New blogs....

Spread the word -all groups have not invited me to their new blogs. Send me the invites so I can see your dead poet posts please.

Homework for the holidays

Don't forget your food bank items!!! See you at breakfast :)

Homework logs.... 2 weeks and no posts...hmmm...

Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy reading over the break.

See you in the New Year!

My email is down

Post questions here.

Webs

Ms.Lees, sorry to bother you, but I heard that some people got extensions, and so I was wondering if the whole class got extended or there are certain qualifications. Thank You

Old blog groups

Keep them online for the semester as the work will be compared to the work you put on your new group's blog.

Blogger

So if we are in new blogging groups, what do we do with our old blogs?

Extra flex this week

In addition to Thursday, this week I will open on Wednesday between 11:10 and 11:50.

Concept map rubric

See web links for concept map rubric. You will receive a printed copy in class Monday Nov 28. Reminder - Bring your webs in progress. You will have class time Monday and maybe Tuesday during conferences to work on your webs.

Additional Opinion

I already shared my opinion about whether we should continue blogging or not. Now, I have a little additional opinion to say.

Even if we decide to not continue Blogging, I strongly suggest that we should keep the Homework Blog going. It reminds us what the homework is and makes it much easier to find out the homework when we miss the class. In addition, it also summarize the in-class tasks and analyse the intention of them.

Should we continue blogging?

Yes we should. Why? Because it is a great learning experience and also because of these reasons.
¤ comments from other group members really helped me correct weak areas.
¤other group members can set an example for you to use as a guideline for your own post.
¤Ms Lees usually takes about a week or more to mark our work handed in or it somehow gets lost. Blogger can prevent that from happening.
¤Blogger will help one to problem solve. For example, if there are tech issues, you can just post it as a comment or just do a hard paper copy of it.

Should we countinue blogging?

In my opinion, Blogger has been a great tool towards my learning and I think we should continue blogging. Not only because this knowledge we're learning from Blogger will help us in the future, but because it makes us work on our work habits. It's easier to see who does their homework on time and who doesn't. It also allows us to comment on each others posts to give feedback and talk more about the ideas we are trying to show our group members.

Although this seems to be easy, if one of the members does not post on time the other members can't fully finish their homework, which brings us back to work habits. If we are going to continue using blogger to do projects, homework posts in group I think we should be encouraging our group members to post on time. This will benefit the group members and herself/himself too, it will change his/her work habits and more likely start posting on time, and the group members would be able to finish their task of commenting on his/her work.

Further more as my group member said, we could do some hand in homework too, not everything has to be about blogging all our homework. In conclusion for our blog, it's a yes to continue blogging, but our members should be posting on time.

Shall We Continue to Blog?

For the most part, blogging has been a completely difference experience for me; and along with the unorthodox approach of doing homework online, it is apparent that we all benefited much from this enriching approach to English class. Albeit, this hasn't been the same for us all; namely, some of my fellow classmates did not take an advantage of this system and follow the given instructions; which would have made this blogging experience reach its full potential.

Indeed, we all started out kind of testing the water little by little; and eventually we were able to grasp the technicalities of using an online blog and advance. Here comes the question though: should we continue to use Blogger? I have mixed feels with regards to it. Blogger has thrown a few obstacles out at us here and there, technical problems in general, but I believe that the biggest problem here is the work habits section. Perhaps students think that by using the Internet for homework can opt them out of finishing it before the deadline, or maybe even to the extent to have an excuse to not do their homework. Furthermore, I also believe that the quality of the comments should be reinforced to contain more aspects of useful constructive criticism. I feel that this is more crucial to blogging because it involves the success of our classmates; if I don't finish my homework, then my blog members will not be able to complete theirs.

Another aspect of this question is whether or not blogging is a more effective approach than carrying out in-class homework. I would think: not quite.; using blogger has given people more excuses to not finish their homework on time. Frankly, my opinion is that my writing or reading would have improve much more if I were doing it by hand with the help of actual classmates in the form of solid. This, however, can be put aside because it is inevitable that we will have to use technology greatly in the future. Doing homework in class and handing it in class gives people more of an obligation to finish their homework, that much I believe is true.

My final opinion on this matter is that: yes, we should continue using blogger; however only to a certain extent and only if 2 conditions are met. We should only use Blogger moderately and mixed in with actual in class homework. The 2 conditions I believe are: students MUST finish their homework on time, and be obligated to accomplish quality work (and comments to the best of their potential). If these two conditions are met, I believe that this is a practical approach to learning and to improve greatly in reflecting; or how Ms.Lees likes to say it: thinking about our thinking.

