Week 4 - Responding and Posting

Today, you should essentially have your blog ready to go and should be moving steadily forward. Use this checklist to be sure. If you cannot say "yes" to each of these things, see magistra for help:

1. Blog is clear - either using blogger or on weebly with a CLEAR blog page
2. Blog has been submitted using this form. 
3. Blog has 3 posts at this point (exception: 7th period should have 2 posts)
4. You have commented/responded appropriately given the previous posts. 

At this point, it is expected that you will complete the work each Friday it is assigned AND start to clean up your site. I will post brief suggestions for you, but it is up to you to ask questions, research things, and figure things out on your own - as you would with any creative project.


For today, you must:

• Check this list of blogs. If your blog is highlighted.... something is wrong with your blog. Check in with magistra ASAP. 
• Choose a blog from the list that you haven't commented on before and comment with a DI question on their celebrity post from last week.
• Then, post a new post on your blog. Use Prompt 4. You may wish to look at:
  *The Discipulus Illustris questions (which includes a NEW question!!!)
  *Magistra's sample blog post about a character she enjoys.

After you've finished this, you MUST work on one of the following:

1. R, R, and R work (use the gradebook and the dropbox in eClass). **Required if you have less than a B in this class.**
2. work on the look of your blog (suggestions below).
3. If you've finished all this, you may work on something else. 

This week's suggestions for your blog:

Remove any superfluous images from your site that were not added by you.
Remove any extra pages and buttons on your site.
Take your first blog post, refine it, and make an "about me" page where it will permanently live.
Remember: do not hesitate to ask questions if you run into trouble! That being said, make sure you read all the instructions, follow them, and look at the pages in front of you first. :)

Prompt 4 -- Sample Latin Blog

De Yoshikawa Nao

nomen fabulae est "Good Morning Call". nomen personae (character) est Yoshikawa Nao. quindecim annos nata est. Nao milk pudding comedere amat. animal domesticum non habet.

    

Week 3 - Responding and Posting

Today, you should essentially have your blog ready to go and should be moving steadily forward. If not, magistra may call you up with more specific instructions.

At this point, it is expected that you will complete the work each Friday it is assigned AND start to clean up your site. I will post brief suggestions for you, but it is up to you to ask questions, research things, and figure things out on your own - as you would with any creative project.

For today, you must:

1. Check this list of blogs. If your blog is highlighted.... something is wrong with your blog. Check in with magistra ASAP. 
2. Go to your own blog and look at the comments you've received. Respond to each one in Latin, answering their question(s) about you. 
3. Then, post a new post on your blog. Use Prompt 3. You may wish to look at:
   * The Discipulus Illustris questions (which includes a NEW question!!!)
   * Magistra's sample blog post about her favourite actress. (which makes use of the new question)

After you've finished this, you MUST work on one of the following:

• make up yesterday's assessment if you weren't here.
• finish yesterday's assessment if you didn't finish.
• work on the look of your blog (suggestions below)

If you've finished all this, you may work on something else. 

This week's suggestions for your blog:

• Remove any superfluous images from your site that were not added by you. 
• Remove any extra pages and buttons on your site. 
• Take your first blog post, refine it, and make an "about me" page where it will permanently live. 

Remember: do not hesitate to ask questions if you run into trouble! That being said, make sure you read all the instructions, follow them, and look at the pages in front of you first. :) 

Prompt 3 -- Sample Latin Blog

De Lucille Ball

in pictura est actor. nomen actori est Lucille Ball. malebat (she preferred) Lucille vel Lucy. mortua est, sed duodenonaginta annos nata erat. dies natalis ei erat sextus dies Augusti. Lucille Ball ingenium mirabile habebat. poterat iocos (jokes) facere. Lucille fabulas agere placebat.

  

Week 2 - Responding and Posting

Today, you'll be completing 2-3 steps, depending on whether or not you finish last time's work. So, read carefully! As always, Magistra's thoughts and comments are in purple!

NOTA BENE: Don't forget to look at the bottom of this post for some troubleshooting and blog help based on the most common problems I saw...

Step 1 - ALL STUDENTS

1. Check this list of blogs. If your blog is highlighted.... something is wrong with your blog. Complete the steps below to double check that you've done things correctly. Speak with magistra if you have questions. 

If you did NOT finish the last prompt:

1. Look at last week's instructions.
2. Make sure you do these TWO things:
   * finish setting up your blog and submit it to magistra here.
   * write your first blog post, based on prompt 1. You can see a sample here. 
3. Come back to this post and look below for today's instructions.

Magistra's Hints and Tips

• If you didn't finish, don't panic. 
• Don't panic, but work fast! 
• Ignore pretty fonts, colours, etc. and focus on the prompt. You can always come back later when you are caught up and make it pretty again.... I have changed my blog about 5 times since we started already. You can ALWAYS go back and fix things/edit things. 
• If you aren't sure about something, check in with Magistra. Don't wait for her to check in with you. 

