We’re starting to write blogs regularly in our class right now, and I wanted to provide some examples of various different types of entries you could do. Blogging, as you will read on this page, is about prompting conversation. It is an interaction between you and your audience in a way that Writers’ Workshop can’t be, because with a blog, your audience can respond and make comments or ask questions.
So here are some examples of different types of blog posts written by past students. All of them have areas of strength and areas for growth, but they can provide ideas for you as you are beginning your first blogs. After you read the page above, check these out – and feel free to take a wander through other bloggers from previous classes, or from our Writing class blog.
In the comments section, the students in Writing 10, who have been blogging for almost a month now, give you advice on how to write entertaining, engaging blogs that encourage conversation; and how to write thoughtful, interesting comments that continue the conversation.
(You could also, of course, look at “I’m a Blogger!” and “Continue the Conversation” up at the top of the main class blog for suggestions.)
I’m noticing that several of my students are making the same mistakes when it comes to posting their Writers’ Workshop assignments (WWS) to their blogs, so here’s a checklist. Please ensure that the following guidelines are followed when you are posting to your blog:
Put the title of your writing (and all writing should have a title that is related to the topic, not “WWS 1” or “Name’s Blog”) in the title line for adding your new post.
Don’t include the date or your name. Both of those will show up with your post (well, it will be your username, but still) and don’t need to be part of the body.
Make sure your writing is left-justified (aligns with the left side of the text box), not centre- or right-justified.
Check your paragraphing: make sure that you don’t switch paragraphs in the middle of a sentence (or that you do switch paragraphs when you’re supposed to).
If you’re typing your post in the text box rather than copying and pasting something you’ve already typed (and run through spell-check), check the spelling. Edublogs uses the little red lines to show you when you’ve misspelled something – check those words.
Finally, make sure that your post is actually typed (or copied and pasted) into the text box. Don’t upload it as a file, whether a picture or a .pages or .docx file. (You’re welcome to upload a picture that actually goes with your writing, though, as long as either you have taken it or you have credited the person who did take it.)
If you follow these stylistic requirements, you will avoid me sending your post back to you as a draft multiple times. This first one is not counting as a late assignment because you’re still learning how to use Edublogs (and, many of you, blogging in general); future assigned posts that have these mistakes, however, will be considered late. Remember to use the “Preview” button to let you see what your post will look like on your blog before you submit it for review.
If you’re not sure how to do something, check with me before or after school and I can help you with it – or post it early so that if there are problems you’ll have time to fix them.
In the end, it’s all about connection. Learning is being able to connect with ideas, with people, with new places and new situations, with yourself, with the world around us. Students learn better if their teacher can build a connection with them. We all learn better if we connect socially. Collectively, (connectively?) we are infinitely smarter than any one of us are individually.
Ultimately, that’s what blogging is for. Blogs allow you to connect with a community – sometimes small, sometimes encompassing people all over the world. They allow you to interact with your audience, and allow your audience to interact with you. They allow you to ask questions, to consider different viewpoints, to challenge your thinking.
