Create Your Own Comic!

For this lesson I used a comic strip generator called Strip Generator. You see a lot of popular graphic novels are now used in ESL classrooms so I thought this website was pretty neat. The comic strip I generated was of a girl walking into her classroom in the morning. This is a situation students encounter daily and it encourages them to practice greetings, making requests, and so on. 

Students are acting as the character Wenchun when creating dialog. They must read the question or response from the teacher in order to ask an an appropriate question or give a relevant response. For example, below I have the teacher saying "Good morning, Wenchun. I'm great, thank you". The student would have to figure out what they would say to the teacher in order to get that response, such as "Good morning Miss Brown, how are you today?". An incorrect answer would be if the student does not at all acknowledge the teachers response and says something like "It's raining outside". This would help the student practice greetings.

Secondly, you see the teacher saying "Your hair looks very nice today". Students would have to come up with an appropriate comment back such as "Thank you, I got a hair cut this weekend" or "That is very nice of you to say. I like your hair as well".

By students doing this they would fulfill performance indicator ESL4.I.1I: Students use appropriate vocabulary, expressions, language, routines, and interaction styles for various audiences and formal and informal social or school situations, noticing how intention is realized through language.
Students would access the whole comic here and complete all of the dialog for Wenchun in the box or on a separate sheet of paper if needed. This would be gone over as a class and collected by the teacher.

Idioms

Today I explored a photo series website called Animoto. I chose to put a series of photos together that are all common idioms in English. Students would watch this video where the would see a picture along with text. Students will look at the photo along with the text and guess the meaning of the idiom. This fulfills performance indicator ESL5.I.1A: Students demonstrate an understanding of cultural and language patterns and norms in American English, including regional and social varieties of English.

At home, students will label a sheet of paper 1 - 7 skipping lines between each number. Due to the fact that the video could only be 30 seconds, the images and words go by quickly. Since the students are doing this on their own, they have the ability to stop the video when needed. Doing this gives them the chance to stop on each word, write the word and look at the picture. On the first line the student will write the idiom and below the student will make a guess as to what the idiom means. The following day when students come in, we will watch the video as a whole. For each word the teacher will pause the video and the students will share their answers. At the end, the students will hand in their papers for me to assess their original guesses along with any modifications they made.

The Change of Languages

I created a TedEd lesson titled: The Evolution of Language where students would watch the 4 minute video then answer a few questions on comprehension then relate the information they have learned to their life. By doing this activity students would address 1 standard and 2 performance indicators:

Standard: ESL 1 Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for information and understanding.
Performance Indicator ESL.1.C.1A: Students identify and use reading and listening strategies to make text comprehensible and meaningful.
Performance Indicator ESL1.C.1C: Students select information appropriate to the purpose of the investigation with suitable supporting material.

Students language objectives will be to compare and contrast features from their native language and English in a piece of writing.

I would assess this by reading their discussion posts and determining if they have wrote similarities and differences between their native language and English. For example, "Chinese and English are different because in Chinese I do not use plurals.In English I am talking about more than one of something I put an  -s on the end". 

Let's Get Flipped

I just read two interesting pieces on flipped classrooms: Why It's Time To Rethink Homework and Things You Should Know About Flipped Classrooms. Although flipping a classroom seems interesting I can't say I'm completely convinced!

A flipped classroom is basically where the students learn the content outside of the classroom and then when they come to class they ask questions and then partake in activities to reinforce what was learned outside of class. 

I'm still weary for a few reasons, one being that I think it makes it difficult to differentiate instruction for students. Depending on the language level of your students flipping could be very difficult if you're not there to help them with vocabulary. You are also not there to guide those students who may need a bit more assistance when learning something new. I also am a bit concerned about what happens when students DO NOT go home and watch the required video or complete the required readings. This would cause students to fall behind very quickly.If students did attempt to look at new content and had difficulty understanding, I think it could be very discouraging when coming to class and trying to partake in the activity.

I think in order to flip a classroom you would need dedication from your students. I could see myself flipping my classroom occasionally. For example, in my previous post I used a clip about immediate family which introduces the terms: mother, father, siblings, brother, and sister. I think going over this in class to make sure students know what family is, then going home and watching other parts of the video which go over terms: grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousin, etc would be beneficial. I think it would be important to give your students a strong background before sending them home to learn more.

