammar Movies catalog are puzzling you, or giving you grief in your writing. I suggest that you check them out, too.
[148 words]

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Link List Addition: Citation Maker

Posted: November 15th, 2009, 3:01am EST by pab

The Course Links list in the sidebar sports a new link, the link to the Recipes4Success Citation Maker that I shared in a post early this semester (Recipes4Succes: Citation Maker, October 7, 2009). I put the link there because eventually that post and this one will slip off the top page of this blog.

I suggest that you use that Citation Maker to create APA-style references to include at the foot of your website reviews. Please choose the citation type,"Website", from the drop-down menu first. Then, after you open a record by clicking on the NEW button, and adding all of the information you can, please remember to click on the "APA" option, before you actually create your citation.

The example below lists a corporate author (Tech4Learning), followed by the copyright date from the foot of the page (2009).

Reference
Tech4Learning. (2009). Citation Maker. Recipes4Sucess. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from [myt4l.com]

[165 words]

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Writing Studio Blog Visitors Diminished

Posted: October 23rd, 2009, 3:14am EDT by pab

Since I started using a cluster map in the sidebar to indicate where visitors came from, the number of visitors, year on year, has diminished. The image below shows how much.

Though each year the cluster map gets archived about the middle of October, and new hot spots start appearing in the sidebar display, it is still possible to see where previous visitors came from (ClustrMaps - archive of user maps). It will be interesting to see what happens this year.
[81 words]

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Writing Studio Bulletin: WSB 2-01 (Fall 2009)

Posted: October 21st, 2009, 3:47am EDT by pab

This bulletin, the first for fall semester, represents a selection of comments that I've posted on various students blogs. As I suggested in one of the selected comments, I expect anyone who gets such comments directly to share the gist of them with classmates and peers.

This batch of comments includes suggestions touching on six categories of continuing concern:

Action Plans for Fall Semester (due September 30, 2009),
Book Reviews (12-18+ this semester),
Display Language for blogs,
Essays,
Labels, and
Wording.

Please read through them all, and determine what action you should take with regard to your own blog posts. Within those six categories, I've listed comments in reverse chronological order.

Action plans for Fall Semester (due September 30th), including:

links,
quotations,
short references

You [still] need to include references and links to five classmates blogs from which you gathered advice.
(October 7, 2009 16:31:33 JST)

Where are your [quotations and] references with links to suggestions [that] you gleaned from classmates' [1st semester] portfolios (§6.0, July 2009)? Those are a necessary part of this week's blogging assignment.

Please make sure that your buddies' posts include references and cross-links to classmates portfolios, too.
(September 30, 2009 14:19:07 JST)

Book Reviews
Though these two comments date back to last year, the suggestions still apply to many newer book review posts on your blogs this year. So I'm re-posting them here.

After rereading this review, I'm still wondering:

why you chose to read ... [short title in italics was here],

whether you'd recommend it to your classmates or peers, and

why or why not.

Would you mind making your book review(s) a bit more communicative in those regards?
(June 25, 2008 17:18:00 JST)

I'm glad to see you got the book review numbering system going right for first semester. However, in order to encourage the readership of, and comments from classmates and peers with similar interests, it would be better to shorten the prefix (or key string) for all of your book review post titles to "BR", and add part of the actual title, for example:

BR 1-05: Barney Bear...

Then, if someone sees the word bear in your blog archive, they might want to read (and comment on) what you've written. For example, I love bears, but don't want to have any more close encounters with bears in the wild. How about you?
(May 28, 2008 15:47:53 JST)

Display Language

... Your blog is still set to display a Japanese interface. I suggest that you set it for English right away!
(July 21, 2009 17:41:18 JST)

Essays

... Perhaps a catchier and more descriptive title than the one you've given it would attract readers' interest, and give them some idea what you've written about.

You seem to have left out all of the paragraph divisions ... marked on the paper copy of your initial draft. In electronic documents, such as blog posts, you should insert two line returns between paragraphs. Those create horizontal white spaces to mark topic changes, and lead readers' eyes to topic sentences.

You also have forgotten to include a word count, in square brackets, at the lower left corner of your post (for examples, see posts on the Writing Studio Blog). You need to include a word count on every post for class this year. The sooner you get in the habit, the better!

Please advise your classmates and peers to do the same, always:

Use catchy, descriptive titles;

Define paragraph boundaries; and

Include word counts.

(April 9, 2009 10:19:28 JST)

Labels

This post isn't one of your essays, or mainly about essays, is it?
Would you please reserve the label "essays" for essays proper (2-01a, 2-01b, 2-02a, ...)?
(October 20, 2009 17:15:52 JST)

... I'd like you to reserve the label, "essays," for actual essays (complete drafts and major revisions).
(July 21, 2009 17:41:18 JST)

This quick post isn't about "health," is it? Why have you used that label on it?
(June 2, 2009 21:20:21 JST)

Wording

Would you please give additional examples of what you mean by "and so on," and "and so on" (2009/07/09 11:56)? It usually takes at least three examples to sketch a category or group.
(July 9, 2009 12:29:51 JST)

[698 words]

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Social Media and Social Networking Explained

Posted: October 13th, 2009, 8:06pm EDT by pab

This post contains two videos that I discovered in a post on Jacqui's Ask a Tech Teacher blog (Social Media--What the Heck is This All About??), which in turn I had discovered via a post on the Learning with Computers group blog (Personal Start Pages), on which I've been following comments for almost a year now. They are produced by Lee and Sachi LeFever, and licensed for non-commercial use.
I always enjoy the clever, quick-paced presentations in their "in Plain English" series, and the animated visual reinforcement makes the concepts easy to understand. Please take a look at one or both of these two, and leave a comment to let me know whether you enjoy and learn from them, too.

Social Media in Plain English
"A simple story that illustrates the forces shaping social media" (leelefever, YouTube, May 28, 2008).
Retrieved October 13, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE#

Social Networking in Plain English

"A short explanation of social networking websites and why they are popular" (leelefever, YouTube, June 27, 2007).
Retrieved October 13, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc
[175 words]

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Recipes4Succes: Citation Maker

Posted: October 7th, 2009, 4:56pm EDT by pab

I'd like to point out a website with an online tool that you can use to produce roughly formatted reference citations for bibliographies:

Recipes4Success: Citation Maker

It's really easy to use, even without logging in. Please try it out with the book you brought to class today; use it to make an APA-style reference to include in your next book review post.

Unfortunately, Firefox kept crashing when I tried to open the "PDF of instructions on using the Citation Maker." So, if you have questions about this tool or how to use it, please ask in class today or post your questions in comments on this post.

__________

Abbreviations:

APA: American Psychological Association
PDF: Portable Document Format

[120 words]

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"Did You Know 4.0" (YouTube video)

Posted: September 29th, 2009, 2:34am EDT by pab

This is "another official update of to the original Shift Happens video ... [that] includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology..." (xplanevisualthinking, YouTube, September 14, 2009).

(480x295)[33 words]

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What shapes are your online footprints?

Posted: September 17th, 2009, 3:25am EDT by pab

As a new semester rolls up to greet us, now seems like a good time to direct your attention to two videos in the series: Think before you post.

Think Before You Post

Think Before You Post #2

After you've watched them, please let me, your classmates, peers, and other Writing Studio Blog visitors know what you think by adding your reflections to a comment on this post.

[68 words]

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Writing III: Exam Items (2009 [§1C])

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 8:30pm EDT by pab

There are prompts for three essay items in the slideshow presentation below. Please view the entire presentation, and read and follow all directions carefully.

You will need to post an individual response to each item, in a single comment each, on the three reflecting pool posts earmarked for your section (§1A or §1C, below), not on this post. I suggest that you compose and then grammar- and spell-check your responses in a word-processing application before posting them, because you will be unable to edit your responses after you post them.

Section 1A	Section 1C
Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only) Developing Language Awareness	Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only) Developing Language Awareness
Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only) Facing Technological Challenges	Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only) Facing Technological Challenges
Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only) Achieving Personal Satisfaction	Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only) Achieving Personal Satisfaction

Section 1A

Section 1C

Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only)

Developing Language Awareness

Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only)

Developing Language Awareness

Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only)

Facing Technological Challenges

Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only)

Facing Technological Challenges

Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only)

Achieving Personal Satisfaction

Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only)

Achieving Personal Satisfaction

Writing III 2009: §§ 1A & 1CView more presentations from Paul Beaufait.

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Writing III: Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only)

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 8:25pm EDT by pab

Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only)

Please post an individual response to item one, Developing Language Awareness (Writing III: Exam Items (2009), slide 4), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing III: Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only)

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 8:20pm EDT by pab

Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only)

Please post an individual response to item two, Facing Technological Challenges (Writing III: Exam Items (2009), slide 5), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing III: Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only)

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 8:15pm EDT by pab

Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only)

Please post an individual response to item three, Achieving Personal Satisfaction (Writing III: Exam Items (2009), slide 6), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing III: Exam Items (2009 [§1A])

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 7:00pm EDT by pab

There are prompts for three essay items in the slideshow presentation below. Please view the entire presentation, and read and follow all directions carefully.

Section 1A	Section 1C
Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only) Developing Language Awareness	Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only) Developing Language Awareness
Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only) Facing Technological Challenges	Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only) Facing Technological Challenges
Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only) Achieving Personal Satisfaction	Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only) Achieving Personal Satisfaction

Section 1A

Section 1C

Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only)

Developing Language Awareness

Reflecting Pool 4 (§1C, only)

Developing Language Awareness

Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only)

Facing Technological Challenges

Reflecting Pool 5 (§1C, only)

Facing Technological Challenges

Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only)

Achieving Personal Satisfaction

Reflecting Pool 6 (§1C, only)

Achieving Personal Satisfaction

Writing III 2009: §§ 1A & 1CView more presentations from Paul Beaufait.

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Writing III: Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only)

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 6:55pm EDT by pab

Reflecting Pool 1 (§1A, only)

Please post an individual response to item one, Developing Language Awareness (Writing III: Exam Items (2009), slide 4), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing III: Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only)

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 6:50pm EDT by pab

Reflecting Pool 2 (§1A, only)

Please post an individual response to item two, Facing Technological Challenges (Writing III: Exam Items (2009), slide 5), in a single comment on this post.

