2007年6月29日 星期五

Reflection of the general whole

I like the way that Mandy made the thorough reflection, I think it is quite useful and reflective, and I want to borrow her way to make a conclusion.
1. Engagement and participation:
I am the only one whose student ID number starts with “911”, others start with “92”or “93”, most of them start with “93”, and I felt quite alone in this class. Therefore, I really have to thank Stacy, Ashley and Gina for generously helping me and welcoming me as team members. To tell the truth, this course is far from what I had expected; I thought the focus of the course was “English learning”, but indeed, the focus of this course is “Online learning”. As a technical idiot, I have never got to be “this close” to computer; I have never used BBS, seldom got alone with blog(though I have a Chinese blog), seldom surfed websites through internet, and never sat in front of a computer more than 7 hours, and this course breaks my limit. My friends are stunningly surprised to see me spend so many hours facing my notebook computer, and they think this course really improve my computer skill. At first, I kind of resist getting along with computer this often, but little by little, I get used to befriending with it through accomplishing each assigned task. Hard task took me a lot of time to get familiar with how to master every function, take schmooze as an example, I can not understand it at all though one of the classmates explain it to me. The most important thing for me in this course is that I broaden my ideas about online English learning seeing that it is very different from what I used to know, and this course gives me a chance to see there are so many people devote themselves in internet world, and people can thus get more resources and learning materials for free. Learning English is less limited by material condition, and this is revolutionary. Moreover, I have learned how to talk with people from other countries through internet like Tappedin. I can easily get culture shock through internet.
2. Learning(about blogs):
Of course, what I have spent the most time is blogging. Looking through many webpages a day makes surfing internet intimate to me although my eyes almost blurred after seeing these webpages, and my eyes seemed to stick to the computer screen. Blogging is to gather all computer and internet experiences together and to share one’s personality with other people, even further, to make friends with others. Why I say “share one’s personality” is because the most interesting blogs I have seen are those which the bloggers open themselves and willingly shared their inner self and make the blog as creative as possible. I felt the blogs to be very interesting when I have more clues to guess what kind of personality the blogger has, and this propels me to “know more” and pushes me to read more articles. The style and the decoration of the blog shows the blogger’s taste and personality, and I felt this to be attractive after I carefully reading their articles and the organization of the blog. Blogging definitely has many technical problems that I can not overcome, and here I again have to thank those friends who are constantly bothered by my scary cell-phone calls. Also, I really thank Mandy for encouraging me. As I have already mentioned that I felt alone in this course, reading the blogs of the classmates relieve me of this feeling for I felt that I get to know my classmates more than before and I think they are all girls with cool ideas and have a variety of tastes and styles. I learn a lot from them no matter in blogging, decorating or organizing.
3. Language learning:
I learn many ways to improve my English from those websites that I evaluated though this class did not put focus on English learning. I still improve a little through class presentation, writing many English articles, using talking writing to communicate with foreigners. But I think this is what this class is for: to guide me to another world with many resources so that I can learn and improve English as much as I want all by myself. And of course, what’s better is I can share all these stuff with my friends. My friend Shirley enjoys clicking every linkage in my webpages and has a lot of fun. I am glad about that.

2007年6月28日 星期四

Welcome to Celia's English Learning Field

Christina---Stuff in English Learning

Mandy's blog

(I left a message, but I don't know why the blog did not show my comments)

Welcome to Ver

Eleanor's Online English Learning Blog

Stacynihilating

Our Video Clip!!

