The vBook

Some topics can be explored within our community. If you want to include an online survey, there are good free online tools.

1. Zoomerang is easy, but there are ads
2. Survey Builder is also easy, but it is not for multiple choice surveys
3. Survey Monkey is another free builder - perfect for us because you can only have 100 responses!
4. Use Poll Builder to put a one question poll right into one of your posts!

Remember: don’t use your full name to signup, and DO use a coconetme.org address (last_first@coconetme.org) that will not get mail anyway
When you are done, you can ask me to have my classes take your survey, or you can hand out the URL yourself.

Following your 1st post (see previous post, Assignment #2), you will be blogging during every class period OR at home OR in school OR elsewhere to make up a missed class period. 

As I reminded you again in class today - I am going to do a straight count of posts (as well as reading each) and you will get zero (read: 0) points for a posting day (class period) missed. That is why we are putting a calendar widget on your theme in class.  It will tell me the days on which you posted (a short cut, but I am a busy teacher).

Your daily posts must contain:

1. A summary, quotation, or image, chart, etc. from your daily reading about your topic - more than one of these puts you in 3/3+ range (tops).
2. A link to the source of the above information.  If you have located a valuable site, I expect you also to make a LINK in your LINKS menu in the sidebar. Remember that we do this by clicking the Blogroll tab in the Site Admin.
3.  A significant (read 10-15 minute) response, discussion about what you learned in #1.  This should be opinionate, personal, and well-written.

If you want to read a great post, go to MM’s latest post (Core 2).

Scoring:

• 0 - missing or one sentence
• 1 - no summary, etc., no link - just a rant
• 2 - summary and link, but your thoughtful discussion lacks thought, purpose, or relationship to your source
• 3 - you include it all
• 3+ - you overwhelm me with your insights, the time you have taken to express them, and the control & passion you show me over your topic

Extra credit can only be earned by posting more often - but be careful - frequent poor posts will only get you a string of 1’s.  I have nixed the idea of bringing in speakers.  But you might gain points by contacting someone via email.

When you have completed your Photo Outline/Analysis and uploaded the corrected copy of your Photograph Story, you must begin your year-end project.

Follow these steps:

1. Select a Topic.  Your topic must be:
   • Something that you read about often - this tells me that you are really interested in it
   • Something about which you can find current/contemporary information (facts, pictures) through online research.  This information must be interesting to you - you will have to talk about it, not just report it
   • Something about which you can find opinions other than your own - you are required to interview someone and report on that interview; you should quote opinions you find online
   • Something about which you can ask Big Questions
     • Why?
     • How?
     • What is the significance/importance of …
     • How does this connect to …
     • What can we do about …

Your first post must tell me:

• Your topic, in detail if necessary
• Why you are interested in this topic - this should contain a memory (well-written), perhaps about your first contact with the topic
• 2 or 3 Big Questions you will answer in your research

DUE: Monday or Tuesday (5/19 - 20), even if you are absent.

You may be too impatient!

Allow the Write Post or Write Page page to load completely before you click the mouse. If you still don’t see the Visual editor (below), follow these steps:

1. In the site admin of your blog, click on Users (upper right corner), then on My Profile
2. Look for:

• If it is clicked, unclick it. Update settings. Then click it and update again.
• If it is unclicked, click it. Update settings.

If this doesn’t work,

1. Close the window and quit the browser
2. Empty the browser Cache (in Preferences) - Safari or Firefox
3. Under Preferences, make sure that Javascript and Java are enabled (Firefox - in Content, Safari - in Security)
4. Pop-up windows must be unblocked if they are blocked
5. Cookies must be accepted
6. Do not enable Parental Controls (Safari)
7. Relaunch browser
8. Do this in your other browser also

In the Visual Editor, be sure to click the top right icon to access the 2nd row of tools.

1st - you will be completing a creative writing piece based on your selected photograph. It is due by the middle of next week. Homework it if you have to.

2nd - your story will be posted as a Page, not a Post. Pay attention to that direction. You will need to Manage - Pages - Create a New Page.

