Creating Your Own Blog

As we begin reading this year, we will also be undertaking a new venture to do more of our writing and responding to the texts online. We will "Mrs. Holmes's Blog" as a way for me to post a prompt and for you to respond to it in the comment section. However, that method limits your ability to revise your writing. Those are two important components of an English classroom.Therefore you will create your own personal blog.

You will be in charge of regularly posting ideas and thoughts related to independent reading as well as responding to questions provided for you. With a blog, you can post your thoughts and responses to reading material, allowing your classmates to read what you've written and to build on your ideas.Likewise, you will read the writing of your classmates and be able to connect to their thinking and ideas.

On a more individual note, the blog will become the primary area where you will maintain a record of your thinking and writing. In a sense it will become an online notebook that will be graded, both for content and writing quality.

To get started, click on the blogger link.

Once you create your blog, cut and paste the address link and email it to tholmes@irvingisd.net , so I can begin compiling all my student blogs in one place.

As you create your blog, make sure there is no personal information on your blog or blog profile. Make sure you do not show your e-mail address on your profile.

Blog Profile:
Your blog name should be your first name and last name initial, like this: Tiffany H.
No personal pictures of people you know or yourself should be on your blog. (Remember this one is for school purposes.)

Do not provide personal idenfication information, including your address, family member names, your school name -- although you may put "AHS", "IHS", "MHS", and "NHS", the city that you live in, where you work, etc.

In all postings, you need to remember the following:
1. Come up with an interesting title - or headline - that relates to what you are writingabout.
2. Always state the title of the book you are referring to.
3. Proofread. Proofread. Proofread. These are school assignments and should be treatedas such, with proper punctuation, grammar, and spelling.
4. Write lengthy responses.
5. In your first paragraph, include a sentence that states clearly what it is you arewriting about.