Tube Chop

Have you ever wanted to show just a piece of a video to your class? As a teacher I always run into the problem that I'd like to show my class a clip from a whole video but clicking through to figure out where it starts is very time consuming. Well, I'm here to save the day and tell you about Tube Chop. Tube chop gives you the chance to put in your YouTube link and shorten the video to only the content you want to be seem.

I played around with Tube Chop and decided to use a video for ESL students on Immediate Family. For this lesson I would have students watch this video and then create their own family tree of just their immediate family. I know in some cultures it is inappropriate to ask questions about someones mother. Therefore if you have a student in your class who is not able to discuss information about their mother, have this student talk more in detail about their siblings. Students should be able to state who is in their immediate family and refer to their brothers and sisters as siblings. They should also be able to share a sentence about each member of their family. When referring to their siblings they should also use the terms we heard in the video "elder" and "younger" when giving information about them. First this will be done orally in class as a whole, then each student will write it in a sentence with assistance from the teacher if needed. The teacher would be able to assess the students use of the immediate family vocabulary by the sentences they provide. For example, if the student says "My younger sibling works as a nurse in a hospital". If the student young you can assume that this information is incorrect. The teacher should look for an answer along the lines of "My younger sibling is in 3rd grade".

Garbage Dreams

Hello everyone!

This week I am further exploring gamification, but this time I am focusing on serious games. The game I chose to play is called The Garbage Dreams Recycling Game and I played the game about 8 times (it's kind of addicting once you get started). This game is based on a documentary titled Garbage Dreams that shows you an inside view on Egypt's garbage people. This game lets you play the role of a recycler. Your goal is to recycle as much as possible while also building your recycling empire without running out of money

The picture above is the map you have when you begin. As you can see there is a map with different places and names on them. Also on the side bar you can see there are types of recyclables. 

Below is a photo of what it looks like when you sort your garbage and have to place it in the correct recycling bin. Therefore, you need to know which items fall under which recycling category. It's important to know which piece of garbage it supposed to be put where because for each item you put in the wrong place you lose money! 

Before playing I would have students go through the website and copy down any words that they think would be important to know. I would have a list of my own as well in case they miss a few that I believe are important. 

For students that are beginner to intermediate learners I could focus strictly on vocabulary for this game. So my language learning objective for them would be:

• Student will be able to identify each recycling category (organics, paper, tin, glass, plastics, aluminum) and know acceptable items that can be put in each category. 

How I would have students do this would be by using a picture sort. I would provide roughly 20 photos or actual items (if my classroom allowed it) and have them tell me which category each item belongs in and why. For example, a magazine belongs in the paper category because it is made of paper. A soda can does not belong in organics because it is not safe for an animal to eat. 

For more advanced students I would have them create a summary of the game. They may already know a lot of the recycling vocabulary therefore the can use these words and don't need to be taught the terms from scratch. My language learning objective would be:

• Student will be able to use recycling vocabulary to write a narrative of The Garbage Dreams Recycling Game.

Students will need to create a clear piece of writing narrating what the game is about and how to play. Students will need to use vocabulary and correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. 

I chose this game because I think it's a very important topic that can be used or seen across countries. It allows students to understand that their actions can make a difference in the world. It also teaches them how to be more environmentally friendly.

Escape the Room

Today I explored the world of Escaping the Room Games! If you're not familiar with what escaping the room games are, I'll give you a brief overview. It's an online game where you can point and click to explore a world of your choice. You are trying to complete a task for your character by reading the pop ups directing you what to do. 

I tried a few games but my favorite was Griswold the Goblin who is on a quest to fix his television. He 's just a a dopey little guy who lives in a cave. I probably played this game for about an hour! I thought this would be an interesting game to use in an ESL classroom.

The great thing about this game is that some directions come only written, while others are given orally and in writing. I think depending on student level this game could be used in a variety of ways. 

For example, with intermediate learners I think it could be beneficial as a whole class to introduce the game. The game would be brought up on the overhead and one student would navigate while the other students in the class worked together with where Griswold should go and what he should do. The teacher can prompt the students if they seem to get stuck or clarify any words they don't understand. 

