Hi, everyone. I think you've been doing a fantastic job on your blogs....I like what you've been saying. It's been so much fun to read them.
As you know, I haven't asked you to write them perfectly. That's not the point. They're more a way of working on your fluency. Having said this, I'm noticing (at times) a few things that I don't think are OK:
--starting sentences without a capital letter
--sloppy writing with little or no proofreading
--disjointed thinking
Over the next week, I will come up with a checklist, which you'll need to use when writing. Until then, please:
--write your blogs a little more carefully; proofread and correct errors
--start sentences with capital letters (these are not text messages, after all)
--put some thought into what you're writing
--try not to write about the same thing over and over again...variety is the spice of life!
:)
PS--If you want help with proofreading, just ask Salah. He's caught errors in my blogs, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it. (Everyone needs an editor--even professional writers!) You can also ask Cristian....he's also got a knack for cleaning up grammar.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Sending text messages at a funeral?
Yes, folks--it's true. Some people are so addicted to "texting" that they send messages while at someone's funeral. They also do this at weddings...and while driving. How addicted are these people? Click here to find out....
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Credit cards....worth it or not?
Please notice my use of adverb/adjective clauses, passive voice and present perfect....
***********************************************************
I have a couple of credit cards, each of which I find very useful. One of them is a MasterCard, which I first got about 10 years ago. I like this card a lot because it allows me to accumulate points that I can use toward travel. Believe it or not, because of this wonderful card, I've been able to travel to Mexico and New Mexico for free! I love this credit card, but I know that I've probably paid for at least 10-15% of the price of these tickets.
How?
There have been a few times (not many since I usually pay off the card before the bill comes) when I was late on a payment or just "let it ride" (paid a little, but not all, and let the bill get bigger next month). I was charged a late fee of $30 and then a certain interest rate on the balance, which was high, of course.
Despite these charges, I still think I got a good deal. :)
Having said this, I'm not so happy with my Macy's card. I can't explain it, but it seems that there's always some sort of problem with it. It seems to come on different days of the month, which confuses me. For some reason--maybe this reason--I've been late on it once or twice. This really upsets me!
That's my personal story. Of course, everyone has theirs. A friend of mine, who doesn't make much money, got into some credit card debt. He'd had eye surgery a while back, and unfortunately, his medical benefits didn't cover it. As a result, he had to use his credit card. Some other things happened, which he charged.
Now, he's got some serious debt to pay off.
Another friend of mine ran up some very high bills about 7 years ago. She is still paying them off. In fact, several bill collectors call her every day because she hasn't been making payments lately. She lives a life of anxiety because of this, and she just doesn't know what to do. I worry about her because she's a 75-year-old woman.
Anyway, I think the bottom line with credit cards is this--if you charge something, make sure you can pay it off that month. If you're viewing it as borrowing, then you're definitely headed for serious problems, including long-term debt.
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Do you have a credit card? Which one? What sort of benefits does it offer? Are you happy with it? Have you ever overspent? (You don't have to share too much information here, by the way.) Do you trust the credit card companies?
CLASS BLOG LINKS...
Prof. Egle: http://leglew107.blogspot.com/
Cristian: http://cristianenw-107.blogspot.com/
Iryna: http://welcometoirynasblog.blogspot.com/
Cinthia: http://cinthiasilvademuriel.blogspot.com/
Carlos: http://carlos-te-da-una-salsa.blogspot.com/
Evelyn (note: her address uses her middle name:
http://mevelinrosali-rosali.blogspot.com/
Mayra: http://mayraberrio.blogspot.com/
Fanny: http://fannyluz.blogspot.com/
Joselina: http://joselina2.blogspot.com/
Darshan: http://darshanp.blogspot.com/
Eduardo: http://eduardo-eslw107.blogspot.com/
Frida: http://flhuaman.blogspot.com/
Salah: http://salauddin21.blogspot.com/
Mijail: http://mijailcarrion.blogspot.com/
Cristian: http://cristianenw-107.blogspot.com/
Iryna: http://welcometoirynasblog.blogspot.com/
Cinthia: http://cinthiasilvademuriel.blogspot.com/
Carlos: http://carlos-te-da-una-salsa.blogspot.com/
Evelyn (note: her address uses her middle name:
http://mevelinrosali-rosali.blogspot.com/
Mayra: http://mayraberrio.blogspot.com/
Fanny: http://fannyluz.blogspot.com/
Joselina: http://joselina2.blogspot.com/
Darshan: http://darshanp.blogspot.com/
Eduardo: http://eduardo-eslw107.blogspot.com/
Frida: http://flhuaman.blogspot.com/
Salah: http://salauddin21.blogspot.com/
Mijail: http://mijailcarrion.blogspot.com/
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sweet things students say and do...