Should we continue blogging?

In response to Ms. Lees' question, we should continue blogging. When blogging, we are using an effective data output tool, with one’s posts able to be seen by people from all over the world. As well, comments, an indispensable resource, are so instant and convenient through Blogger. That way, we can quickly receive feedback for our work and use it to revise our work. On a side note, designing a template for our blogs and making it aesthetically pleasing while at the same time legible is a useful lesson in presentation.

When using blogger, we learn a multitude of skills, such as learning how to make constructive comments on other people's work and using others' feedback to improve your own work. Having such expedient comments through blogger certainly helps. Being able to make constructive comments is a vital life skill, as it allows you to work with others by collaborating and pointing out flaws in others' work while at the same time being encouraging. In addition, bearing in mind how Blogger is an electronic medium, it is susceptible to various techinical issues. This requires us to use critical thinking in order to solve issues that may arise. For example, if the spaces in your posts appear different from how you wrote them, you could experiment with Blogger to find a solution, such as editing the text directly in HTML to fix formatting errors.

As for suggestions to augment our blogging experience, larger groups would be a better idea. In a group of six to eight people, there would be more posts to comment on. As well, if the teacher said to comment on three other posts, and someone garnered numerous comments while another received none, it would be a valuable lesson in sense of audience. As well, having more members would mitigate the negative effects from members who do not post in a timely manner.

Should We Continue Blogging?

Should we continue blogging? 


To be honest, I only have one problem with blogger.

The learning intentions behind using blogger include teaching us how to use blogger, encouraging the quieter students to speak up, allowing us to write for a bigger audience - and them giving us constructed criticism to improve our writing and responding skills.

However, when we actually do start blogging, which of these intentions are actually fulfilled? From my experience of blogging, many of these intentions were not achieved because of the lack of response from the "quieter students". We are not encouraging students to participate more if they refuse to try. As were some group members - simply responded with a "good job", "nice structure", or "I agree with you". This makes it extremely hard to expand on the conversation and connect beyond - especially if they don't respond to my response to their posts. Hence, I don't feel that my writing skills have improved by much, in fact, I believe that my writing skills have improved more from the in-class peer-edits rather than the response I receive from my blog group members.

Personally though, I think with the right system, we can work this problem out. I would suggest grouping the students with similar skill abilities would create more interesting discussions. But I do understand the downside of this resolution is that those groups with perhaps less skills in this area will not benefit as much since there might be less discussion and the responding skills will lack.

Nevertheless, other than this issue, I have nothing against blogger.

Regarding the Question

Since the question is should we keep on blogging, are we supposed to write formally or as our opinions, that is, using the I voice? Thank you

blogger issues

Hey ms. Lees check Montana's blog, he can't post on either of you blogs.

Should we continue blogging?

Discuss on your group blogs. Provide reasons for your opinions. This must be done by November 22.

Administrators - report back on my blog by November 24.

Students may also post additional comments on my blog if they wish to converse with students who are not part of their own group blog.

We will use your individual and group responses to decide whether we should continue using the blogs, or a variation of them.

Writing TIps

Here is a link to the list we created in class today:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qYRHt62-uiZWa53L-O_oh4rpisaU3AWh02bR4sIyUVk/edit

Edit posts

Start as if to post new ( new post). There should be an option tab above the post box that says "edit posts"
Click on the "edit" link of the post you wish to edit.
If you have troupe in " compose" mode, type in HTML mode & transpose to "compose" mode before posting.

Paragraph spacing

Make sure that you are posting in "compose" mode & don't worry about indenting as long as you leave a line space (hit return twice at the end of the paragraph.

VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM! MULTIPLE PEOPLE!

Ms Lees, for some reason none of my indents(paragraphing spaces) will show up! At first when I use the spacebar 5X it works, but after I click post and then view my post they vanish! Why is this happening? I asked some other people if they new how to fix it but they said they were having the same problem! Do you have any idea how to fix this Ms. Lees?

Problem

Ms.Lees you told us to make corrections on our answer for the 1/5 questions, but I don't know how to edit the post that you posted for me.

En 9 binder / portfolio checklist and Prep

The formatting is a little off with the charts but at least you can see most of it - if you know how to fix this please email me or post on my blog.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y9DDCi1O7Xf97OIrarS7_4_2uRI7Tb0sM-oVX1QJ56U/edit

Are you still having trouble posting?