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Writing III: Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only)

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 6:45pm EDT by pab

Reflecting Pool 3 (§1A, only)

Please post an individual response to item three, Achieving Personal Satisfaction (Writing III: Exam Items (2009), slide 6), in a single comment on this post.

[30 words]

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Portfolio for Writing III (template)

Posted: July 7th, 2009, 3:42am EDT by pab

This portfolio template is for you to:

Copy with permission, under license from the Writing Studio Blog (License, below);
Paste into a new post on your own blog, entitled Portfolio for Writing III [in Compose mode];
Complete with data from, and reflections upon, the body of your writing on your blog for Writing III, section 1a or 1c; and
Publish with the label "portfolios" (plural, without quotation marks).

Your complete portfolio for this semester is due – published and labeled on your blog – by Monday, July 20, 2009 (17:15, JST).

///// Beginning of template: Copy from "End ..." (below) to here. /////

Student ID: vwxyz
[Please replace "vwxyz" (above) with
the last five digits of your student number
(without quotation marks). Then delete these remarks.]

Portfolio for Writing III, Section 1A OR 1C

[Please delete the unsuitable class section and "OR" (above), along with this line of remarks.]

(See: Note 1, below)

0.0. Overview Reviews, Posts, Words, and More

(See: Note 2, below.)

[Please embed your proto-portfolios here {in HMTL editing mode}; then remove this line of remarks, including the square brackets.]

1.0. Essays

(See: Note 3, below.)

Please complete this table with data gathered from essays on your blog. See the Key (below) for definitions of the symbols in row one, and complete columns four through nine with numerical values (0, 1, 2, 3, ...).

1.1. Showcase	Short titles with links to blog posts	Dates yyyy.mm.dd	¶	W	C	L	P	M
1-01a (2009.04.08)
1-01b (2009.04.20)
(1-01c)
1-02a (2009.06.01)
1-02b (2009.07.06)
(1-02c)
1-03a (2009.06.29)
1-03b (2009.07.13)
Totals	---	---

Key:

¶: number of paragraphs five (5) or more sentences in length

W: number of words

C: number of comments

L: number of links

P: number of photos or other graphics

M: number of other media included in post

1.2. Best Essay

Selection and Assessment: Which of those six assigned essays do you feel is the best that you've written this semester, and why? Remember that a complete answer is better than a short answer, focus on your writing, and give at least two reasons to support your assessment.

[Please remove these remarks, including the square brackets, then identify your best essay, and write out your reasons for selecting it here.]

2.0. Comments

Showcase	Titles of posts with links	Dates of comments yyyy.mm.dd	Numbers of words in comments	Qualities of comments**
2.1. Your first comment on your instructor's blog*
2.2. Your best comment on a classmate's blog*
2.3. Best comment by a classmate on your blog*
2.4. Most comments on:	Titles of posts with link	Dates of posts yyyy.mm.dd	Total number of words in comments	Qualities of comments**
2.4.1. Any one of your essays*
2.4.1.1. When did you respond to those comments?	---		---	---
2.4.1.2. How did you respond to those comments?	---	---
2.4.2. Any of your other posts*
2.4.2.1. When did you respond to those comments?	---		---	---
2.4.2.2. How did you respond to those comments?	---	---

2.5. Recent comments display

Does your blog display recent comments from blog visitors in a prominent location, for example, in a sidebar, header, or footer widget? Where, or why not? Please explain.

2.6. Additional reflections on comments

[Please remove these remarks, including the square brackets; then write out your reflections on both giving and receiving comments here.]
....

3.0. Book Reviews

3.1. Showcase	Short titles with links	Dates: yyyy.mm.dd	Words	Comments
Example:	Vampire Killer	2007.05.16	39	1
BR 1-01
BR 1-02
BR 1-03
BR 1-04
BR 1-05
BR 1-06
BR 1-07
BR 1-08
BR 1-09
BR 1-10
BR 1-11
BR 1-12








---	---	Totals:

Note: Please calculate and list book review Totals for words and comments without including those from the example (above).

3.2. Best Book Review

Selection and Assessment: Which of those book reviews do you feel is the best that you've written this semester, and why? Remember that a complete answer is better than a short answer, focus on your writing, and give at least two reasons to support your assessment.

[Please remove these remarks, including the square brackets; then identify your best book review, and write out reasons for selecting it here.]

4.0. Blog Layout, Labeling, Linking, & Media

Showcase	Yes	No
4.1. Does your blog display an archive?
4.1.1. Does the archive display the titles of posts?
4.1.2. Is the archive organized by month?
4.1.3. Is the archive at or near the top of the sidebar?
4.2. Does your blog have labels displayed in sidebar?
[4].2.1. Do your labels include these required labels (typed accurately):	---	---
"books" (plural) AND "reviews" (plural)
"essays" (plural) AND "portfolios" (plural, without "proto-")
"quickposts" (plural, with no space between quick and posts)
"links" (plural) AND "media" (plural)
"movies" (plural) AND "websites" (plural)
"brainstorms" (or "brainstorming"), "essay prep.," AND "free-writing" (or "free-writes")
4.2.2. Does your sidebar display other labels?
How many other labels have you attached to three (3) or more posts? ___ other labels attached to three or more posts	---	---
Which labels, and to how many posts each? Please list those labels instead of www, xxx, yyy..., and list numbers of posts instead of n, m, o... (in parentheses), below. www (n) xxx (m) yyy (o) zzz (p) ...	---	---
4.3. Links & media	---	---
4.3.1. Does your blog include photos or other graphics?
Does your blog profile include a photo or graphic representation?
How many of your blog posts this semester include photos or other graphics? ___ posts including photos or other graphics	---	---
4.3.2. Does your blog include posts with multiple links?
How many of your posts this semester include three (3) or more links? ___ posts including three or more links (including this portfolio!)	---	---
4.3.3. Does your blog include other media?
How many of your blog posts this semester include other media? ___ posts including other media	---	---
What kind(-s) of media have you included in posts this semester? Please list the kinds here: ... ... ...	---	---
What media content that you originally produced, if any, do your blog posts for this semester contain? Please list and explain each item briefly, and add short links and dates (yyyy.mm.dd) for reference. ... (short link, date) ... (short link, date) ... (short link, date)	---	---

4.4. Overall presentation

What have you done to enhance the overall presentation of your blog? List and explain the three most important content, display, formatting, layout, or other presentation changes that you have made on your blog this semester.

5.0. Additional reflections on your blog and your writing for it

Please feel free to include reflections on both class work and homework, as well as on the content of this portfolio (proto-portfolios, showcases, and reflections).

6.0. Advice and suggestions for yourself, your peers, and your successors

____________________
Notes:

This portfolio template derives from the templates for Writing IIIc and Writing IVc portfolios (2007-08), and Writing III, §§1a & 1c and Writing IV: Portfolio, §§1a & 1c portfolios (2008-09).
Please use the same code in section 0.0 that you used to embed your proto-portfolios (PPFs) in the footer of your blog, which you should already have revised to display your 1st (spring) semester PPF first.
The essays section (1.0. Essays, above) derived from Proto-Portfolio 2-02 (2008).

____________________
License:

This portfolio template is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please attribute to "the Writing Studio Blog" (without quotation marks).

///// End of template: Copy from here to "Beginning ..." (above) /////

[approx. 20 new words in wrapper and template]

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Looking Forward by Looking Back: Best Portfolios

Posted: June 19th, 2009, 11:12pm EDT by pab

In this post, I'm listing up the best student portfolio posts from last year. I'd like you to browse through them all, to get a clear idea of what's ahead in Writing III and IV, namely course portfolio development.
The portfolio posts listed below show how proto-portfolios fit in to provide an overview of your blogging each semester. They also show how course portfolios comprise both showcases of, and reflections upon the work you do in our Writing Studio.
Granted, the examples below are la crême de la crême, which makes this post a showcase of showcases. Nevertheless, your predecessors were able to achieve such developments without the benefit of a preview like this. Given this preview, you should be able to equal or exceed your predecessors' achievements.

§1A: Best in Show (2008-09)

§1C: Best in Show (2008-09)

I'll be reworking the portfolio template again, to try to eliminate a few more bugs in it, and to tailor it to fit your work this semester. I'll make a revised template available as soon as possible, so you can start building yours between essay assignments. In the mean time, please feel free to post impressions, observations, or questions regarding course portfolios, in comments on this post.
[214 words]

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Notes for excused (2009.06.17), reminders for all

Posted: June 18th, 2009, 9:31pm EDT by pab

This post includes three rough but ready snapshots of class notes, for those students who were away yesterday for student teaching (or other excused absences). These notes also may serve as reminders for everyone else in the Writing Studio this semester - reminders on which I urge you not to become dependent!

Pointers and reminders (P & R),
A collective outline of themes evident in the movie (from §1C), and
Individual essay outlines (topic outlines [classwork, 2009.06.17]).

Pointers and reminders (P & R)

Collective outline of themes

Individual essay outlines

Clicking on the snapshots above will reveal larger displays. As always, if you have concerns or questions about these notes or reminders, please spell them out in comments on this post.
[112 words]

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Present Progressive Quiz

Posted: June 9th, 2009, 10:13pm EDT by pab

This is a quick grammar quiz [that] I gleaned from Carla Arena's blog (Collablogatorium, 2009.06.04). Try it out (Start button), and let me know how you do, and what you think, in a comment on this post.

&amp;lt;a href="http://mystudiyo.com/act89499/mini/go/present_progressive"&amp;gt;present_progressive&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; [36 words]

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Follow-up on classwork from June 6

Posted: June 7th, 2009, 4:52am EDT by pab

For those of you who had excused absences for student teaching, or were unable to attend an entire studio session on Saturday, June 6, 2009 (during a regular class period, or an earlier one), and let me know in advance; I'm compiling snapshots and follow-ups from class notes. The first three images below will illustrate three parts of the meal served to those who were present:

Antipasta (Reminders)
Prima piatto (Tasks underway)
Secondo piatto (Next steps)

The two snapshots that follow amplify the reminder regarding typing speed trials [which you may view directly only if the typing homework spreadsheet owner grants viewing privileges].

