Post 1 - Information about blogs & Who am I

 Hi Students,

Welcome to our first blog post.

Today we are going to get started on our blogs. Everyone will create their own blog as well as follow my blog and your classmates, so that we can comment on each other's posts. 

Blog Assessment
Blogs are 20% of your final grade. There will be 8 blog post assignments. There are 2 ways they are graded:

1. Blog post task completion. (50% of blog assessment grade)

• Full >> 7 (completed the post within 48 hours)
• Partial >> 4 (If you completed the post but after 48 hours)
• Not done >> 1

For example, if you complete all 8 blog post assignments you will obtain 56 points which is a 7.0.

2. I will choose 2 of your blog posts and assess each of them according to the following criteria - Task, Lexis, Grammar. (50% of blog assessment grade)

3 points>>
Task: All aspects of the task are very well handled.
Lexis: Excellent use of lexical resources
Grammar: Grammar is excellent and almost error-free

2 points>>
Task: The task is sufficiently handled
Lexis: Good use of lexical resources /Coherence generally well handled.
Grammar: Grammar is adequate despite minor errors

1 point>>
Task: Some details of the task are missing or erroneous
Lexis: Some problems with word formation and usage. Occasional lapses in coherence that hinders clarity of message
Grammar: Grammar is weak with noticeable errors

0 points>>
Task: Writing is unrelated to task
Lexis: Incorrect or erroneous lexis usage (or flaws in coherence) that hinders communication of message
Grammar: Too many grammar errors to convey message

In this section, the maximum score for each post is 9 points, which equals a 7.0 grade.

How to create a blog 

There are many different platforms to create your blog. I am using Blogger. It is easy if you have a Google account because it is one of the apps in the Google menu. 

Here is a link on how to create a blog on Blogger  

Instructions 

1. Create your blog.
2. Send me an email with a link to your blog.
3. Make your first blog post by following the instructions below.
4. Comment on my post and 3 of your classmates.

The subject of our first blog post is autobiographies.

You should write about:

• where you were born.
• your past studies e.g. elementary/high school/ etc.
• your family
• your hobbies
• any other information and/or pictures

Write at least 120 words.
Write 2 things that are not true about you. Read your classmates blogs and try to find out what is not true. Make comments on 3 of your classmates posts and a comment on my post. 

I'll start with my own autobiography.

Ronda Lee Haverland was born in California, USA. She lived in many places around the country before the age of 12. She went to three different elementary schools and then went to high school in the suburbs of Washington D.C.

She went to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and studied Psychology and Dance. She started working odd jobs as a teenager and continued to work part-time jobs while she was at university. One of her favorite jobs was working at a street center for homeless people. Traveling to Europe during a winter break changed her life completely . 

After university she worked with people with developmental disabilities on a farm and in New York City. However, she wanted to live abroad so she went to London to do a teacher training course to teach English. Then, in 1996 she moved to Malta to work as an English language teacher. After 10 years of adventures she moved to Chile and has been living there ever since.

She goes back to the USA almost every year to visit her family and friends. Her dad lives in Arizona and brother lives in Maine. 

She loves being outside and before the pandemic she spent a lot of time cycling around Santiago. In February 2020 she spent a few weeks in Torres del Paine. Her dream is to spend a month in Patagonia.