Seniors only Sept. 6: Posting Comments at Schoolsville (in class work 9-6)

Here are some simple directions on posting comments at Schoolsville: 

1. Go to the bottom of the blog post and click on the underscored words that indicate the number of comments (to the left of the mail envelope).

2. Type your comment (or copy and paste your comments from a Word document) in the box that reads "Leave your comment." 

3. Choose an identity by clicking the circle that reads "Name/URL." When you do, a box will open in which you'll leave your first name, a space, the first letter of your last name, followed by a space which will be followed by your section color. For instance I might leave the name "John F blue"(John Fiorelli, blue class) if I were a student in the blue section. 

4. Then click the box to "publish your comment." Your comment will not be immediately posted, but a message at the top of the page should say that "your comment has been saved." I moderate the comments, meaning that I'll check them for their appropriateness before I post them. 

NOTE 1:it's always good practice to compose your comments in a Word document that you can edit (before you copy and paste into the comment box) and then save your responses for printing at the end of the marking period. 

NOTE 2: comments for journal questions should run a minimum of 200 words. Other blog assignments will have different response requirements

NOTE 3: sometimes, you'll be given a blog post specifically for your section color, so you must post your comments there, still indicating your initials and section color.

Let's practice posting RIGHT NOW in class. 

This is NOT a journal assignment. Answer this question in a few sentences: What book (that you read in the last year) did you enjoy the most? Briefly explain why. 

Again, this is just a short practice assignment so that you'll be able to post journal and homework assignments correctly in the future.

Seniors Journal #1: The Common App Essay "Warmup" due Wednesday, Sept. 7

Many of you will have to write an essay as part of your college application process, and some of you, for sure, will have to submit an essay to the Common App organization. Regardless, all of these prompts can inspire effective personal essays that will help tell your "story" to a college admissions counselor. 

NOTE: Much of what follows comes directly from the Common App website

For the Common App, you must choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don’t feel obligated to do so (the Common App organization won’t accept a response shorter than 250 words).

For this blog response at Schoolsville, choose an option and write a response of 200-250 words or more as a "warmup" or first draft of the "real thing." This blog response "warm up" is due Wednesday, Sept. 7

Here are the 2016-2017 Common App Essay Prompts

1. 2016-2017 Essay Prompts
   1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

    2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

   3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

   4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

   5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

    Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. 

Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don’t feel obligated to do so. (The online application won’t accept a response shorter than 250 words.) Visit the archives to read what other students wrote in past years (August 2015, August 2014, August 2013, etc. )

Sophs Journal #1: Your Favorite Work of Art--post before Wednesday, Sept. 7

What is your favorite work of art. 

Please don't limit your definition of art, or your choice, to the "fine" arts, like painting. Please feel free to include the "pop" arts, like music, film, cartoons, or television. 

You might want to use this post as a "warm up" or pre-writing to the final essay that is due Tuesday, September 13. However, you may choose to write about something else for the final essay, too. 

Complete this blog/journal response before Wednesday September 7, so I can post all of your classmates' responses for you to read. 

Remember, in responding to blogs, you should first write your response in a Word document, save it, and then copy and paste it as a comment at Schoolsville. Eventually, I will collect all of your "blog/journal" responses at the end of each marking period as a graded assignment. 

Be more succinct here than you will be in your essay--write a MINIMUM of 200 words (your final essay should be 3-4 typed pages). 

At Schoolsville, you probably want to respond to these questions: 

1. What is your favorite work of art? 

2. Give a brief description or overview of this work.  

3. Why is this work your favorite? How does it make you "think" (appeal to your intellect) and/or "feel" (appeal to your emotions)? Briefly and specifically explain your answers.

To get an idea of how to respond properly to this blog, you may check out the archives for August 2014 and August 2015 and read some of the responses to this blog entry made by the Classes of 2017 and 2018. 

The image that you're viewing is of Jamie Wyeth's Portrait of a Pig( often on display at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA), one of my personal favorite "works of art." I'll tell you a little about my choice in class some day soon. 

Sophs & Seniors: Posting Comments at Schoolsville

Here are some simple directions on posting comments at Schoolsville: 

1. Go to the bottom of the blog post and click on the underscored words that indicate the number of comments (to the left of the mail envelope).

2. Type your comment (or copy and paste your comments from a Word document) in the box that reads "Leave your comment." 

3. Choose an identity by clicking the circle that reads "Name/URL." When you do, a box will open in which you'll leave your first name, a space, the first letter of your last name, followed by a space which will be followed by your section color. For instance I might leave the name "John F blue"(John Fiorelli, blue class) if I were a student in the blue section. 

4. Then click the box to "publish your comment." Your comment will not be immediately posted, but a message at the top of the page should say that "your comment has been saved." I moderate the comments, meaning that I'll check them for their appropriateness before I post them. 

NOTE 1:it's always good practice to compose your comments in a Word document that you can edit (before you copy and paste into the comment box) and then save your responses for printing at the end of the marking period. 

NOTE 2: comments for journal questions should run a minimum of 200 words. Other blog assignments will have different response requirements

NOTE 3: sometimes, you'll be given a blog post specifically for your section color, so you must post your comments there, still indicating your initials and section color.

Let's practice posting RIGHT NOW in class. 

This is NOT a journal assignment. Answer this question in a few sentences What book (that you read in the last year) did you enjoy the most? Briefly explain why. 

Again, this is just a short practice assignment so that you'll be able to post journal and homework assignments correctly in the future.