Whats nice about this game is that in the bottom left hand corner of the screen are Griswold's capabilities. One is walking, the eyeball is for him looking at something more closely, the hand is for touching and him being able to move things around, and the mouth is for him to talk. This could be something that you have the students write about. This would be a simple introduction to how to play the game, but also have them begin developing vocabulary and using descriptive words. An ongoing activity throughout the game could be to find descriptive words to describe what they see or keep a running list of words that they're unsure of. Later on, students could work together to develop a word wall of all the vocabulary associated with the game. Eventually I would have students work in pairs to play the game. As their language skills developed I would establish checkpoints for where they should go up to in the game. Then I would have them narrate Griswold's adventures for that day. They should be able to write about any new characters he met, where he went, what it looked like, or anything else that gives insight to what they did in the game that day. 

The role of he teacher would be a helper. The teacher should monitor student work and answer questions. I also think to verify that the students know what they're supposed to be doing. In order for students to meet the learning objectives they must actually play the game and complete a piece of writing that goes alongside with playing the game.

This is a cute game worth checking out. It's a way for students to practice reading, writing, and listening while having some hands on experiences.

What is Gamification?

        First and foremost you're probably asking yourself "what is gamification?" According to Educause's Things You Should Know About Gamification, "Gamification is the application of game elements in non-gaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior". It is used to create an engaging dynamic. It generally engages students because they're given game like prizes. It gives motivation to reach certain accomplishments. I also gives teachers a way to track accomplishments and points. Using games to learn keeps students engaged and stimulated and gives them the chance to work at their own pace and achieve their individual goals.

Tom Chatfield presents an interesting rationale in a TED talk titled 7 Ways Games Reward the Brain. Games reward your brain with experience bars that measure progress, multiple long and short-term aims, rewarding effort, feedback, and have an element of uncertainty. Using games is engaging and this is because, effort is rewarded although the reward before hand is uncertain. 

At one point he discusses the neurotransmitter associated with learning, dopamine. This is a chemical released by the brain that is associated with reward seeking behavior and makes people feel good. They have found ways to track the dopamine levels in the brain while gaming, which has given them the opportunity to predict learning and enhanced engagement when learning is taking place at an enhanced level. This has given them the chance to find moments when someone is most likely to remember and when someone has confidence. It shows how "game-playing and reward structures make people braver, make them more willing to take risks, more willing to take on difficulty, harder to discourage."  Gaming makes students confident and gives them opportunity to collaborate. Both of these are very important qualities students should have in everyday life and in the working world.

Now that we know what gamification is and how it effects our brain, here are some ways that you can incorporate games in your classroom for your students. Digital Play shares 10 Gaming Genres To Adapt In Class and they are: point and click, escape the room, arcade, puzzle, strategy, adventure, casual, massively multiplayer online role playing games, alternate reality, and virtual worlds.

A few of my favorites I could see myself using the classroom are:

• Escape the Room - Language can be used by getting a student to write about a walk through that we do as a class or they do on their own. If you're not familiar with them you can check a few out here
• Arcade - Games like these can give students the chance practice language skills at a quick pace.
• Puzzle Games - These could come in handy when testing a students ability to understand word or language patterns. You could create an activity to a virtual word sort.

Overall, using games in your classroom shows how effective it is for student engagement and the benefits it has on a learners brain.

you can use twitter in the classroom!???!

According to Twitter they have over 271 million active users and roughly 500 million tweets are sent per day. How can we as teachers use this site for professional development and in the classroom with students? I browsed the internet and was overwhelmed with the ideas that were presented about how to use this resource.

The first site I looked at was 60 Inspiring Examples of Twitter in the Classroom. The great thing about this site was that they break down the uses into different categories: Communication, Organization, Resources, Writing Skills, and Twitter Exercises. These are a few of my favorites from each category:

• Twitter as a Bulletin Board - This is a way teachers and students can openly communicate about whats happening in the classroom. For example, if the teacher is going to be out that day, the teacher can tweet at the class they will not to be in that day and to bring a book with them to read that day in class.
• Twitter Recaps - At the end of a class the teacher or an assigned students can give a brief summary about what students learned that day.
• Ask for Help or Advice - This is more so for a teachers professional development,  but a teacher can join twitterchats and ask questions or get advice from other teachers or professionals. It's a quick way to connect with teachers all over the world and get new ideas.
• Vocabulary Building - Students can each tweet a sentence using a vocabulary word they had learned that day. 
• Conversations Can Continue Outside the Classroom - Students still have questions after the class is over or are having trouble doing their homework. A quick tweet to the teacher or a fellow classmate can clear up whatever trouble they're having.

