Paragraph to Essay

                                     Paragraph to Essay

          After you write a paragraph about some topic, it is easy to change that paragraph into an essay. Paragraphs are made up of sentences. Every paragraph has three main parts; an introduction, body and conclusion. Every essay also has three parts; an introduction paragraph, three or more body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. So if you have already written a paragraph, all you need to do is expand the sentences into paragraphs and you will have an essay. The essay will have more information and details than the paragraph, but remember that the essay will have the same three main parts that a paragraph has--introduction, body and conclusion. When we start learning to write, we start with paragraphs because they are the basic "building blocks" that writers use. After you know how to write a good, well organized paragraph, it is easy to write essays with five or more paragraphs. It is kind of like learning to crawl before you walk, or learning to walk before you run. In conclusion, writing essays is easy after you know what you want to write about and after you know how to write good paragraphs.

My Top Five Strengths

            I have many strengths and weaknesses, but I am going to write about my top five strengths, in my opinion. First of all, my strongest strength is that I am good at learning languages. For example, I know how to speak Spanish. I also like to teach English as a Second Language and beginning Spanish courses.  Second, I am good at music. For example, I have always liked to sing, especially in the shower, and I play the guitar and the drums. Third, I love to read. I have read many books and I usually read a couple of books every month. I would rather read a book than watch television. Fourth, I have quite a bit of patience. For example, it takes a lot to make me angry. I have three daughters who were teenagers. It is good to have patience when you are a teacher, to be able to answer questions and be polite to your students. Finally, I am not good at math in general, but I was always good at Geometry. For example, when I was in school, I was always one of the best students in Geometry, but I was usually the worst student in Algebra. I hated Algebra, and I still do. In conclusion, I have at least five strengths that I have discovered about myself in life by understanding what I am good at.  

Why Ivy Tech Community College is an excellent place to study

          Ivy Tech Community College is a good option to study at the college level for the following three reasons. First, the low cost of tuition makes it accessible to everyone, not just the rich. For example, you can take a course at Ivy Tech for only $100 per credit hour. You don’t even have to buy a parking sticker if you are a student at Ivy Tech. Ivy Tech has different options for payment and financial aid for most students. Second, Ivy Tech is a convenient place to study. For example, it is fairly close for anyone who lives in the Indianapolis area. There are over 20 campuses in Indiana, so if you live in Indiana, there is probably a campus near you. Finally, Ivy Tech has some very well qualified teachers with a lot of experience working with students. For example, all the ESOL teachers have many years of experience teaching ESL to international students, have lived in different countries and speak another language besides English. In conclusion, I would recommend that everyone should consider studying at Ivy Tech because of the low cost, convenience, and excellent teachers.

How I learned to play the drums

           If you want to learn how to play the drums, there are many ways you can do it, but this is the way I did it. When I was a kid, I always wanted to play the drums, but my family didn't have a lot of money to buy drums and things like that. So when I was about five years old,  I started hitting pots and pans in the kitchen with big spoons and sticks. My mom didn't like that. I used cardboard boxes or plastic tubs for drums. In school I would bang on my desk with my hands or pencils. I used whatever I could find. I finally decided to buy a drum set about 20 years ago and learn to play. You can get a starter set of drums with cymbals for about $300 to $500. I bought a nice set of used drums for $500 that was worth a lot more than that because the guy needed money, fast. After I got the drums, I just started playing around on them by myself, but then I realized I was just making noise, so I bought some CDs about how to play drums and then found a drum teacher for weekly lessons. I tried to practice my drums every day for at least half an hour, but sometimes I was too busy with work, or was just lazy, or didn't want to bother my wife and daughters.  So I found a guy my age who played the guitar and liked the same kind of music. We didn't play too well, but we played LOUD. We had fun playing music together, but neither one of us could sing, but we had fun. Now I don't take drum lessons, but I listen to rock music from the 60s and 70s like The Beatles, The Who, and The Police, and I just play along with the music. I have a good time, but I would not say that I am a good drummer. There are many great rock drummers, but I like Ringo Star of The Beatles and Stewart Copeland of The Police. Now, I am teaching my little grandson Alex how to play the drums, and he can have my drums later when he gets older. I bought him some little drums. Like grandpa, Alex thinks it is fun to bang on the drums. Most drummers like to play drum solos as a way to show their skills. Click here to hear a drum solo by one of my favorite drummers: Stewart Copeland drum solo  Wow!  I wish I could play this well, but for now I just enjoy listening to drummers like him. In conclusion, when you know how to do something, you don't necessarily have to be good at it; what is important is that you have fun doing it and don't take yourself too seriously, because if you think you are a great drummer, there is always some drummer out there who is better than you.

Inside Out movie review

      I have never written a review of a movie on my blog. Until I saw Inside Out. Last Saturday, my wife and I took our grandson, Alex, to this movie. It was the most interesting and creative movie I have seen in a long time. Yes, an animated movie. A cartoon. Did you think animated movies were just for children?  The movie theater was full of parents and their children--everyone was enjoying it just as much as we were. The movie is impossible to explain. You just have to go watch it and you will see what I mean. This movie is so unusual because it can be watched at two levels, by children and adults.  It is thoroughly entertaining for people of all ages.  It begins with a beautiful scene of two volcano islands singing a love (lava) song to each other.  See what I mean?  It's hard to explain. Just go see the movie. You can click here to see a trailer about the movie; Inside Out trailer.  Go see the movie!

The Writing Process

      To write a good academic paper, it is important to follow the writing process. There are several steps in the writing process. The steps can be divided into four parts; pre-writing, writing, reviewing and revising. First, previewing involves thinking about your topic, brainstorming, writing down your thoughts, and organizing your thoughts into an outline. Good writing, like everything else in life always starts with thinking. Second, you write the first draft using your outline. Third, you have someone read your first draft and tell you what they liked and how you can improve your writing. This is called peer review. You review their comments and decide how you are going to change your paper in the second draft.  Finally, you revise your paper and write the second draft,  taking the peer review comments into consideration and your own ideas about how to improve your paper. Then you proofread your paper for any errors in format, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, Now you have finished your second draft and your paper is ready to submit to your instructor. In conclusion, if you have followed all these steps in the writing process, from pre-writing to revising, you will write a good paper that will receive a good grade. Good luck!

How to write a process paragraph

          Almost everything that we do in life is part of a process.  Think about it. Very few things that we do are just one-and-done actions. Life itself is a process, a developmental process. We are born, we depend on our parents, we learn language, we go to school, we grow up, maybe we get married and have children, we grow old, and then, well, we die. So there are passages in life. That is a process. Explaining how to do something is also a process. This is called a how-to process. A how-to process paragraph is when we write about the steps to do something. For example, how to wash a car, how to play soccer, or how to fix a flat tire. To write a paragraph on any of these topics, we need to first describe any tools or materials that will be needed, and then describe the steps, in order, to complete the process correctly, being sure to use words like first, second, then, after that, and finally, to signal to the reader the order of the steps and help him/her better understand the flow of the process. Being able to write about and describe a process in a clear way is an important skill that is used in training manuals, set-up instructions for computers, and so on. In conclusion, writing about a process can be as easy as one-two-three. And when you are assembling a bicycle or other toy from parts in a box on Christmas morning, you will appreciate that the company has taken the time and effort to have someone write clear instructions about assembling that special gift.

Give me a comment about my process paragraph and tell me what you are going to write your Process Essay about, and why.  Think of something that you know how to do or make well.