3rd - Directions:

1. Open the .pdf file that contains the photograph (PhotoLiteracy.pdf - get it from the Resources - Grade 8 - Literacy folder on the server if necessary)
2. Make a screen shot of the photograph (shift-apple-4)
3. Locate this screen shot (probably on your Desktop)
4. Drag it into iPhoto
5. You should reTitle the image - do this in the information menu on the bottom left
6. Make sure the image is highlighted (click once on it).
7. File - Export the image.
8. Change the file format to jpeg
9. Click setting shown in the picture:
10. It is best to just put this on your Desktop - you can delete it later.
11. If you have not made the new Page for your story post, make it. Open your blog. Login. Open Write - Pages. Title your story. Click into the writing window.
12. Under the writing window, you will see the Upload window.
13. Browse to the image on your Desktop
14. Upload it.
15. Now pay attention:
16. Click Thumbnail
17. Click File
18. Click into the editing window above, where you will put your story.
19. If your story is already there, put your cursor at the beginning!!
20. Return to the Upload window - click send to editor
21. Your picture should be up in the post window, in a smaller version
22. Double-click the picture - you should see selection handles.
23. Locate the insert/edit image icon (a tree) - click it to open your formatting menu
24. There are settings you should change:
    1. give your picture a border = 1
    2. align your picture to the right OR left (don’t use anything else)
    3. give your picture a vspace =3 and hspace=3
    4. click Update
    5. Voila!
25. You can move the picture by dragging it inside of the window too!

Journal writing means the short pieces that we are writing in a NoteShare notebook. You will be using a Discussion Forum to submit them. The link to this forum is at the top of this Home page - it is called Writing Challenges.

When you click on this tab, you will see a short menu containing the topics about which you have written. You must submit writing to at least one of the top two topics (She ran down the path OR There was a teacup on the table). After this, you must submit to every topic, even if you were absent and missed the class during which we wrote.

You must login in order to post.

Copy your piece.

1. Click on the correct topic.
2. Locate the window to Post a Reply to the topic - you have to scroll down.
3. Title your piece.
4. Paste your text.

Click Post. If you see an error, you can edit your post.

You must also Reply to someone else’s post in a good, constructive, detailed comment. You may do this at any time.

You must sign your Posts with your initials!! Some of you have multiple initials - you know who you are. If you do not do this, you will not get credit for your work.

Remember that this blog space is for Literacy 8 use. You may add creative writing to individual Pages, but your primary goal is to generate the writing and communication that are the core of your grade for this final quarter.

I have given you clear and specific directions for set up. Here are some additions to the Directions:

1. Include the Links widget in your theme. You must make a link back to my blog - so that you can easily locate assignments, make Comments, ask questions. The URL of my homepage is: http://mrsmacfms.edublogs.org.
2. You have only a limited space - it is being given to you without charge, so it makes sense that there are restrictions. This means that, as much as you want to, you should not upload videos, pictures, songs unless they are part of an assignment. I should not have to remind you that you should do your best to reduce the file size of anything you upload.
3. Learn something on your own? Find out something fun or interesting? Blog it - others will want to know.
4. Remember to title your blog posts so that readers (including me) will know what to find. I am going to use the RSS in Edublogs to make a feed for every student blog - that way I can easily tell if you have submitted assignments - sort of like the Contents pages we make in NoteShare. You will see a list to each Core’s RSS at the top of my Homepage.
5. Read these Five Tips for Writing Better Blog Posts.

Welcome!

Hello, Literacy 8. Your first blog post should be made right after you update your Profile and before you personalize your Theme. I will be watching for posts that provide an interesting introduction. Remember that these should not provide “locational or observational” personal information. Posts should not be about you - they should be about something you think.

In this first post, you must answer these questions (but not in a list!):

• How do you feel about blogging? Why do you feel this way?
  
• Do you have any reservations?
  
• Do you have an expectations?

Then you might talk about something of interest or of concern to you - briefly. Due by the end of this class period.