Mapping Your Future

Some Examples of Interesting Blogs

Here are some examples of blogs. Don’t expect that they will all be interesting to you, however hopefully you will find some that you enjoy and these will give you ideas for your own comments and posts in the future. Take a look at the blogs, choose two or three that interest you most and read one or more posts from each.

Then write a comment for this post that:

• Lists the blogs you have chosen to read and the titles of the posts you have read
• Describes what three of the posts you have read were about
• Says which one  you liked best and why

1. This blog Teaching English Using Web 2.0 is used by an English teacher to give her students activities involving reading and writing

2. A class blog Youth Class Blog of young people coming together to learn English

3. Another class blog Big Picture PreCAL is for a social studies class and has a focus on social blogging for learning

4. One more class blog Big Picture PreCAL - this time with student passions as its focus

5. The blog of ABC Heywire - a project for young rural Australians talking and writing about their lives

6. This Blurb from the Burbs is by someone who comments regularly on the world as she sees it around her in her daily life in suburban Australia

7. The posts in this Faded Youth Blog are about celebs

8. This View from the sidelines is mostly focussed on cars with the occasional post about other topics

9. The News Media Images blog focuses on in the news celebs

10. If you are interested in what’s going on in the world of TV then TV Tonight blog may be for you

11. A migrant to Perth originally from Indonesia who has also lived in Scotland writes about her
experiences in Finally Woken

12. For the foodies and cooks Tummy Rumbles is a blog about food

Remember to check out the Our Guidlenes page and to make sure you are being sensible and safe in your comment. Also revisit the “Welcome to Our Class Blog” post and visit the links again to find more on how to comment appropriately.

In four years time I expect to see myself as a chef with completed TAFE, and completed an apprenticeship. To get there I have to complete TAFE, find an apprenticeship and complete it to achieve my dream of becoming a chef. It will be a long road with a lot of study and commitment but I will do it, just so I can acheive what I have always wanted to acheive.

There are alot of obsticals that you need to over come and achieve when trying to fufil your dreams. Most people don’t try and  they give up. I have wanted this for a while so I will do everything I possibly can to acheive this even if it means more TAFE and study. I am willing to do it. That is where I will be in four years time if not less.

Welcome to blogging!

This is our class blog, we can use it for:

• exchanging information,
• for writing and improving writing
• learning how to write effective blog posts
• learning how to comment
• practise before getting your own blog
• providing evidence for your portfolio that can be part of your assessment

This first post aims to tell you a bit about blogging and also where to find a few of the things you need to know before you start to post or comment in this blog or any other blog.

What is a blog?

A blog is a sort of diary or journal. The big difference between a blog and a paper diary, or even one you keep on your computer is that other people can read what you write and can also add comments. Because what you write is public there are guidelines for suitable behaviour (see the “Our Guidelines” page to make sure you get it right when commenting or posting), some of these are summarised in the Wordle below

Class Blog – commenting

We start our blogging journey with this class blog. Firstly we will ask you to comment on this post. Many very well known and experienced bloggers say that the discussion that happens through the comments in the most important part of blogging, so being able to take part through commenting is very useful. Here are some ideas on how to make good comments from other class blogs:

• Huzzah! is a class of 10-11 year olds in Canada who have these commenting guidelines that they developed in class
• Scattergood Biology is a class blog for senior high school classes in Biology, their How to Post & Comment page has a very good section on commenting towards the bottom of the page including some suggested ways of starting responses.

At the end of the post are some questions to help you with comment ideas. There will be regular posts for you to comment on and soon you will be able to write your own posts on this class blog.

Your own blog – why have one?

Down the track (once you are OK with commenting and posting on the class blog) we plan to set you up with your own blog as part of the class group. Hopefully we will be taking part in the global Student Blogging Challenge run by Miss Wyatt in Tasmania – this will give you opportunities to connect with students worldwide and to have global visitors to your own blog. As a lecturer (teacher) I have a lot of reasons why I think it’s great for students of all ages to blog. Students also have reasons of their own – here is just one example of those reasons from a Year 9 high school student who has taken part in previous blogging challenges.

First activity – comment on this post

Your first blogging activity is to add your comments to this post. Your first comment does not have to be long – two or three sentences is fine but it can be longer if you want. Remember to check your spelling and grammar before posting. Some questions that might help you include:

• How has this post added to your understanding of blogs and what they can be used for?
• What did you find most useful in the post and why?
• Was the Wordle interesting/useful – why or why not?
• Did you like having the links to other blogs to visit – if so what did you like about that?
• What do you think about the blogging challenge – what do you think you might enjoy most about taking part and why?

Now it’s over to you – make your comment! Then look out for my reply.