So, we've worked out the kinks in using a blog, and a few of my students have jumped in and begun to comment. So maybe we should look at what our purpose is in blogging, what makes a good post, and what makes a good comment.
First of all purpose . . . So what is a blog and what is its purpose? A blog is whatever you want it to be--a personal diary, a daily log, a place to air your opinion or give breaking-news, a collection of your favorite links . . . see, a blog is a web space that can be whatever you want it to be. In this crazy, immense technology-driven world, it's sometimes overwhelming to find a purpose. The purpose of this blog is to connect students and teacher, to expand our reading, writing, and thinking abilities--and to do that in a fun, interactive, connected, technological way.
What makes a good blog post? Well that depends on who's writing it and who's reading it. A good post is one that gets and keeps the attention of the reader, causes the reader to react, think, or have an opinion. The focus of this blog's posts will be to do just that . . . get your attention, keep you coming back for more, and result in learning.
And about comments . . . all are welcome. Learning is a two-way street just as communication is a two-way street. We will all learn from and among each other. When you comment, however, use correct spelling, grammar, sentence structure and mostly, make it a worthwhile read. Nobody wants to be bored! If you are going to copy and paste some info from the web, read it and make sure it's what you want to say and include the web address. Here's a blog post that gives some really good advice about commenting.
Here's something of interest for today (taken from Did You Know): The slogan on New Hampshire license plates is 'Live Free or Die.' These license plates are manufactured by prisoners in the state prison in Concord. That's a pretty radical slogan. Your mission is to find out the history behind that slogan and to also use the website to comment on some other trivial bit of information.
Friday, February 09, 2007
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4 comments:
I am going to try my best with this one. History is just so not my thing. The phrase "Live free or die" comes from a toast made by General John Stark. It is well known because of its aggressive independent of the American Dream. I am not sure how close I came, but I used wikipedia.
Other facts that I noticed that seemed interesting to me on that website is that the top layer of a wedding cake, known as the groom's cake, traditionally is a fruit cake. That way it will save until the first anniversary. I thought that the top cake was just an ordinary cake that they freeze and save. The other fact that I found interesting was that goats pupils are rectangular shaped. I think that is weird, because up to a couple months ago I had a goat [it got spooked, broke out of its pen, and ran away:(] and I never noticed that her pupils were rectangular. –ashley, wp3
Good job, Ashley. So why is history "just so not [your] thing." Is it because you had a bad experience with a history class or maybe you've never been inspired to enjoy it? Personally, I love history. I love reading about people and events of the past and imagining myself in that time period. Next time you pick out a book at the library, try something historical and let yourself be totally wrapped up in the story. And about wikipedia . . . did you know that the information in the site is written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world and that its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet. So it is possible that some of the information contained in the site could be false. However, it certainly is a great place to go to find a wealth of information. And finally, one definition of collaboration--the act of working together through reflective listening and genuine articulation of ideas, in a partnership of mutual respect and diversity--is exactly what we are doing with this blog. Thanks for participating!! :-)
Thanks Mrs. Spear. I think that I don't like history because I have never been inspired to enjoy it. I think that history is boring. Don't get me wrong "some" things are very interesting to me, like learning about the holocaust and other things, I found interesting. I think maybe i got interested in the holocaust, because we talked about it so much in 8th grade, I just got used to it. I found other things interesting to, I just can't think of any right this second. I will use another site from now on and check my resources.
The phrase comes from a toast written by General John Stark on July 31, 1809. I found basically the same info as Ashley. Nepal is the only country without a rectangular flag (it looks like two pennants glued on on top of the other). I loved this fact. I am inspired by originality and anyone or any group of people that take the initiative to do something different. val<3
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