Introductory Blog Post

For your first blog entry, take the opportunity to introduce yourself to the class.  Who are you?  Where are you from?  What year are you in school, and if you have a major, what is it? Please upload a photo of yourself, so we can all start to match names with faces.

Describe your reasons for wanting to take the class, even if it is to fulfill specific requirements. What skills are you hoping to improve or develop this semester?  What books are you looking forward to learning?  What items on the syllabus worry you? Be as specific as possible.

Next, describe your idea of “children’s literature.”  What do you think of when someone says that term?  Do you have a favorite children’s literature text?  Have you taken a class in children’s literature before?  Finally, what do you think the term “Golden Age” means and what questions does that term bring up for you?

Your blog should be at least 300 words long.  This introduction will give you a chance to get familiar with posting on the blog as well as an opportunity to get to know your fellow students. As always, your blog post (and any responses to classmates) should be polished, proof-read, carefully edited and should adhere to the UF guidelines regarding tolerance, respect and a harassment-free class space.

You should also start getting in the habit of using the categories and tags: choose the appropriate category from the box on the right (hint: Introductory Blog is a good place to start), then add subject tags that will help others identify the main ideas in your post (this will be more important later, but it is good practice to start now.) Please refer to the Blog Grade Rubric for specifics on how I will be grading this and future blogs.

If you have questions about how to operate the blog, WordPress has excellent support pages: I recommend you start here, then try here.  Slightly more advanced support on adding images, page splitting (good for hiding spoilers), adding links, and copying/pasting from Microsoft Word is also available. Part of your grade in this class will depend on you learning to use the blog technology to convey your thoughts on our books and discussions to the (limited) public.*

Your introductory blog is due by 11:00 pm on Sunday, January 13

*Access to this blog is limited to invited individuals only, which will likely include class members and select UF faculty.  Personal information about grades should not be discussed here.  The amount of other information you choose to disclose about yourself is a personal choice but please remember nothing on the internet is truly private!