You will write a blog post at least weekly (due every Friday) about your learning in the class. At a minimum, relate each blog post to what you are learning about yourself through your Leadership Development Plan and your progress on the competencies described here. A blog post is a time to reflect back on the week and think about your experience and what you learned. A robust eportfolio will include more than one blog post a week. Sometimes I will prompt you on what to write. The rest will be up to you. Basically, anytime you notice something about yourself or your learning, write a blog post. When you get feedback from me or others, that would be a good time to write. Your weekly blog posts are how I will monitor your efforts and progress on your Leadership Development Plan.
For each blog post, you should use appropriate “tags”. Tags are ways to organize and categorize information – they help the reader (for now, me and your classmates) find and comprehend your posts. For this class, use tags designated for each of the competencies, the following standard tags for specific items, and any other tags you think are relevant:
ei = any post about emotional intelligence
5ps = any post related to the 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership
ldp = any post related to your leadership development plan
writing = any post related to your writing skills
presenting = any post related to your presentation skills
ba352TERM = use for every post for this class (for each post, use a classID tag in the form “ClassTerm” – for example, ba352sum12)
Evaluation of Blog Posts
When writing your weekly posts, consider the following (this is what I will be looking at when I evaluate your posts):
Timely Post – I published a blog post for the week by the deadline (Friday).
Readability – My blog post is well organized, easy to read and easy to understand.
Relates to Instruction/Course Concepts – I reflected on how my experience in my group and my work on my Leadership Development Plan relates to what I have learned through readings and in-class exercises.
Reflection – my reflection on my experience demonstrates insight into my own behaviors and how I am improving or not.
Concrete -I demonstrated my understanding of the course concepts by providing specific examples of my experiences.
Heading -I included a meaningful heading that will help others know the topic of my post. (NOT just “Week 1 Blog Post” etc.)
Tags – I tagged my post with meaningful key words AND I tagged my post with the course tag BA352TERM.
Tips on Effective Blogging -Blogging to Learn
“Blogging to learn” can deepen your learning if it includes deep reflection. Deep reflection goes beyond just descriptive writing (describing what happened) and delves into reflective writing (what it means). Consider this from Penn State’s site on reflection in eportfolios:
Description vs. Reflection
Description provides context. Reflections share meaning. Both description and reflection are necessary pieces of narrative that should be found in your e-portfolio.
A simple model of reflection asks 3 questions:
1. What? – This is the descriptive piece. What happened? Describe, using relevant and contextual details, what happened.
Questions include:
What happened? What did you observe? What issue is being addressed or population is being served? What events or “critical incidents” occurred? What was of particular notice?
2. So What? – this step involves interpretation. Analyze and interpret the event or experience.
Questions include:
What did you learn? What difference did it make? Why was it important?
3. Now what? – this is the generalizing step. Given what happened and how you interpret what happened, what might happen in the future?
Questions include:
“If you were to do this again, what would you do differently? How could the results be repeated or prevented in the future? How can you apply this learning? What would you like to learn more about, related to this project or issue? What follow-up is needed to address any challenges or difficulties? What information can you share with your peers or the community?
Writing Effective Blog Posts
You also want to make your posts sticky and interesting. Here is some advice from Problogger (read the full post for details), a site on blogging:
1. Write a compelling headline
2. Open with a concrete visual or detail
3. Use an effective lead or hook
4. Format for clarity and high-skim value
5. Cover the topic in a logical sequence
6. Use elements of persuasion
7. Make it interesting
8. Make it believable
9. Leave your audience with something memorable
