PTI Blog Instructions

The goals of using this medium are to…

•           Enrich your understanding of the novel by asking you to read and respond to your classmates’ analysis and thoughts about the novel.
•           Improve your writing by asking you to post and comment regularly.
•           Save paper!
•           Help you remember important details, characters and themes from the novel by storing all of this critical information online.
•           Improve your 21st century literacy skills by asking you to post, comment, create links and embed videos and imagery into your blog work.
•           Get you thinking about what it means to blog safely and to publish something for public consumption.

Set-up:
In order to participate, you will have to accept my invitation that I have sent you. When you accept it, you will be sent to a log in screen – login in using your BBN Google Account.

Using your Google username and password, you will be able to log into www.blogger.com and access our class blog. You must always post and comment using your username or you will not receive credit.


Posting:
A post is a two-paragraph (at least ten good sentences) entry that is published on the front page of the blog. Posts are published in chronological order and are available for commenting. In order to post, you will need to log into www.blogger.com and click on “New Post.” You will be provided with space to type. The title should always be a question: either the one I’ve asked you to answer or one you’ve come up with yourself. Proofread your post carefully before you publish. You can’t make any changes once you’ve published. Once you’ve finished your post, click on “Publish Post.”

There are two ways you could be asked to post:
Respond to a specific question: The questions for your post will be put up on the blog in advance. You may choose to write on any of the questions. In your response you should briefly provide context for your post (what are the key scenes from the novel that helped you shape your answer?), respond to the question in detail, and connect your response to other ideas/themes/details you’ve read in the novel. Your response should include at least one quotation from the night’s reading (make sure to include page #’s). Excellent posts not only give complete, thoughtful answers, but also encourage discussion in the comments section, either by asking questions at the end or by providing links to relevant sits/video/imagery that you’d like your classmates to comment on.
Free response/Guiding Question: This is more difficult than #1, but it also allows you to be more creative. You are not limited to addressing a specific scene or moment from the night’s reading, but rather you can ask a more general question about the book or even examine a scene from previous chapters that you think is relevant. You can also relate a moment from the reading to one of the guiding questions for the entire novel. As with #1, the best free responses will encourage discussion in the comments section.

Grading Criteria:
o    “Check plus” = Title is a question, post addresses the title question, post includes details from text (including one good quotation with page #), post is analysis and not just summary, post ends with thoughtful question(s) that encourages further discussion. Post is perfectly proofread!
o    “Check” = Post is missing/doesn’t fulfill one or two of above criteria
o    “Check minus” = post missing more than two criteria

Commenting:
You can comment on a post by clicking on the “Comments” link at the bottom of the post. Don’t forget you must be logged in to get credit for your comment. Comments should be direct responses to the information and ideas in the post OR to a previous comment to that post. Comments let the writer know he/she has an audience, encourage people to write more and better pieces and help people to think more deeply about an issue. It's just like a discussion in class: if you don't "listen" to the post and other comments, the conversation isn't productive. Proofread your comments carefully before publishing.
You will be expected to comment multiple times a week. An excellent comment is four to five good sentences and includes at least one sentence that shows you understand the ideas expressed in the post you just read, at least two sentences that respond to the post in a thoughtful way that adds information to the post (this can be in agreeing with what’s stated or disagreeing) and at least one sentence/question that encourages further discussion.
Grading criteria: You are graded on the frequency and quality of your comments.
·         Three or more excellent comments per week: “Check plus”
·         Three OK comments or two excellent comments per week: “Check”
·         Two OK comments or fewer per week: “Check minus”

Important Miscellaneous Details:
-      You can only comment ONCE per post.
-      You can only comment TWICE per homework night.
-       Read the post and all the comments before you put up your comment.
-       Grammar and mechanics do count, so proofread your work.
-       You should add new information to the conversation - not say what everyone else said.
-       When posting, your post needs to be published by 7:30 p.m. the night before the reading is due (even on the skip days). If you can’t do this, you must talk with me in advance.
-      Sign your post & comments if your username is not somehow related to your name.
-      Weekend posters need to do so by NOON on Sundays (this means you can post anytime before this).