Post 9 (week 14) >> Themed/Free post 4 " Tv shows and Series "

To be Honest, I try to avoid watching series because I don't have so much free time to watch TV, and also because I know that if I get to really like one, I won't stop watching chapters until I finish all seasons. I know it might sound kind of weird, specially nowadays that there is a huge variety of series; a lot of people has recommend me series like Games of Thrones or House of Cards and to tell the truth, I would love to watch them because I've heard that the plots are really interesting, but I decided not to see anything yet at least until holidays, when I have free time to be relaxed and spend as many hours as I want watching all the series that I'm interested in. 

Sometimes it seems that series became successful just a couple of years ago, but I think this is because more people have access now to have Netflix or Cable TV which offers many alternatives to the regular Tv that is totally boring and monotonous. In this sense series are a great alternative for people to have another kind of entertainment. 
I remember that many years ago when I was a child I used to watch Buffy the vampire slayer and Malcolm in the middle. but I've never seen the famous ones like Lost or the ones that are so famous now, at least at the moment, because I know I'll end up watching them.

Anyway, this year, one boring day my brother told me Why don't we watch a movie? and while we were deciding which one, we suddenly saw a colorful cover with strange animation, it was Adventure Time so we decided to gave it an opportunity, and let me tell you that I totally loved it from the very beginning , it has an ironic sense of humor at times and the characters are so fun for me. The Ice King, he looks like a bad guy but he only wants to be loved, and Jake is really ironic and Lumpy Space Princess always gossiping and complaining, and the Lich... so sacry XD , and they are not just random chapters, there is also a story behind, so I can tell that I'm a big fan of Adventure Time. But there is something about versions because in my case I watch it in English and the jokes and voices are so much fun and they have another sense than in Spanish. Actually, I when I watched in Spanish I didn't like so much Jake's voice and the opening are so different. So this is a serie that I totally recommend you to watch But in English version. 

What about you? Any serie to recommend? 

Dear all,

Your assignment this week is writing about your favorite Tv shows or series.

Please include:

- Do you have or had any favorite serie?

- Why do you like it?

- What kind of series (stories) do you enjoy the most?

- Is there any serie that you haven't seen but you would like to?

- Any other piece of information you may consider important.

-190 words minimum.

- Include a picture. 

- Comment on at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

Post 8 (week 12) >> Carrer-Related Website OR An Expert on your Field

British Council is a useful career-related website that I'm not using in my current job, but I used it a lot when I worked at school; Not only because it has available material for me as teacher, but it also contains a lot of exercises for students to practice at home and using the computer as a tool for learning english.
What's the difference with other  english websites? in my opinion here you have more than one option to achieve what you are looking for. For example, in other webpages you might find only fill in the blank activities, but here you have suitable tasks according to the different levels and proficiency. This webpage also has a friendly design, which makes easier for teachers and students to find what they need, because the contents are organized into categories. Also, it is possible to develop different skills because you can find listening, reading, writing activities and some others of repetition.
I also used a lot of ideas specially games, that helped me to apply the contents in a meaningful and interesting way for students and of course they enjoyed them. 
I think it is important to use technological resources specially nowadays that most of the people have access to a computer and is something they are familiar with.
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/quick-grammar


For this post, the students have to choose only ONE of these  2 options:

Post 1 (Instructions). 
Write about a career-related website that you enjoy visiting.

You have to:

- provide the link
- describe the website (sections, features,etc)
- say how often you visit the site
- explain why you like the site.
>Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs
>Word Count: 170


Post 2 (Instructions)
Who is a person/expert on your field that you admire?

