Have any of you ever heard of Storybird? It's a fun website that allows you to write your own stories based on beautiful art by professional artists. I learned about Storybird via Russell Stannard at the IATEFL conference in the UK last month. 

Here are the instructions: 

1. Go to Storybird.com and create an account. It's free. Check your email for confirmation.

2. Choose an artist. Create a story with "mother" as your theme. 

3. Publish your story. (Make sure it is public so that we can read it.) You will be able to embed your story after it is approved. (This takes 24-36 hours. When you click on your story you will eventually see a share button that says "Embed".)

4. If you don't want to wait for your story to have the embed code, send the story to yourself via email.

5. Copy the link in the email and share the link in the comments below.

6. Create a blog post called: Writing Challenge #31: Mother's Day Story. Share the link to your story (or embed it) and describe the experience. Why did you choose this artist? What was the most difficult part of using Storybird? 

7. Rate the stories you read. 

Note: If you cannot use Storybird for some reason, feel free to write a true or fictional story or poem on the theme of "mothers".  

Here is a short tutorial about how to create a Storybird for this month's writing challenge. You can also watch the full Storybird tour. 

Here are some words that came to my mind while reflecting about the teaching conference I attended in the UK. Can you guess why I included some of these words? I will tell a little story about each word that you guess.

How to guess: 

1) Choose a word. 

2) Leave a comment below. Use one of the following methods of guessing:

a) ask a question (direct)

b) use "I think" + past tense 

c) use "I bet" + past tense 

d) use "I wonder if" + past tense

*Note: You can use a direct ("you") or indirect ("Tara")  form to make your guess.

For example: 

a) Were you hungry when you arrived at the conference? 

b) I think Tara went to a zoo and saw a panda. 

c) I bet you learned a lot about Turkey. 

d) I wonder if Tara stood in a long queue for a session. 

Teachers: 

Try this exercise with your students! You can use Wordle: Unravel the Story for reflections on field trips, weekends, holidays, childhood etc. Have them practise asking direct and indirect questions and statements when guessing. 

Each month I post a new writing challenge for English learners. Everyone is welcome to join.

Here is a reference list of the first 30 writing challenges on MyEC. Teachers can use these ideas on their own blogs or in their classrooms. Students can review the archived challenges and try out any that seem interesting. It is always fun to revive an old writing challenge! Teachers are welcome to join as well. The more examples we have, the better!

Writing Challenge #1: Uh Oh What Happened?

Writing Challenge #2: A Chain Story

Writing Challenge #3: A Love Story (Fact or Fiction)

Writing Challenge #4: What am I?

Writing Challenge #5: Windows of the World

Writing Challenge $6: Dear Grandma (Transitional Words and Phrases)

Writing Challenge #7: Building our Dream House

Writing Challenge #8: English Mania (expressing opinions)

Writing Challenge #9: Obituary for Michael Jackson

Writing Challenge #10: The Perfect Resume

Writing Challenge #11: A Day in the life

Writing Challenge #12: My Dream English School

Writing Challenge #13: An Interview with a MyEC member

Writing Challenge #14: Adapt the Lyrics

Writing Challenge #15: Recipe for the New Year

Writing Challenge #16: Postcards for Olympic Athletes

Writing Challenge #17: Thumbs Up or Down (movie reviews)

Writing Challenge #18: Top Ten Lists

Writing Challenge #19: Tribute to a Friend

Writing Challenge #20: Picture Stories

Writing Challenge #21: Fashion Show

Writing Challenge #22: Wallwisher

Writing Challenge #23: My PLN

Writing Challenge #24: Blog Action Day

Writing Challenge #25: 7 Secrets

Writing Challenge #26: A Gingerbread Mystery

Writing Challenge #27: My Advice

Writing Challenge #28: Book Love

Writing Challenge #29: On the Phone with Homophones

Writing Challenge #30: Adventures in Blogging

Questions for Writing Challenge participants (writers and readers): 

1. Which was your favourite challenge so far? Why?

2. Which was the most difficult challenge?

3. Which challenge taught you the most about yourself or about English? 

4. Which past challenge do you want to participate in? (Go for it!)

5. What is one thing you would change about the writing challenges? 

In the last newsletter we made a special request for all of you to share your thoughts about blogging! I want to know how blogging has helped you learn (or teach) English. 

