Who Let the Blogs Out?

Who’s ready to rock the blogosphere?

Between Friday and Tuesday, we’ll be working together to bedazzle our blogs by adding posts, pages, widgets, and a your choice of interactive media. Before I launch into the NINE (9) items your blog should include by December 5, let me introduce a few more tools that are sure to make you blog crazy!

Be sure to leave your comments and questions. As you do, decide which of these three tools you’d like to embed in one of your future blog posts.

What is the best book you’ve read so far in 6th grade?… at AnswerGarden.ch.

By December 5, you should have the following items on your blog:

(1) An All About Me PAGE. Note this should be a PAGE. If you’d like to also make it your first post, that’s fine. However, you need to have an All About Me PAGE. This page is always visible on the front page of your blog. You’ve already written your All About Me PAGE in Google Docs. Simply copy and paste into a new PAGE. To do so, highlight the entire text of your Google Docs. Hold Control/C to copy. Click the mouse in the text section of the Edublogs PAGE. Hold Control/V to paste. Graphics and fonts may not transfer exactly as they appear in Google Docs.

(2) Your first assigned POST. In the dashboard, open All Posts, Add New. Using the school-themed prompts provided, write your post. Be sure to carefully proofread. Click on Save Draft as you’re working to safeguard your writing. After you’ve thoroughly checked over, made revisions to improve your writing, and changed fonts if desired, click on Review and Submit. It may take Mrs. Rombach 1-3 days to approve and publish. Please be patient. 🙂

(3) Activate ClustrMaps widget. Add to blog sidebar.

(4) Activate Google Supreme Fonts (Dashboard>Plugins>Google Supreme Fonts>Activate).

(5) Create a virtual pet and insert Text widget/embed code to side bar. (see classmate or Mrs. Rombach for help if you missed this in-class project).

(6) Activate Compfight Plugin (Dashboard>Plugins>Compfight>Activate)

(7) Add Categories: Classroom Blogging Assignments, Reading, Writing, Book Reviews, Middle School, and any others you wish.

(8) Add one of the following interactive widgets:  AnswerGarden, Voki, or Padlet. (click to on each title to connect)

(9) Leave a complimentary comment on three (3) other classmates’ blogs (any block).

7 thoughts on “Who Let the Blogs Out?

  1. Hi Mrs. Rombach,
    Since I didn’t have any homework today, I’ve decided to take a look at your blog to see what you’ve updated. From this post, it looks like your classes are starting to do blogs. Anyways, I just stopped by to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and to have a wonderful Thanksgiving Break!

    Your Past Student,
    Krishan
    http://steamingthroughlife.edublogs.org/

    • Krishan-

      Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, young man! It’s so nice to spot you here and there around ERMS! I hope you’ll continue to blog when you have time (maybe this weekend and then again over Christmas break). If you’re so inclined, join a few other 7th graders who are leaving comments on my 6th graders’ blogs. They love that! 🙂 All the best, Krishna! Enjoy this break…

      Mrs. Rombach

    • Krishan-

      Thanks so much for commenting on the class blog. I wish you all the best in 7th grade! Let me know if you’re interested in continuing to write on that student blog of yours. I’ll keep open the blogs for students who are posting regularly. You also have the option to transfer your blog to another service. I can help you with that if you envision wanting it open beyond middle school. 🙂 Thanks!

      Mrs. Rombach

  2. Hi! Mrs.Rombach is it ok if we write anything about the pictures in the blog?
    Like for the photos, is it ok if we write a a story set in the future? Like 3012-ish.
    Thanks!

    • Hi Emma-

      Of course, you may write futuristic stories! You may write about anything you wish–provided it stays middle-school appropriate. Any genre of writing you might find on our classroom bookshelf is fair game on your blog, too. Try using CompFight (the camera widget) to choose your photo so the photographer receives his/her credit. Have fun writing…I so enjoy reading your work. 🙂

      Mrs. Rombach

    • Sarah-

      You embed an AnswerGarden widget just as you would embed a Voki or Padlet. I would open two tabs…my new blog post and AnswerGarden. You’ll want to be able to toggle between the two sites. Create your AnswerGarden questions and copy the embed code (Control+C to copy). Next, return to your new blog post. Write a quick introduction asking visitors to respond to your question. If you’ve asked, “What’s you favorite ice cream flavor,” be sure to share out yours in the introduction.

      Once you’ve written your introduction, skip a space and click on Add/Insert Media at the top of the page.On the left hand side of the opened page, click on Embed Media. (The exact words might vary slightly, but choose EMBED). The embed box will open; paste the code you carried over from AnswerGarden (Control+V to paste). Save and Close. You’re done. The actual image won’t show up until you publish; but if you have a light yellow box, it’s ready! 🙂 Hope that helps.

      Happy Thanksgiving-
      Mrs. Rombach

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