We Are Public

Many of you may have noticed the increase in student blogs to the right.  Over the past few days we have been creating and posting our sites for the world to see.  Please take some time to read and enjoy the writing of our class.

We would like feedback and comments as we are growing as public writers.  If there is anything you want more of, please let the authors know.  As their teacher, I ask that you be kind and praise the courage it takes to create for a public forum, but also offer guidance when you see places that require growth.  There have been a few guidelines given to the students.

Students need to remember that their blogs are attached to my site which is attached to the school website.  This means that their work directly represents our school, our values and our academic performance.  This is a huge responsibility that should be handled with maturity.
1)  There should be NO text talk unless the piece they are writing is about texting.  If you see it, please point it out.  This has become such a dominant part of how they write, they may not even notice they are doing it.

2)  The blogs are for respectful dialogues and we must follow the old adage of, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.  Feedback should be constructive, allowing the writer to learn and grow.  Mean comments will not be helpful or tolerated.

3)  Spelling, homophones and capitalization need to be checked closely.  So many students are slacking with these rules that we need to focus on them, so keep your eyes out for these mistakes.

4) Any use of material that does not belong to the student must be cited. You may not put the work of someone else on your blog without giving them credit for that work. A citation should include the author's name and the source/location of where the work came from.


Mistakes will happen and we hope to support one another as we learn to watch for these.  If you see any problems or concerns with the blogs, please let me know.  We hope you enjoy reading what we all have to say about the world and that you help us with our journey to become budding writers.