Typing track records for §1A (2009.06.08)
Typing track records for §1C (2009.06.08)

Antipasta

Prima piatto (Tasks underway)

Secondo piatto (Next steps)

Sadly, there never seems to be enough time for dessert!

Typing track records, §1A (2008.06.08)

Typing track records, §1C (2009.06.08)

That's about it! If you have concerns or questions about the reminders , classwork, or homework from our June 6 meetings, please spell them out in comments on this post.[159 + 15 words]

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Writing Studio Calendar: Past and current assignments

Posted: May 27th, 2009, 3:50am EDT by pab

In this post, I am displaying two event descriptions from the Writing Studio Calendar. You should have received invitations to both event[s] via gmail, the latest, today (2009.05.27):

Essay_1.02a: Univ. Life essays due on blogs (2009.06.01), and
Essay_1-01b: Revised letters of intro. due (2009.04.20).

The content of these representations (with permission of their owner, me;-) is essentially the same as that in the descriptions on the calendar. The main reason that I am posting them here is only one of over forty invitees accepted the first event invitation from Google Calendar. I hope [a] few more of you pick up on the latest one. Though I've spiffed them up a bit with formatting and hyperlinks, I'm counting only the words in this preface for this blog post.
[130 words, + 1 {2009.06.05}]

Essay_1.02a: Univ. Life essays due on blogs (2009.06.01)

Completed essays, approximately 300 words in length:
Published on individual blogs;
Reflecting on university life from personal, inter-personal, and extra-personal perspectives:
Consisting of five (5) or more paragraphs (¶¶), each five (5) or more sentences in length;
Including an overview of main points in the first ¶ (introduction), and a summary of main points in the final ¶ (conclusion);
Developing main points separately in three (3) or more body ¶¶ reflecting main topics we brainstormed individually, and mapped together in class: MindMaps: Main Branches, §§1a and 1c (Writing Studio Blog, 2009.05.27).
If you have concerns or questions about this assignment [University Life essays], please share them via comments on the MindMaps post....

Essay_1-01b: Revised letters of intro. due (2009.04.20)

Revised and extended versions of draft letters of introduction to host families are due in new posts on your blogs. They should include extra information that you've already posted in response to comments and questions from your classmates on your blogs. These revised versions should consist of at least five separate paragraphs, and be approximately 300 words in length.

Your revised essay posts should have catchy and descriptive titles, and appear with:
accurate word counts in their lower left corners ("[n words]"), and
at least these two labels (also shown in sidebar widgets):
essays
revisions
Earlier versions of those letters, typed up from hand-written placement essays (March 25, 2009), were due on your blogs April 8, 2009, and _must_ also include the first label, "essays," in order for you to get credit for this assignment.

If you have concerns or questions about this assignment, please spell them out in comments on the following post: Reminders of classwork and homework (Writing Studio Blog, April 15, 2009).

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MindMaps: Main Branches, §§1a and 1c

Posted: May 27th, 2009, 1:56am EDT by pab

The images below represent products of individual brainstorming and collective mind-mapping around the current essay topic, university life, in classes that met this morning (2009.05.27). This post includes one image from each section meeting: §§1a and 1c, respectively. Your decisions regarding what main points to include in your essays should reflect foci from the main branches of these mind maps.

[61 words]

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New Course Link: Letter Writing

Posted: May 26th, 2009, 4:04am EDT by pab

There is a new resource listing in the Writing Studio Blog sidebar (Course Links), a new section of the LTD Project Wiki focusing on letter writing, and friendly letters:

[29 words]

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Missed classes recently? (2009.05.13)

Posted: May 13th, 2009, 3:47am EDT by pab

What did you miss? Perhaps some or all of this:

-1. Recordings of first essays (2009.04.22)

Audacity files, converted to MP3s, saved with accurate filenames; and
Dropped into individual Recordings folders (on campus).

0. File-renaming

I've standardized the names of files accessible for embedding in your blogs to:

VWXYZessay1.mp3,

where VWXYZ represents the last five digits of your student number. I also created a new directory for each class. If you already embedded your recording in a blog post, you will need to revise the HTML code in it. Please ask your instructor in class for details.

1. Free-writing: What I learned in Writing I and II

Reflect on previous courses; answer the following questions in a post on your blog:

What did you learn about writing;
What did you learn to do; and
How did you learn to do it?

2. Best essays: Self-introductions

Browse all of your classmates’ blogs (Writing Studio Wiki, §2.3); decide which of their self-intro. essays is the best.

3. Free-writing: Qualities of good writing

Reflect on the essay that you thought was best; answer the following questions in a post on your blog:

Why did you think the essay that you chose was good?
What characteristics do good English essays share?
What about other types and styles of writing: In general what makes writing good – in any language?

Homework:

Continue routine blog posts (3-5 per week), including

Brief, original book reviews, and
Products of typing speed trials.

Begin thinking about the next essay topic: University Life.

[264 words]

PS: If you have questions or concerns about anything in this post, please spell them out ASAP in comments on this post.
[+ 22 words]

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"Listen to English - learn English: the podcast website ...

Posted: May 12th, 2009, 1:51am EDT by pab

... for people learning English" (title and tagline). This website presents prepared texts accompanied by audio recordings (MP3s) about three times a month on various topics of interest. Colloquial expressions, cultural notes, customs and traditions, ...; you name it, and you may be able to find it!

Can you imagine 40 to 50 thousand people all listening to Peter Carter, of Birmingham, England (Author and Copyright, 2005.12.25), at the same time? Recent recordings show download histories numbering in the tens of thousands. Apparently plenty of English learners and teachers around the world are making this one of their favorite sites. The visitor map in the sidebar indicates that there have nearly 17,000 visitors already this month, and over a million site visitors since 2006 (Visitors [ClusterMaps], Listen to English sidebar, 2009.05.12).

The quality of the recordings that I've sampled is impeccable, and the delivery, deliberate. However, the sophisticated language Carter uses might challenge intermediate level learners, especially those who give the MP3s a go without pre-reading his scripts or reading along while listening.
[172 words]

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Cinderella (UYR)

Posted: April 17th, 2009, 9:34pm EDT by Rick

"May I go to the Ball as well?" [Cinderella] asked, in a scared whisper.

"You? Go to the Ball?" said her stepmother. "You must be joking."

Everyone knows the story of Cinderella. In fact, there are hundreds of versions of this story told throughout the world. This version is in the Usborne Young Reading series. The pictures are very cute, and the Fairy Godmother is very interesting. I recommend this book.

Cinderella, UYR1, a traditional story retold by Susanna Davidson. YL:1.5 Words: 1600

Babe: The Sheep-Pig

Posted: April 17th, 2009, 7:51pm EDT by Rick

Babe is a clever, polite little pig, but can Fly, the sheepdog, teach Babe his sheep-pig lessons?

Do you know the movie Babe? It was very popular more than 10 years ago. It's about a pig who is very clever and wants to be like a sheepdog, guiding the sheep on his farm. He succeeds because he respects the sheep and learns to speak their language.

This book is very nice; I recommend it and its sequel, Babe: Pig in the City.

The series is Penguin Readers, YL is 2.4, words 8100.

Reminders of classwork and homework

Posted: April 15th, 2009, 10:07pm EDT by pab

In classes today, I gave tours of this Writing Studio Blog, pointing out elements at the head, foot, and side of the blog display. At the head of the blog, I pointed out the over-large image behind the title and description, and a smaller image (top right) that is a button to use whenever you want to return to the home page. I've removed that large image already.

I also showed where the Search field was, in the navigation bar (navbar, for short) at the top of the page. You can use that to find specific words or phrases that writers have used in their blog posts. You should note, however, that if you or the authors of the blogs you are searching fail to spell key words accurately, you may not find what you are looking for. For example, when students misspell the word "essay" as "essey," or "home stay" as "fome stay," those keywards are difficult if not impossible to find.

At the foot of the Writing Studio Blog, I pointed out the Creative Commons license, which grants visitors limited permission to reuse what they find on this blog, and two reference tools, in particular:

a graphic thesaurus, free for use on the KGU campus, and
an online dictionary, providing English definitions of English words.

(For more online references tools, please see the Writing Studio Wiki, Vocabulary References page.)

Key elements in the Writing Studio Blog sidebar that I encouraged all students to add to their own sidebars ASAP include:

a monthly archive, hierarchy style, showing post titles (Dashboard: Layout: Configure Blog Archive, above); and
a labels display (Dashboard: Layout: Configure Label, below).

Archives and labels displayed in your sidebars offer visitors two more ways (in addition to keyword searches and reverse chronology scans) to find interesting posts on your blogs, such as your essays and book reviews.

So much for the anatomy of a blog! Now let me remind you of the homework.

1. Use catchy, descriptive titles on all posts!

2. Add two or more labels to every one of your posts.

essays (for completed essays)
revisions (for rewritten essays)
...

The list goes on. For a full range of suggestions, please see those in the spreadsheet at the foot of this blog (Labels in Action).

3. Post a rewritten essay: a revised letter of introduction to a host family, in new post on your blog, including:

extra information (info.) requested or suggested in comments from classmates or peers on your draft essay.
extra info. that you thought was interesting and informative in your classmates' essays - personalized, of course, for the purpose of introducting yourself to a host family.

4. Complete another book review (BR 1-02: Short Title); keep posting one or more reviews per week during the semester (12 or more, total)

5. Make at least one other blog post this week, for a total of three to five (or more) blog posts every week.
[489 words]

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Writing Studio Bulletin: WSB 1-00 (2009)

Posted: April 7th, 2009, 5:07am EDT by pab

Hi! If you are reading this the same day that I post it, more power to you!

This Writing Studio Bulletin, WSB 1-00 (2009), is a sneak preview for the beginning of spring semester. The first snapshot below illustrates a couple of the settings that I'll ask you to enable on your own blogs in class tomorrow, with the help of laboratory assistants. The second shows a collapsed outline that I'll open and talk you through, step by step, as you start (or better yet, resume) blog posting this spring semester.

Please keep in mind that the best time and place to ask questions about your course, and get what help you need, is in class - where your classmates, the lab. assistants, and I can help you. I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing from you there!