Try working in word or rtf and then copying and pasting into your post - but do it as and "Edit HTML" post - see the tabs in the top right of your post box. Then when you are finished switch to the compose mode to edit - this seems to allow some posts that did not previously work (and no - I can't explain why - it just did)

ms lees! can you make me an author for the homework helper? thank you!

Following Block 1's Homework Helper

Hi Ms. Lees,
I can't seem to follow the homework helper even if i scrolled down to the bottom. There is nothing under "Followers" that I could find of on my computer. Do you have any suggestions?

Serious Problem

Hello Ms Lees, this is Jeff Wu. I am supposed to write the "Homework Helper" for today, but since I am not an author of the Helper Blog, I could not post. Can you make me an author?

Question 4

(I am posting on here because something weird is going on.. AGAIN)

In the story, we see that women and girls were treated differently than men or boys. Back then, people thought higher of males than females. They thought that men were stronger, and perhaps smarter, so the men were what people looked for to hire and use for jobs. Women had rights, but they were not as valued. They could have jobs, but were either paid less, or were only allowed to have minor jobs. (Such as helping or working for the men). They also were not allowed to go to university or school, but could get an education from tutors at home. Basically, women were taught to obey or listen to men.

In 'Cue for Treason', Kit meets Mr. Desmond, pretending that she is a boy. The reason for that was because if she introduced herself as a girl and told him that she wanted the job, they, the company, would have not wanted her, or would not have allowed her, since she was a girl. Kit also knew that they would not respect her, or see any talent or value in her if she told them the truth. Also, other evidence from the story that shows there was a great difference between genders was when Shakespeare realized that Kit was a girl. He was surprised, but he kept it to himself. Shakespeare knew that if he told someone, they would kick her out of the company, and possibly kill or torture her. That was how serious and huge the society thought the difference between genders were.

The way the women were treated could have been classified as “poor”. They were thought of as mediocre or less. People usually expected the women the stay home and cook, or to take care of the children, which also, they were expected to have. Ladies walked around showing class. They acted very “ladylike”, as in respectful, kind, and polite.

I think that the portrayals of these women were very appropriate for the time period. I think this because back then every woman, including the Queen, were very ladylike. However, they also needed to do tough and difficult jobs too like taking care of the children, and helping the men or masters with their jobs.

In conclusion, in the Elizabethan times, men and women were treated very differently. Men had more rights than women. Men were more respected, valued, and were thought to be able to do more things than women. Gender played a big part in society.

Take your kids to work - Wed Nov 2

Don't forget your forms - there are 9 of you who will be in class with me without them! (No form does not mean that you just get a day off!!!)

Blog questions & instructions - Oct 31 - Nov 3

Options: Choose 1 question from the following list . Length expectation for each question - multi- paragraph responses. Each person posts 1 response by Tuesday and comments on 2 other people by Thursday. (paragraph/multiparagraph outlines are available in class if you need some extra help)

1. The novel's inciting incident forces Peter's family to make the decision that he should run away and hide from the "law" in the form of Sir Phillip. This seems to be an unusual choice for a protagonist of a novel. Why do you think the author made this choice? What message is the author trying to send? Is it better to hide from your troubles or to face them? Provide examples (from your life, other texts, current events or history) that support both sides of the argument and offer your opinion in a concluding paragraph. (expectation implied in the question is for 3 paragraphs)
2. Do you think the theatre of the Elizabethan Age or the Entertainment media of today has any link or influence upon the social values or political ideals of the people or is it only a reflection (artistic expression) of the social values and political issues of the day? In other words - do you think entertainment (theatre or other media today) reflects (is a record) what is going on in society or influences (has an effect) on society. Support your argument with logical reasoning and at least 1 example from your knowledge of the Elizabethan Era through our novel and 1 example from present day.

3. The character of Peter is a 15 year old ordinary lower class boy who becomes a heroic figure by the end of the novel. People can be heroes in many ways. Commonly, people choose to lead noble, honourable or risky lives and they become heroes as a result of their choices or training, like peace keepers or firemen. Others are "accidental heroes" where circumstances arise and it is their undexpected responses that make them heroic. What kind of hero is Peter? Or is he one at all? Provide examples from the text and compare Peter to someone from the past or present that you would call a hero.