Why do I need your help? I will be going to a conference for English teachers next week. The conference is called IATEFL and it will be held in England. At the conference I will be speaking about blogging with MyEC learners. I'm hoping that some of the teachers will be inspired to join MyEC (or any blogging community) with their students after the talk. 

I was so excited to find a post by Nafis called "How MyEC Blogging Helped me" that I decided to use her example to inspire my next writing challenge. (I already had a different topic planned, but that will have to wait until next month!) Everyone has homework, except Nafis! 

Your Task

1) Check out Nafis's blog post. 

2) Spend some time looking at your own blog posts. Look at your first one and compare it with your last one.

3) Think about how blogging has helped you learn English (or teach if you are a teacher). Has it given you confidence? Has it helped you make friends that you can practise with? Have you found new tools for practising English? How has your typing speed/spelling/vocabulary improved? 

4) Share your blogging adventure with us (highs/lows/favourite post/favourite comment). Include suitable links to other blog posts.

5) Answer this question: Why should teachers blog with students?

6) Come back here and share a link to your post! 

My Example

The first thing that attracted me to MyEC was the chance for English learners to have their own blogs. To this day, it is still my favourite part of the club. In a blog you have so much freedom. You can write on topics that interest you. You can embed videos and include pictures. You can make up stories and share them with the world. It amazes me how a community gathers around a single piece of writing. Some posts receive dozens of comments! 

MyEC bloggers have many different reasons for blogging. Some want to improve their TOEIC or TOEFL mark. Some want to make friends. Others want to improve their vocabulary, typing, and spelling. Many bloggers want to share their talents (poetry or music).  Personally, I want to show people that writing can change your life. We all have something to write about!

One of the high points in my blogging adventure so far was blogging about the World Cup. As many of you know, I did not have a TV during this big event. I shared my concern and asked all of you to help "keep me in the loop". Many of you left comments throughout the competition. I feel like I saw the World Cup thanks to you!

I experienced a low point when I realized that some bloggers were plagiarizing. Most members who were doing this didn't even realize that copying writing from the Internet was wrong. I wondered if my writing challenges were too competitive. Were bloggers plagiarizing in hopes of getting featured? I created the Plagiarism Pledge and built a resource page on EC. This problem still occurs from time to time, and I learned to give people a second chance. 

My favourite writing challenge so far was #13: Interview with a MyEC member. In this challenge members had to ask questions to another member and post the questions and answers in their blog. Some of you even interviewed Josef! I think this challenge helped bring some members closer together. I interviewed Salim about his cats. 

I think teachers should blog with their students because it helps learners fall in love with the language. It also lets teachers use their creativity. Blogging is an easy way to share feedback and offer suggestions. Blogging in a community like MyEC, is an excellent way to start. New bloggers get an instant audience and the bloggers here are very kind and supportive. I hope the teachers at the IATEFL conference enjoy your examples.

How has blogging helped you learn (or teach) English? Take us on an adventure!  

[I was so happy that my friend Ana agreed to be a guest blogger on my MyEC blog. Ana and I were high school friends. We were always in the same homeroom because our last names were alphabetically close. A homeroom is the room where you go to get your attendance checked. You also listen to announcements and the national anthem. Then you disperse and go to the classes that you have chosen, such as French or Drama. Ana and I recently became reacquainted through Facebook and our blogs. She is an amazing photographer and one of my favourite storytellers. It was Ana who inspired me to start Wordless Wednesdays here on English Club. She will be happy to hear that many of you enjoy this activity!]

hi everyone! tara invited me to share a post with all of you here. it's my absolute pleasure to be here!

now before i start sharing my true story of chippie the chipmunk, let me explain a few things.

1. for those not familiar with them, a chipmunk is a small furry rodent common to yards and parks here in canada. i have a few photos of one particular chipmunk, below. they are very cute and curious little things.

