Due to the hurricane, there will be no blogs due Monday.

This week you have 3 posts and 2 comments. Remember to write two full paragraphs, to make meaningful comments, and to blog THROUGHOUT the week.

• What do you know about England? Don’t look anything up. Just write what you know about England, British history, or British culture. If you don’t know anything, write about why that might be.
• Go to the editorial/columnist pages of one of the British newspapers linked below. Make sure you are on the opinion page. Read one column  (opinion column, not news story) this week, link it on your blog, and write a response. This includes summary and critique. Keep in mind the components of analyzing the logic of an article that we have used (or will use soon) in class. Also compare the column to the American angle on similar world or local issues:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/index.html

• Free Post- this is your choice and will probably happen every week. Just write. Keep it appropriate, and remember that people are reading it, but other than that, go for it.
• Two comments- These should be at least 3 sentences long and not vague or generic.

If you haven’t done other things that have been requested, such as setting up your about page or fixing the comment settings, please do so now. Be sure to approve any comments that are pending.

DOUBLE CHECK BLOGGING INSTRUCTIONS to see requirements and to find out how to take care of problems you might be having.

Welcome to English III! You’ve probably heard all sorts of lovely things about English III, Junior Year, and Mrs. Duke, running the gamut from I’m the funniest thing ever to I eat small children for lunch. While it would be great for you only to believe the “good stuff,” I encourage you to reserve judgement before you experience the class for yourself. Like most important things, this course will only be worth what you put into it. Blogging will become a very important part of our class, allowing a low pressure form of communication and interaction with your classmates, as well as providing valuable  practice in writing without having to write zillions of formal essays.

The very first thing you should do is establish your own blog; look here to review the blogging guidelines. You can also take a look at my “about” page. This short screencast will walk you through the process of setting up and posting. Email me your password, logon by visiting edublogs, and start playing around with the dashboard.

By tomorrow (Thursday, August 16), you must set up your blog, send me the url, choose your layout, and set up your About page. Consider your online footprint. What do you want to share?  Do not include your last name or too many identifying or personal details that you don’t want on the Internet.

You have one blog due for Monday, August 20, whether or not we meet that day. As soon as you set up your blog and do the things mentioned above, your tasks are to:

1. BLOG! This week’s topic: Read last year’s student guide blogs and post a blog  introducing yourself and covering your expectations and concerns about the class. Include in this post a discussion of blogging, including rules, expectations, and the quality of last year’s student blogs (5 points). These can be found on my page under 2011 Student Blogs.
2. Respond: Respond to 2 other students’ blogs in the comment section. You will soon see that for this to work, you MUST post in a timely fashion. So, in other words, post a blog within the next day or two so that people have the weekend to read and respond (10 points). Comments should be significant. The Blogging Instructions page offers more details.

Blogs are due every Monday, and each Monday, you will need to check my blog for your assigned topics.  I won’t always post a reminder on the website assignments page, as this should be a habit that you ingrain in yourself. These are not negotiable assignments. Instead of stressing about them, take this opportunity to make them your own– express yourself.  Tips- pace yourself, use your own writing voice, and follow the guidelines you found on the blogging instructions page.