102-14. Our Blogging Queen

The time has come, once again, to reveal what's in the virtual gift box!

It meant a lot to me that so many of you chose to blog with me this semester for extra credit. That takes real motivation and commitment in such a busy semester as this one has been.

I have no hesitation in crowning Ayşe as our Blogging Queen. Her blog meets royal standards and is everything a blog should be. I was delighted by each and every post, in which I saw evidence of creativity, analysis and attention to detail, self-exploration and a kind and generous spirit. I particularly loved her "hot vocabulary" list and "quote of the month" section as well as the picture of Benjamin and Elaine from The graduate. Right at the end of this semester she changed her template to mark the 'beginning' rather than the 'end' of blogging. Actually I just find this blog breathtaking and cannot find proper words to praise it - I would encourage you all to read it. Ayşe has been blogging with me since September, so this is a special award to me. I have seen her grow and develop immensely through her blog and this has made me feel closer to her. I know we will be blogging together for a long time to come. Thank you, Blogging Queen. ♥

I would of course not neglect to mention the other wonderful blogs - first Tümay, a newcomer to blogging, who posted 28 times, tying Ayşe in quantity! Tümay was a very enthusiastic blogger and I could look forward to at least one post after our morning class every Monday. So Ayşe and Tümay, you are the joint winners of the blog race! (So nice to duplicate that tied-for-first trend, which we saw last semester with Beri and Hasan).

I will now continue down the rankings, with comments on each blog:

Ezgi O. - 27 posts - Ezgi's blog took off in a major way this semester and pretty much blew everyone out of the water for some weeks.

Simge - 20 posts - Our returning 'Little Blogger', I especially love how she 'talked' to the characters in our stories on her blog. :)

Melek - 16 posts - We're happy to have this newcomer who made many sensitive interpretations of our course readings.

Hasan - 16 posts - Hasan's unique voice is back with us this semester, and I am proud of the changes I've witnessed in his thinking. ;)

Hazal - 15 posts - Hazal is such a wonderfully talented writer and an astute commentator on the human scene.

Nazlı - 15 posts - Another new blogger who showed incredible effort - don't miss her post on 'The rainbow coding in The bluest eye'.

Can - 14 posts - Can is a perfectionist, and it shows. His writing has gone from strength to strength.

Cemre Naz - 13 posts - Another returning blogger who incorporated so much of our class discussions and material into her blog.

Gamze - 11 posts - Gamze made a huge amount of effort on her blog and it is a delight to read - don't miss her wonderful African song/video, I guarantee it will make your soul sing.

Reşide - 11 posts - A new blogger who worked hard to create a permanent reminder of our wonderful novel.

Congratulations to all of you listed above, as you have met (and even exceeded) the criteria for extra credit, and your final grade will thereby be increased by one increment, for example from B+ to A-. As you know, I was looking for steady blogging over the semester as well as comments made on your blog and mine and on other students' blogs. Although I had 12 posts in mind as the cutoff, I must say that the effort and care that Gamze and Reşide put into their blogs convinced me that they had earned this honour as well - quality won out over quantity here!

A warm thank you goes to all of you who did some blogging, even if you could not meet the extra credit threshold:

Didem, Tuğçe K., Atalay, Ezgi Y., Elif, Bahar, Onur O., Zeynep, Mehmet Ali, Billur, Tuğçe Y., Ece, Merve, Deniz K., Sıla, Can Ç.

Finally, I cannot encourage you enough to *keep on/start/resume* writing on your blogs - that goes for all of you reading this, not just the people mentioned here. And I promise this:

I will be your ever-dedicated reader and commentator.

Thank you to ALL students who blogged with me in this academic year. Your blogs will be the outstanding models for my future students. I'm really very proud of you.

THIS IS NOT THE END OF MY BLOG, SO STAY TUNED... ;)

Sonja - out. ♥

'The Crown Jewels at the Tower of London' by Edgley Cesar, licenced under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0

102-7. Blog race, anyone?

Once again our blogging endeavours are being spiced up by a friendly race! Ayşe and Ezgi O. (the lovely roommates) have kicked off this semester's competition...Bahar, Gamze and Melek quickly weighed in with their determination, and for a bit it looked as if this would be a female-dominated race, or "cat fight" as Ayşe termed it - but wait! now Onur wants a piece of the action! The prize is up for grabs!