Of course, if you have questions or concerns about past or future bulletins like this, or other posts on this blog, you are always welcome to spell them out in comments on the posts to which they relate. A classmate or a peer may even drop by before I do, notice your comment or question in the Recent Comments feed at the top of the sidebar, and be able to help you along with a follow-up comment or face-to-face advice.

[221 words]

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World Water Day: March 22

Posted: March 18th, 2009, 4:04am EDT by pab

The General Assembly of the United Nations made March 22 World Water Day in 1992 (IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, About World Water Day, 2005.02.10), and the World Water Day theme for 2009 is transboundary water (IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, World Water Day, 2009.02.25). To find out more about how important water is to people around the world, please check out either or both of these sites:

Water drop graphic (above) courtesy of
William Vann's EduPic Graphical Resource for Educators.

[88 words]

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Dreadfully Slow Blog-Loading Syndrome

Posted: February 13th, 2009, 1:05am EST by pab

In case you experience dreadfully slow blog-loading syndrome: DreSloBloLoSyn, for short (try saying that three times quickly;-); there are things you can do other than buy a new computer, or find an ISP that offers greater bandwidth. This Blogger Help page explains several steps you can take:

How can I make my blog load faster?

With all the bells and whistles that some of you have added to your blogs this year (me, too!), that help page may be a timely read.
[83 words]

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Additional Course Link: Sentence Structure Cmap

Posted: January 30th, 2009, 10:31pm EST by pab

Wordle image from partial text of Sentence Structure Cmap

Wordle image created 2009.01.30

While listening to a Green Room interview about graphic organizers (Episode 54, 2008.12.01), and following up on a related Learning Times discussion thread, I discovered an online resource that may interest those of you who have expressed concerns about your own grammatical accuracy. It's a concept map created with a powerful yet free computer application called IHMC CmapTools.

Tammy Moore, a registered Learning Times community member, listed the Sentence Structure Cmap, an example of students' work which I've already added to the Course Links in the sidbar, as "middle school level - English/Grammar/Sentence Structure" (Using Graphic Organizers?, 2008.12.04 [registration required]). If you're interested either in the grammar it represents, or in visual, hypertextual representation possible with CmapTools, please check it out.
[122 words]

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[wordle.net]

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Free Ebook Downloads from WOWIO?

Posted: January 22nd, 2009, 12:51am EST by pab

On the final, several of you expressed plans or resolutions to keep reading extensively. So thanks to Mr. T. for pointing out this e-book site just in time to share it with you all before spring recess. He suggests, "the children's section has a number of books that would be suitable for extensive reading" (personal correspondence, 2009.01.22), which I hope you'll keep doing on your own during the recess.

I note that the WOWIO page for children offers useful catalog views by subject, target age group, and publisher, and lists the top 10 books in the sidebar (left). The main part of the page highlights recent releases, staff favorites, and a featured book for the (day/week/month[?]). If you're looking for easy and interesting books to read before classes begin again next April, this seems like a place to start:

WOWIO: Children | Free Ebook Downloads

Be forewarned, however, that the page title (above) may be misleading. Access to the books appears to be free only if you read them online. Titles that I've perused with links for downloads all bear a price, for example $4.99 (USD, I gather) for:

Fandel, Jennifer. (2005). Pablo Picasso. Mankato, Minnesota:
The Creative Company. [51 pp., ISBN: 1-58341-331-6]

(APA formatted reference
and publisher location
courtesy of pab)

To buy downloads, or to access a library of your own on WOWIO, you need to register as a user. The hook for new users suggests that some downloads may be sponsered (free of charge), and that users get bookmarking privileges for online readings (Create a WOWIO Account).

Online book pages are capped and shod with Ads by Google. Thus, at a readable font display size on a 23-inch widescreen monitor (resolution: 1344 x 840), viewing entire pages requires scrolling down each time you change pages - not a particularly user-friendly layout. Whether "other members-only features" promised on the account creation page (or downloads that you purchase) allow ad-free, minimal-scrolling viewing is anyone's guess. If you do sign up and find out, please let us know in a comment on this post.
[355 words]

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Writing IV, §1c: Reflecting Pool (11:00-12:00)

Posted: January 21st, 2009, 6:45pm EST by pab

Members of Writing IV, section 1c (only):

After reading and following the instructions for the Writing IV Exam: Instructions for §§ 1a and 1c (a separate post, 2009.01.21, 09:00 JST), please post your final essay in a comment on this post before the end of the examination period (11:00-12:00).

Thank you for your cooperation.

PS: This post replicates a previous post for section 1a; only the section designation and times in the title are different.
[+21 words]

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Writing IV, §1a: Reflecting Pool (09:30-10:30)

Posted: January 21st, 2009, 6:15pm EST by pab

Members of Writing IV, section 1a (only):

After reading and following the instructions for the Writing IV Exam: Instructions for §§ 1a and 1c (a separate post, 2009.01.21, 09:00 JST), please post your final essay in a comment on this post before the end of the examination period (09:30-10:30).

Thank you for your cooperation.
[54 words]

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Writing IV Exam: Instructions for §§ 1a and 1c

Posted: January 21st, 2009, 6:00pm EST by pab

In a short essay, from three to five paragraphs in length, please reflect upon, analyze, and synthesize:

What you expected to learn, and
What you learned in Writing IV, §1a or 1c;

What you learned in Writing IV, §1a or 1c, and
What you still need to learn in order to improve your own writing.

For full marks, write at least one paragraph five sentences or more in length on each main point:

What you expected to learn, and why;
What you learned in Writing IV, and how; and
What you still need to learn to improve your own writing, and when.

Use the mind map in the graphic above as a guide (WritingIVexam2009a.png). If you double-click on the graphic, a larger image will display.

Post your essay in a single comment on the Writing Studio Blog post earmarked for your class section, during the exam period:

I suggest that you compose your essay in Microsoft® Word, where you can check grammar, punctuation, and spelling before posting it as a comment on the Writing Studio Blog. You will be unable to edit your essay after you post it as a comment.

Please leave yourself plenty of time to post your essay as a comment on the appropriate reflecting pool post for your class section, and check to confirm posting, before the end of the exam period.
[245 words]

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Eco Certification Exams (Tokyo)

Posted: January 18th, 2009, 11:53pm EST by pab

Has anyone heard about an eco certification exam? I caught just a quick blurb about it on NHK back in December (2008.12.21), but mis-placed my notes over the holidays. I guess it's not that new, because an English learner's diary mentioned it over a year ago (Haruiro, 日々英語ーDiary in English, Eco Test, 2007.12.16).

The link to the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) site from Haruiro's post is still active (検定試験情報: eco検定試験 [kenteishikenjouhou: ecokenteishiken - information about certification exams: the eco certification exam]). The TCCI page calls it the Certification Test for Environmental Specialists, the Eco Test for short, and indicates that the fifth administration of the test took place on the same date as the NHK broadcast. Though the site doesn't show administration dates for 2009 yet (last updated 2009.01.09), I guess the next test will be in June or July.

Certification is one aspect of employment candidates' dossiers that potential employers examine, even for students coming or returning to Japan from abroad (Nippon Foundation Library, 2003, 外国人・帰国生徒のための進路説明会資料 [gaikokujin・kikoku seito no tame no shinro setusmeikai shirou - materials for non-Japanese and returning Japanese students' course (of study) briefings], Structure of the Educational System in Japan). I wonder whether any of you have considered going for certifications such as the Eco Test, in addition to exams such as English language tests that you can take closer to home.

If you have, please feel free to share your thoughts about certifications for future jobs in comments on this post, or in posts linking back to this one from your own blogs.

[256 words]

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Juppun ha Juubun progress

Posted: January 9th, 2009, 8:03pm EST by Rick

April 18, 2008: 188 words
December , 2008: 199 words

Juppun ha Juubun

Posted: January 9th, 2009, 6:21pm EST by Rick

First Juppun ha Juubun in April 2008: 195 words

Recent Juppun ha Juubun post in December 2008: 199 words

Winter holiday

Posted: January 9th, 2009, 6:05pm EST by Rick

As usual, I went to Amakusa for the winter holiday. Because we bought a dog last summer, this year for the first time we had to think about her when making our plans. We didn't actually do anything very special this year, just eating and sleeping and reading and watching Premier League football and the Emperor's Cup. I almost finished reading Peter Hamilton's Judas Unchained, which is about 900 pages long. It was nice but over all too quickly. Now I'm looking forward to the Japan national team's match against Yemen at KK Wing on Janary 20th. And of course I'm looking forward to seeing Quantum of Solace, the new 007 movie, when it comes out sometime this month.

How was your New Year holiday? I'm looking forward to reading your news.

Writing IV notes

Posted: December 19th, 2008, 7:21pm EST by Rick

Remember:

You need to have written at least 60 posts before the day of the exam;
Those posts should include 12 book reviews, with cited passages clearly marked, and those cited passages constituting 49% or less of the post;
You should count your total words, number of posts for each month, and number of book reviews before the exam, so that you are ready to provide those data in the exam. (If possible, prepare these data before January 9th.)

About a certain country...

Posted: December 19th, 2008, 6:51pm EST by Rick

In answer to these questions...

1. Olive oil; ryzogalo creamy rice pudding; moussaka (layers of aubergine, tomato, and minced lamb, baked in the oven, and seasoned with oregano, bay leaf, thyme, cinnamon, allspice, and black pepper); tzatziki (a combination of yoghurt, cucumber, and garlic).

2. Athens, population 745,000

3. 132,000 square kilometers (about one third of Japan)

4. Food products such as olive oil

5. Sports, cinema, etc. (Don't know)

Flip "dictation" help

Posted: December 19th, 2008, 5:54pm EST by Rick

Grammar is the field of....

morphology: 形態論
syntax: 語法
phonetics: 音声学
phonology: 音韻論
semantics: 意味論
pragmatics: 語用論

About your chosen country...

Posted: December 18th, 2008, 4:54am EST by Rick

For the country that you are writing about for your final essay, please answer the following questions. Please link to this post in your answer.

