There is a bunch of stuff here, make sure you read it all carefully.
Class: We have fallen about a week behind our schedule, which is fine, but we will have to make some adjustments. Nothing major, just some minor shifts.
Grades: I am nearly done compiling your grades so far. If you have done all of your assignments, regularly attend class, and regularly added blog posts last week, you most likely have a very solid A so far. If one of these categories was laking in some way, your grade will likely be lower. I will send you an e-mail this week with your grade information and class assessment.
Site 1: As stated on the grades page, Site 1 (Wordpress/Blog) is worth 10% of your grade. This is determined by the quality and consistency of your posts, the overall design of your blog, and the individual homework assignments. Along with your grade, you must think that if this was for a job, would you still have your job come Monday morning? For the remainder of the class, you must post at least one blog post per week. I will check every Sunday afternoon for a new post.
Midterm Exam: The midterm exam was originally scheduled for this week, but will be pushed back to next week. The exam will be held on Wednesday, March 4th. A optional review session will be held during our class period on Monday, March 2nd.
Site 2: Site 2 will be an online portfolio. The goal of this site is to begin to understand how to utilize the Internet to “sell yourself” on the job market. As communications students, it is imperative that you have a good working knowledge of the Internet and are able to present yourself positively via the Web. With this site, we will learn basic skills of Dreamweaver and continue our work with FTP and Photoshop. This site will count towards 15% of your final grade.
So, What’s Next?: On Wednesday and Friday, we will be going over basic HTML and aspects of web design, layout, and navigation. We will also be “introducing” Dreamweaver to the class and discussing what makes a good personal website. Some things to start thinking about in preparation for building this site:
- Resume: Do you have a resume? If you do not, you need one or you need to start putting one together. If you’ve never compiled a resume before, check out About.com’s “Writing Your First Resume” or the Writing Center’s “Resume” handout. You may also schedule an appointment at the BGSU Writing Center to help build your resume.
- Writing Sample: You will include at least one example of your writing. This should be of a professional quality. A favorite paper from a class is a good start.
- Sample of Creative Work: Are you an artist, musician, creative writer, graphic designer, dancer, filmmaker? Do you want to include an example of your work? How can you best present your work?
- Contact Information: How can someone contact you? Do you want to include information about your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. accounts?
- Skills and Abilities: What else would “sell” you? What can you do that might be of interest to a potential employer?
- Links Pages: Links pages seem innocuous, but may actually tell your site’s visitors a lot about you. It may also lead one to your page by way of a Google search.
- What Else?: There is no finite definition of what should be on these sites. What else would you want to include?
