Ms. Glaum
UNIV 112: Let’s Blog!
Purpose: Writing in UNIV 112 is a skill we will practice on a weekly basis. Your blog will serve as a way to write in an
informal setting. I hope that your blog will be a place where you can allow yourself to experiment and explore new ways
of writing and thinking.
The blog also will help you:
- Shape your writing to serve purpose and audience expectations
- Reflect on experiences, texts, and class activities
- Generate appropriate responses to others’ contributions
Details: Every Tuesday by class time you have a blog post due. This will stay consistent for the entire semester. Some
weeks the blog prompts will be specific to what we are discussing in class and other times they will be more open. The
next week’s blog prompt will be posted on our class website each Tuesday – giving everyone one week to write their
next post.
Commenting: Every Thursday by class time, you must comment on two of your classmates’ blogs that they posted on
Tuesday.
You can find links to all classmates’ blogs on our class site under the “Blog” tab.
To ensure that you comment, and as a way for you to keep track of which classmates’ posts you have read, please use
the commenting log. You will turn this in at the end of each unit. I suggest keeping a digital copy and printing it at the
end of each unit to turn in.
Although there is no length requirement, comments should continue the conversation. You can do this by:
 Displaying more than just your overall emotion after reading a blog post – if you would like to give praise or
criticism, do so in specifics rather than generalizations. Always present your feedback with respect.
 Disagreeing with the author and explaining your perspective
 Agreeing with the author and explaining your perspective
 Questioning the author
 Posing a question to a comment a previous user wrote
Ms. Glaum
Creating your VCU Rampages Blog
Step 1: Create your Blog
Most of you already created your Rampages site in my UNIV 111 course as part of your portfolio. If you were not in my
class last fall, go to the following address to create your blog
 http://rampages.us/
 Login with your VCU eid and password & your blog is created
Step 2: Personalize your blog.
 You can also customize the “theme” of your blog.
(Reminder: this blog is a public blog; you do not have to provide your full name. I will have links to your blog on our
website with your name so that the class can identify you, so feel free to be public or private when selecting a title)
Step 3: Enable Comments – important!
 Go to the dashboard of your blog
 Go to the Settings tab and then go to the “Discussion Settings” page
 YOU MUST DO THE FOLLOWING:
o Make sure that the box is checked next to “allow people to post on new articles”
o Make sure the box is unchecked next to “automatically close comments after ___ days”
o Make sure the box is unchecked next to “comment must be manually approved”
o Make sure the box is unchecked next to “comment author must have a previously approved comment”
o After you check and uncheck, please click SAVE changes
 You can restrict comments to only those in the VCU community by selecting the “Users must be registered and
logged in to comment.” This works because you have to have a VCU eID to get a VCU Word Press account. This is
up to you.
Step 4: Write your first Blog Post
 Blog 1: Create a bucket list, essentially things you would like to do in your life. Remember to think of all aspects
of your life: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc. Make the list both practical and exciting.
o Post a list of 25 bucket list items to your blog
o Choose 2 of those items. Explain how you will achieve or make steps to achieve these goals THIS
semester at VCU.
 It usually helps to draft your blogs in a word document, and then paste them into Rampages. When you’re
reading to post your blog, follow these steps:
o On the left-hand column, click “Posts” and then “Add New.”
o Title your post and paste the text from your word document into the large text box.
o Clean up the formatting of your text to make sure it is readable.
o Click publish. Make sure your post shows up on the homepage of your site. Also, make sure that a
comments sections appears below your post so that your classmates can post their comments.
Deadline:
You must create your blog and post your first entry by class time Thursday, January 15th
You must post comments to two of your classmates’ blogs by Saturday, January 17th.
Typical Week Schedule: Post by Tuesday, Comment by Thursday
Grading: Blog posts and comments combine to make up 20% of your grade in this course. Posting late blogs and failing
to comment on your classmates’ blogs will impact your grade.
Ms. Glaum
Name:
Commenting Log
Date: (Date listed is the due date of
the comments for the week)
Week 1: Saturday, January 17
This is the only week that comments are due on a different day of
the week. I extended the due date so that there is time for me to
post the links to all blogs on our class website.
Week 2: Thursday, January 22
Week 3: Thursday, January 29
Week 4: Thursday, February 5
Week 5: Thursday, February 12
Week 6: Thursday, February 19
Week 7: Thursday, February 26
Week 8: Thursday, March 5
Commented On: (list name and title of post)
Ms. Glaum
Week 9: SPRING BREAK!
Week 10: Thursday, March 19
Week 11: Thursday, March 26
Week 12: Thursday, April 2
Week 13: Thursday, April 9
Week 14: Thursday, April 16
Week 15: Thursday, April 23
Week 16: Thursday April 30