Welcome to the Blogging in English Seminar 2022!

Hi everyone! How are you doing in this strange time of COVID-19? I hope you are staying healthy and keeping your older family members healthy. Let's not take too many risks, OK?

Blogzemi is a full year course (30 classes). Classes this year are in the classroom. There will be many presentations in this class.

In the spring semester, you will view blogs and analyze them. You will try to find blogs that are interesting to you and you will introduce them to the class. In the fall semester, you will make your own blog. You will use your experience of viewing blogs to make an interesting blog that will appeal to others.

As a first step, you must have a Gmail (Google) account so you can make comments on this blog and on the blogs of others. Do you have a Gmail account? If not, please make one SOON. If you want Kevin's help, you need to choose English as the display language.

Let's make a list of topics

Assignments:
We will do two writing exercises today.

#1) Write a comment in the comment box below. You have to sign in with your Gmail account. Tell Kevin (and everyone who reads the comments) what topic from the chat list is interesting to you. Maybe this will become your blog topic in the fall semester. But don't worry; you still have plenty of time to choose a great blog topic later. Be sure to write your name at the end of your comment so Kevin knows who wrote the comment.

Topics from last year's chat list:
cooking, movies, video games, travel, organic food, etc.

Example:

I'm interested in 3 topics. First, I'm interested in TV dramas, because I like foreign dramas, like 'The Walking Dead' and '24 Hours'. I want to watch many overseas dramas and write about them. The next topic I'm interested in is sweets. I want to know more about sweets around the world and I want to bake sweets and show how to make them. My  third topic is animals. I want to go to zoos and write about animals of the world

2722040 Tomoe Saito

Now that we have a Google account, we can make use of Google Drive. Google Drive is like Microsoft Office. It's free and it's online. You can make documents and slide shows. You can access your documents from any computer that has Internet. You can also share your documents with other people with your Gmail account.

#2) Please take a minute to think about what kinds of social media and blogs you currently use. Do you use Instagram, Twitter, Line, Facebook, YouTube or other sites? Which ones do you use daily? Occasionally? Do you view anyone's blog? Which sites? Tell us now, using the document function in Google Drive. Share your document with Kevin by Gmail (not Google +). Please make a title for your writing.

* A few writing and typing points:
1. Make one space (only 1!) after a sentence.
2. Write in paragraphs (段落). Several sentences on the same topic should be in the same paragraph. Don't use the 'Enter' key after each sentence. Just keep typing, with one space after each sentence.
3. For the purpose of blogging and commenting, we will NOT indent (字下げしない). After each paragraph, Hit 'Enter' twice to make a line space between paragraphs, as in the sample below.
4. Did you read the 3 points above? Then please do it!

Here's Kevin's example:

Social Media and Me

I don't use the most common social media sites, or at least not very often. I have a Twitter account, but I rarely use it. I don't use Facebook either. I have a Line account, and I mainly use it to communicate with my wife and daughter, but recently I contact students by Line. I sometimes use YouTube to post videos to use in my classes. My favorite social media site is called Reddit. On Reddit, I can view interesting and funny articles or memes, and I can read the comments people make about various topics. Sometimes I post my own comments and opinions. Reddit is different from Facebook or Twitter in that it's anonymous.

I have many blogs, which I use for my classes. I have this one, "Blogging in English", for my Blog Seminar. I have another blog for my Movie Seminar and one for my Graduation Seminar. Basically, whenever I have a class that uses a computer classroom, I make a blog for the class, and I have students post comments on the site. I also post links on the blogs so students can quickly find the sites I want to introduce.

My favorite blog that I check often is "Free Technology for Teachers" by Richard Byrne. The URL is http://www.freetech4teachers.com .This blog gives me ideas that I can use in the classes that I teach in computer classrooms. 

I'm interested in history, especially American history, and as a kind of hobby, I have a website about Pocahontas and the Jamestown colony. The website is called Pocahontas Lives!

Kevin Miller

(260 words)

More stuff to do!

You need to work on your typing skills! This can only be done on a PC. Typing practice on a smart phone will not be useful. Typing Lessons at Typing.com

Grammar Review
You all know the Simple Present Tense in English grammar. We use it to describe things we do every day. For example, "Recently, I stay at home every day." and "She eats bread for breakfast."

Remember to add an 's; when the subject is he, she or it.

Singular  /  Plural

• I speak English.  /  We speak English.
• You speak English.  /  You speak English.
• He speaks English  /  They speak English.
• She speaks English
• It speaks English.

Also, "Do you speak English?" and "Does she speak English?" "No, I don't speak English." "No, she doesn't speak English."

Exercises:
017 Eduardo's Family - Simple Present Tense
018 What's the Word? - Simple Present Tense

Submit your Gmail address when you do these exercises.

One more thing!
In this class, I usually make a class photo for the Blogzemi Website. I can either make a collage or take a group shot as in the photos at the bottom of this page. We'll talk about it in class.

Example:

Week 1 To Do List

1. Join the BlogZemi Line group.
2. Make a Google account (if you don't have one)
3. Write a blog comment (on this blog) about topics you are interested in
4. Write a paragraph about Social Media and how you use it
5. Send your paragraph to Kevin using Google Drive's share function. How to send is explained below.
6. Practice typing on a PC (if you have access to a PC)
7. Do 2 online grammar exercises. (They will ask for your Gmail address.)
8. Photo for website

If you have questions, send Kevin an email or Line message. Use your Gmail account for email. Send mail to my Tsurumi mail account.

Student - Teacher contact will be by ..

• this blog
• Gmail
• university email
• Line
• Manaba

We will use all of these ways. Please reply when I contact you. Always include your name in your email messages.

Archive BlogZemi Photos

BlogZemi 2014

BlogZemi2017