Using hyperlinks

Hi folks,

Hope you had a good weekend. I read all of your blogs this weekend -- at least every post that was up by noon today. I am happy to see you all writing, and many of you responding to one another's posts. As we move on in the semester, there will be more to say, so keep reading, writing and commenting!!

A word of advice:
In so many places, your blogs would benefit from hyperlinks to help enhance your posts. For example, if you are talking about “flesh-colored bandaids,” or multicultural dolls for kids, or the new Black Disney princess, don’t be afraid to search the web to see what is out there and link your findings.

All you have to do is find the link, then highlight the word you want to link up and click the small link icon (a green chain on top of a globe) at the top of the text box:

So start linking things up! And don't forget to insert pictures, too!

See you on Tuesday,

LB :)

Jonathan Kozol -- October 22 @ RIC!!!

Jonathan Kozol will be speaking at RIC on October 22 @ 4:00pm. I highly, highly, highly recommend that you take advantage of this opportunity to see one of our nation's most prominent researcher/activists on the issue of schooling in America. I will remind you as it gets closer, but put it in your calendar now!!

McIntosh by YouTube

Peggy McIntosh -- want more info? Click here.

Good Class on Johnson

Hi 346 folks,

I am glad to hear that class went well on Thursday with Dr. August. She was very impressed with you and said you worked really hard to get some ideas about Johnson on the table... nicely done.

For next week, we will be meeting with Sue Greenfield and the VIPS team on Tuesday. You will be getting your placements and participating in a training for your Service Learning experience during class on Tuesday.


You are also reading Lisa Delpit's Piece on the Silenced Dialogue. Be patient with her. Read carefully and remember the lessons Johnson taught us about how to take responsibility for the "problem" of power and difference without getting defensive. You have a Think Piece (like the one you turned in last week on Johnson) due on the Delpit chapter on Tuesday, 9/15.


See you on Tuesday. Thanks for keeping the ball rolling in out class even without me there!

LB :)

Welcome to FNED 346!

Welcome to this FNED 346 blogging adventure! On Tuesday, September 8, you will set up your own blog to use this semester for all of your Talking Points assignments, and to keep track of your thoughts about any of the issues we cover.

A blog is your very own, personal online journal. It is public, in that I and your classmates can read it and comment on it, but it is your space and you can control most everything about it. (If you want to make it private so that *only* members of this class can read it, I can show you how to do so).

In the context of this course, your blog has two purposes:

1) Your blog will provide a space for you to keep all of your Talking Points assignments over the course of our semester together. You will not hand in written assignments to me each week; rather you will post them on your blog. In this sense, your blog is merely your assignment notebook that you will use as you read and prepare for class each week. You will also be posting any additional thoughts you have: responses to class discussion, after thoughts, things you forgot to say in class, relevant experiences you have, etc.

2) Creating your own blog will also introduce you to the blogisphere if you don't know this place already. I hope that you will discover creative educational uses for this online medium. You will see how easy it is to use blogger.com, and perhaps it will inspire you to bring blogs into your own classroom someday.

To start your own blog, you will go to:

www.blogger.com


The big orange box at the top right of the page will direct you to creating your own blog on a site called blogspot.com. Follow the instructions to open up a free account. Don't forget your Username and Password!! You will need them to login everytime.

As you fill in the info, you will be asked to name your blog. This title will appear at the top of your blog. (Mine is called "FNED 346 — Fall 2009")

Then, you need to choose an address:

http://_______.blogspot.com

This will be the web address associated with your site. you can call it anything you like. Be clever or simple (or both) -- it is up to you.

You will also need to choose a design template for your blog. Look through the options listed and see what appeals to you. You can change this later and can even find fun, creative templates at sites like PYZAM.

Once you have the account set up, you can start posting. A “posting” is an entry on your blog. (For clarification, you have one blog, but many postings). Give the post a title and then compose as you would any journal entry. When you are finished, hit the button at the bottom that says Publish Post. It will not appear on your blog until you publish it. You can always go back and edit old posts and create new ones.

Your First Post:
Your first post should be a short introduction to you: who are you, how your semester is going so far, what do you do when you are not in class, etc. (Just a short paragraph — no big deal). You will post the rest of the entries as they are due (see course syllabus for dates), or whenever you have something to say!

When you are done creating your site and posting your first entry, please come back to this blog and post a comment at the end of my first posting (scroll down) that includes your blog address so that I can post it in the link list to the right.

Some Tips and Helpful Hints:

• Once you are in your blog, look at the top right corner of the screen. If you click on the word CUSTOMIZE, you will be able to make design changes, create new posts, edit old posts, etc.
• Once you are in the CUSTOMIZE screen, you can do all kinds of things to make your blog a bit more interesting. Change your fonts and colors, edit a post, change your settings. See the tabs at the top of the screen for all kinds of options.
• Poke around online and make a list of websites related to education, diversity, social justice or anything else relevant and post them on your blog. You can add all kinds of things by ADDING A GADGET from your LAYOUT tab.
  
• Just do the best you can with this. If you get stuck, don't fret... I am happy to help you anytime as you work on getting this started. Send me an email, come see me in office hours, or grab me after class. And remember: you can't break it. It is just a blog. Everything can be changed if need be!

Good luck!!

LB :)