creative writing assignment

For this assignment you will be creating a blog as a place to publish your creativity. We will use these blogs as a place to read and comment on each other's writing as well as a place to hold ourselves accountable for quality writing.

Over the course of this project you will be given several assignments as well as the opportunity to write whatever you would like.

Follow the following steps to begin:

Creating a blog


For this we will use blogger.com.

1. Create your account with blogger.com. For this you can use whatever email you already use. You don't need a gmail account, just a google account. If you don't already have an email address, you need to create one now.


2. Name your blog. This should be something interesting, easy to remember, and something that won't reveal too much about you. This is permanent and cannot be changed--it is what goes in the URL of your blog. It must be school appropriate.


3. Choose a template. You can always go back and choose a different one if you want to.


For more information on creating a blog, see this.


Registering your blog


To get credit for this assignment, you must register your blog. Please email the following information to kelly.arbuckle@springbranchisd.com:


1. Blog name/title of your blog


2. Your name as you are known in your blog


3. Your name as you are known on my roster


4. Your blog address (the URL of your blog)


Important safety information


Remember that any idiot on the internet can see your blog. Please be careful about what you post about yourself. The only person who needs to know who owns your blog is me. And that's only because I am grading you. I'm assuming everyone in the class will know whose blog is whose, and that is fine. But someone trolling the internet doesn't need to know who you are. Remember that just because they say they are someone, it doesn't mean they are telling the truth. It's just as easy for them to hide their identity as it is for you to hide yours.


Also, do not publish your email address on your blog. We know how to contact you if we need to. People on the internet don't need to know how to contact you.



Here are some safety guidelines to follow (provided by http://www.isafe.org/):



1. Password-protect your blog. Make sure that no one other than your parents know your password.



2. Do not include personal and detailed information (places you hang out, malls, etc.) in your blog.



3. Do not complete a profile or include name, address, phone number, school, zip code, email address, or screen name in your blog. This is exactly the ind of information a predator is looking for so don't provide it.



4. Do not release any personal information about anyone else you know. Doing so would be like telling a predator, "I'm not interested in speaking with you, but my best friend, ____, would be more than happy to."



5. Pretend that you are a predator. Read your writings, and see if you can pick out details that lead to revealing personal information about you. If you come across anything objectionable, change is so that it is less identifying to the unknown and potentially dangerous reader.



6. Do not include photos of yourself or others in your blog.



7. Do not leave your blog page open or your computer unattended. Someone could step in and write something as you.



8. Do not spread gossip or slander about your classmates.