Blogs Due TODAY!

as a reminder, no late papers are accepted for this sequence unless you have already asked me for more time.  See previous post for the Blog Cover Sheet if you missed Tuesday’s class or if you lost yours.  It is also linked through WEB CT.

Also, my office hours for today are slightly shifted.  I will be in there from 3:30-4:30pm today.  Please let me know if you would like me to stay longer or meet with you at another time.

All Blog posts & Set up due Thursday

Remember: All blog posts and blog set up (don’t forget to change your tagline! to reflect your blog’s angle) are due on Thursday along with the Blog Cover Sheet.  If you do not turn in the blog cover sheet, I will not know to grade it (or which posts to grade).  I will hand out the blog cover sheet in class today, but here it is again in case you lose it:  Blog Cover Sheet

Easter Bunny?? Good or Evil?? (A Sample Commentary Blog Post)

Every year, parents across our consumeristic country perpetuate the myth of the Easter Bunny.  Here’s the gist.  Today, in class, we discussed two:

1. On the night before easter, kids paint eggs and when they wake in the morning, the Easter bunny has hid them.  The hunt begins!  (sometimes you can even bribe the bunny with tasty carrots…)
2. On Easter morning, kids awaken to giant baskets of easter treats (full of candy, stuffed animals galore.

But in a  holiday that is based on religion (The death of christ and how he rose from the dead!  What many see as the most important day in many religious churches )  So Easter Bunny…  good or bad?

Team Bunny Says

We take this whole Religion thing too seriously.  In our country supposedly free from religious, why focus so much on taking the fun out of life.  The Easter Bunny is a fun way to give kids treats, candy, stuffed toys, and more.  And believing in this tradition, is a way to stimulate our kids’ imaginations.  Besides, hide the eggs, find the eggs, why would anyone find any fault in that???

Team Jesus Says

The Easter Bunny takes away from the true meaning of Easter.  Like Santa on Christmas, the Easter Bunny is another capitalistic way of forcing people to spend money.  In our difficult economic times, shouldn’t we be focused on more important things like putting food on the table?  And why lie to your kids? 

 Here’s What I Say:

I’m tired of people always thinking about the negative first.  So maybe it does detract from what was originally a major religious day, but since then, Easter (like Christmas) has taken on a life of its own.  Let the kids have their candy; let imagination run wild; let fun live in this world.   And if you are a religious person, then make sure your kids understand both stories if it is important to you, but why hate on everyone else and their fun.  Life should be about living and not restrictions. 

This Blog Commentary was created via our discussion in class (more or less).  Your Commentary Blog Post is due Tuesday.  It should relate to the subject of your own blog.  For more info, please read other examples HERE

For Thursday’s Class (4/21), make sure to read

 

Giving Students Guidelines: Writing a Blog Commentary (click on title to link to blog)

You should also read at least 3 of the 5 listed examples.

By the end of your reading, you should have a clear understanding of a blog commentary.  If you don’t, check your text book for more info or visit me in my office hours.  Thursday 4pm.  In 252 Humanities.

In case youve forgotten what your text book looks like. The chapter in here is called "Commentaries"

Emulation Blogs

For this blog post, your task is simple:

• Find a blog that you like/want to emulate (copy)
• Decide what is happening with the blog structurally.
• Copy the blog’s structure for a post that works with your site.

FOR INSTANCE:

• Here is the blog we looked at in class:  How to Be Indiana Jones or Andre 3,000.  Perhaps this is the blog you want to copy.  Step one is to read the blog.
• Step two is to decide what’s happening in this blog.  In class we decided there were three key elements to the blog:

1.) Blog begins with a brief personal story about D.Oswald Ramsay’s relationship to hats ” When I was 11 years old, I really wanted a gray felt that my grandfather owned.I never got the hat, and I’m still mad about it. Dammit.”

2.) From there, he gives us a lesson about the hats we “should” know.  Lesson involves the hat name & the persona attached to the hat

3.) Ramsay uses images throughtout the blog.  If you want, you can even go so far as to have the exact same number of photographs as he uses to fully emulate (copy) his blog.