2. you might have noticed that i type only in lower case. it all started out innocently enough, when one of my kids ripped out the shift key on my keyboard. but to understand the whole story behind why i continue to type this way, you can read this post i wrote. it was actually the first post i made to my blog, i made it so.

3. my name is ana, and i write regularly on my blog about things i make. i love working with my hands, and much like writing, my creativity seems to flow through my hands. and so for me, writing and creating really do go hand in hand and i often share stories about the things that happen along the way. this is where the "chippie the chipmunk" story came about.

i had just shared a tutorial on my blog about how to make a birdfeeder. it's a simple craft that i did with my kids, using an old milk carton and some paint. if you are curious, you can read that tutorial.

but then soon after hanging the bird feeder from a tree in my yard, i noticed something peculiar going on inside it. here's that story...


***

the feeder was swaying where it was hanging on the branch...



i got a little closer to inspect...



"chippie" (the chipmunk).

startled, chippie ran out of the birdfeeder, but not before looking back at me as if to say "what bird seeds? i don't know what you're talking about lady..."



but just look at those cheeks full of bird seeds! you are so busted.

yeah, you better run!



i'm perfectly normal in having these dialogues with random critters in my yard, right? have you had any encounters with creatures that you could write a story about? i'd love to hear it! thanks for inviting me tara, and i hope your english learners enjoyed chippie's visit to my yard. everyone here is welcome to drop by my blog anytime and say hi. i wont chase you away like i chased chippie! :-)

ana
imadeitso.com
***


[Tara: When I first read about Chippie, I knew it would be a great way to teach the word "busted". This is a word native speakers often use! When it is used in this way it means "caught doing something you shouldn't be doing". If you catch a child stealing a cookie, you can say, "Busted!" The child might tell his friend, "I got busted." 

Usage Notes:
The word "bust" can be used in many other ways too:

1. to break something (informal)
"I busted my leg when I was skating."
"You're going to bust that toy if you sit on it."

2. to bust a gut (expression): to laugh really hard. 

"The movie was so funny, I nearly busted a gut. "

3. bust (noun): the chest area of a woman (breasts)
"Let's measure your bust to see which size bra you need."

4. bust (noun): a failure
Alex: "How was the party?"
Tracy: "It was a bust. Only two people showed up."

5. to go bust: to go bankrupt
"The tire company went bust after the car factory closed."

Don't forget to visit Ana's blog. It is full of crafty ideas and beautiful photos. WARNING: You will be inspired to make something. Thanks again, Ana!]

In the "blogosphere", there is a common trend called Guest Blogging. This is when Blogger A invites Blogger B (or an expert in a specific field) to write a post that will be shared on Blogger A's blog.

Many bloggers have a certain theme in their blog. For example, my personal blog is called Beyond ELT. It is mainly about writing. If I invited a guest blogger to that blog, I would probably invite a self-published writer. I might ask him or her to share a post about publishing an eBook. 

Why do bloggers request guest blog posts? 

1) It gives a blogger's readers a fresh voice to read.

2) It helps attracts new readers. (The guest blogger may have an audience who will help spread the word about Blogger A.)

3) It shows that you admire and respect other bloggers. (Your blog is not all about you.)

4) A blogger will often return the favour. (I guest blogged for you, will you guest blog for me?)

How to invite a blogger to write a guest post

1) Send a request to a blogger you admire. (You can link to this post if you want.) 

2) Ask the blogger if he or she would write a guest post for your blog. You can give him or her the topic or ask your guest to choose a topic. Give your blogger your email address. (On MyEC you can just send your request and/or guest post via "Send Message")

3) Write a short introductory paragraph to introduce the post. Place it at the top of your post in italics. 

4) Copy and paste the guest's post below your introduction. 

5) Use an appropriate title to show that it is a guest post.

6) Check the formatting. Sometimes the formatting may need to be fixed. Don't change the words (unless you see a typo), but you can fix it to make sure it looks good. 

7) Add a short bio of your guest blogger at the bottom of the post. You can ask your guest to write this, or you can write it yourself. Include a link to the blogger's blog or website.

My Example: Coming soon. I've sent my request for a guest post to a blogger I admire. I hope she'll accept! 