The site is absolutely worth checking out. They have over 50 other creative ways that teachers can use twitter.

The other site I looked at was Teachers Guide to Using Twitter in the Classroom. They break Twitter down into 3 categories: Connect, Communicate, and Collaborate. "In 140 characters or less educators are connecting with others from around the world to share resources, take part in global discussion, stay informed, give and receive 'just in time' teaching and learning. The same can happen for your students." The photo below is from their website explaining how Twitter can be used in the K-8 classroom. 

As you can see, it gives teachers a way to connect with parents, send students reminders, share links with students, and document classroom learning. You can also give students extra credit assignments: post a book recommendation, write a poem, or share something you learned recently. I actually had a professor once on the first day of class have us describe your summer in 140 characters or less. Assignments like this can teach students that quality is more important than quantity. It also helps students learn how to revise. A lot of times you have something you want to say but it's too many characters. You have to think how you can still get your point across but with less words. 

This site would be a good one to use if you were going to use twitter in your classroom. It gives a very simple break down of twitter vocabulary, etiquette, quality and a basic how to. 

tweet tweet tweet tweet

Today I dove into the world of twitter! Although I am an avid twitter user, this is my first time using it from a professional teacher stand point.

My teacher put on our syllabus that we would have to attend a twitterchat. I felt as though I needed to prep just so I knew what to expect. While I was searching around twitter, I found that #edu14 was currently trending. I would say in a matter of 5 minutes I was reading hundreds of tweets and knew exactly what #edu14 was. It was truly mind blowing how in a matter of minutes #edu14 meant nothing to me, to me learning about an entire conference happening about technology used in higher ed. Needless to say, I felt prepped and ready to attend my first twitter chat.

Bright and early this morning (7AM) I attended the #ELTchat. Let me tell you, nothing gets your brain going more quickly than a group of teachers bouncing ideas off of one another. Today's topic was flipping. For me personally, I knew very little about flipping. Within 15 minutes I not only knew what flipping was but I knew resources that could be used, motivation for students working outside the class, how to effectively use your time in class, and how to work with students who did not do the prep work. I'm seemed as though many of the people on this chat attend regularly and to my surprise were very welcoming to answer my questions and give me feedback. 

I think a twitterchat is a good form of professional development. For the #ELTchat in particular, they vote on a topic to discuss each time. Therefore, you can vote on something you'd like to learn more about or something you think you could have a great deal of input in. It gives teachers the opportunity to share their knowledge with one another, ask questions, and bounce ideas off of one another. What's nice is that when someone says something you like you can favorite it, or shares a resource you can retweet it. That way you have this stored to your account. Also, if you search the hashtag an later on, all the tweets on that topic will still be there. Even if you don't get the time to actually participate in the chat, you can go through and read what people talked about that day.

Needless to say, this is definitely a resource I would use again in the future. 

See you in the twitterverse!!! @McManusEdTech

A Learner is Like.....

We've always been told that children are like sponges, that they absorb any information that we ever give them. After reading Connectivism: A Learning Theory by the Digital Age and watching The Conflict of Learning Theories with Human Nature , both by George Siemens I've reconstructed the old saying. 

A learner is like a sponge in pebbly, muddy water.

Here's why:

According to Siemens, one of the principles of connectivism is "Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen though the lens of shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be the wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision." The water and pebbles represent the ability to choose what information a learner decides to absorb. A sponge will pick up water and some very small pebbles, however it cannot absorb it all. This is much like a learner who chooses what they want to learn.

As we all know, a sponge not only absorbs but when you squeeze it, it will release whatever it has absorbed. According to Siemens, "As human beings we desire, or crave the ability to externalize what's in our heads." Squeezing a sponge is much like externalization. You are taking what you have learned and putting it back out into the world. It is basic human nature to want to share what we have learned. 

The process of absorbing and releasing or learning and externalizing can be done over and over.

This should be kept in mind when teaching. You need to make the information you are presenting to your students appealing because ultimately it is up to them what they want to do with the information you are giving them. They can choose to absorb it or leave it behind. It is also very important to give your students a chance to externalize what they have learned. It is basic human nature and should not be ignored. 

