Welcome to Advanced Writing and Grammar 05!

Hi everyone. Welcome to our class blog.

Come here for information about blog assignments and to link to your classmates' blogs.

For examples of other student blogs, go to: http://advancedesl.blogspot.com . Click on the names under Links on the right to see the blogs created by immigrant students in my class last summer. You'll see that some of them did a lot of work, while others did very little.

Let's see what you can do!

Your blog is your online writing journal. Every week I'll give you a topic to write about. You can add pictures and audio posts easily. I'll show you how to do it in the computer lab. But that's not all...

I hope you'll use your blog for more than just the assigned work. You can pick a theme for your blog, like travel, or music, or something. Or just write what you feel like, when you feel like it.

Because it's your journal, you can do whatever you want: talk about what's happening in your life , what you're feeling, what you're learning, ask for advice, or even give advice. Or talk about your favourite hobby, tell a story, or comment on the news.

It doesn't matter what you write about. The point is to write in English. And you can write as often as you want.

It's okay if you make mistakes. You're not expected to be perfect. Just express yourself as clearly as you can. You can always come back and change things. Just click on Edit, make your corrections, and then Publish it again. If you prefer to have your work checked before you publish it in the blog, send it to me by email first. I'll correct it and send it back.

Will you get marks for your blog work? Of course! The more you work on it, the higher your mark will be. Not just quantity, but quality! Remember what Carole told us about her friend who started blogging? At first she made lots of mistakes, but she kept going. Now her writing has improved, and her blog looks great. And she can see her progress when she looks back at her old work.

Here's your assignment for this week:

Write a welcome message on your blog. Tell us who you are and what you want to do with your blog. Invite your readers to comment on your posts (what you write). Bring a digital picture to class on Monday and I'll show you how to post it.

Go ahead and start blogging now.