Ashley Fun Learning

Julie48tw in Blogger

Anita's Online English Learning

Cherrie's blog

Top Three ESL/EFL Blogs

English 360
This blog includes many resources and related articles for viewers, and the function of contact is also included so that viewers can respond right after they finish reading those materials, and they can also keep contact with the blog builder. The categories of the blog are also clear, which is what I consider the most important part as to build a blog because the viewers are from all ages. The blog builder will constantly add new articles though not intensely. The purpose of the blog builder is clear as well, which is to break student's dependence on teachers and school. And I think this is what ESL blog is mainly for.
Learning English Cuturally
This blog compared with the first one that I comment on has more colorful pictures to attract viewers' attention. The blog in order to attract millions of viewers to stop and take a careful look at the content must include plenty of attraction like dazzling photos and video clips etc. This blog has its attraction: the colorful comic pictures; they efficiently attract my eyes at first moment. Besides, other functions also work well. The categories of the blog aiming at different target are clear. People can surely leave any comment and messages by clicking "comments".
賴世雄網路部落格
Seeing this Chinese blog makes me feel intimate and draws me close instantly. (I have seen this person on TV and found him to be a very interesting person)The function of leaving message and keeping contact with the blog builder is doubtedly clear. What's much better than English blog builder is that the blog builder deals with the latest news, which is important to us, and broaden our horizons towards the issue of learning and teaching English. It contains a lot of useful information that is closely related to us. And of course, the related articles and websites are enough for English learners to use.

