Writing–and writing frequently, with intention, and with significant feedback–is a great way to improve communication skills and learn material. Throughout the semester, this writing-intensive course will take advantage of the blogging functionality of the OpenLab. In addition to finding course materials here, this site–which is a blog–will be used both for homework and, since this is a hybrid course, for class activity. That means that although half of your attendance will be based on your physical presence in class on Thursdays, the other half will be based on your blog work during the earlier part of the week.

Some of you may have used the OpenLab before, or may be familiar with its core software, WordPress, through a site on WordPress.com or sites online that are powered by WordPress. You might be more familiar with another blogging platform, such as Blogger or Blogspot, or even blogs in Blackboard. This course will provide you with an opportunity to gain and hone your blogging skills, which can be valuable for you both at City Tech and in your professional endeavors.

To achieve success in this course, you must consistently and actively contribute to our blog through posting reflections on the course texts, discussing ideas with me and your classmates, reading and commenting on what others have posted, and linking to relevant material you have found through everyday experience as well as outside research. Additionally, we will conduct a semester-long glossary project on the site, and will also use the site to submit drafts and formal assignments. Read more about these on this site’s Assignments page.

Blog Frequency, Quantity, & Deadlines
Each week, there will be multiple blog posts and comments to ensure that you are  engaging with the materials and ideas presented in the course and with your classmates. All blog posts are due by the night before the class, so that would be Monday nights and Wednesday nights, in order to give both me and your classmates adequate time to read and comment on your writing. Since blogs count not just for homework but also for attendance and discussion, late blogs will be graded down, and will affect blogging/homework as well as attendance and participation grades.

Unless otherwise noted, blog posts should be approximately 300 words (though some topics may require longer posts). Comments should be substantive, though shorter, depending on their purpose. Liking, although it is helpful for everyone to get a sense of what is important to discuss in class and what to focus commenting attention on, does not replace the need for comments. Please use this new feature in addition to commenting, not instead of it.

As part of your participation in our hybrid community, just as you are expected to read the assigned texts, you are expected to read all blog posts and comments on our site prior to our weekly face-to-face class session. Ideas discussed in posts and comments will shape our discussions, and can become part of our quizzes, exams, and essays.

Blog Formality and Etiquette
Blogging can be understood to have a particular form and genre, with its own set of conventions and characteristics (just like any other mode of writing). This is true when we consider blogs as a form of journalism. Blogs can also be thought of to be a format, like a notebook or a chalkboard, and therefore open to the format of the author’s or authors’ needs. We will consider these different points of view as we establish the blog writing in this course.

For now, keep in mind that your posts and comments are considered informal writing assignments. Although the expectations for this kind of daily writing are different from the expectations in a formal essay or exam, you should proofread all of your writing for coherence and meaning, as well as obvious spelling and grammar mistakes. A simple not omitted from a sentence could spark a needless controversy!

Rules for the formality of formal assignments will be indicated on the assignment descriptions. Even though these will be submitted as posts on the OpenLab, different rules will apply.

Please note that our blog is public, so anything you post (whether a post or comment) is visible to anyone on the web. Think about the type of content you would feel comfortable with your parents, employers, other professors, and friends seeing as representative of your work, and then post accordingly.

Some of the materials we will discuss in this course will be of a sensitive nature. If you do not feel comfortable blogging publicly about them, please meet with me to discuss alternative privacy options.

Regardless of the material, it is foundational in this course that we respect each other, our ideas, and our expression of those ideas. Although we do not need to always agree–how boring would that be?–we do need to demonstrate professionalism and collegiality. Rather than condemn or criticize, we can critique and question, thus keeping communication open. If you have difficulty with this, or you feel uncomfortable when others have difficulty with this, please do not hesitate to speak with me.

Blog Grading
Although I will be reading and assessing your blogs regularly, I will not necessarily give you a grade on every post or comment. Instead, I will periodically grade your posts, and will provide feedback in the form of comments that are not necessarily evaluative, but rather are geared toward pushing you to further explore a topic. I will be trying for the first time a tool that allows me to comment privately on a post so that only the post’s author and I can read the grade and comment.

Please feel free to meet with me in office hours to get individualized comments on your blogging.

Simply skimming a reading and jotting down a few words about it does not mean that you have satisfactorily fulfilled a blog post. Similarly, only using spelling/grammar check on your computer does not count as revision/proofreading. You will be graded on the quality of your engagement with the material and the effectiveness of your presentation of your ideas. Missing blogs and incredibly short, general, or sloppy blogs will be given no credit and will negatively affect your overall course grade.

Please be aware that all blogs are time-stamped automatically, and that data will be taken into account in your grade.

Based on the strength of the comprehension, analysis, writing style, and use of resources, I will designate some of your work as “Featured Posts” (you can view all of these “Featured Posts” from the course site main menu under the header). It is an honor to have your writing chosen for a Featured Post, and though you shouldn’t feel bad if you’re not chosen–everyone’s post can’t be, or it wouldn’t be featured!–you should use these posts as models to push yourself to improve your posts.

Blog Titles
Much like you would when you write an email, your post should have a concise title that reflects the subject of your post. It should not include information that will be available as part of the data of the post–your display name, the date, and if you use the appropriate category, the assignment you’re responding to. It should also not be generic, such as My reflection, but should instead indicate the insightful content of your post.

Categories and Tags

Much like a table of contents and an index, categories and tags, respectively, help authors organize their writing so readers can find what they want when they want it. We will make substantial use of the categories and tags on our site. If your work is not categorized, I may overlook it and not grade it. If you have questions, please ask!

Using Outside Sources

It is very easy to take advantage of the materials on the internet and link to them, embed them, or attach them, depending on their format. Please do this, and do it responsibly! If you include materials in your post or attached to it, you must indicate your source (for this course, we will use the MLA citation format). Citations are less necessary with links if the source is clear when a reader clicks the link. When you do share materials in your post or attached to it, make sure you have permission to do so. Use materials that are either no longer under copyright, or use materials with a Creative Commons license that allows reuse. Linking is less dynamic than adding an image to your post, but it might be the safer option if you’re not sure you have permission to reuse it.

Adapted in part from Prof. Jill Belli’s blogging guidelines