He does not, however, ever address the not so "cool" hats of the Red Hat Society...

• Step 3 is to write the blog (using the same structure as the original blog.  For instance, in our example, if my blog’s main subject was my family, I might have a post about moving out of my family home this past weekend.  I would begin my post with a brief explanation of what was happening and then, perhaps, use photographs to show the parts of the house I might miss the most.  Whatever you do, tell the story using as much photographs as possible)

For directions on how to upload a photograph, please visit: THIS POST.

You should also LINK up to the original emulated site.  To provide a link, highlight the WORD you want to link.  Click on the chain image above.  Type in the linking address, then click “Add Link.”  It should show up in blue.  For more detailed instructions, click HERE

Just because. Baby pandas

Thursday Class Cancelled, For Next Tudesday…

…go ahead and post your first blog entry.  and we’ll talk about the emulation blogs in class on Tuesday.

Here’s what I would like you to do in the mean time:

1. Check that your blog is linked to this English 101 Bloganator page.  If the link does not work (or if you are not linked to me), SEND ME A MESSAGE.  Make sure to tell me the TITLE of your blog.
2. Along with your “About” page, write your first blog post about whatever you want.  For some ideas, WordPress suggests visiting this blog: THE DAILY POST or you can also visit the WORDPRESS MAIN PAGE to link to the day’s highlighted postings.
3. Comment on at least 3 of your peer’s pages (in their about page or their first blog post)

Here’s some explanations for those who might feel lost:

To Post your First Blog, there are several ways to do it.  Here are a couple options: Hover over “My Blog” then click on “New Post”  OR  from your Dashboard, click on “Posts” then “Add New.”  Give the blog a title, and then write away.  Note the toolbar that will let you spell check, etc.

To upload a picture, click on the square symbol next to “Upload/Insert.”  Then, follow the directions on how to upload your photograph, add whatever captions, details you want (or don’t) and then click “Insert into post.”

 

This photo has nothing at all to do with my post, but that is my dog and she likes to sit at the table.

To post a YouTube video (or another), click on the “Add Video” link above and follow the instructions.  It involves doing something like this: [ youtube=http://_________________ ] with the website of the video in there, obviously.

Lastly, you may want to subscribe to this blog.  I’ll post blogs like this every now and again to help with your writing assignments.

Due Thursday – Write your “About” page

Remember that by Thursday, you should read the following blog post  AND:

1.  Finish setting up your layout.  This means:

• Choose a Layout You Like (Dashboard–>Appearances.  Then, activate).
• If you chose a layout with a header, then change the header picture to one that fits with your subject (Dashboard–>Appearances–>Header.  Then, upload the picture.)
• Set up your blog’s title (should relate to your subject) & tagline (should relate to your angle) [Dashboard–>Settings]
• Activate these three Widgets: “Blog Subscriptions,” “Blog Stats,” & “Links” (Dashboard–>Appearance–>Widgets).  Click and hold the widget and drag it to the right wherever you want it.
• Link to this website: The English 101 Bloganator.  https://english101bloganator.wordpress.com
• I also suggest subscribing to this blog because I will post updates like these.

2.  Write your first “About” post.  (Dashboard–>Pages.  “Edit” the default “About” Page).  Remember that this post should reflect two things:

• It should introduce you (aka ‘about you’)
• It should introduce your blog (what is your blog’s purpose, etc.)
• Check your Assignment Calendar & Handout for Details.
• Also, add a picture to the About page as well.  (when you are in the drafting page, click on the tiny square next to “Upload/Insert” that says “Add an image” when you hover your mouse over it.

Here are some good “About” page examples (taken from the “Freshly Pressed” wordpress site – these change daily and are a good place to look for ideas for blogs):

• Charlene Winifred, Photographer About Page (a good length example that uses subheadings)
• The Domestic Man About Page (a short example)
• Genesis Merenda: This blog has two about pages – in case you want to create two pages instead of one.  Click here to view the blog (note the pages at the top of the screen)

My First post!

Look at me go!