Greetings U.S. History students and welcome to the class blog! This is the place where you'll come to find blogging assignments, links to interesting sites and U.S. History related information as well as links to your classmates' blogs. So at this point, you might be asking yourself what exactly is a blog? In essence, the word blog comes from the combination of the words web and log and can be viewed as a personal website or online journal or set of comments reflecting the personality and ideas of its author. Topics covered on blogs are virtually limitless. You can find examples of blogs here or here. Additionally you can search blogs on google or at blogged .
· In order to create your own blog, go to blogger.com to get started. You need to sign up with an email account and I would suggest using a personal account or creating a new google account with a personal gmail address rather than your student account. If you have any problems go here or ask Mr. Grady.
· Once your blog is created be sure to email your URL to Mr. Grady (you should use your school account to email the URL).
· Make sure that your blog has a catchy title and a short description of what your blog will be. Play with the templates and design to make your blog a reflection of your own personality and voice.
· You will be updating your blog weekly (or more depending on whether or not there are specific blogging assignments given in class). Your weekly posts will be a reflection on the themes and ideas discussed in U.S. History that week. Consider what's interesting, what ideas or details have been sticking with you, or how that week's discussions and activities are connecting to the idea of what it means to be an American. You may also consider a link or connection between U.S. History and current events, movies, tv shows, or other aspects of your life. Think about times when you've been sitting in class and what we're studying reminds you of something else that you've read or seen. Use your blog to explore those connections and work to make it a valuable record of your ideas.
· After you've created your blog, do your first post according to the criteria outlined in the above bulletpoint.
