Tag Archives: commenting

I’m new here.

3670465986_3ac609277d_oWhen you are brand new to something and you want to grow, you can look up to others for examples and guidance. The 2015-16 nest of newbie bloggers doesn’t have to go far to find good models of how to blog well–we have seven years of Huzzahnian Grads to show us how to hatch and grow a blog. From them we can learn much about writing interesting, thoughtful posts, designing inviting blog pages, and commenting in a way that creates a conversation.

Your task:

First, read the Commenting Guidelines written by past Huzzahnians. They capture the big ideas about commenting. They set the standard that we will go by here.

Next, start reading and noticing quality in the blog posts below–you don’t have to read them all–pick one or two. Read the comments below them:

***These are retired blogs; please don’t comment on them as the bloggers likely won’t reply.***

(Are you noticing that blogging is about reading, first?)

Finally, in your comment below: Share one commenting guideline that you think is particularly important and why it is so. (*Hint:* You may have to use the word because.) Then tell us about a post that you read: give the blogger’s name and post title AND a one sentence summary of the content. Then say what you found interesting or inspiring, and showed quality in blogging to you. Also share what you discovered about the comments you read–do they follow commenting guidelines?  (Hmm, your comment is going to be five or more sentences long…one might almost call it a paragraph!)

Huzzahnians, remember to copy your comment into your  Google doc.  Soon you’ll be ready to hatch a blog of your own!

Visitors, if you think you have an exemplary post we should read, include the url (address) in your comment and we will visit and comment.

Photo Credit: CaptPiper via Compfight cc

No Comment? Yes, Comment!

The second essential skill of blogging is commenting.*  It makes blogging a dialogue, not just one way communication.

It requires careful thought, attention to detail, and a compassionate heart. Commenting is the glue that connects bloggers to each other. I asked Huzzahnians to work in teams to show what they know about commenting. They organized their thinking then created visual messages though SlideRocket. They had to consider their essential messages as they had only five slides (as well as title and credit slides) to work with. Here are two of the finished presentations–more to come after final edits.
(Image credits appear on each slide–mouse over the image to see the credit.)

1.

2.

*And here is a news flash: READING, not writing, is the first skill of blogging. Read blogs. Read read read. 

So readers, fellow bloggers, what would you add to our list of commenting guidelines, suggestions, and tips?

You’re hired!

How to get your iPhone application approved by App Store

All of the applications for Gr. 7 student have been approved!

Well, based on the outstanding applications submitted by potential Huzzahnians (and the fact that underneath her harsh and prickly exterior she is a softy), Ms. Steak has chosen to  HIRE ALL OF THEM!

These future bloggers will be busy in the coming months  becoming chemists, literary critics, historians, mathematicians, musicians, athletes…and Huzzahnians.

They will soon be finding time to visit blogs, to read, and leaving meaningful comments. The 7s at Hey, Kids! have already modelled high quality in blog communications (see their comments on our last post), so we will aim to match their standards.

Congratulations, Huzzahnians. You are off to a great start.

Creative Commons image. Link and credit on the image itself.

Howdy, (World) Neighbour!

Welcome by alborzshawn

Actually, the key is to connect!

Make yourself at home– we welcome you!

If you’re here from the Student Blogging Challenge or Quad Blogging, please say where you’re from, what you like to do, and something unique about yourself. We enjoy meeting our neighbours, be you from our school, our Valley, our country – continent – hemisphere – or many, many time zones away.

Our friendly promise: when you leave a comment on this blog or the student blogs we will do our best to answer back on our blogs and try to leave a comment on yours if you leave a link.

Please leave thoughtful comments, more than “Hey, nice blog, come see my blog!” We call that Nicki Nicki Nine Doors commenting. It’s like ringing our door bell and running away. If you are from the UK, you might call it Knock Knock Ginger while in the US it’s known as Ding Dong Ditch. We would like to open the door on real conversations.

So please, take time to read our work, think about what we say, offer feedback or ask a question. We will try to do the same.

Bloggers, do you get “Nicki Nicki Nine Doors” comments? How do you handle them? What should teachers and students be doing to encourage quality conversations on blogs?

A Milestone (in Perspective) Celebrated

Hoot! We have had over 25 000 visitors to our blog! It must be true because our ClustrMap says so.

Well, maybe. I think we can agree that  just because a car passes your house and the passengers look at your front door that doesn’t mean they have visited you. A lot of “site seeing” goes on while people are looking around online. Sometimes people come back for a second look, but many just drive by. And then there are spammers who come to leave digital crumbs so we will buy their handbags or shoes. So while the milestone of 25 000 visitors sounds substantial, it is important to have perspective on it.

A Question

So I ask: do the dots on the map distract us from our real purpose of reading, writing, thinking, and connecting? Are we too mesmerized by the maps, like crazy collectors? If so, how do we switch our focus back to what matters?

We are grateful to readers. We love the visitors who arrive, look around, READ, and perhaps leave a thoughtful comment. Our goal is to connect with others and to create blog posts that are worthy of their time.

Celebrating With a  RrrAWRRRR!

One class we are (re)connecting with is the Pirates of Rm 162 and their teacher Mr. Miller. Last year they sent the Huzzahnian Dragon, a geocaching travel bug our way and we tracked it as it travelled from California to the eastern United States and on to our own back yard. He waited in our room for the right moment, and a milestone day seemed like the right moment to send him home.

On the Hunt

Seeking the Cache

The brave Huzzahnians remembered exactly where the geocache was from last year hunted high and low for the location of the geocache.  We walked into the woods trekked over arduous terrain over a light skim of snow through a raging blizzard to get to the hidden treasure. Keen eyes noticed that the cache was exposed spotted the cleverly disguised geocache. We logged our visit in the log book performed a ritual dance dressed in feathers and furs to appease the forest trolls and then headed back for Music class began the onerous journey back home. What a day!

The Deep, Mysterious Woods, temporary home to the Huzzahnian Dragon

Friends, Romans, Huzzahnians–

–Lend me your thoughts: go back to the question I asked–does the ClustrMap distract us? Motivate us? Give a false sense of audience?

And if you have something to say about geocaching–well, say that too!

 

Kate S. is a Pro. Full Stop.

I do marvel at the insight of young people. Kate, having blogged for a very short time, seems to have captured the essence of a good comment. Clearly, she is a Pro Commenter. What do you think of the points she makes? If you agree, or if you have other ideas, why not go to The Grapevine (a year 4/5 blog in Tasmania) and tell her.

(By the way, North Americans, a full stop is a period at the end of sentence.)

Do you have anything to add? Please leave a Kate-like comment 🙂