Readers arrive with questions:

Who is this writer? What are his interests? What is her personality like? Do we have anything in common?

Your “About” page might just be the first place a reader goes to find out.

Your blog is a reflection of your personality.

Miss Wyatt’s post gives some directions and examples of ways to write your “About” page. We have already reviewed the advice to be “internet savy” by making wise decisions about our writing and blog content.

Take a look at these about pages from last year: Daniel C, Nicholas, Catie, and Rebecca. Notice how they tell you just enough about their personality without saying WHO they are.

This post will be a PAGE on your blog.

Your “About” page shows your voice: who and what you feel strongly about, your sense of humour, your passion and compassion–what drives you.

Look at the draft of your “About” page. What one word most captures who you are?

Image: Questions by oberazzi,  Creative Commons license.

From Blue Devils swimming, to Chile and beyond!

Greetings to all the students and parents of Mrs. Smith’s grade 5/6 class.

My name is Mr. Laurie. I am a student teacher from Vancouver Island University. I will be a part of your classroom community over the next year. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and thank you for your cooperation.

Being a student teacher, here in Comox, is a dream come true for me. I grew up in Comox and graduated from Highland. I love the Valley way of life and can not wait to give back to a community that has been so good to me. I look forward to sharing my stories and knowledge of growing up in the most beautiful place in the world.

I have enjoy immensely the three short days that I have spent in your classroom. You, the students are wonderful and I can not wait to know more about you. The parents that I have met are caring and supportive. I look forward to a great year with all of you.

(Mr. Laurie brings his many talents and enthusiasm for learning to the classroom–we are indeed fortunate. Parents, ask your son or daughter about what they have learned from and about him so far.  ~Ms. S.)

Leave nothing to chance!

Last year a student in Division 16 looked up the meaning of random for us: it means lacking a plan or depending on chance. But in blogging it’s not wise to rely on chance to keep your identity safe. Take a look at my random facts below. In combination, they tell a lot about my life, but those facts don’t identify who I am, precisely where I live, when and where I do activities, or give that information about my friends or family.

So here are my 7 Random Facts:

1. I am the eldest daughter of an eldest daughter of an eldest daughter (and my only daughter is also the eldest!)
2. I love to make quilts.
3. I have sailed around the world in a tall ship.
4. I didn’t have any pets as a child, but now we have two Golden Retrievers named Luke and Solo.
5. My favourite place in the world is Fernando de Noronha, an island off Brazil.
6. I repeated Grade One, and didn’t learn to read until Grade Three.
7. I can say “Your baby is beautiful!” in Swahili.

Your task:

Look at the random facts of these students  Sophie, Daniel W., and Haley. They have used a numbered list to organize their posts.

Write your own Seven Random Facts. As you write your own, think about covering a broad range of facts that your close friends and family would know about, but that don’t give away too much about you.You are writing a quality post, so proofread and get a second pair of eyes to review your work.

Finally…

After you have written and posted yours, visit and comment on the 7 Random Facts of other Division 4 bloggers: notice surprises and connections–I bet you’ll find other bloggers whose random facts are similar to your own!

Image: Seven about to happen three different ways by fd  Creative Commons license

And like all new things, we will be a bit wobbly for a while.

You’ll notice student blogs are popping up in our blogroll to the right. These are exciting times for Division 4! In the next week, students will give their blogs a name and a tagline, add a Clustrmap, and write their first posts. Some may even start their own blogrolls.

Right now all the blogs have the same theme, but this will change. Once students have grown some serious feathers, they will be ready to fly! (Yes, I know chickens can’t fly–but bloggers can!)

Come back soon to see how we have grown.

Maybe you noticed that yesterday, shortly after 5 pm, we tripped into a new season. It was a remarkably beautiful day here yesterday, and today promises to be sparkling, too. Perfect for a Shoreline Cleanup.

Here are the results of our survey.

We had a lot of folks drop by to leave their opinion from beyond our class, including former students, parents, and visitors from far away. Are you surprised by the results? What do you notice? If we did this survey in November, what do you think the results might be?

We contribute.

I mean that in two ways.

We contribute to the problem.

And we contribute to the solution.

Our class and school will be heading to the beach this week to gather garbage left there or washed ashore.

Huzzahnians, how do you think you contribute? Is there a problem? If so, what might be the solution? What advice do you have for people in our community and elsewhere?

Image: Shoreline Splendor by Chicago Man