Class #11 + Class #12

We have been getting outside and enjoying the Spring weather lately. Each week, some students may choose to update their blogs, and others may choose to participate in a creative team sport or musical game. It's important to be able to make that choice, and we certainly encourage healthy outdoor play in this pleasant season.

Watch your favorite HIS Computer Club blogs for updates...

We also welcome the newest member of our blogging community: Democratic Race to the White House (by Dom)!

Class #10: Music & Monsters

In today's class, we sang some musical circle games and drew collaborative monster pictures.

Class #9: The Changing Season

As the winter melts away into Spring, we're exploring the woods...
Finding interesting treasures...
And then heading back to school to blog about it!

Class #8: Making Homes in the Forest

We're combining the wonderous Spring weather with our blogging practice! This week's outdoors adventure had us exploring the woods around the school's "fire pit," and making small homes and forts in the terrain there. (Watch how I link this post to other posts...)

First we found a "Woolly Bear" caterpillar on the snow!
Then, when we got out into the woods, we found lots of fresh deer tracks...
... and some other stuff the deer left behind!
We improved some of last year's stick huts out on the rocks.

We also used the log bridge (built by the Soonipi class) to get across a flooded field.

Class #7: An Adventure with a Camera

For this week's class, we ventured out into the woods and followed a stream of meltwater down through some wetlands and rockfields.

Students watched for scenes and details they wanted to photograph for their blogs, and near the bottom of the stream's run we built a system of "bridges" for fairies (a common interest of the students).

When we came back to the school, we used the rest of our time to process the photos and blog about our adventures!

Class #6: Blogging Our Adventures

This week, we went out into the forest in search of adventure. We decided to collect dry wood for the bonfire at this Friday's Winter Carnival.

This is Trevor:

Trevor came with us and helped us break up the larger pieces of wood.

Here's the woodpile we helped to build:

Then we came back in and updated our blogs about our adventures!

Class #5: More Posts & Comments

We posted new posts (the first in a month!) and commented on each other's blogs today.

Class #4: Posting & Managing Our Blogs

In today's class, we looked at some of the management controls we have on our blogs. Here's what we did, so you can try it at home.

We also looked at what happens when you use your SETTINGS / PUBLISHING controls to change the URL of your blog. (Any other links to the old URL are then broken, and have to be updated!) IF you absolutely MUST change the URL of your blog, let Marek know ASAP so he can fix your link on the HIS Computer Club blog page.

Then we posted to our blogs, and commented on each other's blogs.

HOW TO: Access Your Blog Management Controls

1. Sign in to http://www.blogspot.com/ with your username and password.
2. On your Dashboard, find the management controls for the blog you want to manage.
3. Click on SETTINGS. These are the controls that administrate your blog. Some of them have little question marks () that lead to HELP info about them. Look around, and try out your controls!
4. When in doubt, check the Blogger Help Center.

Computer Club Safety Rules

1. ALWAYS have an adult family member (or a teacher) with you when you use the internet.
2. NEVER share your FULL NAME or any other contact information about yourself on your blog. You don't want a stranger to know lots about you! It's okay to post your stories and ideas, but they shouldn't tell people how to reach you.
3. Remember, whatever you post can be read WORLD-WIDE! Be honest, be nice, and be positive. If you don't want the whole world to read it, don't post it!
4. If you ever have any questions (or worries) about doing something with your blog, just ask a family member or a teacher and they can help you.

Class #3: Comments

Today we learned about COMMENTS. We each wrote a post for our blog, and we commented on some of each other's posts.

You can make COMMENTS on any post by clicking "COMMENTS" below the post. Other people might have commented already, so make sure you read all the comments before posting your own!

Your (optional) homework:

Comment on any H.I.S. Computer Club posts you read over the week! Let your classmates know what you think, what questions you have, and what your reactions are to their posts.

Posting and Comments

Today we're going to learn how to "comment" on each other's blogs!

To get comments, you have to first have a post on your blog. Let's go post on our blogs. Then you can make comments. (You can even comment on THIS post!)

Class #2: Posting

This week, our afterschool Computer Club learned to post to our blogs. We posted simple posts about the day. For example, Nicholas posted a short story about the bingo game they played in his classroom. Jacob posted some news about his abacus. Others wrote posts, but didn't publish them yet.

We also took some digital photos and "painted" some pictures on the computers, and in the coming weeks we'll learn to post those to our blogs as well.

Next week, we'll learn how to comment on each other's posts.

If Marek has your family (or child) email address, he has INVITED you to join your child's blog as an author. That will give you the ability to write posts on that particular blog, once you've signed in with a Google account. (Don't worry, Google doesn't use your email for spam mailings. Marek has had an account since the Summer and he can vouch for the safety!)

HOW TO: Start Your Blog

Starting your blog is easy. Just go to http://www.blogger.com and follow the directions! You'll see links to:

• CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT (If you don't have a Blogger account yet)
• SIGN IN (If you've already created a Blogger account)
• TAKE A QUICK TOUR (If you're not sure what this is all about)

We're using our blog pages as online diaries. We'll be posting information about our days, our interests, and our discoveries as we explore and experiment in this Computer Club!

Class #1: Blogs!

Welcome to the Hopkinton Independent School's afterschool Computer Club blog!

Today, we created blogs that we're using to post news, artwork, and other information about our lives. You can link to each blog in our group from the sidebar on this page.

If you would like to learn more about blogging, you can do some research on Blogger Help.

If you are an H.I.S. student or a family member of our group, you can create a blog at home and link it to our blogs! Just email Marek to get your blog added to our list.

First Post

Hi!