5. ¿ǝɯıʇ ǝǝɹɟ ɹıǝɥʇ uı op ǝldoǝd op ʇɐɥʍ
4. ¿sʇɹodxǝ snoɯɐɟ ǝɯos ǝɹɐ ʇɐɥʍ
3. ¿(uɐdɐɾ oʇ uoıʇɐlǝɹ uı ؛sɹǝʇǝɯolıʞ ǝɹɐnbs ˙ƃ˙ǝ) ʎɹʇunoɔ ǝɥʇ sı ƃıq ʍoɥ
2. ¿ʎʇıɔ ʇɐɥʇ ɟo uoıʇɐlndod ǝɥʇ sı ʇɐɥʍ puɐ 'ʎʇıɔ lɐʇıdɐɔ ǝɥʇ sı ʇɐɥʍ
1. ¿spooɟ ǝʌıʇɐʇuǝsǝɹdǝɹ ɹo snoɯɐɟ ǝǝɹɥʇ ǝɹɐ ʇɐɥʍ

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Special Dictation (Flip): Please type the following passage in your own blog!

Posted: December 18th, 2008, 4:43am EST by Rick

˙pǝsn ǝq oʇ sı ǝƃɐnƃuɐl ɐ ʍoɥ ɟo sǝlnɹ ƃuıuɹǝʌoƃ ǝɥʇ ǝɔɹoɟuǝ oʇ sǝıɹʇ ɥɔıɥʍ 'uoıʇdıɹɔsǝɹd ɔıʇsınƃuıl oʇ pǝsoddo sɐ 'ɹɐɯɯɐɹƃ ǝʌıʇdıɹɔsǝp ɐ pǝllɐɔ sı ǝƃɐnƃuɐl ɐ ɟo suoıʇɔnɹʇsuoɔ lɐɔıʇɐɯɯɐɹƃ ǝɥʇ ƃuıqıɹɔsǝp ʎlǝʌıʇsnɐɥxǝ ɹɐɯɯɐɹƃ ʇıɔıldxǝ ʎllnɟ ɐ

˙"ɹɐɯɯɐɹƃ ɐ" ʎldɯıs ɹo "ɹɐɯɯɐɹƃ ǝɔuǝɹǝɟǝɹ" ɐ pǝllɐɔ sı ǝƃɐnƃuɐl ɐ ɟo ɹɐɯɯɐɹƃ ǝɥʇ ƃuıqıɹɔsǝp ʞooq ǝɔuǝɹǝɟǝɹ ɐ ˙sǝlnɹ ǝsǝɥʇ ɟo sısʎlɐuɐ ɹo ʎpnʇs ɔıɟıɔǝds ɐ sı "ɹɐɯɯɐɹƃ ɥsılƃuǝ uɐ" ˙ɟlǝsʇı ǝƃɐnƃuɐl ɥsılƃuǝ ǝɥʇ ɟo sǝlnɹ ɟo ʇǝs ǝɥʇ sı "ɹɐɯɯɐɹƃ ɥsılƃuǝ" ˙ɹɐɯɯɐɹƃ ʇɔuıʇsıp uʍo sʇı sɐɥ ǝƃɐnƃuɐl ɥɔɐǝ

˙sɔıʇɐɯƃɐɹd puɐ 'sɔıʇuɐɯǝs 'ʎƃolouoɥd 'sɔıʇǝuoɥd ʎq pǝʇuǝɯǝldɯoɔ uǝʇɟo 'xɐʇuʎs puɐ ʎƃoloɥdɹoɯ sǝpnlɔuı ʇı ˙ǝƃɐnƃuɐl lɐɹnʇɐu uǝʌıƃ ʎuɐ ɟo ǝsn ǝɥʇ ƃuıuɹǝʌoƃ suoıʇuǝʌuoɔ ǝɥʇ sɹǝʌoɔ ʇɐɥʇ sɔıʇsınƃuıl ɟo plǝıɟ ǝɥʇ sı ɹɐɯɯɐɹƃ

New Sidebar Gadget: Followers

Posted: December 18th, 2008, 8:17pm EST by pab

A new Blogger gadget that I've just added to the sidebar opens another avenue of access to Writing Studio Blog updates. It's down to the right, between Local Favorites and Subscribe via gmail (now Get mailed!) gadgets. It's the green starred item in the sidebar Layout screenshot (right).

The first avenue for notification of updates was subscription via mail functionality provided by Feedburner, which I blogged up last January (Subscribe via Gmail Today!, 2008.01.10). You may have missed that, if you failed to read up on previous posts as I suggested at the beginning of Writing III. Some folks prefer mail notifications; others depend upon handy lists of links to favorite sites in their own sidebars, or feed readers there or elsewhere (for example: Google Reader).

Now signing up to follow a blog generates an RSS feed in your own Dashboard, and there are at least two ways to get started. One works for any Blogger blog (though it doesn't seem to work on Edublogs, at least not right away); you just grab the URL of a blog you want to follow, and "ADD" it to your Dashboard Reading List. Here's a snapshot of the list I've started:

The "ADD" button is at the foot of your list.

The other way to follow a Blogger blog is to find one you want to follow that displays a Followers gadget. You can subscribe through the gadget, and updates from that blog will automatically appear in your Dashboard Reading List. For more info. about following, including private or public following options, I recommend these Blogger Help Center posts:

[279 words]

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Writing IV: Portfolio, §§1a & 1c (template)

Posted: December 16th, 2008, 8:02pm EST by pab

This portfolio template is for you to:

Copy with permission, under license from the Writing Studio Blog (License, below);
Paste into a new post on your own blog;
Complete with data from, and reflections upon, the body of your writing on your blog for Writing IV, section 1a or 1c; and
Publish with the label "portfolios" (plural, without quotation marks).

Your complete portfolio for this semester is due – published and labeled on your blog – by Monday, December 22, 2008 (17:15, JST).

///// Beginning of template (Copy from "End ..." [below] to here.) /////

Student ID: vwxyz
Please replace "vwxyz" (above) with
the last five digits of your student number
(without quotation marks).
Portfolio for Writing IV,
Section 1a OR 1c

[Please delete the unsuitable class section and "OR" (above), along with this line of remarks.]

(See: Note 1, below)

0.0. OverviewReviews, Posts, Words, and More
(See: Note 2, below.)

[Please embed your proto-portfolios here; then remove this line of remarks, including the square brackets.]

1.0. Essays
(See: Note 3, below.)

Please complete this table with data gathered from essays on your blog. See the Key (below) for definitions of the symbols in row one, and complete columns four through nine with numerical values (0, 1, 2, 3, ...).

1.1. Showcase	Short titles with links	Dates yy.mm.dd	¶	W	C	L	P	M
Website review 08.09.29 (375+ words)
Favorite place(-s) 08.10.20 (450+ words)
Mrs. Doubtfire 08.11.04 (500+ words)
Community life 08.11.17 (default length*)
Kumamoto's best-kept secrets 08.12.01 (5+ ¶¶)
Learning with computers 2008.12.15 (6+ ¶¶)


Totals	---	---

Key:
¶: number of paragraphs five (5) or more sentences in length
W: number of words
C: number of comments
L: number of links
P: number of photos or other graphics
M: number of other media included in post
*: "long enough to cover the ... [communities] you choose," Writing Studio Blog, Preparation for Next Essays, 2008.10.29)1.2. Best EssaySelection and Assessment: Which of those six assigned essays do you feel is the best that you've written this semester, and why? Remember that a complete answer is better than a short answer, focus on your writing, and give at least two reasons to support your assessment.

[Please remove these remarks, including the square brackets, then identify your best essay, and write out your reasons for selecting it here.]

2.0. Comments

Showcase	Titles of posts with links	Dates of comments yy.mm.dd	Numbers of words in comments	Qualities of comments**
2.1. Your first comment on your instructor's blog*
2.2. Your best comment on a classmate's blog*
2.3. Best comment by a classmate on your blog*
2.4. Most comments on:	Titles of posts with link	Dates of posts yy.mm.dd	Total number of words in comments	Qualities of comments**
2.4.1. Any one of your essays*
2.4.1.1. When did you respond to those comments?	---		---	---
2.4.1.2. How did you respond to those comments?	---	---
2.4.2. Any of your other posts*
2.4.2.1. When did you respond to those comments?	---		---	---
2.4.2.2. How did you respond to those comments?	---	---

----------
* Current semester comments on essays and other posts
** Please list the most important qualities of comments on each type of blog post. That is, explain briefly what makes them good comments.

2.5. Recent comments display
Does your blog display recent comments from blog visitors in a prominent location, for example, in a sidebar, header, or footer widget? Where, or why not? Please explain.

2.6. Additional reflections on comments

[Please remove these remarks, including the square brackets; then write out your reflections on both giving and receiving comments here.]
....

3.0. Book Reviews

3.1. Showcase	Short titles with links	Dates (yy.mm.dd)	Words	Comments
Example:	Vampire Killer	07.05.16	39	1
2-01
2-02
2-03
2-04
2-05
2-06
2-07
2-08
2-09
2-10
2-11
2-12
2-13
2-14
2-15
2-16
2-17
2-18







---	---	Totals:

Note: Please calculate and list book review Totals for words and comments without including those from the example (above).

3.2. Best Book ReviewSelection and Assessment: Which of those book reviews do you feel is the best that you've written this semester, and why? Remember that a complete answer is better than a short answer, focus on your writing, and give at least two reasons to support your assessment.

[Please remove these remarks, including the square brackets; then identify your best book review, and write out reasons for selecting it here.]

