hiding & showing posts, using blogs again & again & again

All you need to do if you're using a blog for the second time and want to hide a number of posts which have already been created and reveal them again sequentially in keeping with the progress of the course is the following:

--click on "edit posts," then "edit" the posts you'd like to hide.
--click on the "save as draft" or "save now" button, and the post will be saved as a draft and invisible to readers of the blog.

--to re-open it, click on the "edit posts" button again, and then "publish post" and the post should appear.

to change the time or date or whatever, click on "post options" and put in whatever you'd like.

linking to documents & resources

If you have documents you want to link to, like a syllabus, upload the documents to your catalyst web page account.

Copy the location (for example: http://staff.washington.edu/jstoff/JenseitsderStille.1.doc) and then create a link in your blog as you would link to anything else. Esp. useful to have links like syllabi in a sidebar.

more German language/lit blogs-- a growing list

on DaF: http://cornelia.siteware.ch/blog/wordpress/

on studying abroad: http://mein-bauhaus.blogspot.com/index.html

on translation: http://brave-new-words.blogspot.com/

getting started

--definitely recommended to tinker around with a blog of your own before using it in a classroom space.

1) go to www.blogger.com (if you don't already have a google account, you will be prompted to create one), www.wordpress.com, or www.livejournal.com. Remember or write down your sign-in name and password. Blogger and Wordpress seem to work the best for classroom spaces. Also, most blogger blogs allow only blogger or google account-registered users to comment, so if students need to comment on one another, they should probably be all or none on blogger or wordpress. The important thing is to be consistent. Livejournal gives access to only one post at a time without easy links to or labels of others, and is a bit more journal-like.

2) follow the on-site instructions to create a blog to your liking, customize the layout, etc.

3) on blogger, the "dashboard" is your starting place, and the green plus sign is where you create a new post. all three systems have very clear instructions and help files.

4) begin posting, and share your blog address (for this blog, it's the one which appears in the browser bar, http://jsger.blogspot.com) with others.

adding an image

To add an image: click on the small picture in the posting menu, load your image from the source or from your chosen weblink, choose the size and alignment, and fertig. You can add text above, below, or to either side of the image.



pretty cute, no?
Also, you can choose languages for your blog (under the "formatting" tab), so you can have your entire template in German if you wish.

blogging & German lit.

some examples of literary/academic blogs:

http://oneinten.blogspot.com/

http://marcelproust.blogspot.com/index.html

http://long18th.wordpress.com/

http://www.printculture.com/

blogging & pedagogy sources

Here are a few links to resources about blogging and pedagogy, developed by a group at UW:
http://community.uwblogs.org/index.php?blog=10

a few other blogs used in connection with classes (examples of wordpress blogs, used very successfully, and with additional resources about blogging):
http://com460.wordpress.com/
http://com300.wordpress.com/

articles:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/remediation_genre.html
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/moving_to_the_public.html


more collections of articles:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/