Monday, September 14, 2020

Welcome to Ms. J. Peterson's Class Blogging 2021!

Dear Students and Families,

I am so excited to welcome you to my 2021 classroom blogging initiative! Student blogging has an important role in our classroom because each student will function as a "scribe" and be responsible for group learning.


We had a great deal of success with posting blogs in 2019 and 2020.  


GOALS:
  • To become effective global communicators.
  • To have every voice speak with the same volume.
  • To summarize and reflect upon each day's lesson.
  • To become responsible digital citizens.
  • To become creators of information.

Technical Requirements of the Blog
  • THREE students per class, per cycle will be responsible for blogging. Blogs will be checked on the next cycle. (For example: Blogger #2, John Doe is in Period 5, Day B. If Day B is September 17th and that is his turn to blog, his blog is due by September 21st - the night before  the NEXT Day B.]  
  • Additionally, All blogs MUST be submitted to the assigned Blog Master no later than 9 pm of your due date; to ensure they have proper time for posting.
  • Title of the blog should include:
    • Student's Assigned Blogger #, Student's full name, class period, date, and cycle letter
      • (For example: Blogger #2, John Doe, Period 5, 9/17/20, Day B).
    • Please use the date assigned, NOT date due.
  • Blog Masters MUST LABEL their blog with “Freshman Lit 2021.”
  • Students are responsible for keeping track of when it is their time to blog by keeping track on the Blogger Sheet, which can be found via the Peterson Fresh Syllabus.
  • Students are to comment and respond to one another, including asking questions or asking for clarification.
  • Blogs will be published on the world wide web, so we must practice digital citizenship and remember that our audience is GLOBAL, so our tone is FORMAL.

How to make sure your blog is formatted correctly?

  • Create your blog using Google Docs and use the Share Feature to provide your document to the blog master. This usually creates the easiest method for posting a blog that is formatted the way you wanted it. 
  • If you're experiencing formatting issues, which can occur when capturing pictures and such from the internet, the best way to correct the formatting issues is to avoid copying and pasting the information from the document, until you have used the Clear Formatting button on the task blogger bar (it's the last icon on the right).
When Do I Blog?

Please refer to the Google Sheets Blog Date List.

Sample of Excellent Blogs
Sample of Excellent Blogs (They had different requirements)

What does your blog grade mean?
  • A+: Great work, you nailed it! You covered an amazing multi-media summary of what happened in class using a clear, easy-to-read format. Most importantly, you absolutely included fantastic reflection which addresses all three main questions.
  • A/A-: You covered a multi-media summary of what happened in class using a clear, easy-to-read format. You may need to elaborate slightly or you may need some tweaking in your area of reflection.
  • B: Your summary got the general gist of what happened in class, but could definitely use some elaboration. Your reflection may be very basic.
  • C: You probably didn’t include a reflective aspect at all or your summary was so minimal it was hard to have any idea what happened in class.
  • >C-: Incredibly basic and/or the tone was rude, offensive, or inappropriate for a school, public blog.
  • M: No blog written on your assignment day.

Blog Revisions and Reflections
  • Blogs will receive a grade within approximately 7 days of publication based on the rubric above.
  • Blogs may be revised, edited, and updated if the student would like an opportunity to improve his/her grade, however, they MUST do so within 7 days of receiving their blog grade
  • IF the student does opt for a revision, he/she MUST EMAIL ME, via by responding to the original PupilPath message that was sent, coupled with a direct link to the NEWLY UPDATED ORIGINAL published blog to inform and notify me to check the blog again.