4.0. Blog Layout, Labeling, Linking, & Media

Showcase	Yes	No
4.1. Does your blog display an archive?
4.1.1. Does the archive display the titles of posts?
4.1.2. Is the archive organized by month?
4.1.3. Is the archive at or near the top of the sidebar?
4.2. Does your blog have labels displayed in sidebar?
5.2.1. Do your labels include these required labels (typed accurately):	---	---
"books" (plural) AND "reviews" (plural)
"essays" (plural) AND "portfolios" (plural, without "proto-")
"quickposts" (plural, with no space between quick and posts)
"links" (plural) AND "media" (plural)
"movies" (plural) AND "websites" (plural)
"brainstorms" (or "brainstorming"), "essay prep.," AND "free-writing" (or "free-writes")
4.2.2. Does your sidebar display other labels?
How many other labels have you attached to three (3) or more posts? ___ other labels attached to three or more posts	---	---
Which labels, and to how many posts each? Please list those labels instead of www, xxx, yyy..., and list numbers of posts instead of n, m, o... (in parentheses), below. www (n) xxx (m) yyy (o) zzz (p) ...	---	---
4.3. Links & media	---	---
4.3.1. Does your blog include photos or other graphics?
Does your blog profile include a photo or graphic representation?
How many of your blog posts this semester include photos or other graphics? ___ posts including photos or other graphics	---	---
4.3.2. Does your blog include posts with multiple links?
How many of your posts this semester include three (3) or more links? ___ posts including three or more links (including this portfolio!)	---	---
4.3.3. Does your blog include other media?
How many of your blog posts this semester include other media? ___ posts including other media	---	---
What kind(-s) of media have you included in posts this semester? Please list the kinds here: ... ... ...	---	---
What media content that you originally produced, if any, do your blog posts for this semester contain? Please list and explain each item briefly, and add short links and dates (yy.mm.dd) for reference. ... (short link, date) ... (short link, date) ... (short link, date)	---	---

4.4. Overall presentationWhat have you done to enhance the overall presentation of your blog? List and explain the three most important content, display, formatting, layout, or other presentation changes that you have made on your blog this semester.

5.0. Additional reflections on your blog and your writing on it
Please feel free to include reflections on both spring and fall semester work, as well as on the content of this portfolio (proto-portfolios, showcases, and reflections).

6.0. Advice and suggestions for yourself, your peers, and your successors

____________________
Notes:

This portfolio template derives from the templates for Writing IIIc and Writing IVc portfolios (2007-08), and Writing III, §§1a & 1c (Fall, 2008).
Please use the same code in section 0.0 that you used to embed your proto-portfolios (PPFs) in the footer of your blog, which you should already have revised to display your 2nd (fall) semester PPF first.
The essays section (1.0. Essays, above) derives from Proto-Portfolio 2-02 (2008).

____________________
License:

This portfolio template is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please attribute to "the Writing Studio Blog" (without quotation marks).

///// End of template (copy from here to "Beginning ..." [above]) /////

[87 words (introductory remarks, only; other content derived
from previous templates and related sources)]

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People's Choice Podcast Award: Grammar Girl

Posted: December 16th, 2008, 6:00pm EST by pab

The winner of the 4th Annual (2008) People's Choice Podcasts Award in the category for education was Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. Grammar Girl is 2.5 year old show, hosted once a week by Mignon Fogarty, who is now exploring video podcasts.

I've already added a link to all episodes of Grammar Girl to the Course Links (favorite site list, sidebar). "Arra best," to Jim Smiley of the JALT Materials Writers group for pointing out the awards site (jaltmwsig, message 672, 2008. 12.11).

You can catch a promo. video and live interview with Fogarty @ 12:14-16:02 (that's minutes, not hours) in the 2008 Podcast Awards Winners! video below, or on blip.tv (December 6, 2008, People's Choice Podcast Awards Ceremony). The top 10 episodes of Grammar Girl focus largely on word choices, but also on grammar, punctuation, and style. Check her out!

Source: PodcastAwards.com
(retrieved 2008.12.16)
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Revised in Blogger
[159 words]

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Greek food

Posted: December 12th, 2008, 8:42pm EST by Rick

France, Italy, and Greece are some of the countries mentioned in connection with the Mediterranean diet, which is praised by many doctors and medical researchers as the main reason for the low rates of heart disease in these countries.

The Greek diet includes lots of olive oil, some in almost every dish. Greek people often eat beans, olives, cheese, and fish. Their most famous kind of cheese is feta cheese. This is a kind of brined cheese, which means that it is made in salt water. It usually contains a mixture of cow's milk and goat's milk. I have seen it on sale in Hello Green and other supermarkets; unfortunately, it's rather expensive. The picture shows Greek salad made with feta cheese.

J-League

Posted: December 12th, 2008, 8:03pm EST by Rick

Did you watch the final matches of the J1 season last weekend? Kashima Antlers won their match, so they won their second consecutive J-League championship. Kawasaki Frontale and Nagoya Grampus came second and third, respectively. What made the ending exciting was that Frontale could have come first if the Antlers hadn't won their final match. Frontale scored lots of goals towards the end of the season and made the finish very exciting. Maybe Antlers will make a real challenge for the Champions League next year?

Sushi Sushi Sushi!

Posted: December 12th, 2008, 7:29pm EST by Rick

You can find out all about sushi here!

Greece

Posted: December 12th, 2008, 7:12pm EST by Rick

I've decided to write about Greece. Here is a map. Greece is in Europe but very close to Africa and Asia. Maybe that is why it developed such a rich culture.

Some more info.

Country Resources

Posted: December 12th, 2008, 6:46pm EST by Rick

I'm trying to decide what country to write about. Two ideas I had are Uganda and Greece. I thought of Uganda because I enjoyed the movie Last King of Scotland (which was about Uganda), and Greece because I have always wanted to go to the Greek islands and also because Greece is such an important country in the history of Europe and the basis of much of our culture. Another one I was thinking about is Finland, because my brother used to live there, and there are many beautiful lakes and forests. Finland is a large country in area but its population is only about 5 million!

I found some good links to help decide:

World Club Championship

Posted: December 12th, 2008, 6:25pm EST by Rick

The World Club Championship began yesterday in Tokyo (I think; maybe it was Yokohama). Unfortunately, I didn't get home from work until rather late last night so I wasn't able to watch the match, even though I had recorded it. Maybe I'll watch it tonight! Many people are looking forward to seeing Manchester United, especially Christiano Ronaldo, but to be honest I'm not expecting much. I'm not sure if Ronaldo will be coming, actually, as I heard he had some kind of injury recently. In any case, I think the players will be rather tired after their matches in the Premiership and Champions League. This year, Manchester United aren't doing so well in the Premier League, so probably they want to save their best players for that. And traditionally, English teams don't give much priority to the World Club Championship (formerly the Toyota Cup).

I haven't checked the match schedule recently, but I think there's a match every other day, at least at the begining of the tournament, so I'm looing forward to Saturday. That's also the day, I believe, when Jubilo Iwata will play to decide whether they will be relegated to J2 next year, or remain in J1.

Final Essay Topic of the Semester

Posted: December 12th, 2008, 6:00pm EST by Rick

Hi everyone, the final essay topic for this semester is to introduce a country that you think is interesting or that you like very much. If you have written about a country in a previous essay this year, please choose a different one. This is a good chance to find out about a country you don't know much about.

The last class this calendar year is December 19th. Then we meet January 9th. The test is provisionally scheduled for January 28th.

Word Borrowed Perfectly: Japanese to English

Posted: December 11th, 2008, 9:09pm EST by pab

This post reflects a note I scribbled on a bit of paper while watching television months ago, October 28, to be precise. It was about a word borrowed from Japanese, and - if my ears had not deceived me after two listenings (17:00+ and 21:00+) - perfectly so into English.

I say perfectly, because an NHK News in English announcer's usage of the adopted word represented adaptation of a common, stand-alone Japanese noun generally unmarked for number, to make it into a plural noun marked with an -s, or rather, with the sound /-z/.

Can anyone guess what that word was? There will be a grab-bag surprise for the author of the first accurately spelled guess in a comment on this post by a current Writing Studio participant. You must appear in person during a class meeting to collect the prize.

Here is a bit of context from the note for a hint; the "It" refers to a letter reportedly discovered in Kumamoto:

"It had been sent to ...-s [n., pl.] of the Fukui domain."

Good luck brainstorming! Please post your best guesses in comments on this post.
[188 words]

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Learning with Computers (LwC): Class Outlines

Posted: December 10th, 2008, 1:58am EST by pab

The class outlines depicted below represent the main points that you should cover in the sixth essay assigned for this semester. We collected main points, topics, and sub-topics from individual lists of ideas that students brainstormed and posted as essay prep., brainstorms and quickposts in class, then combined related items and created hierarchies from them to construct working outlines.

The outline from Writing IV, §1a, is in two overlapping parts; the outline from §1c is in one part. If you click on the images (below), you can get full-size views.

LwC_outlines20081210_1a-1.png,
LwC_outlines20081210_1a-2.png, and
LwC_outlines20081210_1c-0.png

You should feel free to adopt ideas for topics and sub-topics from either class outline, and add your own supporting ideas (anecdotes, arguments, examples, opinions [, reasons {pab, 2008.12.11}]), but make certain to cover all of the main points from the outline for your own class. Details in the outlines, especially "Other...?", you may treat as variables.

LwC_outlines20081210_1a-1.png

LwC_outlines20081210_1a-2.png

LwC_outlines20081210_1c-0.png

If you have questions or concerns about how to use these outlines to compose and organize your essays, please spell them out in individual comments on this post well in advance of the due date (Writing Studio Calendar: 6th essays...). Finally, please remember to label all assigned essays, and only assigned essays, with the label "essays" (plural, no capitalization).
[216 words]

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Paragraphs for Review in Google Spreadsheet

Posted: December 9th, 2008, 6:12pm EST by pab

In this post I'm going to reflect upon and amplify work done online and in class in recent weeks. While I hope that you check your gmail regularly for course-related announcements, a recent reply to a two-week old message shook my confidence that all of you do so. For that reason, I'm posting these notes here, rather than relying completely upon another Google spreadsheet mail notification (forthcoming).

Those of you who reviewed paragraphs in the Google spreadsheet to which you posted them in November may have been unaware of general comments that I had added to row two before class last week (December 3rd, cells 2A-2I). In order to view lengthy comments there, when text wrapping was off, you would have had to double-click in each cell. For example, about titles, I wrote:

Please use accurate and catchy titles! There are confusing, inaccurate, and unnecessary alphanumeric code prefixes in this Title column [column E], for example: MR2-01 and Essay2-02 (no spaces before numbers). There also are titles that reflect assignments, but not the content of particular essays. However, please don't change titles here, unless you already have changed the title of your essays on your blogs, and are copying and pasting the revised titles in here. Titles should reflect content, theme, and focus. Accurate labels, for example, "essays" (... [three] Ss and one A), "movies," and "reviews," should suffice to convey other information instead of code (the exception to this rule is post titles for book reviews, for example: BR 2-01, ... -02, ... -03, ..., BR-12: [+ short book titles]).

