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!