Blog Check

Some other things to think about when following the blog you chose to follow:

1. does the blog have many grammatical or spelling errors? how does that affect the reading?
2. what are the "categories" or "tags" for each of the posts? are they humorous or informational?
3. did you come across any "how-to" articles?
4. are there any interviews?
5. does the blogger poll his/her readers ever? what kinds of comments do people make?

Student Focus

Presenting Elif Güleç! Elif will be our first featured student this Friday and what a feature she is. I found out tons of information about her when I sat down with her to talk yesterday, but I won't tell all -- you will have to ask her for the details!

Elif was absent soon after the school year started, and I wasn't sure why that was, but students told me she was horseback riding. When i think of horsebakc riding, I think of dirt paths through forests and peaceful trips along the waters edge. Apparently I've got it all wrong!

Elif is a competitor! She rides horses better than the cowboys in the wild west. Here is what it is like to be Elif Güleç:

Place of Birth: Istanbul, Turkey
Age: 15 yrs old
Where have you attended school: I went to Enka and then I went to a French school and then I came to Koç. I really loved Enka, and I heard Koc was like Enka, so I knew I would be happy here.
Do you have any siblings?: I have one sister. She is 9 yrs old and her name is Aslı.
At 8pm at night you are: I am eating with friends or family.
Worst habit: Uhhhh...I forget things. Like sometimes I will even forget about my sister.
Embarrassing moment: One time I won fifth in the European Championships and I slipped and fell. It was really muddy and wet.
Favorite movie: I have lots of favorite movies. One ıs The Notebook.
Favorite Holiday: I went to watch the European Championship with some friends. My mom came too, but I didn't see her until like 8 o'clock at night.
World’s worst problem: Education. Well, I think that is Turkey's. I am not sure about the world.
Who is your hero?: My father. He always knows what to do.
One word that describes you: "ENOUGH"

Blog Check

I want you to pay attention to the following things on the blog your are reading:

1. how often does the writer post?
2. what are the topics of their posts?
3. do they use pictures? when?
4. what is the tone of their writing?
5. what was your favorite post about?

PS - Keep an eye out for tomorrow's Feature Student! I wonder who it will be?! You'll have to check and see.

What's Up Wednesday

Free Time

What have you been doing in your free time? has it been influential to someone or changed your perspective in any way? Do you just watch television or play video games? How does what you do with your free time make you feel and why do you do it?

Blog Check

For the next week, I want you to choose a blog on the left hand side that fits with something you enjoy and "follow it" for the next week. Following a blog means you will read it and make comments on it for the next week and get a sense of what the person writes about.

I want you to start thinking about what kind of blog you would like to have and how it can represent you! So, while you read, think about what you like and what you don't like about the blog.

HW reminder:
9H - complete the Responsibility survey and also start reading a blog of your choice for the next week

9G - start reading a blog and track it every day for the next week

Great job today in class! I loved our discussions about culture and learning about all of the ways that cultures are sometimes manipulated (positively and negatively). Many of you had really good ideas and really understood a lot of what we were talking about! Great job!

Reading

What is reading like? can you hear the voices of the people in your books? I hope so.

If you are a person who likes numbers, I would do a little test or game...get a timer (one that you don't have to look at) and set it for 60 seconds (one minute) start the timer and then read for the full 60 seconds, noting where you have started and stopped. Then, go back and count the words you read and write the number down.

Do this same activity (with different sections of text) at least 3 times. Then, add up the numbers and divide by 3 and you will get the average of how many words per minute you can read.

Keep in mind - reading a lot of words does not necessarily make you a "good" reader, but the more you read, the faster the words fly by. So - di this test now and then we will do it again at the end of the year and see how far your numbers have jumped!

Have fun reading!!

Parent/Teacher Meeting

I met your parents today for a few minutes. I have to say, we meet for such a short period of time, it is difficult to really get a sense of what their hopes are for all of you. I am hoping that your next teacher (the one you will have while I am out on maternity leave) will have more informational meetings with them during Parent/Teacher Conferences. It is important to keep an open line of communication between teachers, students, and parents.

I hope your parents enjoyed meeting all of your teachers and had some nice tea and coffee and treats while they visited the school! See all of you tomorrow!