Have you ever had a couple of bad days in a row? Days that are just super stressful and tiring and don't allow time to relax at all?
That's what this week felt like to me.
But something happened that cheered me up... Carlos, one of your classmates, surprised me with a new pack of dry erase markers. What a sweet thing to do! I know that he and all of you have seen me take my markers and throw them across the room, into the garbage can, more than a few times, right? I'm no Michael Jordan, but I'm pretty good. LOL Anyway, obviously Carlos noticed that my markers were on their way out and thought he'd help me out with a sweet gift of some fresh markers, which I greatly appreciated.
What's so nice about this is not just the markers, but what the gift means to me. It reminded me of how special my students are and how sweet ESL students are in general. You guys, whether you realize it or not, are quite awesome. You work hard, do so much, have tremendous goals and huge hearts. Just like teachers have a major influence on students, it works the other way. You all have an impact on us... Thank you!
And by the way, at each level of ESL, special things seem to happen.
I believe I was telling you last night that I was teaching my G 001 students the "possessive adjectives": my, your, his, her, their, our and its. I began by telling the class, "I like my marker." I held it up to my nose, to be funny, of course. And then we went around the room, and each student talked about something of theirs. I then used the word "your" and others used "her" and "his" to make sentences. One student said, "I like my band-aid, and I like my stitch." Everyone laughed. And the last student, who just arrived in this country from Jordan or a neighboring country 3 months ago, wasn't sure what to say. His friends spoke Arabic and explained what we were doing, and then he said, in the best way he could, "I like my teacher!" It was very sweet....more importantly, it was a grammatically correct sentence!
Another teacher and I were chatting about this student one day...and she told me something sweet he had said. Evidently, when she arrived in her classroom yesterday, the lights were quite dim. She said, "We need some light..." He said, "No, teacher....your face is the light" or "Your face has the light." I'm not sure exactly what he said, but....I know it touched her heart and mine.
That's what this week felt like to me.
But something happened that cheered me up... Carlos, one of your classmates, surprised me with a new pack of dry erase markers. What a sweet thing to do! I know that he and all of you have seen me take my markers and throw them across the room, into the garbage can, more than a few times, right? I'm no Michael Jordan, but I'm pretty good. LOL Anyway, obviously Carlos noticed that my markers were on their way out and thought he'd help me out with a sweet gift of some fresh markers, which I greatly appreciated.
What's so nice about this is not just the markers, but what the gift means to me. It reminded me of how special my students are and how sweet ESL students are in general. You guys, whether you realize it or not, are quite awesome. You work hard, do so much, have tremendous goals and huge hearts. Just like teachers have a major influence on students, it works the other way. You all have an impact on us... Thank you!
And by the way, at each level of ESL, special things seem to happen.
I believe I was telling you last night that I was teaching my G 001 students the "possessive adjectives": my, your, his, her, their, our and its. I began by telling the class, "I like my marker." I held it up to my nose, to be funny, of course. And then we went around the room, and each student talked about something of theirs. I then used the word "your" and others used "her" and "his" to make sentences. One student said, "I like my band-aid, and I like my stitch." Everyone laughed. And the last student, who just arrived in this country from Jordan or a neighboring country 3 months ago, wasn't sure what to say. His friends spoke Arabic and explained what we were doing, and then he said, in the best way he could, "I like my teacher!" It was very sweet....more importantly, it was a grammatically correct sentence!
Another teacher and I were chatting about this student one day...and she told me something sweet he had said. Evidently, when she arrived in her classroom yesterday, the lights were quite dim. She said, "We need some light..." He said, "No, teacher....your face is the light" or "Your face has the light." I'm not sure exactly what he said, but....I know it touched her heart and mine.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Making the impossible....possible
Do you think it's possible to achieve something that seems impossible? Is that always a possibility?
Some people are able to beat the odds and make it happen. How and why? In each case, it's different. Is it the drive, the will, good old motivation? Is it luck? Is it hard work?
Check out Skinny Vinny, a NJ resident who had been obese for most of his life. One day, he got sick and tired of his body and the life he was leading. He decided to change it. He put every bit of his energy into losing weight, through Weight Watchers, and guess why? He made it happen! And now, he's gotten into exercise and is a marathon runner! Amazing, isn't it? Read his story here: SkinnyVinny
Does his story inspire you? How do you feel after reading it? Is there something you would like to do that you think is impossible? How can you make it happen? What can you do that Vinny did?
I can tell you this--his story blew me away! I was truly impressed and inspired. When I think about how depressed he felt about his weight and how he was able to motivate himself enough to change, I think--there are things I can do, too.
Looking forward to hearing from you here. I hope that Vinny's story motivates you to make your dreams come true! :)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Effects of Steroids--by Cristian
Please read Cristian's essay and leave comments for him. Thanks.