Welcome to Celia's English Learning Field

http://celiachueh.blogspot.com/search/label/3%20lab%20activities

2007年6月21日 星期四

Tappedin transcript for YajooJ, 2007.05.08 05:44:27

YajooJ contributed 73 messages during 41 minutes.
2007.05.08 05:03:18 Login
Room: YajooJ_Ofc
YajooJ joined the room.
YajooJ left the room.
Room: My_Heart
YajooJ joined the room.
WuCh: it's really easy to get to know it and to gather information
AshleyCh: tell me later
AshleyCh: Yajoo's here~~
WuCh: ok now everybody;s here
YajooJ: what you guys already talk about
YajooJ: sorry i am late
AshleyCh: just chatting
AshleyCh: ha
WuCh: ya
AshleyCh: don't worry
YajooJ: Ashley, i
WuCh: so shall we start now?
AshleyCh: what?
YajooJ: checked my email, i don't have your email
YajooJ: the blogspot
AshleyCh: oh~
YajooJ: so...maybe we should add again
AshleyCh: shall i give it to\ you now
AshleyCh: ohohoh
YajooJ: yeah, if you can
AshleyCh: ok i would check it later
AshleyCh: boucicaut427@hotmail.com
AshleyCh: so what should we hold this meeting?
AshleyCh: how
WuCh: ok we're going to tallk about our online discussino experience for
30minutes
AshleyCh: yes
AshleyCh: need a host?
AshleyCh: haha
WuCh: each person share their thoughts, ect.
WuCh: XD
AshleyCh: ok
AshleyCh: can i go first?
YajooJ: so ...could you guys tell me about your tappedin chatting?
GinaCh: Ok
YajooJ: ok
AshleyCh: hum i have to say that the teacher is very professional
WuCh: what topic did you join?
YajooJ: what teacher?
AshleyCh: that teacher that i have the meeting with
AshleyCh: ha
AshleyCh: type very fast
AshleyCh: and the rest of the participants too
YajooJ: haha
AshleyCh: and very long sentences
YajooJ: i think so
YajooJ: what topic did you join?
AshleyCh: and our topic
AshleyCh: yes i am going to say that
AshleyCh: is about how to enhance learning with the internet and the tools it
provides
AshleyCh: ha
WuCh: oh, sound fun
AshleyCh: very much close to our class
GinaCh: really? that's great
YajooJ: umm
WuCh: ya, and I joined the how to use flicker discussion
WuCh: along with Gina
YajooJ: what is flicker discussion
WuCh: there was very few people
GinaCh: yeah
AshleyCh: and how to join those english networks
WuCh: to demonstrate how to use flicker
GinaCh: you are right, Wu
YajooJ: what is flicker
WuCh: online photo album like ?∪?
AshleyCh: ohoh
AshleyCh: but
WuCh: only that foreginers all use it
AshleyCh: he also showed us a site that is enrolled by a lot of teachers
GinaCh: In my idea, that's like a kind of software like photoshop
YajooJ: that is cool
WuCh: wow, that must be helpful
AshleyCh: and i think the purposes is to
GinaCh: but just to change only on internet
WuCh: so there was only like 6 people in our chat room, we didn't have to type
very fast, thought I didn't have a lot to say most of the time
AshleyCh: gives tudents wbo want to learn English or sth else an access to know
some online teachers
GinaCh: Neither I!!!:)
WuCh: hmm, so what about you, Yajoo?
YajooJ: ha
AshleyCh: there were about 20 people in my room
AshleyCh: = = so many
GinaCh: Wow
YajooJ: i had fun
AshleyCh: really~
YajooJ: coz i bumped into several groups
WuCh: oh really?
AshleyCh: i was ignored sign
GinaCh: what is the topic of your group?
WuCh: you joined more than once?
YajooJ: one is a post graduate students' s chatroom
AshleyCh: oh sounds cool
GinaCh: Yeah
AshleyCh: like sharing experiences?
YajooJ: another is about a man who is going to be a teacher
AshleyCh: haha
GinaCh: Oh...
AshleyCh: very easy to join the conversation
AshleyCh: it seems
YajooJ: most of the time, people would just ask me about my opinions,and they
did not talk much
AshleyCh: ohohoh
WuCh: that's weird@@
AshleyCh: envy!
AshleyCh: i barely have the chance to talk
AshleyCh: they all talked about very professional stuff
GinaCh: why?
WuCh: how, I didn't know there was such sort of topic
YajooJ: in fact, it's me who talked all the time and asked questions allt the
time
AshleyCh: wow
YajooJ: well, i say i "bumped into"
WuCh: that's really very different from our experience!
AshleyCh: very lucky of you
GinaCh: but asking question can learn a lot
YajooJ: not really
YajooJ: they did not talk much and I got bored, and got nothing to say in the
end
YajooJ: asking questions meant nothing
AshleyCh: so you didn't get anything from others?
YajooJ: because people did not answer your questions directly
AshleyCh: why is that
AshleyCh: so how did they answer
GinaCh: Very interesting....ha ha
YajooJ: as if they already protech themselves from a distance
AshleyCh: ha indirectly?
WuCh: you want you joined wasn't one of the calender discussion?
AshleyCh: what about the host>
WuCh: sorry, miss wrote
AshleyCh: yes! there should be a host
WuCh: what, i mean
YajooJ: you mean the host of my discussion?
GinaCh: yes
AshleyCh: mainly they are teachers
YajooJ: they just keep asking you questions about your trouble
WuCh: ya, it's normally required
AshleyCh: and they just talked a lot
YajooJ: but I don't actually have that much troubles