(BestEssays_Self-Assessments..., cell 2E)

Since the focus of that data collection was weakest paragraphs in best essays as of November 19 (BestEssays_Self-Assessments form, item 3.e.), I am going to reiterate and amplify the follow-up questions from the spreadsheet that I announced in class on December 3rd, here, where there are layout options unavailable in Google spreadsheets (automated numbering and bullet points added, below):

Is what you've posted a paragraph?

If not, why not;
If so, how so?

[In other words, what constitutes a paragraph?]

What is the topic of the paragraph [that you felt was your weakest]?
Is the topic [of that paragraph] defined in the first sentence (topic sentence)?
Does all other information or opinion in the paragraph develop and support the topic?
Is there any information or expression of opinion in the paragraph unrelated to, or ... [which does not directly support], the paragraph topic?
Does the paragraph end with a sentence that reflects the topic and content of the whole paragraph?

(BestEssays_Self-Assessments..., cell 2I)

The purpose of question one (above) was to explore your definitions of paragraphs, in particular, to discover what you had learned about paragraphs from other courses. If you can remember or retrieve a definition of paragraphs from Writing I or II, please share it in a comment on this post.

Question two (above), as we found in one class on December 3rd, also can apply to single sentences that some students posted for the weakest paragraph item (spreadsheet, column I). Once you identify the topics of sentences in question, they can serve as foci for paragraph development. In the first example below, the pronoun "It" reflects the topic from the initial sentence, "home page" (spreadsheet, cell 26I). In both examples below, the phrasing suggestions in square brackets introduce supporting reasons the authors could use to develop their sentences into paragraphs:

¶6 Let's go to this home page! [It is very interesting, because….] (26I)
¶6 I think French is more difficult than English [for three main reasons. First, French....] (32I)

Questions three through six (above) indicate weaknesses common in novice writers' paragraphs, and can serve as general guidelines for paragraph development. I say guidelines, rather than rules, because even experienced writers occasionally diverge from them. For example, in short paragraphs, concluding sentences may be unnecessary to maintain readers' attention, especially if following paragraphs start with topic sentences, and comprise topics that are closely related to preceding ones.

I'd like to close this post with thanks and an invitation. That is, first, with thanks to the students who explained their weakest paragraphs in class last week. I appreciate your efforts to share thoughts about your writing in a language other than your vernacular. Next, to students whose writing did not come to the fore as examples in class last week, I extend this invitation to identify what you see as major weaknesses of the paragraphs that you posted to the Goggle spreadsheet in November. A good place to spell out those weaknesses would be in the new column K on the spreadsheet, where we can all read and compare them. Finally, thank you all for your cooperation in our writing studio, both in class and in various online venues.
[811 words]

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Two Exciting Typing Games

Posted: December 8th, 2008, 7:00pm EST by pab

Straight away, I'd like to thank Pukman@WinK, indubitable master of quickposts, for pointing out two exciting typing games in recent posts on his blog (Great typing games, and Class of December 5th, both 2008.12.05). One game offers intensive practice typing letters and numbers, and the other[,] similarly intensive practice typing words.

Alpha Attack - letters and numbers

from OnlyTypingGames (dot com), and

QWERTY Warriors - words

from HostileGames (dot com).

Hopefully you will transcend the kill-the-enemy prompts for both games, yet appreciate both the time pressure and accuracy requirements while you play. If the killing metaphor bears heavily on your conscience, you may wish to try some of the less hostile games at Only Typing Games.

In general, I suggest reading the instructions and starting out at easy levels, after you re-familiarize yourselves with locations of letter and number keys. You also may wish to mute the soundtracks on the games. I find muting the sound helpful in concentrating attention on the typing targets, and on the feel of touch typing. [Here is an example of the feedback from a quick go at one of the games:]

Neither of the games Pukman pointed out allows much time for hunt-and-peck keyboarding. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy the challenges.
[198 words]

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Cambridge English Readers

Posted: December 7th, 2008, 7:32pm EST by Rick

Since I seem to have a recent theme of CUP books, let me remind you of the Cambridge English Readers series. I recommend that you read all the books at Starter level (my favorite is Dirty Money) and at Level 1 (my favorite is Inspector Logan) to start with, building up your fluency and confidence. A classic at level 2 is Jojo's Story.

Great typing games

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 9:06pm EST by Rick

Try QWERTY Warriors!

Penhold Racquettes

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 7:49pm EST by Rick

I first played table tennis regularly when I was an exchange student in Shanghai. Since I was in China I decided to imitate the Chinese students around me, who all used the penhold grip. When I went back to England I didn't play table tennis regularly, and soon forgot most of what I had learned, but when I started playing table tennis again recently, I naturally stayed with the penhold grip. In Japan, penhold players always play with a special racquette that makes it very easy to wrap your finger around the handle. I got so used to this kind of penhold racquette that I forgot what Chinese penhold players used.

A few days ago, however, I was given a Chinese penhold racquette by a colleague who bought the racquette in China but didn't like it so much. It's actually very similar to a shakehand racquette, but slightly easier to grip. The bonus is that it's symmetric and therefore easy to flip around, so we can put different kinds of rubber on each side.

Vocabulary in Use

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 7:19pm EST by Rick

Talking of self-study, if you want to improve your vocabulary you may want to check out the Vocabulary in Use books. Like the Grammar in Use series these are from CUP. The book pictured is the Elementary book. They also have Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.

Grammar self-study

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 6:59pm EST by Rick

If you want to brush up your grammar, you may want to buy books in the Grammar in Use series. They're a bit expensive but they have many exercises and are very thorough. The book pictured is at intermediate level; there is also a book in the same series for beginners.

FIFA Club World Cup

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 6:09pm EST by Rick

The FIFA Club World Cup will be held as usual in Japan this year. I believe it's starting very soon. The participants in the competition are the champions of the Champions League in Europe, the Copa Libertadores in South America, the AFC Champions League in Asia, and other continental competitions. I am looking forward especially to seeing Gamba Osaka (who recently won the AFC Champions League) and Manchester United, who won the UEFA Champions League in May.

The Club World Cup is the successor to the Toyota Cup, which was nearly always held in Japan. Now that it's a bigger competition, it will be held in a different country each year, so maybe this will be our last chance for some time to see it in Japan. I hope that the TV channnels will show many matches! The competition starts on December 11th, and the final is scheduled for December 21st. Gambaranba, Gamba!

Class of December 5th

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 5:58pm EST by Rick

Today, let's talk about some ways to join sentences together to make longer sentences. The 3 key words you need to know to understand the explanations are:

conjunction
compound sentence
complex sentence

Below are some excerpts from the website we will use today:

The 'magnificent seven' conjunctions (the most commonly used) are:

and, although, as, because, but, if, or

When you make a compound sentence, you are joining two or more simple sentences together with a conjunction. If you took the conjunction away, the sentences would be complete and they would still make sense.
e.g. 'I hate curry, but I like Thai food.'= 'I hate curry' + but + 'I like Thai food'

Complex sentences don't just divide into neat, complete, simple sentences if you take out the conjunctions. In complex sentences the conjunction is used to join together clauses. A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. Some of these clauses might be complete short sentences, but in a complex sentence at least one of them will depend on the conjunction for its meaning.
In other words, if you take the conjunction away, the sentence won't divide into complete units that make sense by themselves.

e.g. 'The dinner was burned because she had forgotten it.'
= 'The dinner was burned' + 'because' + 'she had forgotten it.'

We will visit the lesson Putting Sentences Together at the BBC Skillswise site.

If you have some free time, please try Alpha Attack!

New podcast episode

Posted: November 28th, 2008, 8:47pm EST by Rick

I've just posted an exciting new podcast episode! Check it out! 39! 銅板島枝手!

Label Actions: Multiple Posts

Posted: November 28th, 2008, 8:24pm EST by pab

This post shows how to search for a keyword from your Blogger Dashboard, and then how to apply a label to all of the posts you find. You can follow the steps to apply a new(-er) label to old(-er) posts, as well as to correct the spelling or capitalization of existing labels.

The keyword in this example is a label that I had used only once; it was on a recent post. I noticed the label in the sidebar earlier today, "paragraphs (1)," and decided to use it on more posts.

Here's how:

To find all of the posts in which you use a keyword, type it into the search field under the Edit Posts tab in your dashboard, click on the search button, and check for results.

In this case, I found 29 posts containing the keyword, "paragraph" (singular). I was almost ready for label actions, which appear when you open the drop-down menu with a click on the small black triangle.

Possible actions include applying existing labels, such as "abbreviations" (above), adding new labels, and removing old ones.

The next step is to select the posts to which you want to apply label actions.

Since I was fairly certain that I wanted to add a particular label to all of the posts found in my Edit Posts search (Dashboard [illustrated above]), I selected them all. Another way you can select posts is to tick the boxes to the left of individual posts in your dashboard list.

After selecting posts (all or some), you scroll down the list of Label Actions and existing labels to find the action (and label) that you want to apply.

I chose to apply (add) the label, "paragraphs" (plural) to all of the posts that I'd found.

The results appeared in a caption above the search field.

Note: Blogger added labels only to 28 of the 29 posts [that] I'd found in a search of all posts (drafts, scheduled, imported, and published). The 29th post that I'd found already had the label I was applying.

If you want to change existing labels, the process is similar:

Click on the label that you want to change in the Labels sidebar (Dashboard: Edit Posts).

This works like the search of all posts (Dashboard: Edit Posts: Search), but looks only for existing labels on them.

Select ALL of the posts with the label that you want to change.

Scroll through Label Actions, and apply a different or new label.

If you want to correct your *spellling or *CaPiTaLiZaTiOn of existing labels:

Add correctly spelled and capitalized labels first.
Then remove incorrectly spelled or capitalized labels.

BEWARE: If you remove inaccurate labels before you apply accurate ones, it may be[-come] extremely difficult to find all of the posts again, especially if you have labeled them with words or phrases such as "essays" or "essay prep." that don't appear in the posts themselves.

[489 words {+ 3, 2008.12.11}]

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Did You Know? 3.0: Broadband for the Brain

Posted: November 28th, 2008, 7:51pm EST by pab

Are you in ... [a] broadband backwash [bayou], or [a beach in] Bermuda?

