Friday, May 12, 2017

Welcome to GEND 354!

Welcome to this Teenagers in/and the Media blogging adventure!

Between now and the end of the week, you will set up your own blog to use this summer for all of your GEND 354 writing assignments, and to keep track of your thoughts about any of the issues we cover.


A blog is your very own, personal online journal. It is public, in that I and your classmates can read it and comment on it, but it is your space and you can control most everything about it. (If you want to make it private so that *only* members of this class can read it, I can show you how to do so).




In the context of this course, your blog has three purposes:

1) Your blog will provide a space for you to keep all of your assignments over the course of our 6 weeks together. You will not hand in written assignments to me each week; rather you will post them on your blog. In this sense, your blog is merely your assignment notebook that you will use as you read and prepare for class each week. You will also be posting any additional thoughts you have: responses to class discussion, after thoughts, things you forgot to say in class, relevant experiences you have, etc.

But importantly, your blog is a public space and as you post (and comment on others'), you will gain a much richer understanding of everything we read and discuss in class. I want you to think of it as interactive and intertextual in that way.

2) Creating your own blog will also introduce you to  a form of technology that is a part of the contexts of teenagers and the media.  If you don't know this place already. I hope that you will discover creative uses for this online medium to help you think about teenagers in new ways. 

3) Finally, this assignment is designed to teach you how to prepare for class each week, and to help you come ready to participate confidently in our discussions.


To start your own blog, you will go to:


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N1WmEk7kefI/T_tuCl2RJEI/AAAAAAAAANw/MdMmxMc3EAs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-07-09+at+7.48.47+PM.png

SET UP AN ACCOUNT:
If you do not already have a Google account, you will need to create one.  If you do have a Google account, sign in in the box at the right. 
  
Click the button that says NEW BLOG (you will see this even if you have blogged before) and follow the instructions to get started.  Don't forget your Username and Password!! You will need them to login every time. Please write them down on the top of your syllabus so you don't forget!  

NAME YOUR BLOG:
As you fill in the info, you will be asked to name your blog. This title will appear at the top of your blog. (Mine is called "Teens and the Media")

CHOOSE AN ADDRESS:
Every blog has its own URL, or web address.

_______.blogspot.com

This will be the web address associated with your site. you can call it anything you like. Be clever or simple (or both) -- it is up to you.

CHOOSE A TEMPLATE:
You will also need to choose a design template for your blog. Look through the options listed and see what appeals to you. You can change this later so don't worry too much about it initially... 

START POSTING:
Once you have the account set up, you can start posting. A “post” is an entry on your blog. (For clarification, you have one blog, but many posts). Give the post a title and then compose as you would any journal entry. When you are finished, hit the button that says Publish. It will not appear on your blog until you publish it. You can always go back and edit old posts and create new ones.

Your First Post:
Your first post should be a short introduction to you using PICTURES.  (Need help? Click here.) Post 2-5 pictures of yourself that tell us about who are you, what you are doing this summer, what do you do when you are not in class, where you work, what kind of hobbies you are into, etc.  (If you don't have access to pictures today, then just write a narrative post instead and add pics later!) Add some captions to each one.  

POST A COMMENT WITH YOUR ADDRESS:
When you are done creating your blog and posting your first entry, please come back to this blog and post a comment at the end of the first post (scroll down) that includes your name and your blog address so that I can post it in the blog list to the right. If you don't share your address, i will not know where to find you!

Some Tips and Helpful Hints:
  • Once you are in your blog, look at the top right corner of the screen. If you click on the word DESIGN, you will be able to make design changes, create new posts, edit old posts, etc. (You can only do this if you are logged in to your blog.)
  • Once you are in the DESIGN screen, you can do all kinds of things to make your blog a bit more interesting. Change your fonts and colors, edit a post, change your settings. See the tabs at the left side of the screen for all kinds of options.
  • Poke around online and make a list of websites related to gender, social justice, feminism or anything else relevant and post them on your blog. You can add all kinds of things by ADDING A GADGET from your LAYOUT screen.
  • Just do the best you can with this. If you get stuck, don't fret... I am happy to help you anytime as you work on getting this started. And remember: you can't break it. It is just a blog. Everything can be changed if need be!
Good luck!!

LB :)

8 comments:

  1. Lexi Farias. My blog address is http://lexifarias.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Arianna Drummy. My blog address is http://adrummygend354.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bristol Dupre. My blog address is http://bristodupre.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Coleena Foster. My blog address is http://leenuhblog.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. My blog address is http://malmoniz.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi! my blog address is: http://gender354banner.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi! my blog address is http://teenagersandthemedia.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi, mine is teensmedia17.blogspot.com !

    ReplyDelete