Your Example: If you invite a guest blogger to your blog, please share a link below! 

Have you looked at the blogging statistics on MyEC lately (see Monthly archives)? We have more bloggers than ever. I am always very proud when I read a 1st blog by a new member. Sometimes it is only one or two lines. Taking this first step is very important! You should feel very proud. Guess what makes me even happier? You guessed it. The second blog! Many people stop blogging at #1, but I hope you aren't one of them.

In your second blog you can tell us more about yourself. Try answering these questions: 

1. Why did you join MyEC? 

2. Why are you learning English?

3. What aspects of language learning do you need to work on most? (listening, writing, etc.)

4. What special interests do you have?  (maybe a commenter will suggest a group for you to join in MyEC)

You can also blog about a topic that you are passionate about. Share an opinion about a current event in your country. A blog post does not have to be long. You can write one short paragraph! 

Here are some more ideas for blog topics: I don't know what to blog

So, here's a challenge for you:

1) If you've never written a blog post, write a short one today. (share a link below after you write it)

2) If you've only written one blog post, write a second one. (share a link below after you write it)

3) If you've written many blog posts, share a link to your second one in the comments below.

Can you guess what my favourite number is? #2! 

PS-It takes two to blog!
If someone leaves a comment, write a comment back. If no one leaves a comment, invite a friend or moderator to leave one. You can always ask me if I don't see your post. I wish I could comment on every post! I'm thankful to all of the bloggers on MyEC who leave comments. I sincerely hope that no blog is left behind.

1. for professional development (every Wednesday I try to join #ELTChat with other English language teachers around the world)
2. to share amazing links related to my interests (teaching English, writing, parenting)
3. to invite people to check out sites that I contribute to (marketing)
4. to keep in touch with friends and fellow bloggers (sharing)
5. to build a readership (self promotion-my novel is coming out soon and I need all of the readers I can find)

1. @PhraseMix
2. @TeacherMelanie
3. @LearnEnglish_BC
4. @englishfeed
5. @readable

1. @russell1955
2. @ShellTerrell
3. @kalinagoenglish
4. @esolcourses
5. @eltchat

1. #twinglish (people on twitter using English)
2. #learnenglish 
3. #ESL 
4. #ELL
5. #English

1. #ELTChat (or just #ELT)
2. #TEFL
3. #IATEFL
4. #EFL (or #ESL)
5. #TESOL

1. How to use Twitter
2. Top 10 things Teachers do on Twitter
3. 10 Twitter Tips for ESL Users
4. The English Language Teachers Guide(thanks Karenne)
5. Big list of Twitter tips and guides

MyEC: More than a Chat Room: Listen

We all use MyEC for different reasons. My primary reason for using MyEC is to encourage English learners to write. I love writing and I hope my passion for writing will rub off on the members here. I think blogging is an excellent way to practise and teach English. 

Others use MyEC to share poetry or watch English videos or learn new vocabulary. Many of you have found groups with people who have like interests. You forget that you are practising English because you are discussing things that you love to talk or write or speak about. 

Some of you (though these people probably don't read blogs) use MyEC primarily (or even solely) for the chat room. The chat room is a great part of MyEC because it allows you to practise English in an informal way. You can make friends from all over the world. If you have a quick question, you can ask someone in the chat room. You can also invite a friend in the chat room to have a video chat using something like Skype. 

Unfortunately, the chat room has some bad eggs. A bad egg is a person who wants to spoil the fun for other people. These chatters have no use for MyEC other than causing trouble. Do you see these chatters blogging in English? No. Do you see them practising their speaking skills? No. Do you see them uploading useful pictures for learning English or taking video challenges? Probably not. Many are banned on a weekly basis under various names. 

Each week we receive dozens of requests to reinstate banned members. In most cases it is about something that happened in the chat room. Can I share a little secret? We don't read these messages and we never respond to them. It's not because we don't care. It's because we do care. We want to put our energy into caring for the English learners and teachers who are here for the right reasons. If a person gets banned incorrectly, it is a shame. If you've been  banned incorrectly, please come back and blog about your experience (we know you know how to come back). If you don't want to blog you could upload a video. You could even tell your story in the Audio Speaking Group. Whatever you do, don't hide in the chat room because there is so much more to MyEC!  