4. Historical fiction is a popular genre, but when reading it can be difficult not to apply today's values to the past (the same is true when studying history in general). The character of Kit causes the reader to examine the role gender plays in our society. What can we learn about the differences between the role of men and women in Elizabethan society through the characters of our novel. In your argument, discuss both how they are treated and how they are portrayed. Finally, do you think they are realistic portrayals for the time period.

5. Students often have difficulty relating to Shakespeare or other writers from the past. However, they do not have as much trouble relating to characters that are set in the past, as in historical fiction. Choose one of the main characters, Peter, Kit, Sir Phillip or another (approved by me first) and persuade me that as characters we can still relate to them today. You may want to start with their characteristics and then think of present day examples that are similar.

Ms Lees is having comment issues - Help?

Good evening everyone,

I am hit and miss on the comments and most of the time they are not working. On Monday please remind me what I am doing wrong - as a follower I should be able to comment, shouldn't I? without signing in?

On Monday I will call groups up to discuss, assess and review strengths and weaknesses of their blog posting and commenting. My own self assessment for my blog is that I am not meeting expectations in the area of commenting.

Both class homework blogs should now be updated. Don't forget to sign up to follow and let me know if the initial instructions and my example, in the first post, are clear for you.

Still missing several students 7 a blog or 2 - followers

Nicolas C - send me another invite please

lees_v@sd36.bc.ca

Block 1 - new blog for you!

Some of you have asked for a place to put homework "stuff" of sorts, so...

You are all officially invited to a different blog which will be used for homework records, reflections and help.

Sign up as followers

http://www.leesen9hw1.blogspot.com

I hope it works!

Joyce help

Hi Joyce

Post yours on my blog until tomorrow if you can't on yours. I put out an alert on yours so hopefully someone sees and will fix it but to problem solve - just post on mine.

So boys chose from the last half and girls from the first half. Does that mean boys chose from the second page and girls chose from the first page?

Ms Lees, it now says that I'm not even a contributor of my blog. I can access blogger, but not my email still. I cannot post on "we love english" anymore.. HELP!

Block 2 Blog Questions

These are your blog questions - some are not bad but most need work for grammar and word choice (clarity). Remember these questions should be broad and involve you making connections between the original Big Q, the text (plot, character, theme), the world and/or yourself. You will eventually be taking control of your blog questions but we need help working on the phrasing of our questions. So...

For Friday: Your task is to choose 5 questions (girls choose from the first half on the list and boys choose from the last half on the list) to rephrase. Why? We are looking for thought provoking questions that would spur conversation and allow you to discuss the text with connections. This means try to avoid questions where answers may be found "right there" in the text. Don't forget that the questions should be able to be discussed with chapters 1-10 in mind. ***If you think a question does not work for our purposes explain why you think it is irrelevant. Be specific.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hz-ZewhhC0F66ONBggR4dWyRSzYgCYFTGLTZXVDj_pY/edit

Blog questions - block 1

These are your blog questions - some are not bad but most need work for grammar and word choice (clarity). Remember these questions should be broad and involve you making connections between the original Big Q, the text (plot, character, theme), the world and/or yourself.

You will eventually be taking control of your blog questions but we need help working on the phrasing of our questions. So...

For Friday: Your task is to choose 5 questions (girls choose from the first half on the list and boys choose from the last half on the list) to rephrase.

Why? We are looking for thought provoking questions that would spur conversation and allow you to discuss the text with connections. This means try to avoid questions where answers may be found "right there" in the text. Don't forget that the questions should be able to be discussed with chapters 1-10 in mind.

***If you think a question does not work for our purposes explain why you think it is irrelevant. Be specific.

Follow the link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H0oC-FtEwqHzRhg8o0nguG9i-tUcpyhKxWYwKuYsMm4/edit

Rubric is posted

Check the web links to let me know if it works. If it does - don't forget to review your posts and finish your comments by Monday. Some of you are still just summarising the novel which will put you in the "Not Yet Within Expectations" realm.

Don't forget to have read up to chapter 10, and worked on your concept web prep (notes of the history you are learning about Shakespearean England through reading the novel).

Rubric

Will send Saturday afternoon. Thanks!

Here is my URL.

http://the-blog-title-is-a-lie.blogspot.com/

- Joyce

I am now trying to comment on the 3 blogs (Matthew, Stella, Jeff,...) who have already started but I keep receiving the message that I am not allowed to? I will need help tomorrow!

PS the KCL blog does not seem finished.

The Big Q

Was a person's life path determined before they were born? Is it today? Or can a man change his stars as the clip suggests?