Interactive Online Communities

Hello again!

Today I've explored Google+ Communities. I've been hearing about them for a while so I decided today was the day to actually dive into the Google+ world. Needless to say, it was  much easier than I thought and extremely helpful. 

I joined two Google+ communities: Teachers for Interactive Language Learning and English Language Teaching. As a future ESOL teacher I found these communities extremely helpful. From what I saw it was teachers for future teachers sharing their ideas, literature, questions, and resources with one another. I actually found it very similar to a Facebook group. You join a group, can see who else is a part of the group, post text and photos on the wall, and comment on other peoples posts. 

As a teacher you're always looking to better yourself. Joining a Google+ community gives you the opportunity to always keep learning new things about education. You'd also be surprised how many people are willing to help and give ideas. For example, I could post a question "I'm looking to teach my students modals. Does anyone have any suggestions of an interactive website I could use to teach these?" Even if someone may not have a website they can share, they would share ideas or success stories they've had in their classroom. It's always enlightening to get new ideas.

I also like that you can change your settings to be notified when people post on the page or not. If you don't want to be bombarded with notifications, opting out is as easy as clicking a button. 

Needless today, joining a Google+ community gives you the opportunity for constant teacher development without having to pay any fees or having to leave your house and change out of your pajamas!

New and Improved Pen Pals

For this blog, I’ve been asked to explore the website ePals! ePals is a web-based tool that helps students from grades K-12 interact with other students from around the world.

Features of ePals

The main feature of this site is for teachers to find other classrooms that their class can interact with. I found a lot of teachers create an account for their specific class. For example, while browsing the site I came across this ad:

As you can see the teacher gives a brief description of their class stating the age, native language, and goals. There were DOZENS of these postings from countries all over the world. 

There is also a feature called ePals Clubhouse. This is a place where students can connect with each other and publish their writing, play games, create art. The website is incredibly interactive and gives students the opportunity to speak and work with other students.

Parents are largely concerned about who their children are speaking to on the internet. A nice feature about ePals is that it is a protected space for student interaction. The teachers can manage and monitor what the students are able to see and interact with. ePals complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

How I'd Implement it in My Classroom

One activity I found on the site that I was really liked was creating your own cultural profile. First, I would find a teacher who had English speaking children in their classroom that were willing to partake in an e-mail exchange. What I would do is have each student in my class and the other teacher’s class create a cultural profile. This is where a student fills out a Cultural Profile Worksheet that has information about them as well as photos. Each student in my class would be assigned to a student in another class and they would look at their cultural profile. They would read each other’s profiles and create a dialogue based on what they read. If the teacher agreed I would like students to be able to Skype with one another after they have created their questions.

Although this activity would take more than one class, students would have two goals.

• Students will be able to fill out a cultural profile worksheet using information about themselves.
• S tudents will be able to generate 5 questions they could ask their ePal after viewing their cultural profile.

This would fulfill NYS ESL Learning Standard 4 that students will listen, speak, read and write in English for classroom and social interaction. They will be writing about themselves while filling out the cultural profile worksheet and the questions they have for their ePal. They will be reading when they are reading their ePals cultural profile. They will be speaking and listening when skyping with their ePal and having a conversation using the questions they had written.

Overall, the site is incredibly fascinating. It gives students the opportunity to interact with people their age that they probably would never have the chance of working with otherwise.

DIIGO vs Pinterest....... Which would you choose?

As teachers we often find ourselves coming across a lot of resources while were at school and saving them to the school computer. We sometimes find them at home while we're on our laptop. There are even times we find things while browsing on our phone while we're out and about. 

Over the past week I've been exploring the world of DIIGO and Pinterest. Both of these sites help you not only find resources, but have a place to save them where you can access them from any computer, smart phone or tablet.

Before telling you my favorite, I wanted to share some pros and cons I found with each site. 

DIIGO Pros

• You can highlight on the sites that you've bookmarked and saved to your library. This makes it easy to find the specific information you're looking for when you refer back to it.

• You can use multiple tags for each site you bookmark. Diigo will recommend a few tags that you can use but you can also create your own.

• You can also have your own write up for each site. Make a few notes so when you're referring back to your library you can read a brief description of the site. If you want you can even copy and paste from the original article to appear in the notes/comments about the site.

