blogosphere & EL learning

As you can tell, I have really enjoyed blogging about my experiences here in Yemen. It's been a great way to share the experiences and adventures as they happen here. Family and friends have been able to read regularly about life for me here in Yemen. Since I saw this positive international phenomenon happening, I recalled a session on using blogs had piqued my interest at the 2005 TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) convention in San Antonio. So, about 4 weeks ago, I decided to experiment with blogging and English Language learning. First, I set up a blog for this semester's Writing II class at The University of Aden,

http://writing2aden.blogspot.com

It's very practical as a bulletin board. I can post news for my students and upload handouts or announcements for activities, scholarships et al. I'm planning on having them work in groups to produce collaborative writings which I will then post to the blog.

At Amideast, I mentioned the blog idea to staff and then along with Teacher Lindsay Martin-McCormick developed one,

http://amideastaden.blogspot.com

This blog shows student writings from various classes at Amideast. Several writings are already posted and it's interesting to see what they choose to write about. If you want to hear what Yemeni students have to say, check it out. Eventually, we could easily take some of these postings and make a simple newsletter as a hard copy for those busy students who cant find the time to surf.

Both blogs also have links to useful sites related to English Language Learning and English sites aimed at Yemenis. If any of you have any comments or suggestions about these blogs (including mine), please email me.