Writing a Draft

Sorry about not getting the post to you for your class last Thursday. I wrote the post, scheduled it to publish at 5:30 am but clicked "close" instead of "publish". Ironically, this is exactly what you will do as you write, save and rewrite your draft before publishing your article.
As stated in the previous post you will begin writing a draft today. Choose any subject that relates to this class and your new role as a parent. You can write about any aspect of having a healthy pregnancy, caring for a newborn, juggling school and parenthood, the importance of planning for college or a career etc. Just remember to follow the guidelines to protect your safety by not naming your baby, city, state or school district. 
The following images will help walk you through writing a draft and publishing a post.

Please write a comment to me before leaving class today.  I'd like to know what subject you are planning on publishing on this blog:)

Make sure you are logged in to this blog using your gmail address and password.
 Look in the upper right corner to log in and also start a "New Post".

You will see a blank page with a tool bar. Fill in the title (leave blank until you come up with something). Then begin your draft. Feel free to paste links, powerpoints, pdfs, or documents etc. from the internet. In the tool bar you can dress things up with different fonts and colors. 

To save your draft click "save" then "close" in the upper right corner.

To find your draft: log into blog, on GRADS Classroom Blog.  Pull down arrow, click "posts".

Locate your draft, click "edit" under the title

When you are ready to publish your article, don't forget to check your spelling, then "preview" so see if you like the layout. Then click "Publish".

On May 7th you will finish and publish your post in the library. You may also work on your article outside of class.
On May 14th you will be making meaningful comments on your classmate's articles. My surgery went well but I can't return to work for 3 weeks. I plan on returning Monday, May 20th.

Email me if you have any questions: 2christiehickman@gmail.com

Judging a Blog Post

Now that you are an official author of this classroom blog you can post an article. What kind of article, you ask? Any subject that relates to this class and your new role as a parent. You can write about any aspect of having a healthy pregnancy, caring for a newborn, juggling school and parenthood, the importance of planning for college or a career etc. Just remember to follow the guidelines to protect your safety by not naming your baby, city, state or school district.

There are several characteristics of a great blog post. By viewing our Blogging Rubrics you can see the criteria for an exemplary post and also how a post might need improvement. There is a permanent list for writing good posts in the right sidebar that you can refer to when you post an article in the future.

For today's assignment you are going to grade 3 posts from any three of my blogs, one being the GRADS Classroom Blog. To locate all of the articles refer to the Archive in the right sidebar. Click on any year/month and click a title that sounds interesting.

At the top of the Blogging Rubrics form fill in the Post Title along with the blog name and the date the article was posted. Don't forget your name:)

Give your completed forms to Mrs. Allerton before you leave class.

When you are in the library next Tuesday, April 30th, you will begin writing a draft of your post. So come prepared with an idea of what you want to write about.
On May 7th you will publish your post and begin making meaningful comments to your classmate's articles.
We are leaving May 14th open at this time.

Learn About Blogging

The GRADS Classroom Blog will be used for part of our classroom instruction while I am on medical leave. You will be given assignments to work on either in the library on the days I have scheduled and you can work at your own convenience.

During the next three weeks you will do some activities to become familiar with a blog format. Then you will write and post your own articles on this blog. You will learn how to write meaningful comments to other classmates and reply in order to keep a dialogue going.

1. Today you will be receiving an email inviting you to be an author on our blog. Check your email, open the invitation, click on the message to accept. Come back to this blog, refresh the page, then click "New Post" in the upper right corner of your screen to see if it was successful. Click "Close" because you will not be writing a post today. See me if you have any problems.

2. Go to this link to complete an assignment about Blogging Guidelines. Whenever you want to come back to today's assignment just click "HOME".

3. Look around this site to get familiar with it's content:

• Sign up to receive an email whenever a new assignment is published.
• Browse the other tabs (usually at the top) to locate more information.
• Check out all the cool stuff I found on my Pinterest Boards
• Scroll down to check out some previous articles 
• After reading an article, feel free to write a comment at the bottom of the page
• Check out my other blogs listed in the right sidebar.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments: 2christiehickman@gmail.com