A huge thank you to all of the members who put their energy into many different areas of this club.   

I know many of you spend a lot of time online, but do you also like to gab on the phone? Do you still have a landline, or do you just use a mobile?

This week my husband is going to get rid of our landline. Why? It costs a lot of money each month and we almost never use it. I use video chat to talk to my best friends, clients, and colleagues. I use my cell phone to text my family members and I use email, twitter, and blogs to keep in touch with friends around the world. We have moved so many times in the last few years that most of our friends don't even know our home number. The phone sits in its cradle and sleeps most of the time. And yet, I wonder if I will miss the phone. Sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

This month, let's write telephone conversations! But, wait. It's not going to be that easy. We are going to practise using homophones for our transcripts.

Homophones are words that have the same sound but different meanings.

Your Task:

1) Click on EC's NEW list of homophones.

2) Choose a list. (Use an appropriate level, or just choose the list that inspires you.)

3) Write a fictional phone conversation between you and another member of MyEC.  (You can do this challenge as a pair if you prefer.) Write it on your own blog (or in the comments below as Expector did)

4) Use as many homophones from your list as possible in the transcript of your telephone conversation. Place the homophones in bold. (Try to use at least 3 sets of words.)

5) Come back to this post and share a link to your Homophone Telephone Conversation.  

6) If you use video or voice chat, try practising the conversations with a learning partner. Or, record your conversation and post it on your blog or in the Audio Speaking Group. You can even record half of it, so that others can practise saying the other half.

Check out telephone English for tips on expressions to use over the phone. 

My Example (based on the Advanced Homophone List): 

Nadira: Hello? 

Tara: Hi, is Nadira there please?

Nadira: Speaking. 

Tara: Oh, hey Nadira. Do you have a minute to chat? 

Nadira: Sure, I'm just on my break. What's up? 

Tara: Not much, what are you up to?

Nadira: I'm just watching my students from the window. They're having a bawl playing ball out in the field. It looks like they lost the ball in some hay. 

Tara: Sounds like great fun. I figured I'd kill some time while I make dinner. I just got out a block of cheese to grate on my homemade pizza. 

Nadira: Well, I'm glad you called. I need some advice about making pizza with my students. Every time I try to knead the dough, it feels too tough. I'm using the recipe you gave me. My students are learning about following instructions.

Tara: Aha. It sounds like you need to let the dough rest. 

Nadira: That's what I thought. One of the students tried to wrest the dough out of my hands. He wanted to throw it over his head like they do in the movies. The dough fell on the floor. 

Tara: You should give him extra homework tonight as punishment. You could make him write a hymn for MyEC. We already have a theme song, but...

Nadira: Well, he already has an essay due tomorrow. I don't want to be too hard on him. Say, how's the weather in Canada? 

Tara: I think spring is coming. I saw dew on the grass this morning instead of frost. 

Nadira: You must be happy about that. I heard on the news that you have had a very cold winter. 

Tara: Yes. Say. What's that I hear through the phone? It sounds like a herd of elephants. 

Nadira: Oh, that's just my students running down the hall. I guess I'll have to let you go. I need to haul them back to English class. Thanks for the tip about the dough.  

Tara: No problem. Thanks for keeping me company while I made my pizza. 

Nadira: Talk to you later. 

Tara: Bye.

It was a statutory holiday in some parts of Canada today. Some provinces call the third Monday in February "Family Day". I am happy to be in a province that promotes the importance of family time. 

We didn't get up to much on Family Day. It was nice to just relax after a busy week full of Valentine and birthday parties. We hung out in PJs and played Wii and watched a movie. Have you seen Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium? If not, you should!

This movie stars Dustin Hoffman (Rainman) and Natalie Portman (Padme/Queen Amidala-Star Wars). It is meant for kids, but is also fun for adults.  I am a child at heart, and this movie brought me to tears.

Mr. Magorium, a man with crazy eyebrows and a pet zebra, has owned his toy store for over 113 years. This isn't an ordinary toy store (is there such a thing?). This is a magical toy store that has a temper tantrum when it hears some bad news. 