• You have the ability to follow anyone with a DIIGO and they can follow you! This makes it easy to view other peoples pages.

• You can message the people you follow to ask them questions, make comments, or just strike up some conversation.

DIIGO Cons

• You cannot post comments on other peoples DIIGO's. If you have any questions or comments you have to message them directly.

• Although you can follow others, I personally had some difficulties following people. When you hit follow, a CAPTCHA message appears that you must complete in order to be able to follow them. On multiple occasions a CAPTCHA wouldn't load therefore I could not follow new people.

• You are not offered suggestions for related articles or resources. 

Pinterest Pros

• If you're posting something to Pinterest, you have the ability to create your own tags so people can find what you've posted. You can also search specific tags when you know what you're looking for. Although you cannot tag the sites you've found, you can pin them to your own personal board that you've created.

• You have the ability to write about each site you've found in the "community questions". Here you can make comments or ask questions about the site you've found.

• You have the ability to follow people and they can follow you. 

• You can direct message people on Pinterest.

• You are offered suggestions for related sites. For example, you can search the word education and every post that someone has tagged the word education in will appear.

Pinterest Cons

• You cannot highlight text on sites that you "pin" to your boards.

Although both sites have great ways to find resources and access them again later on any device, I would have to say that Pinterest would be something I'd continue using over DIIGO. I found Pinterest to be a lot more user friendly and easier to manage. All pins have photos attached which helps you sort through them quickly. It was very easy to find hundreds of boards relating to what you're looking for.

What would you choose!?

A few things you probably didn't know...

Hello all!

Today I watched two videos that are truly mind blowing.

The first was Social Media Revolution 2011 which shares some of the social media statistics from 2011.

For example, if Facebook were a country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world! Also, a new member joins LinkedIn every second. These statistics are an eye opener as to how main stream social media has become and what a huge role it plays in peoples lives.

The second video I watched was Shift Happens. It's quirky title does it justice!

What I liked about this video is that it focuses on how the world is constantly changing. For example, the top 10 most popular jobs in 2010 did not even exist in 2004. If that will always be the case, as teachers, we're preparing students for jobs that don't even exist yet! It also has some statistics that are specifically focused on certain countries that were actually quite shocking.

I don't know about you but I learned a few things today. Who knew you could learn so much in under 6 minutes from watching 2 videos!

Mod 2

One thing from Zeinstejer's "Blogging in Language Learning" that really stuck with me was that blogs create “An appropriate environment to encourage students to collaborate and share not only the language but also their different cultures and even personal queries and expectations”. I think this is important to incorporate into all classrooms because it helps develop a sense of community, even if it is in an online setting.

Zeinstejer shares many activities that blogging can be used for by teachers and students. From my undergrad, I have a strong background in English. With that being said, one thing that perked my interest was that teachers can use blogs for posting quotes and having their students write their interpretation and applying it to some aspect of their life. I like this for many reasons. First and foremost, if I was working with high school students, this is similar to writing a critical lens essay. An important part of a critical lens essay is being able to read a quote, put it into your own words and then being able to relate it to a text. This activity gives students the opportunity to practice that, but instead of relating it to a text, they can relate it to their life. This also gives you some insight to your students and helps you to get to know them better. It gives students a chance to practice their reading and writing skills informally which tends to seem less threatening.

One thing that a student can do with a blog is create an ongoing portfolio. What I’ve encountered while working with ESL students is that, they tend to focus on how much they don’t know, opposed to how much they have learned. Zeinstejer shared that teachers should focus on content, not dwell on mistakes. This makes writing less intimidating because they can share their thoughts without getting penalized for misspellings or grammar mistakes. I think having a blog where student’s submitted work over a period of time would give them the opportunity to look at how much they’ve progressed. They can witness how much their vocabulary has increased, or how they're now able to develop thoughts or string sentences together. It’s actual evidence for a student to reflect back on to track their progression.

Two performance indicators that a student blogger could demonstrate in grades 9-12 would be ESL2.C.1.I: Students engage in collaborative activities through a variety of student groupings to create and respond to literature. This could happen with students creating a blog together or even commenting on each others blogs. Also,ESL2.C.1.K: Students apply self-monitoring and self-correcting strategies while reading, viewing, discussing, listening to, or producing literary texts and essays. This could be done with what I described above where students create an online ongoing portfolio.