Source: [jp.youtube.com]
(buencaminos, November 07, 2008)

Where would you rather be? Get a load of the new stat's in this video, and find out!

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[40 words]

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Biscuit

Posted: November 28th, 2008, 7:19pm EST by Rick

Here's the list of all the Biscuit books available! The Jack series looks good, too.

HarperCollins Children's Books

Posted: November 28th, 2008, 6:04pm EST by Rick

I get regular emails from HarperCollins, a publisher, about children's books. The one that arrived today has an interesting list for the Thanksgiving season. One of the books on the list was Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit. Do you know the Biscuit series? Biscuit is a dog who is very cute and very popular with children overseas (and also with PUK students). I hadn't heard of this title before, so maybe we will get it for the PUK library. You can find out more about the Biscuit series and other books by the same author at her website. Anyway, please take a look at the list and see if there are any titles that interest you.

Class of November 28th, 2008

Posted: November 27th, 2008, 5:21am EST by Rick

First of all, please note that this is the last class in November. There will be 3 classes in December (5th, 12th, 19th). After that, there's only one class scheduled in January (9th) and then, unless we do a hokou class, the exams start! So you don't have so long to catch up if you're falling behind! Note that, before the exams start, you need to have written 60 posts for the semester (5 posts a week over 12 weeks). At least 12 of those posts should be book reviews.

In today's class, you need to record your most recent essay ("My favorite...") and post it on podOmatic. Please be sure to write a post on your blog linking to your new podcast episode (and make sure your first podcast episode is also linked to in the same way).

Remember that recording can take longer than you expect. Please DON'T wait until the end of the class. If you're unable to finish during the class, please take the initiative in your free time or in a future class to finish the work. Note that I recommend using GarageBand to record so that you have a file to upload again if there is any problem with podOmatic.

If you need grammar help, please call me. But bear in mind that the priority this week is recording, so there is no guarantee that I will have enough time to help you.

If you have free time during the class, please consider reading one of the books I have brought to class and writing a review of it.

One more thing: at the end of November/beginning of December, please remember to update your weblog report.

Yemen!

Posted: November 27th, 2008, 4:47am EST by Rick

I found out that the Japan NT match I was talking about was against Yemen. I was too late to get an advance-release ticket from FamilyMart, and the Ticket Pia website was busy as soon as tickets went on general sale, but fortunately a member of the PUK soccer club had a spare ticket. (She had bought a ticket but was then asked to help out at the match, so she didn't need her ticket any more.) The match is part of the Asian Cup qualifying campaign. So I hope to see you at the ground on January 20th!

Follow-up on 24: Redemption

Posted: November 26th, 2008, 4:48am EST by Rick

It occurs to me that those of you who are younger than me may not know Robert Carlyle and Jon Voight. You might want to check out Robert Carlyle's page on the IMDB. Well-known movies in which he appears include The World is Not Enough (a 007 movie), Trainspotting, Angela's Ashes, and Eragon.

Jon Voight is quite old now and quite an acting legend. Movies that you may know of in which he appears include Heat, Mission:Impossible, Anaconda, and Enemy of the State (called "Enemy of America" in Japan). But perhaps his most famous movie is Midnight Cowboy, in which he starred alongside Dustin Hoffman. This movie won 3 Oscars, and is very moving. I recommend that everyone look for this movie at your university or a video store! From the MGM page for this movie, you can watch a trailer (look for the file Trailer 1).

24: Redemption

Posted: November 25th, 2008, 4:43am EST by Rick

It's been a while since I saw Season 6 of 24. So I was quite excited today to see that there's a new 24 programme, called Redemption.

It seems to be an isolated programme rather than part of season 7. Watching the trailer, it looks like they've assembled a distinguished cast for this special programme, including Robert Carlyle and Jon Voight. The programme is not available in Japan yet, I believe, but I'm sure we'll be able to get the DVD quite soon. I read that Kiefer Sutherland had agreed to do 8 seasons of 24, so there's still quite a lot more to look forward to!

National team in Kumamoto

Posted: November 21st, 2008, 7:49pm EST by Rick

My wife was reading the paper this morning, and she told me that the Japan national soccer team would be playing in KK Wing early next year. I thought she said January 20th or thereabouts, but Ayami told me today that it was on January 8th. In any case, apparently we can buy tickets at FamilyMart or Hayakawa sports shop. She said the match was almost sold out so I'm going to hurry! I don't even know who the opponent is but after Wednesday's match I want to see the national team play anyone. I hope Matsui plays!

Recent books

Posted: November 21st, 2008, 6:09pm EST by Rick

Recently, I've been buying a lot of books. Two of them are about health and are quite interesting. Another was a fantasy work by Katharine Kurtz. It's in the Deryni series, which I remember enjoying very much when I was about 15 or so. At that time, there was just one trilogy, but now there are many, many books. Unfortunately, most are out of print. So I tried Amazon Marketplace for the first time, and bought the book secondhand. It was just as good as I remember the original Deryni books being when I was a teenager.

If you're interested in fantasy, check out the Mythopoeic awards page (in Japanese).

There's another Katharine Kurtz site, created as a wiki so that fans can contribute information.

Japan vs. Qatar

Posted: November 21st, 2008, 5:55pm EST by Rick

Did you see this match? It was very late on Wednesday night, so I didn't get to see it until last night, and then I fell asleep so I saw the end this morning. But it was a great match. Japan's play looked so different from their recent peformances. They had lots of energy and movement, and used their imaginations to attack. Two of the three attackers, Tanaka Tatsuya and Tamada, scored a goal. Their midfield and defence also looked more solid than usual. They won 3-0, and it's difficult to find anything to complain about!

Magic Tree House

Posted: November 19th, 2008, 2:30am EST by Rick

The Magic Tree House series is very well-known and respected in the US. We don’t yet have any of these books in the PUK Library. How about at KGU?

How to Post via Mail [from your cell phone]

Posted: November 19th, 2008, 12:47am EST by pab

Use a Mail-to-Blogger Address!

///// [end of photo + text message from cell phone: 6 words (not including title)]

A number of students have reported having difficulty making many blog posts each week, partly because they haven't had access to their blogs from computers at home (no computers, or no internet connections). However, this shouldn't be a problem for anyone who has a cell phone (I believe I was the last person in the class to get one;-).

It is a simple matter to set your blog to receive posts via mail. You can find directions here:

Blogger Help... How do I post via email?

First, at a computer with internet access, you create a mail-in address in your blog Dashboard Settings: Email section from your username and a word you keep secret. While you are in the Mail-to-Blogger Address settings, you should decide whether you want your blog to save posts you send via mail as drafts posts, or to publish them immediately. I chose drafts, because I usually expect to get back on a computer again within a day or two (at most).

I learned how to do this in under five minutes, and had sent a picture to my blog from my phone within 10 more minutes--including time to add the mail-in address to my cell phone book, and to key in a short message, "Use a Mail-to-Blogger Address!" (above). It appeared among my blog posts as a draft:

Sending a cover photo and place-holder title (mail subject), for example: BR 2-10: Common Errors, would be a great way to get book reviews started, especially when you are away from computers, because you can always draft the text of your book reviews on paper to type in as soon as you get back to a computer. So blog on via mail!

[309 words]

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Essay Map: Composition Tool for Short Essays

Posted: November 18th, 2008, 8:26pm EST by pab

I've written this short piece in Essay Map to re-explore its advantages and rediscover the kinds of output available at the end of the process. Basically, there are three main advantages of preparing an essay this way. However, output options are few.

Visualization
Visualization is a powerful tool for realizing your objectives. With desired outcomes in mind, paths to achievement may clear. Essay Map helps you see the end from the beginning, and back again.

Organization
The purpose of this mapping tool is to show beginning writers ways of organizing and supporting their ideas. Although thinking is rarely if ever linear, conventional writing is. Organizing and supporting main points help readers understand writers' thoughts.

Facilitation
Paths on the map are easy to follow and retrace. Though Supporting Details frames lack topic specific headings for main ideas, an Essay Map enables you to review your introduction, main ideas, and supporting points with a few clicks as you are writing.

Essay Map makes it easy to collect and organize content for essays. The writing paths are easy to follow for step-by-step development of your main ideas. Though the displays are narrow, you can retrace your steps anytime, and review your entire map before you finish. To capture output, you need to print from the "Review my map" frame (and retype), or copy and paste text from individual input frames. Nevertheless, this is a cool tool for composing short five-paragraph essays!

[242 words]

Blogged with the Flock Browser
Revised in Blogger

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New Sidebar Link: Business Writing

Posted: November 15th, 2008, 2:46am EST by pab

To the Course Links list in the sidebar, I've added a new link. It leads to a new page deep in the LTD Project Wiki. Recent email updates from ULiveandLearn had reminded me of writing tips for business writers that I'd originally pointed out in a larger page on the LTD Project Wiki, Writing Resources.

Since that writing resources collection already had grown to the bursting point, and spawned separate pages from other sections, I decided to create a new page for the business writing tips, too. Then, to the new page (Business Writing), I added an RSS feed to automatically update the writing tips displayed on it. The tips there from ULiveandLearn focus in particular on writing email, for example, Why Format is Important with Email (2008.10.23).

However, many of those tips are readily applicable to other online writing media, for instance, blogs and social networking services, and to written communication of various kinds, such as report writing. They include suggestions for using non-sexist and reader-friendly language suitable for wide audiences. So I recommend browsing through them from the new Business Writing page, and reviewing the other LTD Project Wiki Writing Resources page, too.

[197 words]

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Toyo town/village

Posted: November 14th, 2008, 6:09pm EST by Rick

Last weekend, I went to the PUK campus festival on Saturday, and then went with my family to Toyo on Sunday. Toyo is now part administratively of Yatsushiro City, but geographically I think it's closer to Gokanosho. It's famous mainly for two things: its ginger production and its stone masonry. I heard that some of the pioneers of stone bridge-building techniques in Japan came from this area, and Oita, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto have the largest number of stone bridges in Japan. There's a museum in Toyo devoted to stone bridges. There's lots of information there about the history of stone bridges, and some interesting practical activities, for example lifting very big stones through the use of pullies and so on, and even building a bridge on a wooden frame, and then removing the frame after adding the last stone, to see whether your bridge is strong enough to stand on its own.

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