In my opinion, it's the child star (Zach Mills) who steals the show. His big ears remind me of an adorable cousin I have in England who I've only met a few times in my life. I hope you'll watch this film and fall in love with this kid, just like I did. Maybe he'll even inspire you "to sparkle". (You'll have to watch the movie to find out what that means.)

You can read the script for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium here. It might be fun to practice speaking some of the parts out loud with a friend. Unfortunately the names of the speakers aren't included in the script, so it will make more sense if you've seen the movie or if you watch and read along. I'm not sure if Script-o-rama is legal, but a friend in the film business shared the link with me and there are plenty of scripts to read. I know many English teachers use these scripts in class. 

My favourite Mr. Magorium quote (and the moral of this film): "Your life is an occasion. Rise to it."

By the way...what was your favourite toy as a kid? 

I'm reading a fantastic book called "The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life. How to get more books in your life and more life from your books." It is written by Steve Leveen, and I picked it up randomly at the local library. I say randomly, because nobody recommended it and it wasn't on my "to read" list. The title just caught my eye as I was browsing the shelves. If there's one thing I want in life, it is more time to read. I could sit in a bookstore or library for days on end and never get bored. Could you?  

Are you currently in "book love"? According to Steve Leveen, "[b]ook love is something like romantic love. When we are reading a really great book burdens feel lighter, cares seem smaller, and commonplaces are suddenly delightful. You become your best optimistic self. Like romantic love, book love fills you with a certain warmth and completeness."

This month let's write about a time we were in book love. 

Your Task:

1. Think of a time you were in book love. What what were you reading? Use the first book that comes to mind. 

2. Open a blog post. Use the title "Writing Challenge #28: Book Love". 

3. Tell us the title, author, and genre of the book you were in love with. 

4. Tell us when/where you were when you first read the book. (It doesn't have to be the exact day or year, but what stage of life were you in?) 

5. Summarize the book or share a favourite part. 

6. If you have the book, share a favourite quote from it. 

7. Come back to this blog and share a link to your post. 

8. Visit other book love posts and leave a comment. Will you read the books that others have recommended?

My Example: Book Love

Title: Kingfisher Days

Author: Susan Coyne

Genre: Memoir

When and where I read this book: I read this book in 2003 when I had just moved from Vancouver to the Okanagan. I was in a new town where I didn't know a soul. Books were my main friends. This little book was on a shelf in the library where the librarians placed recommended books. I took it home and devoured it. When I finished the book, I prayed that I would have a daughter one day. I just had to read it to my own little girl! Within a few weeks, I was pregnant with my daughter. 

Summary: This is a memoir about one summer in a woman's childhood. The five-year-old goes to an Ontario cottage for the summer and discovers a little fireplace. Her father tells her that this fireplace belongs to the "little people". One day she find a little note from a fairy called Nootsie Tah Princess. The fairy and Susan write back and forth throughout the summer. Susan shares her special relationship with an elderly neighbour who lives in the next cottage over. Mr. Moir and Susan share a very special friendship and Susan learns how precious the written word is. 

Favourite quote: "How does it feel, Susan, when you put a few marks on a white sheet of paper, to have a new kingdom and all its people rise up in front of you?"

Note: This past summer my own daughter began corresponding with Tinkerbell in our back garden. She built furniture for the fairies and waited for notes and fairy dust. It was fun to see this story come to life in my own backyard. 

Your turn!

Are you in your teens, twenties, or thirties? Are you in your forties, fifties or sixties? Think back to your life ten years ago. What age bracket were you in then? What did you wish you knew then that you know now? This month, let's share some advice with people who are younger than ourselves. Your blog post could help younger readers. It may also help you realize how much you have grown in the last few years.

Your Task: 

1. Choose one role that you play in life (father, artist, teacher, computer programmer, volunteer)

2. Choose a younger age group that you will write advice for (teens, twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies).

3. Write a list of 5-10 tips for better or smarter living based on what you've learned in the last decade. Beside each tip write a brief note or use an example from your past. 

