Sarah's Class Blog

In the same vein as Clare's post, here is the link to my class blog.

(Yikes, I never published this, though I wrote it about a month ago!)

Clare's class blog

Hello! Here is the link to my class' blog: http://coolmwenglishclass.blogspot.com/

I do not know how to put it in a blogroll, which might be something good for me to learn soon! Anyway, my students and I are still learning, and we obviously have an over-abundance of links to www.dictionary.com in the first set of posts :/


I've asked the students to move away from citing that source, and I have given them some direction to find more sources for their own posts. (Thanks, JB, for the ideas you sent us via email)

And thanks for putting up this blog, hope to be able find time to write more in it!

Grading Rubric for Class Blogs

Below is a rubric we created to guide instructors as they grade their class blogs. Let us know what you think:

An “A” blog post…
…clearly states an opinion and describes that stance using logic and sources to support it.
…includes working links to relevant sources.
…follows online linking conventions (ex. 0nly underlining links).
…has been proofread and is free of grammatical and mechanical errors.
…has a clear title that forecasts the content of the post and contains your main argument or claim
…is formatted for on-screen readability, which may include bullet points, lists, and shorter paragraphs,.
…is of a suitable length to maintain interest and appropriately deal with the topic.

A “B” blog post…
…clearly states an opinion and attempts to describe and support it.
…links to external sources.
…generally follows online conventions in regards to linking and visual cues.
…has been proofread and is nearly free of grammatical and mechanical errors.
…has a clear title that forecasts the content of the post and attempts to present your main claim or argument.
…is near to a suitable length for interest and topic.

A “C” blog post…
…offers an opinion with little support, or offers details without stating an opinion.
…does not link to external sources.
…does not display knowledge of linking conventions and visual cues.
…has not been proofread and contains grammatical or mechanical errors.
…has clear title that forecasts the content of the post
…is unnecessarily long or short.

A “D” blog post…
…does not make a point, offer an opinion, or provide relevant details.
…does not link to external sources.
…does not display knowledge of conventions and visual cues.
…may ”flame” another writer or use a hostile tone of voice.
…has not been proofread and contains grammatical or mechanical errors.
…does not have a clear or descriptive title
…is unnecessarily long or short.


We'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the rubric. This rubric focuses on blog writing as contributing to an academic or scholarly conversation. Michael Day points out that it doesn't, however, focus on student-to-student interaction and responses to concerns of other class members with helpful information, support, and guidance. Would this be a useful addition, consistent with the goals of much online discussion, where collaboration and cooperation among members of a community are important features?

Say Yes! to Blogging about Blogging

Hi All:

As part of our ongoing quest to understand how and why blogs can (or ought to) be used as a tool to teach writing, it has been suggested that we have a space of our own in which we can share ideas, reflect on our experiences, and build a community of knowledge rather than merely fending for ourselves. Hence, this blog.

While our primary audience is presumably ourselves--the six of us part of a blogging study at Northern Illinois University--our larger readership may potentially include other instructors in the Department of English and at other universities. With this in mind, I do not want to presume anything at this point, and I have questions about what the protocol is (are we free to refer to each other by name, for example?).

So long as I'm not being presumptuous, I wanted to mention that if anyone does not like the name of this blog or has any better ideas, by all means comment on this post.

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to reading your posts!