introduction


 

Introduction Post and Blog Label Widget

 

Returning students: Please read these notes about what to do for this assignment.

 

You are probably getting familiar now with posting in your blog now after writing your "Favorite Places" post and your "Favorites" blog posts. For this assignment, you'll write an Introduction blog post, and you'll also add a widgets label to your blog. By the time the semester is over, you will have 50 or more posts in your blog, and the labels are what keep it all organized.

 

PSEUDONYMS: As I mentioned earlier, you can do this course using a pseudonym, just your initials, etc. There are some notes here about how to configure a Blogger blog for the name of your choice, and if you have any questions about how that works, just let me know, and you can also let me know if you want me to use a different name for you on the class list.

 

So, this assignment has two parts, and it will probably take about 45 minutes to complete both parts:

 

PART ONE: Introduction post.

 

Feel free to write about whatever you want in your Introduction: everybody takes their own approach. Here's the Introduction post I wrote for this semester for example.

 

If you're not sure how to get started, here are some prompts to inspire you. 

 

As you can see, anything goes! This is the post where other students in the class will get to meet you, and you'll be getting comments on your Introduction blog post all semester long. And yes, you can update the Introduction post later on too; that's one of the great things about blog posts — they can keep on evolving.

 

Here's what you need to know to be ready to do the Declaration:

 

 

When the post is ready to go, hit PUBLISH and then make sure to take a look at your blog to check that it all looks right. You can always edit the post if you need to add, edit, or fix anything, and if you run into any problems or there is something not working, just let me know. (The goal for Orientation Week is to experiment with blogging until you feel comfortable with how it works.)

 

PART TWO: Labels sidebar widget.

 

Now that you have several different posts in your blog with various labels, you need to add a sidebar widget so that people can quickly find posts in your blog using the labels. There are lots of other design options for Blogger blogs, so feel free to explore on your own. For now, though, make sure you have a Label widget.

 

Some Blogger themes already have the Label widget installed, in which case you won't have to add the widget. So, if you see the Label widget already, you're good to go. If not, it takes just a minute to add. Also, now would be a good moment to look at the Blogger themes and find one you really like. You can browse through the different themes, and they can also be configured with different background images, color schemes, etc.

 

 

When you have chosen your theme, you can check to see if you have a Label widget already. Go to the Blogger Dashboard, and choose Layout from the left-hand menu. Take a look: is there a Label widget already in your layout. 

 

 

Add a Gadget. If you don't see a Labels displayed already, you need to add it. Click where it says add a gadget, and then scroll down the list of gadgets (widgets) till you find the Labels option; then click on the "plus" sign to add it to your blog.

 

 

 

You're done!

 

Take a look at your blog to make sure the Label widget appears in the sidebar of your blog now. Click on the Introduction link to see what happens, and then click on the Week 1 link. A label might have lots of posts (like your Week 1 label), or maybe just one, like the Introduction label. 

 

Labels are one of the most best things about blogging: the labels create navigation links automatically, without you having to manage the site navigation manually. It's so useful, especially as you accumulate more and more posts in your blog.

 

When you are done with the Introduction post and adding the Labels to your sidebar, you can do the Gradebook Declaration... and then move on to the next assignment: learning about growth mindset.

 

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

I published my Introduction post. 

TITLE: I used the word "Introduction" as part of the post title 

LABELS: I used these labels - Introduction, Week 1 - separated by a comma. 

LENGTH. My introduction is between 300 and 1000 words long. 

PROOFREADING: I read my post out loud to proofread. 

IMAGE: I Included at least one image with image information. 

SIDEBAR: I have set up a Labels navigation widget in my blog sidebar.