Topics to think about in the winter holiday

I hate to call it a homework assignment because the topics I suggest writing about are hopefully as interesting to you as they are to me :-) I myself am going to write about them here in our so called classroom blog or/and my teaching blog, maybe it could be both. So here they are, 3 of them at least that are obligatory for all, but I hope you'll find some others that you feel like writing about. And don't refrain if you do, I'll be an eager reader :-)

- World Event Highlights 2012 - write about anything that "shaked" the whole world or our country this year or things that everyone talked about

- Personal Highlights of 2012: it would be lovely to find out what made the year 2012 memorable to YOU

- My Ideal NYE Celebration: may sound cheesy and I don't intend to ruin your real NYE celebration :-))), but indulging in fantasy is something that we all do, so why not do it related to this topic

Blogging becomes more interesting if you comment on what you read in other people's blogs, it gives us an opportunity to discuss the content that was published, hear different opinions on the topic and it also makes the blogger rethink their ideas. So feel free to comment on anything you read in your classmates' blogs.

If you haven't found out yet on your own, there is a so called "widget" section in your blog in the setting part where you can follow other people's blogs, so you get a notice when there's something posted. It might be complicated at the moment as most of you are still beginner bloggers so I suggest that everyone posts their new blog posts in our Facebook group, as I did this one now.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Why blog?

Blogs have been around for many years now and are a popular way of getting opinions across. They can vary in form from short pieces to longer more detailed articles. It all depends on the author and what they have to say. Here are some student blogs that you can check student blog 1, student blog 2, student blog 3, and here's a classroom blog on Japan.

Blogs or web logs are online spaces where individuals or teams can write a diary of their activities. They can include various media in their posts just as on Facebook for eg. videos, photos, links etc. Writing a blog about studying English might be new for many of us. However, blogs can serve as a space for articulating your own ideas, responses, attitudes and opinions, which is what you do while communicating in any language. Practising communication in English by blogging can help you in many ways, here are some of them (based on a post on why blogging is important):

Improve your writing, reading, speaking and interaction skills.
Writing posts can be lots of fun, thinking of all the interesting topics, including your experiences, they can cover. Reading your classmates posts and replying, commenting on them as well. Now here's where blogs can add up to the experience: you can tag your posts and link other people's blog posts into your own. We'll practice that :-) So if you are active and creative enough our classroom blogs and your own individual blogs can become a pool of knowledge, experience and useful practices, a forum for exchanging ideas, a playground for practicing English.

Become a content creator, not just a content consumer.
Finding information and various content has become very easy nowadays with all the great search engines at hand. This is an instance of being content consumers. However, in many walks of life (for eg. education or work) we are also required to produce content. Blogs are a great way of spreading ideas and sharing your opinion with a wider audience.

Focus your mind on the subject matter.
Many times we think that we know something, but putting it down in writing can be a challenge. Blogging can help you practice articulating your thoughts and focusing your mind on the main points.

Use blogging as a way to test content and language.
Blogs are written for an audience. By publishing your ideas and opinions you get readers who are usually invited to leave their comments and suggestions. Hopefully, you'll get lots of feedback not only from your teacher but your classmates as well.

Start to engage with others.
Once you start writing a blog, it is recommended that you spend the same amount of time commenting on other peoples' posts as you do writing your own. This can be a great way of reaching out to other people and boosting the number of visits to your own blog.