Say:

-Who she/he is. (short biography)
-What she/he has done. (examples of their work)
-Why you like her/him.
-Include his/her image

> About 180 words
>Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

Post 7 (week 11) >> Themed/Free post 3 "A place I'd like to visit"

Dear all, 
Your assignment this week is writing about a place you would like to visit.
                                                    
Please Include:
- Where would you like to go to? Why?
- What do you know about that place?
- What would you like to do there?
- Would you like to study, work or live there? Explain.
- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts
- Word Count: 170 words

Post 6 (week 10) >> Themed/Free post 2 "My favourite Movie"

In this opportunity I'll talk about my favorite movie, and despite I love watching movies in my free time, I think that the one that I like the most is BIG FISH. It's kind of difficult for me try to find just one reason to explain why I like it so much, I love the way this story is presented and the characters are very particular. Among them you can find a witch, a giant, a werewolf and a very big fish in a lake. I love the way in which magic and reality are mixed, and above all I think that in a way the main character is very similar to my dad, and that makes it so special.

To tell the truth, I don't remember the first time I saw this movie, but I can tell you this: "this movie has the best ending I've ever seen" It's totally perfect for me, and I really recommend you to see it if you haven't yet. It has everything, action, romance, magic, tragedy and adventure.

In second place I like FIGHT CLUB, this one is completely different from Big Fish, but I totally love it too! and I think it is interesting to analyze through this movie the role of society, consumerism, behavior, and how we just reproduce a system without thinking if we feel happy or not about the way we are living. In a way I believe there is a Tyler Durden inside of each one of us, but of course we don't like to think about it.

In general I like different kinds of movies, because as the same as happens with music, there is a time for everything. Sometimes I want  to laugh with a comedy, or some others I like science fiction, etc. But there is one category I don't like at all, and this is horror movies, I'm not good at watching them because after I see them I just can't forget those scary characters or images that appear on the movie and I feel scary for a long time, that is why I prefer to avoid them. 

The most recent movie I saw was "Whiplash" about a young drummer, It is  an excellent movie... you should see it. 

Dear all,

Your assignment this week is writing about your favourite movie. 

  Please include:

- What's your favourite movie and why you like it?

- When was the first time you saw it?

- What kind of  movies do you like to watch?

- What is the most recent movie you saw? Did you like it?

- Any other piece of information you may consider important.

- Number of words: 160
- Leave comments on at least 3 of your mates' posts.

Post 5 (week 9) >> "A photograph you like"

Today I'll talk about a photograph I like... but more than the photograph itself I like it because of the significant moment behind the picture.
They are my pets Horus (the dog) and Minerva (the Cat) and I love this image because it reminds me that beautiful reencounter .

The story behind the photograph...
I should start saying that in my family we all love animals, this is why we rescued our two pets. Horus is two years old now and he was our only pet until the last year, in July to be more specific when my brother rescued minerva a little cat who was alone in the street so he decided to bring her home. She was only months of life and was dirty and thin, so we fed her and took her to the Vet. Everything was ok, I have to say that my dog is extremely friendly so he accepted that Minerva was going to be a new member of our family and started building a beautiful friendship. They played all the time, shared food and even slept in the same place. 
The months passed and Christmas came, we were having dinner at the backyard and then some noisy fireworks scared Minerva and she just run away, we though she will return but after many hours she didn't come, we got worried about her so asked our neighbors but no one saw her, we waited for weeks without having news so we started thinking the worst. Apart from this situation we had everything ready for our holidays so we went, but of course we were sad because we didn't know what happened to our cat. 
When we came back of our holidays, getting out of the car we saw Minerva again, it was like if she was waiting for us. We were all so happy, but what impressed me the most was our dog's reaction, he jumped and barked. When we got into the house she seemed to be tired so she went to my parents bed and my dog just lie down next to her and started licking at her like trying to say "I missed you". For me it was so cute that I took them a picture. 
I took this photograph on January of 2015 because it was a beautiful moment.
...Do you have a favorite photograph?



Write about a photograph you like.
Say:
Who took it
What it shows
When it was taken
Why you like it
Upload it too

Include any other information you'd like to mention.
Write at least 150 words.

Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs.

Post 4 (week 6) >> Themed/Free Post 1 "My Favourite Music."

