Welcome

Hello, Students -

If you're reading this right now, it means you're in my first block class.
I already know it's going to be a great year.
Because this:

OMG you guys are hilarious.  And unique.  I mean, what an interesting group of humans, right?!

Anyway, so here is your blog.  It's just a virtual space where you can share your writings with each other... your short stories, poems, essays (yes, essays.  An essay is just a wonderfully organized way of sharing what you know about something.  Your hobby speech, for example, was actually an essay, was it not?), ideas, and even feelings if you want.  You just gotta be real.  Have some fun.  Let other people see your talents.  And you'll get to do this all with a pseudonym, which is pretty cool.

Your blog is like an online magazine/newspaper/journal/arts thing with many people contributing to its success.  It's a creative, collaborative project. I am the publisher.  You are the authors.

Oh, and I really should warn you:   

At some point, you'll get really frustrated with technology.  Just accept this fact, so that when it happens to you (and it will, you can trust me on that), you can roll with it. 

To get the most out of blogging, however, you have to be curious about exploring its potential.  There are a lot of cool buttons that do cool things, but I'm not going to teach them all to you because I would like you to just experiment with them.  You can't really do anything wrong.  (Well, except not save your work).   

If you learn a cool trick, tell someone else about it.  If someone asks a question and you know the answer, tell them.  Even better, show them how to do it.  But don't do it for them.   

And please remember this:  Once you hit the publish button, anyone in the world will be able to read what you have written.

Which means it's pretty dang important for you to also write with thoughtful spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

(We want people to know that we are grammar nerds and super smart, got it?)


So welcome.

I'm glad we're all here.

Let's get this party started, shall we?

Assignment #1 (required):

In the comments, write a response to my post.  ("response", of course,  is just a fancy Englishteachery way of saying "comment").

Anything you want to write is awesome.

Assignment #2 (optional):

If you are a detail-oriented person with a pretty good grasp on the rules of the English language,  I desperately need you. Please consider becoming an editor-in-chief.
You can pick up an application from the back counter.