Why blogging in the Composition Classroom?
�	Scalable participation (a structure fit for an audience of two or two thousand)
�	Way of framing other digital social networking tools (reverse posting ala Facebook, Twitter)
�	Discourse communities (FiveThirtyEight.com, TheDailyNorsemen.com, PerezHilton.com)
�	Calls attention to the technologies of writing (paper, word processor, email, discussion board, blog, iPhone) 
�	Potentially survives the confines of the classroom (What are you more likely to hear at a party or in a coffee shop, “You should check out my blog. Here's the address,” or “You should check out this advertisement analysis I wrote last month about cigarettes. I've got a copy here in my purse”?
�	Opportunity to teach very, very basic web-design skills (links, images, embedded video) and tradition word processing skills (page and text formatting)

Assignment A
Discuss a variety of blogs in terms of purpose. Student studies one blog she’d like to emulate. Student analyzes blog (entries, comments, responses, design, frequency) for purpose, audience, the blog’s history, its successes-failures, weaknesses-strengths, key terms, genre conventions, etc. Student sets up their own blog and works, within the confines of available design tools, to design a blog which establishes a relationship with the blog initially under analysis. Student completes certain amount of entries in a given period of time as they see fit. Student completes project with a design defense and self-analysis. Self-analysis should be modeled on the analysis student completed on initial blog she chose to study.

Assignment B
This assignment uses a single blog for the whole class. (This example comes from a discussion I had with Scott R. about how he is using a Blackboard blog in his classroom.) Each student has permissions to post comments on the entries an instructor posts. First, the instructor posts an entry prompting students to respond in a particular way to a common text read for the course. Maybe he asks students “What does Anzaldua mean by the word 'tame' in her essay, 'How to Tame a Wild Tongue'?” Students need to have their responses posted as comments on that entry at least 24 hours in advance of a given class period. During the 24 hours prior to that class period, students must read and are free to comment on each others' posts and comments. The instructor chooses a couple of responses or comments he finds useful for class discussions. Examples of successful work. Examples of students listening to each other. Examples of students being honest about struggling with a text. Examples of students helping each other understand. During the given class period, the instructor challenges students to engage and learn from the examples he's noticed or that students themselves might have brought up. In some cases, students can contribute to the parallel “virtual” discussion on the blog itself during the class discussion if they'd prefer not to speak or the class conversation has gone in another direction.

Resources
�	Blackboard/Delphi Center (FERPA safe, limits circulation)
�	ADCs and your colleagues (who’s comfortable or experienced with blogs?)
�	Blogger – Probably the easiest public tool, free, proprietary, not very customizable
�	Word Press – A little more powerful, open source, allows for development of more advanced techniques
�	Hung and the English Department Digital Equipment (laptops, video cameras, audio recorders, editing software) 
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Readings
�	“Learning to Write Publicly: Promises and Pitfalls of Using Weblogs in the Composition Classroom” John Benson and Jessica Reyman (http://www.john-benson.net/blogstudy/)
�	 Diane Penrod’s  
�	Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson
�	Classroom Blogging by David Warlick
�	“Blogging as Social Action: A Genre Analysis of the Weblog” Carolyn R. Miller and Dawn Shepherd (available on web)
�	“Teaching an Old Genre New Tricks” Laurie McNeill
�	“Why I Blog” Andrew Sullivan
�	Look in popular magazines and journals like Time, Newsweek, Washington Post
�	A great