Monday, March 17, 2008

a blog by esl students

A colleague on Webheads (a group for esl teachers using technology) posted the following message that I am passing on to you. Please visit the blog and leave comments.

My students are finally displaying some of their work in http://handsacrosst heoceans. edublogs. org. They have made short movies and some are displayed in the blog. They will be very happy if they see comments about their work from people around the world.

The instructor also asks (us teachers):
What are your thoughts about correcting students' work before it goes online? Thank you in advance.

What do you think? If you wrote something that would be published publicly rather than just shared here in our group, would you want it corrected before you put it online?

4 comments:

  1. Hi Ms Vanessa. I agree with that you proposed to us. When I write something I want to know if it is right, or correctly. I want to know my mistakes by someone that knows better the language.

    Regards, Matoula

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was surprised that the teacher even asked. It's not just esl or writing.

    Recently, I was talking about just this with a friend who used to teach piano. We were discussing a local art group exhibit. The artist in charge encouraged everyone to exhibit without helping them think about which works were good enough to display publicly. Some of the works exhibited should not have been.

    Wana Beth said not everyone got to play the piano at recitals just because they wanted to. They needed to be ready. When they did play, she helped them pick the piece and made sure they practiced enough.

    Sometimes you can't avoid not showing yourself at less than your best. But it can be an embarrassing and unpleasant experience. If it is avoidable, then why not avoid it?

    I used to teach horseback riding and did not let my students show before they were ready. There were, obviously, also safety issues, but the guiding principle was the same.

    That is also one - perhaps the main - reason I closed the blog to the public. What you write and the mistakes you make are private - just between friends and not for all to see. I think it makes for a more relaxed writing situation and better practice.

    Maybe someday I'll ask everyone about contributing to something we publish for the public.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello Ms Vanessa
    I’ll agree with your opinion.
    What I’m writing and thinking it is personal for me in general.
    I like this way of communication. This is the reason that I’m in here for so long.
    But I’d like better if my classmates wrote their opinions more often than they do now

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Mata

    I feel the same way. I'd really like it better if others in our group wrote more often.

    But, as the slang expression goes, it's "their bad" because their writing will not improve if they don't write more in English. Just reading about writing is not enough.

    ReplyDelete

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