YajooJ: i just want to chat and make friends, that is all
AshleyCh: that's weird
GinaCh: Are they faculty?
YajooJ: yeah
GinaCh: Wow...
YajooJ: it seems some of them have already known each other
AshleyCh: but maybe they just wander in tapped in
YajooJ: and have been acquaninted for a long time
AshleyCh: oh
YajooJ: and i am an intruder
YajooJ: so i did not feel good actually
AshleyCh: you should check out the calenday!
AshleyCh: calendar
YajooJ: waht is the calendar
GinaCh: Umm...perhaps the list
YajooJ: the list?
AshleyCh: that is a calendar showing the meeting that will be hled each day
YajooJ: oh!
WuCh:
http://tappedin.org/tappedin/do/WelcomeAction?controller=com.sri.opentap.controller.WelcomeAction&ROOM_ID=7226&state=displayChatRoomFrame&cb=0
YajooJ: i did not know
WuCh: THIS IS THE CALENDER
AshleyCh: and each meeting has a different topic
GinaCh: right
AshleyCh: and you have to join one of them on that tome just like attending
class
YajooJ: where to find it
WuCh: sorry that was wrong
WuCh:
http://tappedin.org/tappedin/do/WelcomeAction?controller=com.sri.opentap.controller.WelcomeAction&ROOM_ID=7226&state=displayChatRoomFrame&cb=0
WuCh: this is the right one
AshleyCh left the room (signed off).
AshleyCh joined the room.
YajooJ: i can not click my mouse
WuCh: that's weird...
WuCh: ]
YajooJ: so you post it , it does not work
WuCh: 嚚?嚚?
AshleyCh: oh you lock that function
YajooJ: that is ok
YajooJ: i
AshleyCh: press CTRL and click again
YajooJ: will check next tiem by muself
AshleyCh: try that
WuCh: oh and another question, did you all enjoy it?
YajooJ left the room (signed off).
Room: My_Heart
YajooJ joined the room.
WuCh: we should still stick to our discussion
AshleyCh: oh and somebody please save the conversation we have today!
WuCh: i will
YajooJ: what is the conversation?
AshleyCh: i attatch it and the former was gone
GinaCh: thank you Wu
AshleyCh: = =
AshleyCh: ok thank you
AshleyCh: so anyone has sth to share
YajooJ: like what?
AshleyCh: about the topic of the meeting you joined
AshleyCh: did stacy share about the topic already?
WuCh: but someone else have to paste it one the blogger coz I could not enter
the class blogger
YajooJ: yeah...Stacy first
AshleyCh: oh i can do that
AshleyCh: just give me the record
WuCh: ok
YajooJ: thank you Ashley
AshleyCh: save it as a notebook file or sth
WuCh: it was useful, i also learned about a new sofware
WuCh: online and free
AshleyCh: really?
AshleyCh: share it with us!
WuCh: to edit your photos
YajooJ: hey....our conversation.....
WuCh: it's usually coopertaed with flickr
GinaCh: are there another software?
YajooJ: oh....
AshleyCh: yours is nore interesting than mine
AshleyCh: more
WuCh: so most poeple who put their photos on flickr use that software to
didtort their photos
YajooJ: so... the conversation is about the software
AshleyCh: so being a member of flicker is free too?
WuCh: distort
WuCh: ya, definitely
AshleyCh: oh~~
AshleyCh: maybe i will check that out
WuCh: it's saver and more convieient
GinaCh: yeah...very funny
YajooJ: did all of you put photoes on the internet?
AshleyCh: so what does flicker have to do with learning?
WuCh: i kept spell wrong >"<
AshleyCh: me too
AshleyCh: never mind hahaha
YajooJ: haha
WuCh: to help teachers...
WuCh: as a device
YajooJ: oh.....
WuCh: to enhance their teaching etc
YajooJ: how about the students?
YajooJ: did it help students, too?
AshleyCh: very hard to imagine
WuCh: coz you have to know how to use technology to enhance your teach, i guess
WuCh: teaching
AshleyCh: oh that's it ~
WuCh: ya, it's a bit strange
WuCh: but it's good intention, you see
AshleyCh: haha
YajooJ: did it help students?
WuCh: ok, any others want to share
WuCh: that i really don;t know
WuCh: i'm not the host, though
YajooJ: ok
AshleyCh: it's very hard to understand the whole thing that the teacher shareed
YajooJ: right
AshleyCh: i just kept receiving instructuions
AshleyCh: instructions
YajooJ: such as....
AshleyCh: we keot changing rooms
WuCh: ya, sometimes it's really irelevant
AshleyCh: haha
YajooJ: what do you mean by change rooms/
YajooJ: ?
AshleyCh: i don't know why we keep changing places
AshleyCh: oh
YajooJ: where is Gina
GinaCh: I am here
AshleyCh: join somebody
AshleyCh: and you can get to another room
YajooJ: oh...
GinaCh: me?
AshleyCh: you don't know what i am talking about right Yajoo hahaha
YajooJ: don't you talk about your experiences?
YajooJ: I don't actually
AshleyCh: haha
YajooJ: i get very confused
WuCh: OK,we can hurry now and finish our chat
AshleyCh: oh yes!
AshleyCh: http://classroom20.ning.com/
WuCh: them we'll swich to~~~ bb
AshleyCh: the site i mentioned
AshleyCh: shared by the teacher
AshleyCh: you guys could check that out
YajooJ left the room (signed off).
Room: YajooJ_Ofc
YajooJ joined the room.
YajooJ: join/ WuCh
YajooJ left the room (signed off).
Room: YajooJ_Ofc
YajooJ joined the room.
YajooJ left the room (signed off).
Room: My_Heart
YajooJ joined the room.
YajooJ left the room (signed off).
2007.05.08 05:44:27 Signoff

