Ashley's Maze

Learning Something New!

Today we learned some new skills and what blogging really means. Blogging is when I read someone’s writing and respond to it. When we first walked in we read our comments. I felt good today because I got comments from people that I do not know. To me, that’s inspirational. I got comments from Ms. Allgood, Ms. Lucky from Canada,  Ashley, and Ms. Risher. That is awesome. Then we went to the “Write Weblog”, in other words the class blog. Mrs. Davis read to the class her post for this week. We talked about how to create a hyperlink. After that we went to her class’ blogs at Georgia State University's website for blogs.

That blog is called "Teachers & Technology". We found some interesting writings, but we couldn’t get into everyone’s blog. That was disappointing.  We took pieces of their blog and commented on it in word. We use word when we learn something new.  We learned how to link to one specific post. Hyperlinks can be made on weblogs. Today was an incredible learning day.

Here's my first try at blogging. I hope you like it. This is what I read on Sara's weblog:

"I love that students such as Ashley are able to express themselves using technology through the weblog. It is an excellent tool and exposes children to technology, which of course is an ever-growing part of today's society."

I like that Sara thinks that the weblog is an excellent tool for kids. Writing on the blog helps me talk more. I like to write long stories on the blog. Doesn’t everybody like the weblog? Maybe you should give your students a choice when you do activities. All kids like choices. Maybe one day we can meet and I can give some more advice on teaching. 

 

The Weblogging Group

 What is weblogging? Well it is when you write your own story on the Internet. You have a voice. You can write about anything. It is our choice.

Blogging will make your writing exciting. You will enjoy writing and you will write longer. You shouldn 't write about something that bores you. Ask a thought provoking question that will make your audience interested. They will read your stories more and comment to  you a lot.

Well there is more to blogging than that. You own your writing and have a voice. The five w’s help you, who, what, when, where, why. There is a lot of dialog and comments. You have to organize your paper. Give plenty of details and a good lead.

 

     Weblogging has made me write longer. Working with revision. The writing process is not over when you reach the end - it has hardly begun. Pay attention to a maxim : " There is no writing , only rewriting. " That means way more than simple proofreading. You should always spend more time revising your work. Looking not only for your grammatical errors , but finding wasted words , improving precision and clarity. Also working on your transitions. It pains beginng writers to hear that they have so much work to do , but it is really unavoidable. Not even professional writers get it all right in the first draft. You should be prepared to put as much energy into revision as you  do in the original composition.

      A tip : let time pass between your first draft and your revision. That means you have to start putting things on your paper before the deadline. Don 't worry : it may not be perfect ; just write. Then forget about it - for as long as you can afford. ( Haroce , a Roman poet , suggested taking a nine - year break between composition and publication. Few of us have that luxury. ) When you come back to it , you will be able to read your own writing with fresh eyes. you will see things you have missed before. It makes all the difference in the world. You have to start well before your deadline.

     The Weblogging Group is great. It prepares you for the writing test , that the fifth graders have at the end of January. My teacher said that her students that went to the Weblogging Group got A ' s on the writing test. That sure would look good on your report card. You would make it to the sixth grade.

     My writing has been getting longer and longer. Some of my writings are three pages. Imagine what your writings would be like.

     Predict how your future in the Weblogging Group would be like.