If you did finish last week's prompt and are ready to move on:

1. Look at your first blog post. If you did it correctly, you'll be able to see the post and a place for people to comment. If you don't see this... ask magistra for help.
2. Look at this list of blogs. Choose one of your peers (from any class) who does not have a comment on his/her blog and post a comment. Your comment must be a question from the Discipulus Illustris questions. For an example, look at the comments on this blog post. Your questions should be ones the person did NOT answer. 
3. Post a new post to your blog. Use prompt 2, found here. You can see a sample post here. 

Magistra's Guide to Writing a Clear Blog Post

• Keep it simple. I wrote about my pups. I know a lot about them, so I had plenty of information to choose from, but, I kept it simple. I use the Discipulus Illustris questions as my guide and, quite literally, copied the form there with my own info inserted. 
• Don't use outside vocabulary help. As we've been practising, keep works like proper names and, in this case, food items in English. While there are Latin equivalents, this activity is about your ability to communicate. 
• Make sure to include a picture!
• Preview your work and if it isn't right/what you want, edit it! 

Frequently Seen Problems in Students' Blogs

Platform	Problem	Solution
Blogger/Word Press	No Post	When you log into your blog, look for the button that says "new post". This may be in the upper left hand corner.
Weebly	No Post	Make sure you are on the "blog" page of your weebly site (look under the pages tab at the top) and then hit "new post". This is at the bottom right of the page.
Weebly	No Blog	You've chosen a format that is probably not set up for blogs. First, look under the "pages" tab and make sure you have a blog page. If you do, go to it. If you don't, add it. Then, click "new post". This is at the bottom right of the page.
Weebly	Weird front page	If your front page has lots of English on it, or pictures you don't want. You'll need to play with the pages and their format. Delete any and all English that shouldn't be there!
Weebly	Blog post in the wrong spot	You will need to move your writing to the blog page. Look under the "pages" tab and make sure you have a blog page. If you do, go to it. If you don't, add it. Then, click "new post". This is at the bottom right of the page. Paste your writing there and be sure to delete the writing in the wrong place!

Prompt 2 - Sample Latin Blog

De Canibus

in prima pictura est canis meus. nomen cani est Chibs. mavult Chibs vel (or) Chibbers vel Mr. Chibs. Chibs tres annos natus est. dies natalis ei est decimus dies Martis. Chibs cheese et salami comedere amat.

in secunda pictura est canis meus. nomen cani est Charlie. mavult Charlie vel Char Char Beans vel Charlie Bear. Charlie tres annos natus est. dies natalis ei est decimus dies Martis. Charlie carrots et cheese comedere amat. 

Week 1 - Setting Up Your Blog

Salvete omnes!

This is a sample post, in English (mind you), about setting up your blog. All this post serves is to discuss the purpose of this project, and link you to the instructions. Your first blog post will NOT be in English, so be aware of that!

Text written in BLACK are general instructions about the blog

Text written in PURPLE are magistra's comments about things you can do!

Ready?

Purpose

You can play with the headings, colour, and pretty much every other editing tool! 

The purpose of this project is to let you have some freedom with the discipulus illustris activities we've done. You will work more with this vocabulary, familiarise yourself with your classmates, and learn how to better express yourself in this project. 

This project will also serve as a beginning point for a MAJOR project we'll begin in January. Keep your eyes open!

Process

During this process, we'll meet every other week in a computer lab. You'll be asked to respond to another post (either yours or a friends) and then post on your own blog. A few BASICS for your blog posts:

1. They must be in Latin!
2. They must make use of the discipulus illustris questions.
3. They must include a picture.

Resources

• Today's "Setting up your blog" instructions.
• Today's "Writing your first blog post" instructions.
• Today's "Sample Latin Blog" post.
• The Discipulus Illustris questions.

Nota Bene: You can also find ALL these links on eClass:

1. login to eClass and go to your Latin class.
2. Click on content.
3. Click on "Daily Latin".
4. Click on "discipulus illustris".

Remember

While you are writing in Latin, I should be providing you with all the tools you need. Use the tips below to make your writing clearer, understandable, and easy to write.

Tips for Writing

DON'T DO THIS	DO THIS
Don't write in English first!	Do use the discipulus illustris questions as a guide
Don't use a translator!	Do use your vocabulary lists, grammar notes, and teacher for help.
Don't complicate your writing with words you don't know	Do simplify your writing using the discipulus illustris questions and ask your teacher for help.

Blogger (where this blog is) doesn't do tables in the editor. You will need html to make tables if you want. 

Tips for Latin

• Your complete vocabulary list can be found in eClass.
• The complete vocabulary list from last year can also be found in eClass.
• All our grammar notes are on eClass! 
• Your teacher can be a great aid. Ask her for help with words! 
• Simplify, simplify, simplify! 
• BREATHE.

Bonam fortunam!