Reflections on the Blogging Experiences

I must say this blogging experience wears me out!
As a technical idiot, I always click the wrong linkage and the webpage would suddenly change into a new one, which was not the one I expected. Sometimes I don't know which linkage is the right one, I would spend a long time trying to click into each possible linkage one by one to check whether that was what I want. Maybe, "wears me out" is not enough to describe my tragedy. I have a Chinese blog, but my articles were posted by my friend. I think I really need someone help me to manage my English blog! However, this is a really tiring yet good experience for me to get a closer relationship with computer. When the second time I looked through my blogpage, I feel happy to see that I have already gone this far though this is still not far enough.
If to view this blog as my assignment, things would get easier. But that is not the reality for this webpage will be seen by others whom I am not familiar with. This makes my blogging experience complicated, and I would gain a sense of insecurity to think that what do people feel after seeing through my blogpage. But this is just not the things I can take control of.
On the other hand, I link my English blog to my Chinese one, and one of my friend, therefore can see my blog. She thinks that this blog is interesting and complicated, but she can not get the focus; she is not sure what purpose of this blog really is. Luckily, she thinks this blog has some interesting linkages and she did have fun. This shows that the blog can widely be read.
Organizing the blog is another hard thing for me, but I would really like my blog well organized. No matter how hard and frustrating my blogging experiences are, at least I have already try my best.

Weblog discussion

Principles for designing English teaching and learning weblog:
1. related articles about it
2. updating notice(new articles or related information)
3. multimedia tools(video clips, audio, pictures)
4. responding area(e-mail, forum, commentary, message-leaving)
5. RSS, moderation, traceback, pingback
6. links to other English learning or teaching websites
Criteria for evaluating ESL/EFL weblogs
1. The degree of content difficulty according to different target learner.
2. Related/assisting tools (description or articles in their native language, or easier language for them to understand) in ESL weblog in order for their better understanding.
3. More information or a much more authentic environment to build the EFL weblog, to enhance and create a total foreign aura for the foreign students learning in their country.
4. Is there enough information for the viewer to learn or contact the blog builder that learners could ask questions through a guest book or e-mail
5. A place for them to share personal experience or give advises.

Content-based Instruction

Goal:
CNN is definitely a content-based website, for it provides daily world-wide news. The website includes every kind of important news that happened in the world for people to explore and examine. The important issue has many good articles and websites connected with. Learning English writing and reading skill, the website offers a lot of thoughts-provoking materials for training.
Presentation:
The website has many category links, such as politics, sports, law, health, analysis, entertainment, travel, education etc.,every link has included many relative in-depth links. The design of the website is simple and people can quickly get to know how to read the webpages though the content of the articles included are hard and require readers' basic or even advanced reading skill. Everyone can almost get what he or she wants to know of the world without worrying the quality of the news, and can develop new perspective of watching news. The website aims at educating and brainstorming purposes. As a content-based website, fewer other website can do better than CNN.
Outcome:
The reader may need to past the basic language learning level to get to advanced level for the difficult content requires other cultural training and understanding. This is second level of learing foreign language for learning foreign language is very complicated especially in culture aspect.
Approriateness:
As a college student, CNN is a recomended website for English reading training and writing skill. High school student may need to have higher ability of vocabulary to read the CNN articles. In short, this website is more available for adults.

2007年6月7日 星期四

Inquiry and Problem-solving

Tom Snyder
1. Goal: The website offers a variety of software for people to solve problems and users can learn how to organize the framework. There are also a lot of topics provided for research work, and users can further do some other tasks, such as problem-solving etc.
2. Presentation: There are a variety of systematic categories neatly arranged for users to click into, such as research/reports, and its resources are proficient enough to help users to do organization of their project. This website is definitely good enough to make language learning process more efficient. The website also connect the ritual materials and real materials (products ).
3. Approriateness: Though it is useful for all ages of users, teachers especially should take a look at this website for its proficient materials that can help enhance teaching and learning process.
4. Outcome: Users/learners can develop their creativity and brainstorming while facing these materials,and what's more, to reflect on content and language needs.
5. Evaluation:none