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination

and life to everything.”

Wonderful quote by Plato, In my case Music has always been part of my life since I was only months of life, and luckily  for all my family music is important too.  I play drums and my brother plays the bass and guitar.  

Since I was a child I've always been exposed to music, specially from the 80's, and with the passing years my musical interests have changed a lot, but I'll never forget the moment when it became really important... 

When I was 11 years old I listened to a song from Aerosmith called "Hole in my soul" that just blew my mind, and from that moment on I couldn't stop looking for new similar bands. I like different types of music among my favorite bands are Tool, deftones and Korn and grunge (alice in chains, pearl jam, smashing pumpkins,tc.) and I'm really lucky to say that I have seen most of my favorite bands live, whenever they come to Chile I always go to the concerts. 

The most amazing one I've ever seen was Roger Waters "The Wall" in 2012, It was so overwhelming that every time I watch the DVD of this presentation again I get goosebumps.
I also love film soundtracks, some of them are Ennio Morricone who came to chile in 2013 with Mike Patton (Mondo Cane) it was a wonderful concert I had the opportunity to see, there is also Jon Brion who composed songs for a movie I like a lot  "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind"  and my favorite one, Danny Elfman, who is a close friend of Tim Burton, so he has composed soundtracks for many of his movies like: Big Fish, The nightmare before christmas, Batman, Edward Scissorhands among many others. I can say that I'm a big fan of movies and music plays a relevant role there.
I also enjoy quiet music. I think that Sigur ros is one of those bands that helps me think clearly when I need to relax, and similar to this Post Rock style I listen to are "God is an astronaut" "If these trees could talk" "Explosions in the Sky" etc. 
I think that a person can enjoy different types of music depending on their mood and context. 
... And you?... Do you have any favourite band or musician?

Dear all,

Your assignment this week is writing about your favourite music. Please include:

- The kind(s) of music you like and why you like it?

- When you started listening to this kind of music.

- Any information about the bands or the musicians you like.

- Concerts or music events you have attended.

- Any other piece of information you may consider important.

-140 words minimum.

- Include a picture. 

- Comment on at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs.

Post 3 (week 5) >> My favourite Piece of Technology

Today I'll talk about my favorite piece of technology. I have to admit that it was kind of difficult at first thinking about only one, as we have many technological devices that we use every day and make our life easier. I realized how important is for most of the people having their cellphones for example. Nowadays everybody spend a lot of time in front of their computers or sending text messages, but to tell the truth I'm not a tech fan. I actually don't use them very often and I've never played those popular cell games, so despite their are useful tools in my life of course, I wouldn't say that I actually "enjoy" using them. But then I started thinking Which one of them I really like? and what first came to my mind was my camera.

I love taking photographs! ... since I can remember I've always have fun taking photos, when I was younger I used a small camera, but two years ago I  bought a professional one with more options to make photographs more precise. When we go on holiday with my family I really enjoy to capture all those beautiful moment with people I love, and from landscapes I don't want to forget.   
For some people is annoying carrying a camera all the time, or they are worried because they want to look good in every photograph, but I like to take them in spontaneous moments, like when people is laughing or they look happy and they don't realize that I'm taking photos, so then they are surprised to see them. 
Some people say that the problem with the cameras nowadays is that you can take hundreds of photos and you never have time to see them all, and that's right but at least in my case I check them and after erase those who are not that good I put them on a CD, so every time we want to see them again we have them there.  

Of course I would like to learn how to use it properly because it has  many options and everything I know I have learned it on my own, so I'm thinking of taking one of these summer courses so I can take advantage of the full potential of the camera. 

... What about you? What is your favorite piece of technology? 


*Your task for this Blog Session is to Write about your favourite piece of technology

Say:
-What it is.
-When you got it.
-How you use it.
-How often you use it.
-Why you like it.
-What life would be like without it.

- 130 words minimum.
- Include a picture. 
- Comment on at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs.