making your blog

 

Maybe you already have a blog. Create a new one for this class. Here's how:

1. Create a Gmail account. If you have one, don't worry, as you are able to create more than one Gmail account. Go to Gmail.com, and sign up for a new one. Be sure to write down your new username and password. Please choose a username that is appropriate for a university course and one that is as close to your actual name as is possible.
2. To create your blog, choose from your apps; the icon looks like a small grid at the upper right of your Gmail page. Scroll until you see the icon for "Blogger," and choose it.
3. Choose "create a blog." 
4. You might want to follow this tutorial, or just start designing your blog.
5. Design simply. Choose a simple template, and then select the "customize" button to make your design choices. Remember to "apply" to blog after you decide upon the choices that you like. The apply button now takes the form of a tiny floppy disk icon in the lower right of the editing field. 
6. You can make interesting design choices by selecting "Design" from the upper right of the main blog page. Or, you can begin designing by using the menus you will see at your "My Blogs" page (clicking the Blogger icon will take you directly there). 
7. Choose wisely, and remember that good design depends upon readability, which includes:

•  A good amount of "white space" (clear space for legible text). 
• "Openness." Try to avoid the temptation to overcrowd your blog with images, but also ...
• Include images strategically. Choose images to reflect your disposition to the class, to writing, or to some particular thing you're reflecting upon in a post.
• Choose fonts and colors carefully for readability. 
• Provide captions for your images, especially if you download them from the Internet and are not using images that you created. For your caption text, write "image source" in very small, light lettering. Then, highlight the link icon in your menu options, and paste in the copied URL (web address) from which you found the image.

IMPORTANT: Please email your blog's URL to bkyburz@pnw@edu. Thanks! Please include new gmail address, class name, and section number. If you put your section number in the subject line of your email, that will help tremendously. Thank you!

I will add your blog to the blogroll. 

How to locate your Blogger Blog's URL (web address):

Go to your Blogger Blog.

Go to "Dashboard."

Go to "Settings."

Go to "Publishing." There, you should find your blog's URL. If you have not specified one (if the field that says "Blogspot address" is blank), go ahead and give your blog a name. Choose wisely so that you emit a sense of self that seems appropriate for this course blog.

Start blogging! I suggest starting with reflective writing about a picture you like that's currently topmost in your files. Post it and write about what it means to you. Be sure to respond to 2-3 peers' posts.

Note you can compose and "save a draft," so you needn't publish each time you write. 

Revision is wonderful. Happy blogging!