Matthew+G.+Benjamin

For the Unfamiliar Genre Project I wanted to work on something that would either help me as a teacher or as a professional writer. There were alot of genres that I thought would be fun like music and movie reviews but these would be more for personal writing on a blog or something similar. I might still choose one of these as I have been meaning to start a blog for personal writing. But my top two choices are:

I. Website. - I am interested in writing a website for two reasons. I believe that as a professional/technical writer there is a lot of work in this area. I am not necessarily computer illiterate but I'm no whiz either. So a little experience in the area would benefit me if I moved on this area intead of, or in accompanyment to, being a teacher.

- I know that it is done with computers. I am not sure whether or not my project would involve creating a fully functional website or just writing snipets for different areas. I know that there is alot of variety in websites. I know that there is alot of advertizing/marketing involved with most sites.

II. Resume - I am interested in this genre for personal as well as professional reasons. I believe that as a teacher helping students write resumes will be an important aspect of my job. I also need to look at my own resume and to understand what is good to put in and what is good to leave out.

- I know that precision is extremely important. I know that if my resume doesn't stand out or isn't impecabbly written my career choices could be extremely limited. I know that many students need help in this area. I know that most people outside of human resources or career counseling are baffled by the process

Dear Matthew: I guess I think my feedback would be more useful if you worked on the website as a medium for certain genres. Here are some ideas for teachers' use of websites: Examples: school website []

using a web interface: e.g. Blackboard; or a Blog, using Wordpress []

a teacher blog []

using Google.docs, create a collaborative writing space []

Try to create an actual web site, using one of the tools suggested. This could be extremely rewarding professionally.

Bill


 * Annotated Bibliography**

McNeil, Patrick. //The Web designer's idea book : the ultimate guide to themes, trends and styles in website design.// Cincinnati, Ohio: HOW Books. 2008.

This book is a reference guide for Website design and includes ideas regarding style, type, theme, and structure.

Crowder, Philip. //Creating web sites bible, third edition//. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub. 2008.

This book gives tips and tricks for creating and developing websites. It gives information on the latest tools web designers need to make their sites, and to make them easy to use and eye catching.

[],

This page explains how to use Google Docs to collaberate on projects with others.

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This page is a tutorial on how to link Google Docs to other sites. I would like to use Google Docs, in some way, no matter what format I eventually use.

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I am not sure how easy it would be to create a website like this but it is a great example of what I would like to accomplish. There is alot of info available to students. The site seems easy to use and it is organized.

http://branfordhighschool.wikispaces.com/ An English class wikispace. This space is for an honors class at the high school. Full of good examples of things to include on a well run class site. http://polyvision.wikispaces.com/English+Websites A wiki site that shows how to set up wikispaces for English classes. It goes through how to make posts and links. The site also explains how to make the space user friendly and what kind of information is useful to put on one’s own page. http://fhswolvesden.wikispaces.com/ Another well organized English and History wikispace. The site was used for a few years but was discontinued after 2009. The instructor left the site open to give others an example of a full and well run space. **  How to Guide: How to write/set up a class Wiki/Website for a 10th Grade English Class   **  · ** Getting Started  **  · Go to wikispaces.com on the internet  · If you are not a member complete the membership requirements (username, password, email address, and confirm email address)  · Click on create wiki  · Name your wiki, mine’s name is mattsexperimentalenglishclass.wikispaces.com  · Choose the style of your wiki, K-12 Education is probably the best choice of style for a 10th grade English Class  · Choose the Privacy Level for your wiki. There are three levels. The 1st makes your wiki open to anyone to view and edit your wiki. The second makes the wiki open for everyone to view but only members of the wiki to edit. The third makes the wiki closed for viewing or editing to anyone but your wiki members. I choose the second option called “protected.”  · Click on Create Wiki  · Tutorials and advice on how to edit and personalize your wiki are available by clicking on the help button but also start automatically upon creating the wiki.  · ** Editorial Options: Important aspects of the wiki  **  · // An introduction //, usually geared towards those outside of the classroom. Possibly geared towards parents but also for the general public. Wikis are usually open for everyone to view. It should include information on the type of wiki (i.e. high school English class), where the school is, and why the wiki is an important part of the class.  · // A kind of syllabus //. This is important for students to be able to access for their own information and will include course objectives, important dates in the class, grading system, etc. Also a good idea so there will be no confusion on what is due when and what is coming up.  · // Goals // will include what the students should learn during the course of the semester. This will include the kind of reader (i.e. able to spot themes in literature) and the kind of writer (i.e. what kind of genres the writer should be working on) the student should be able to be at the end of the semester.  · // Calender. //A calendar that can easily be updated to show changes in assignments and projects. No one will be able to say they didn’t know something was coming up.  · // Wiki posts/blogs. //There should be a list of current, past, and possibly future assignments for students to post/blog on. These should be prompts about works of Literature which encourage discussion among students. Students should have the ability to both post and respond to each other’s blogs. For high school students there should be a warning not to put on the blog things that are offensive or too personal.  · // Writing workshops. // For students to post their assignments so they will be viewable by either the class or peer reviewers. This will give other students time to really look over works and comment on them. Important to give students the power to invite who they want to access their works so they feel comfortable with who may view it. Good idea to incorporate Google docs for this portion. <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · // Assignments and Projects. //For major assignments there should be readily available pages that outline the assignment’s requirements (i.e. length of paper and topics) and give the students resources and ideas about how to proceed. <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · // Pages for books or authors. // These pages should include links to websites, articles, and information about the works or authors being read in the class. These pages should also include information from the teacher and past discussions. Also a good place to paste any sections of the works that are highlighted in class for later reference. <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · // Vocabulary pages. // Having the vocab lists on the wiki will allow easy cut and paste dictionary and thesaurus options for understanding different aspects of words. <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · // An SAT/test prep page //that will help students prepare for the tests. This page should give links to other websites that help prepare students for tests and also point to places in the curriculum that will be valuable for this end.