Many athletes want to get better and better over time. As a result, they do whatever might help them to improve their performance. Some of them train hard, but some of them use steroids. Steroids help them to get stronger and to improve their performance. Steroids are also used as medicine by people who suffer from various types of pain and diseases. However, the inappropriate and extreme use of these drugs called steroids causes many side effects, which might ruin one’s life.
Steroids cause several side effects that manifest on the outside of the body. For example, the skin may get rougher because the pores get larger. Also, steroids cause acne or it gets worse for the ones who already had it. Moreover, the extreme use of steroids might cause baldness or at least it speeds up the process for the ones who are going to lose their hair anyway. In addition, steroids are known to cause breast enlargement in men and growth of facial hair in women. However, all these external effects depend on each individual.
Steroids also do internal damage to the body. They cause serious damage including urination of blood and many things that might not look so serious. In addition, steroid use might cause infertility in both men and women. At the beginning, it might seem good because of the increase of the sexual functions. However, it might be just be for a short period of time. When the steroids begin to work in the body, the individual won’t be capable of maintaining an erection, but everything is going to be normal when the individual stops taking steroids. In addition, they directly affect the liver, which might increase the level of suffering and disease in general. Moreover, the cardiovascular system is strongly affected by steroids because of the increase of cholesterol, which can lead to heart attack.
As steroids cause many physiological effects, they also cause many psychological ones. Some of those effects are delusions, depression, and many others. In some cases, these effects can be devastating. For instance, there’s a case of a wrestler, Chris Benoit, who seemed to have everything. He was famous had a lot of money and a good family. However, he was taking steroids. Gradually, he began to have many psychological problems, including depression and anger issues. Unfortunately, he couldn’t handle his rage and one day he killed his wife, son, and then himself. Many people think that the extreme use of steroids was at least fifty percent of the reason why his psychological problems became so severe, ultimately leading to this tragedy.
In conclusion, steroid use might cause many side effects that may definitely ruin one’s life. In my opinion, people should look for information before they decide to take steroids. If they decide to use them, they should do it under the supervision of a professional who can advise them about side effects and the precautions they can and should take. However, some people don’t really care about the possible consequences of steroid use. Others simply think that in order to gain something, there should be pain and suffering. It is this belief that gets so many steroid users into so much trouble.
*******************
Cristian Rodriguez
ENW-107-E1
Effects of Steroids
ENW-107-E1
Effects of Steroids
Many athletes want to get better and better over time. As a result, they do whatever might help them to improve their performance. Some of them train hard, but some of them use steroids. Steroids help them to get stronger and to improve their performance. Steroids are also used as medicine by people who suffer from various types of pain and diseases. However, the inappropriate and extreme use of these drugs called steroids causes many side effects, which might ruin one’s life.
Steroids cause several side effects that manifest on the outside of the body. For example, the skin may get rougher because the pores get larger. Also, steroids cause acne or it gets worse for the ones who already had it. Moreover, the extreme use of steroids might cause baldness or at least it speeds up the process for the ones who are going to lose their hair anyway. In addition, steroids are known to cause breast enlargement in men and growth of facial hair in women. However, all these external effects depend on each individual.
Steroids also do internal damage to the body. They cause serious damage including urination of blood and many things that might not look so serious. In addition, steroid use might cause infertility in both men and women. At the beginning, it might seem good because of the increase of the sexual functions. However, it might be just be for a short period of time. When the steroids begin to work in the body, the individual won’t be capable of maintaining an erection, but everything is going to be normal when the individual stops taking steroids. In addition, they directly affect the liver, which might increase the level of suffering and disease in general. Moreover, the cardiovascular system is strongly affected by steroids because of the increase of cholesterol, which can lead to heart attack.
As steroids cause many physiological effects, they also cause many psychological ones. Some of those effects are delusions, depression, and many others. In some cases, these effects can be devastating. For instance, there’s a case of a wrestler, Chris Benoit, who seemed to have everything. He was famous had a lot of money and a good family. However, he was taking steroids. Gradually, he began to have many psychological problems, including depression and anger issues. Unfortunately, he couldn’t handle his rage and one day he killed his wife, son, and then himself. Many people think that the extreme use of steroids was at least fifty percent of the reason why his psychological problems became so severe, ultimately leading to this tragedy.
In conclusion, steroid use might cause many side effects that may definitely ruin one’s life. In my opinion, people should look for information before they decide to take steroids. If they decide to use them, they should do it under the supervision of a professional who can advise them about side effects and the precautions they can and should take. However, some people don’t really care about the possible consequences of steroid use. Others simply think that in order to gain something, there should be pain and suffering. It is this belief that gets so many steroid users into so much trouble.
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