Well, this is some formidable competition - anyone care to take these bloggers on?

'Race to infinity' by The iconoclastic yet iconic ionic icon, licenced under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial ShareAlike 2.0.

102-6. Virtual blogging awards, round 2! ;)

Those of you who blogged with me last semester will remember this box. :))

This time I'm announcing this 'contest' well in advance; once again, at the end of the semester, I will be posting some virtual blogging awards here. These will include top blogger as well as those deserving honourable mention. The following attributes will be taken into consideration:
-quantity
-quality (reflection, analysis, creativity, writing skills)
-interaction with other blogs (including mine) and responding to comments made on yours

Last time competition was stiff as Beri (blue ribbon/silver cup winner) and Hasan (red ribbon winner) jockeyed for position in their mind-blowing 'blog race' - but I had to invent a runner-up category for Hasan in the end, so sorry man, wahwahwahhh :D ...and where's your blog race this semester, guys? I'm so pleased to note that most of those in the honourable mention category are back blogging again: Simge, Hazal, Onur, Ayşe, Elif and Can. Your blogs just get better and better. And Bahar, your blog has come on a bomb! Keep it up! Ezgi O., you're certainly on an impressive spree!

Check out all our lovely new bloggers on my ENG 102 blogroll - Tümay and Nazlı merit a mention even at this early stage.

Remember that blogging is an extra credit option this time - and it's not too late to get started! ;)

I really want to give this extra credit...I'm just waiting for your posts!

What's in the box this time? :-p

'Gift' by mrjoro, made available under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

32. Virtual blogging awards

The time has come to reveal what's in the virtual gift box!

I am still simply overwhelmed by this whole blogging experience. I feel like some sort of blogging master of the universe.

Although two students reached mind-blowing heights of 32 posts each (and both won the red ribbon Diet Coke race ;-), if I also consider depth of analysis, frequency of posting and quantity of interaction (31 comments), I think we have a clear blue-ribbon winner. So congratulations, Beri. Your blog, in my humble opinion, is a masterpiece. I would encourage you all to read it, and Beri, please please please do not stop writing on it.

Hasan, you have more than earned the distinction of close runner-up with your 32 posts and 24 comments. Even if I find your reasoning frustrating sometimes ;-), I was always entertained by your humour and I really enjoyed your egging me on throughout the semester, always with a smile.

It was quite difficult to limit my choice of blogs for honourable mention since competition was stiff, and every blog is unique and valuable to me. The following blogs were chosen for the frequency and quantity of posting and comments, as well as depth and quality of content:

Elif K. - 28 posts, 43 comments
Simge - 22 posts, 22 comments
Ayşe - 20 posts, 33 comments
Hazal - 18 posts, 44 comments
Onur O. - 18 posts, 16 comments
Meltem - 16 posts, 26 comments
Can M. - 14 posts, 28 comments

You may be happy to know that I have already decided to make blogging an 'extra credit option' in ENG 102; after all this success there is no way I can simply let it go.

A huge thank you to everyone who took this journey with me.

'Success' by kevinthoule, licenced under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

13. New bloggers and new blogging ideas welcome

Embryonic Journey by onkel_wart, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License

This week, for the first time, I gave you a blogging task to complete in class. This resulted in two students posting for the first time, so welcome to Erman Ece and Egemen Kaftancıoğlu. We look forward to reading more posts from you.

Two students have also come up with a great idea: Hasan Can Saral and Beri Pardo have devised a blog 'race'. Why not visit their posts to see what that's all about, and consider trying it yourself? This would be particularly useful for those students who find self-motivation to be a problem; when you race, your friends help you stay motivated. I think it's absolutely brilliant; I never would have thought of it in a million years.

This week in class I introduced you to the idea of Creative Commons materials. Hasan Can Saral and Beri Pardo have expressed strong views on the issue of copyright, and I encourage you to debate them in order to make them think a bit more deeply. :) I was absolutely amazed to see that Onur Olgaç immediately applied his new knowledge of Creative Commons images to his blog, flawlessly citing his most recent image. I would strongly encourage you to follow his example and cite all blog images you use in future.

This week you've all left a lot of great comments on my and other students' blogs. Let's keep this momentum going. Interacting with other blogs is part of your overall blogging grade, and of course from a human perspective, we all love to know what people think of our work.