4. Post your blog. Then come back and share a link to your post. Don't forget to leave comments for your fellow bloggers.

Notes

*Use the base verb form in list subheadings. (see example: read, take, write)

*Review the past perfect. When you write a "wish" about the past, you use the past perfect: I wish I had spent more time with my friends. 

*Share a picture of yourself in the role you chose (parent, worker, artist etc.) from both ages.

*advice=noun

*advise=verb

*advice is a non-count noun (no plural); use "some advice" or a "word of advice" or "a piece of advice" (other non-count nouns include  "information", "feedback" and "vocabulary")

My Example: 

Advice for a Mom in her Twenties: 

1. Read to your babies: Learn to love reading to your kids. Don't limit reading to bedtime stories. Keep colourful books in every room of your house. 
2. Take videos of your babies: I did not have a good video camera when my first child was born. I wish I had splurged and bought one. No matter how tired you look, make sure you're in some of the videos too. Your kids will love to see how young you were when you learned how to be a mom.
3. Write down funny things your kids say: It's true. Kids say the funniest things. You know what else is true? Parents eventually forget these precious moments. I wish I had written down more things that my little ones said as they were learning to talk. 
4. Make time for your own friends: Being a parent of young kids has many rewards but it is also very tiring. Make sure to stay in touch with at least one very close friend even if your kids are your primary focus. Pick a friend who isn't afraid of late night phone calls. 
5. Sacrifice everything but your passion: Do you love to paint, take pictures, golf, or play soccer? Being a parent of young kids requires you to sacrifice a lot of things you previously enjoyed. Keep one thing sacred and give yourself time each week to enjoy your passion or hobby.  
6. Keep meals simple: You will eventually have more time to try new recipes and plan more elaborate meals. Every meal does not have to be perfect. It's okay to give your kids cereal for dinner once in a while. I wish I had known that when I was in my twenties.
7. Sneak the nutrition in: You can sneak pureed pumpkin or butternut squash into pancakes, hamburgers, french toast, stirfries, and lots of other meals. I learned this trick from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious. Just because they aren't babies anymore, doesn't mean you should give up on purees. 
   
   
8. Trust what other people say about your kids: They may not act on their best behaviour at home, but if your child's teacher or babysitter or extended family says your child is well-behaved, that's what counts.
9. Treasure the alone time you get with your second (or third, or fourth..): Your first child gets so much attention when he or she is born. Make a special effort to create special memories with your second child as well. 
10. Listen to the whisper: If you hear a whisper telling you to say no, say no. If you hear a whisper telling you to check on your child, check on your child. If you hear a whisper to give yourself a break, listen to the whisper. Learn to trust your mother's instinct at all times.  It is a great gift.

I was so excited to see that an amazing new teacher joined MyEC today. Greta Sandler inspired me from the moment I read a guest blog post she wrote called Love them Before you Know them. Some people are just meant to be teachers and she is one of them. Just look at the quotes on her profile and you will see that she is one of the world's "greats". Her blog About a Teacher is very inspiring. Why? She shares real life stories.

Do you think blogging is difficult? Greta blogs with her young learners. In fact, many teachers are blogging with young learners using a site called Kid Blogs. I often leave comments on these blogs when Greta or another teacher puts out a #comments4kids request on twitter. It only takes a few moments, but you can make a child's day with a simple comment.

Are you interested in adopting a young ESL/EFL blogger?  Greta and I have talked about setting up something like this with the MyEC bloggers. I was inspired by her presentation at last year's Virtual Round Table conference. 

If you are interested in leaving comments for YL bloggers, leave your name below. When Greta and I finally get organized we'll match you up with a kid blogger. 

2010 has been an amazing year for MyEC! We have welcomed so many new friends and are close to 30, 000 members. Remember when we welcomed Punima? She was the 20 000th member. People from around the world flooded her wall with welcome messages the moment she joined. That was so fun! There have been other fun moments in 2010, including photo challenges, Wordless Wednesdays, games, contests, and business chats. We were very sad to see some members go, and very happy to see a few return! I'm so proud of all of our active members. 

