[If the embedded version above doesn't work, you can see the video on YouTube: Mannheim Steamroller - 'Joy To The World'.]
End of NaBloPoMo
December 10, 2009 — TeacherMom
by alicepopkorn
Registration is progressing slowly for our next semester of the homeschool co-op classes. I’m not sure we’ll make the minimum number of students in my blogging class, so I may have until next fall to complete my planning. It’s hard to predict, but the possibility gives me one more reason to put this blog on “pause” for awhile.
Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy your holidays!
Free Mind Mapping Software
December 7, 2009 — TeacherMomFreeMind is a free software program for creating mind maps. Here’s how it works:
[If the embedded version above doesn't work, you can see the video on YouTube: FreeMind Tutorial.]
Updated Class Schedule, Weeks 7-12
December 6, 2009 — TeacherMom
by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Here is the remainder of my latest attempt at outlining a schedule for my blogging course. We will have 12 weekly class sessions and then the Culmination Party. I hope to cover all the basic concepts a blogger might need to know through in-class discussions and handouts, plus allow about half of each class session for hands-on exploring. I am sure that I will be adjusting and tweaking topics right up to the day of each class. If you have any suggestions, please share them in the Comments section below!
Week 7: The Blogging Community (& Introduction to HTML)
Class discussion: Link love, blog carnivals, and how to write non-spammy comments.
Computer time: Go to the blog carnival website and submit a post.
Homework: Write at least one blog post that comments on and links to a classmate’s post. Read your classmates’ blogs and comment on at least two posts.
Week 8: Organization (Categories and Tags)
Class discussion: How categories and tags help readers. Using “Quick Edit.”
Computer time: Go through your old posts and add categories or tags.
Homework: Write. Read. Comment. Put a category list or tag cloud in your sidebar.
Week 9: Finding and Keeping Readers
Class discussion: What makes you come back to a blog?
Computer time: Visit and comment on a non-classmate blog.
Homework: Write. Read. Comment.
Week 10: Show Off Your Favorite Posts
Class discussion: The problem with archives.
Computer time: Group writing project — your favorite post.
Homework: Write. Read. Comment.
Week 11: What Are Your Stats?
Class discussion: What exactly do the different stats measure, and which are the most useful?
Computer time: Explore your Stats page.
Homework: Write. Read. Comment.
Week 12: Keep It Going
Class discussion: How can you keep your blogging momentum going?
Computer time: Students’ choice.
Homework: Write. Read. Comment.
Updated Class Schedule, Weeks 1-6
December 5, 2009 — TeacherMom
by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
I have been updating my Class Schedule page periodically, as I develop ideas and draft lesson plans. But thanks to my recent discovery, I need to totally rework my plan — so here is my latest attempt at outlining a schedule, drafted on the way “over the river and through the woods” to Mom’s house for Thanksgiving. (Niner likes to do the driving, which gives me time to sit and work.)
Week 1: Introduction: What is a Blog?
Class discussion: How blogs work.
Computer time: Explore other homeschool kids’ blogs.
Homework: Get ready to open your blogging account.
Week 2: Getting Started with WordPress.com
Class discussion: About WordPress.com.
Computer time: Set up account and explore the Dashboard.
Homework: Edit “Hello world” post and “About” page.
Week 3: Writing & Copyrights
Class discussion: Copyright rules, and brainstorming techniques.
Computer time: Start and save a “Draft” post.
Homework: Finish your draft. Brainstorm 5 more ideas you might write about.
Week 4: Reader-Friendly Settings & Widgets
Class discussion: How can we help our readers find what they want?
Computer time: Tweak settings and sidebar widgets.
Homework: Write at least one blog post. Put all your classmates’ blogs on your Blogroll. Comment on at least one of your classmates’ blog posts.
Week 5: Adding Media (Photos & Video)
Class discussion: Copyrights review, and how to add media to your blog posts.
Computer time: Browse Flickr and other sources.
Homework: Write at least one blog post, and include a photo or video. Read your classmates’ blogs and comment on at least two posts.
Week 6: Reader-Friendly Editing and Format
Class discussion: What makes a blog post easy or hard to read?
Computer time: Explore your “Kitchen Sink” to see what the buttons do.