Creativity and Production

Filamentality
1. Goal: Filamentality is a very useful tool that can guide people through picking some topics, searching the internet, gathering good internet links, and turning them into online learning activities. This webpage provides many means of creating online activities, which are very often used as English learning materials.
2. Presentation: This website allows users to create their own webpage through the tools that provided in this website, such as webquest. People just need to follow the instructions step by step to establish their own webpage according to what they want to do, the topic that they are interested in, no matter in creating an English learning materials or personal use of the webpage. This is a very good place for some people to develop their own creativity through the materials that are provided in this webpage. In language learning process, people tend to get bored, but if the design of the webpage can attract people's attention to focus on learning process, the webpage is undoubtedly helpful for some language learner to get benefit. Teachers, of course, will also need to design their materials to attract students' full attention in order to achieve the effect of learning language.
3.Approriatenss: This webpage is for advanced or adult students to learn the means of establishing a website, not for basic English learner to learn English, and the focus is to learn how to create a website instead of learning language.
4. Outcome: Userers will learn how to establish some multi-media learning webpage, and it is easy for them to establish a website and put it onto internet for everyone to read.
5. Evaluation:none.

Communication and Collaboration

Dave's ESL Cafe
1. Goal: This website tries to link many kinds of communication and collaboration together. The goal of the website is to provide a asynchronous discussion forum for everyone, both teachers and students, around the world to join the discussion and work together, and people can undoubtedly notice the intention by the website title "Cafe" and its friendly color yellow.
2.Presentation: "Jobs", "Stuff for Teachers", "Stuff for Students"and "Stuff for Everyone" are four categories clearly arranged on the webpage to welcome everyone to join the communication and collaboration in the website. The atmosphere of the website is so friendly and joyful that everyone can feel free to talk and share their ideas. People can just pick the topic they are interested in and join the forum anytime. Some English learners can still click into the simple materials for basic English leanring,but as the title "cafe" suggests, the webpage mainly deals with the discussion and many kinds of forum, it does not narraow down to passively provide English learning materials, just the other way around, it actively welcomes.
3. Approriatenss: Becuase the website focuses on the interactive activity, people who comes to this website are supposed to devote their personal ideas and actively join the discussion in order to interact with other people from different places or couintries. The feedback is important.
4. Outcome: Both teachers and students can well share their ideas together without time limits, and they don't need to be in person to talk with each other. By devoting their ideas, they can develop their own creativity and express according to their free mind.
5. Evaluation:none.

2007年6月6日 星期三

Develpoing and Practicing Listening and Speaking Skills

OneStopEnglish
1. Goal:OneStopEnglish help English learners in a variety of ways; it includes listening, speaking, reading and writing skills of training, and these four skills' further training. More than this, it also provides the information of every kind of test or exam to satisfy the need of learners of diffrerent levels. It also specificly points out some categories for certain learners, such as for businessmen, to specialize certain English skill in order to sharpen it.
2. Presentation: There are many categories included, such as exam, magazine, skills, methodology, teacher support, forum etc, these categories are further made into subdivisions with different kind of function in helping learners to satisfy their certain need of English skills. While clicking into each subdivision, there will be some instructions helping learners to get familiar with how to learn English by following the steps and the information, and moreover, there will be some special and useful websites contained within to get further information, though sometimes those websites and further information charged learners to pay for learning. I especially appriciate the categories of the subdivisions for those can really lead the learners to get what they want to learn. Take the weekly idioms for example, learners can learn some idioms every week without feeling crammed by to intense materials and the pressure from learning. Learners who need to pass some exams like TOEFL can get many help from this website.
3. Approriateness:This website especially helps those learners who has specific purpose of using English, like taking exams or for the need of business, and some teenage learners will get a lot of assistances as well to train some basic skills. And undoubtedly, this website requires those who know how to appreciate and use the hyperlinks.
4. Outcome: Learners will feel dependent on those proficient information and resources of the website and study harder by seeing so many resourses(or simply categories). They will atomatically practice English by following the instruction of the website.
5. Evaluation:none
6. Notes: Hard learners may be excited about these resources, but the learners who study not hard enough may feel depressed by seeing such quantity of resources, so it will be better if one just starts from one subdivision that makes him/her feel interested.