Here are my hopes and dreams for MyEC in 2011. Together we can make them all come true:

1. I hope all active members will write at least one blog post per month. If you can't think of anything to write, you can always take the monthly writing challenge. Let's beat our October 2010 record of 473 posts!

2. I hope no blog posts are left behind. If you ever see a blog post with no comments, please leave a comment. Commenting is just as important as blogging. It's all about communication.

3. I hope all members make at least one long lasting friendship that extends beyond the MyEC community. If you get the chance to meet up with a MyEC friend in real life, or if you Skype or talk on the phone with this friend, please share your experience by blogging, photographing, or videotaping the event.  

4. I hope more members will upload their own home videos. We all share interesting videos that we find online, but the best videos are those that you created yourself. These can be cartoons or how to videos or teaching lessons. If you have a webcam, or a digital or video camera, please make some English videos and share them on MyEC. Here is one of my personal favourites from this year: My Eyes Adored You by Ohnie.

5. I hope more members will upload their voices to their MyPage music players. A handful of you have taken my audio challenges in 2010, but my goal for 2010 is that many more of you will become comfortable using your English voice. If you need help, ask those who have already taken the plunge, such as Deuce or Expector or Anne or Nafis.

6. I hope members will continue to respect the rules of copyright and only upload photos and other content that they have permission to share. I hope no members copy and paste text into their blog posts and forums and pretend it is their own. 

7. I hope English learners on MyEC will continue to use all of the FREE resources on EnglishClub.com and assist each other by sharing links to lessons, articles, and forums on EC. If you see a page that is helpful, share it with your friends.

8. I hope you will all continue to inspire me to come up with interesting writing and audio challenges. Thank you so much to all who have participated. Don't be shy! The challenges and contests are open to learners and teachers of all levels. The only rule is English only!

9. I hope more amazing teachers like Bob, Joyce, Melanie, Karenne, Marisa, Robert, Jason, Shelly and Frank will join MyEC and invite their students to start using this community. I'll be talking to teachers about blogging as teaching at IATEFL in April. I hope new teachers who are training will think about volunteering a few hours of their time here in our community. 

10. I hope all members will invite at least one new friend, fellow student, teacher, or family member to MyEC in 2011. There's nothing more exciting to me than reading a blog post from a new member who expresses gratitude for being welcomed warmly into our little tribe.  

Thank you to Josef for giving us this opportunity to connect with English learners and teachers from all over the world. And thank you also to all of our volunteer moderators and teachers. This club couldn't function without you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What was your favourite MyEC moment or post in 2010? Share a link if you can!

Many of you are using the "tag" corrections in your blog posts! This is great. Thank you to all of the teachers and advanced learners who are helping. Please remember that teachers are not here to fix your mistakes. You must try to fix them yourself first. 

Andria is a new member who showed her corrections in a very clever way. When you share your corrections, you become the teacher for another English learner! 

You can use the "strike out feature" to show your corrections. 

This is how I usually suggest corrections. Notice that I only choose one or two lines for a writer to work out. I might give a hint to a beginner or low-intermediate learner. I might share a link to a grammar page on EnglishClub.com.


This is how you can respond. If you choose to leave your correction on your own blog post, please leave a note on the teacher's wall. If you don't leave a note, a teacher may miss your correction. Thank you to Andria for this great example. She left this message on my wall. I responded in the comments of her original post.:

It is also helpful if you Edit your post by inserting your corrections. You can use the strike out feature to show where you have made changes.Grace is a member who does this often. She uses bold font to show where she has made changes in her blog post. You can ask her for tips! Her writing is improving because of this great system.

Finally, I want to say thank you to all of the members who are blogging up a storm (blogging a lot). Your English will surely improve quickly as you practise writing on a regular basis. Please take the time to make sure that no blog post is left behind. Leave at least one comment every time you log in. Commenting is equally important to writing posts. Blogging is all about communicating! 

• Share new updates regularly
• Tell your stories
• Leave comments on blogs and other content
• Compliment hard work
• Offer help when help is needed
• Ask for help when you need it
• Provide support when a friend is down
• Share links and resources that others will benefit from
• Visit regularly
• Take the time to say hello to someone new