Homework: Write at least one blog post, and use formatting to make it easy to read. Read your classmates’ blogs and comment on at least two posts. Optional: Go back and improve the format of your earlier posts.
Let it Snow!
December 4, 2009 — TeacherMom
by Noël Zia Lee
If you’re a WordPress.com blogger, did you notice that you can get snow falling on your blog? On your Dashboard, go to Appearance > Extras and click the “Show snow falling on my blog” box. Then remember to click the “Update Extras” button.
Meanwhile…
Unlike NaNoWriMo, which only runs in December, NaBloPoMo can be repeated any month of the year. Should I keep going with my daily-posting goal? It keeps me focused lesson plans, but it encourages me to procrastinate other important responsibilities…
Off Topic: Masterpieces of Classical Holiday Music
December 3, 2009 — TeacherMom
by stephend9
Masterpieces of Classical Holiday Music
Professor Robert Greenberg will tell you all about three “sheer masterpieces of both classical music and holiday celebration: Johann Sebastian Bach’s sublime Christmas Oratorio of 1734, George Frideric Handel’s rousing Messiah of 1741; and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s unforgettable Nutcracker Suite of 1892.” You can download this free mp3 lecture until Sunday, January 3. Enjoy!
What is Your Message?
December 2, 2009 — TeacherMom
by aturkus
Blogger Justin Dixon shares:
The whole post is worth reading, but here are some highlights: “Each one of us has a unique experience, and angle to come at different problems, and each one of us have a different strength set. You have a message … Your message is the story that you tell people about your own life and theirs … What you are looking for is a common theme … What out of the things that you enjoy reading and writing makes you unique?”
Ask yourself questions like these
- Why are you writing a blog?
- What do you find exciting to think and talk and write about?
- What type of people do you hope to connect with? What do these people have in common?
- What type of problems does your target audience have?
- What are you good at? If you have trouble coming up with an answer, then ask your friends and family.
- What type of things do you like to read?
- What have been your favorite things to write about in the past?
After you find your message
A well-defined message will help you find ideas and help focus your thoughts when you sit down to write. Print it on an index card and tape it to the wall near your desk. Summarize it in a tagline for your blog’s header, or post it in a text box near the top of your sidebar.
Continue to refine your message until it becomes a succinct and accurate summary of your blogging persona. As Dixon writes, “It is your brand, and without a strong message your blog is going to just end up being a raindrop lost in the ocean.”
[Hat tip: Jimmie shared a link to the Dixon post in her sidebar.]
Homeschooled Kids Carnival — Edition #13
December 1, 2009 — TeacherMom
The November edition of the Homeschooled Kids Blog Carnival features 13 kids writing about a wide variety of topics, from horses to Saturn:
Check it out!
NaBloPoMo Final Day
November 30, 2009 — TeacherMom
[NaBloPoMo badge by Tracey.]
Wow! I made through the whole month!
That’s something worth celebrating… Eggnog anyone?
What Can I Write About?
November 28, 2009 — TeacherMom
by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
To kick-start your brain, check out the variety of topics that people are writing about today on WordPress.com blogs:
Changing Plans
November 27, 2009 — TeacherMom
by Phillie Casablanca
How long have they had that? And why have I never noticed it before? Oh, wait — it’s new. That’s WordPress for you, always coming up with ways to make the blogging life easier.
Time to rearrange my Class Schedule plan yet again, ’cause this certainly will not take up a whole session…
Give Thanks
November 26, 2009 — TeacherMom
by Hamed Saber
10 David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
“Praise be to you, O LORD,
God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Fun with Wordle (NaBloPoMo Update)
November 25, 2009 — TeacherMom
The image above is a Wordle, where the size of each word indicates its frequency of use on my blog. To create your own Wordle image, visit:
I have managed to keep up with NaBloPoMo longer than I expected I would. It has been an interesting experience. On my math blog, I tend to post infrequent, long articles that sit in my Drafts file for ages while I tinker with editing. Here, thanks to the constant NaBloPoMo deadlines, my posts have been more like thinking out loud.
Time to Sign Up!
November 24, 2009 — TeacherMom
by D Sharon Pruitt
Registration is now open for next semester’s homeschool co-op classes, including my Blogging 2 Learn course. Here’s the class description, as published in our registration packet:
Blogging 2 Learn
Class minimum 5 ― maximum 7. [We may take more students, if they can bring their own computers with wireless Internet access.]