2007年6月1日 星期五

News:Toddlers drown in pond while babysitter naps





Toddlers drown in pond while babysitter naps


WATERFORD, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Two toddlers who wandered away from home while their teenage baby sitter slept accidentally drowned in a nearby pond in northwestern Pennsylvania, officials said.
The babysitter told state police she put the girls down for a nap Wednesday and then took a nap herself. When she awoke, 20-month-old Jenna Walker and 2-year-old Maggie Kovski were gone, state police Cpl. Mark Zaleski said.
Rescuers were called at about 11:15 a.m. after the baby sitter found the bodies floating in a small, man-made fishing pond about 100 yards away from the home.
Chris Barber, chief of Stancliff Hose Co., said the 18-year-old sitter was frantically trying to help the children when emergency workers arrived.
"She was performing CPR, and when I got there, I started CPR on the youngest one," Barber said. "They had no pulse. They were not breathing."
Authorities did not identify the 18-year-old sitter, who is a relative of Jenna and lived in the house in this rural Pennsylvania town,15 miles south of Erie. Maggie was a neighbor.
Investigators said Thursday afternoon that they believe they know how the toddlers got out of the house, got to the pond and other details. District Attorney Brad Foulk said he would not discuss those details to protect the family's privacy and because authorities planned to conduct more interviews.
"I'm sure that everyone understands that his is just a horrific tragedy for everyone involved," Foulk said.
A woman who answered the phone at the Walker home said the family did not want to talk about the accident. The Associated Press could not locate a telephone number for Kovski's family.
Coroner Lyell Cook determined that the girls drowned and ruled the deaths accidental.
The ruling would not preclude criminal charges if investigators determined the baby sitter was negligent or reckless, Cook said
.


Summery:
This is a news about two toddlers getting drowned from northwestern Pennsylvania. This accident happened when the babysitter was napping, though the babysitter came before the rescuers and performed CPR, it was still too late. The babysitter was considered guilty if the investigator determined her to be negligent or reckless. The family of the toddlers remained silent about this accident.



Vocabulary:

1.Toddler: a young child
2.Rescuer: someone who saves something from danger or violence
3.Frantically:
in an uncontrolled manner
4.CPR:
an emergency procedure consisting of external cardiac massage and artificial respiration; the first treatment for a person who has collapsed and has no pulse and has stopped breathing; attempts to restore circulation of the blood and prevent death or brain damage due to lack of oxygen
5.Authority : the power or right to give orders or make decisions
6.Investigator :
a police officer who investigates crimes
7.Attorney :
a professional person authorized to practice law; conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice [syn: lawyer]
8.Conduct :
manner of acting or conducting yourself [syn:
behavior, behaviour,doings]
9.Preclude :
keep from happening of arising; have the effect of preventing;
10.Negligent :
marked by insufficient care or attention

Quiz:

Fill in the blanks

2007年5月31日 星期四

Developing and Practicing Reading and Writing Skills

Grammar Safari
1. Goal: Grammar Safari collect variety of websites that are able to enhance students' English no matter on reading, writing oral training , vocabulary and pronuciation etc. This website mainly arranges websites with activity and information and the websites of authentic resources , which can satisfy different needs for learners of all levels.

2. Presentation: Grammar Safari provides learners with very clear-arranged categories, and the learner can immediately see the different categories posted on the top of page and click into the categories with many websites. Though the website looks not visually flowery, it is definitely very useful for its collectiveness of many crusial websites, and thus every learner can surely get what they want from this website without worries of its lack of information or materials. That is, though the learners don't see the categories of activities, quizzes, multimedia presentations etc, they can still get into these categories via click the hyperlinks of the listed websites.

3. Appropriateness: The learners with basic vocabulary ability are ok enough to use this website and their goal will be fulfilled.

4. Outcomes: The learners surf this website can sharpens their English skills because the website includes also many high level English websites such as CNN's news reading, reading and writing skills can be fully developed here.

5. Evaluation: none

6. Notes:The most important thing of using the website is, I think, to carefully take a look at every website to find the most useful one in order to get what one really wants for the information and the authentic resourse are a lot.

Introduction

This is Yajoo's blog for the course, online English learning. This blog will basically introduce some websites and my evaluation about them. There will also be some course materials added during the semester on this blog. I hope everyone can learn something or have fun or simeply feel the materials are supercool while reading my blog, and this is my expectation on designing the blog. On the other hand, for the interest of hyperlink, I connect this blog with my personal Chinese blog, In the tea in the attic, and anyone who is interested in it is very welcomed to my Chinese blog. Just have fun!!