Grade levels: Grades 4th-12th (ages 10+up).
*Prerequisite: Students must be comfortable reading AND writing at a 4th grade level or above.
Description: Find a world-wide audience for your writing, art, and photos! Students will create and maintain a reader-friendly blog (a sort of online journal) and learn about RSS, hyperlinks, blog carnivals, spam, copyrights, internet safety, etc. Fore more information and to see examples of student blogs, visit blogging2learn.wordpress.com.
Homework: Required—there will be 1-2 hours of homework ON THE INTERNET every week, writing your blog and reading your classmates’ blogs.
Supplies: Folder or 3-ring binder for class notes, and pen or pencil. Students may bring a laptop computer with wireless access for work in class. We also have the use of a limited number of (sometimes very slow) computers in our classroom.
Fee: $28 per student.
Week 3: Writing & Copyrights (Lesson Draft)
November 23, 2009 — TeacherMom
by karindalziel
This will be our third week of class, and I think it’s time to focus on actually writing our blogs. The kids can continue to play around with their themes and format, but the main point of a blog is to communicate — so let’s get blogging!
Class discussion
- Respect copyrights.
- What kinds of things can you write?
- Brainstorming tips.
- Use “Drafts” to save ideas.
- Be a good neighbor: Post a “Blogroll.”
Computer time
- Add at least one link to your blogroll.
- Start and save a Draft post.
Homework
- Write at least one new post for your blog.
- Brainstorm 5 more ideas that you might write about.
- Add the rest of your classmates’ blogs to your blogroll.
“Going Viral” Has Nothing to Do with Swine Flu
November 22, 2009 — TeacherMom
by cambodia4kidsorg
- One good idea,
- enough time to flesh it out,
- plus a heavy dose of proofreading before you hit “Publish.”
In blogging terms, a viral article is a post that people like well enough to quote from or to recommend to friends — in other words, a great blog post. Check out Skellie’s recommendations on how to “go viral”:
- Under the Microscope: Six Strategies for Building Viral Content
Six ways to turn a good idea into a great blog article, with links to example posts.
- 37 Viral Post Ideas You Can Use Today
A great list for generating ideas.
- 10 Tips for Writing Bookmarkable Content
“There is a certain level of mystery to why one blog post is heavily bookmarked and another isn’t, but there are also some variables we can control…” A guest post on Daily Blog Tips.
- Use These 10 Tips to Write Your Most Popular Post Ever
“One popular post can bring your more traffic and links than a month’s worth of your usual content…” Another guest post on Daily Blog Tips.
Are You a Homeschool Blogger?
November 21, 2009 — TeacherMom
If you are a homeschool student, and you are a blogger, then there is a blog carnival just for you:
The Homeschool Kids Blog Carnival
This is just a reminder that the next edition of the carnival is coming out right after Thanksgiving. Don’t wait until the holidays distract you — send in your contribution now! Just pick out your favorite recent post, copy its URL (the Internet address), and go fill out this handy submission form.
For homeschooling parents, there’s always the Carnival of Homeschooling. To submit an article to the next edition, click here.
Copyright and Plagiarism
November 20, 2009 — TeacherMom
by MikeBlogs
— Copyright infringement, from Wikipedia
“Plagiarism is not only the mere copying of text, but also the presentation of another’s ideas as one’s own, regardless of the specific words or constructs used to express that idea.”
— Plagiarism, from Wikipedia
Both plagiarism and copyright infringement are stealing. When someone writes something and publishes it, that person automatically owns all the rights to re-use that material in any way. No one else has a right to take it and use it, unless the original copyright owner allows them to do so.
EVERYTHING on the Internet is copyrighted, automatically. You cannot copy something from another person’s blog or webpage, unless you first get permission from that person. No matter how much you like it, to copy it would be stealing. What you CAN do is link to the article you like, telling people how good it is and recommending they read it.
For More Information
- I Love Your List! I’m Going To Copy It!
Why copying hurts both you and the blogger that you copy from.
- Copyright Law: 12 Dos and Don’ts
A quick summary of how copyright law applies to bloggers.
- What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content
It happens to everyone. Here’s how you can fight back.
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