Amy-Deanna+Blogging+Assignment+1

Assignment #1
Expected time to __complete__ written assignments: 20 - 30 minutes Please note that there are two parts to this assignment.

After you have attended the __webinar__ and read the blog pages about //Blogging: Sharing My Personal Faith Story//, your individual homework assignment this week is to identify one or two blogs that are interesting to you and to share why these ministers blog.

Part 1 : What is their passion?

Using the Catholic Blog Directory ([]), scan through the various titles. Pick three titles that interest you. Read about the author and pick one or two blog posts to read. What are you noticing about the blogs you have scanned? In a paragraph or two, identify what you notice about the author and the mission of the blog. What is their passion?
 * Please remember to include the Name of the blog (and URL) with your comments. If possible, try to pick blogs that others are not commenting on. The main focus of this assignment is to identify WHY these authors are writing their blogs. What is their passion?
 * Name:
 * Blog title + URL
 * Why is this author writing their blog? What is their passion?

Example:
 * Name: Caroline Cerveny
 * Catholic Web Solutions - []
 * Sr. Susan Wolf is a blogger who wants to help religious communities think strategically about integrating the Internet and Social Media into their mission; to develop a plan and then implement it. Using these new media we can enhance our member services, ourmembership recruitment and our outreach.

Another Example from Dave Gruber:

1) Catechist's Journey - [] Joe Paprocki, D.Min.  Joe has been a parish catechist for years and also serves as a catechetical consultant & author with Loyola Press.  He is committed to offering a forum on this blog sharing his journey and experience as a catechist with catechists from all over and invites us to share our experiences & ideas in catechetical ministry. 2) Erin's Blog - [] A clearinghouse of catechetical information for the Diocese of St. Augustine Erin McGeever - Director of Christian Formation, Youth and Young Adult Ministry Diocese of St. Augustine I first met Erin in person a couple of years ago in Atlanta at NCCL after being in contact with one another for some months about a possible position in that Diocese. She has an extremely limited budget and only 1 or 1-1/2 diocesan staff members, therefore she utilizes the blog just as described in the tagline above.

Post your comments, then continue on to Part 2, below

Colleen Murray Conversion Diary, Jennifer Fulwiler - http://www.conversiondiary.com/jen Wow - there are so many good Catholic blogs out there. Many seem to be about individuals just sharing their faith journey. A couple of them I just briefly skimmed had some quotes that really spoke to me in the moment I needed it. Jennifer's Fulwiler's Conversion Diary blog has posts about her journey from atheism to Catholicism and posts about her ongoing faith journey and incorporating it into her daily life. I love her writing style and her sense of humor. I'm sure she has been and will continue to be a source of information and help to others whom God is leading to him. (I just went to assignment 2 and see this one is listed there already!)

Maureen Rotramel Catholic Tech Talk, Joe Luedtke [] This is actually a group blog edited by Joe Luedtke that I have been reading for a couple of years. It has been very helpful in finding solutions to things as well as new ideas and for articulating to others why we need to have a presence on the web/social media as a Catholic parish. The articles are relatively short and not full of techno speak so even a non techny like me can understand (and pass it on!) eCatechist, Dan Pierson [] The author seems to recognize the need for catechists and DREs to have easy access to resources and his "blogozine" is attempting to fill that need. I was drawn to the title (I am always looking for things to pass on to my catechists, especially at this time of year) and I was impressed with the posts I read. They were concise but well written with good information. There are also seemed to be a variety of posts from what I saw: practical how to's, book suggestions and training resources. I plan on adding this to my reading list!


 * Jonathan Sansgaard
 * Andrew Root - http://andrewroot.org/blog/
 * Andy is a professor I have heard speak on a number of occasions. His passion is to approach youth ministry from a practical theology standpoint. He is rooted in his faith, but also keenly aware of how that faith applies in a changing world. I like his perspective because it is deeply theological, but also timely and relevant. No ivory tower here.

Carolina Helsel Can You Drink the Cup? Father Rob http://canyoudrinkthecup.blogspot.com Father Rob lives in Perrysville, Pennsylvania. He is a priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. His blog shares his "wanderings and wonderings along the road as a priest." He posts his homilies and reflects on the readings. His blog allows people of his parish and people everywhere read about his perspective on the Word of God. It's nice to see priests share their thoughts. They're human and have differing thoughts of what we have to gain from the readings. His outlook is practical and tries to reach Catholics of all ages, meeting them where they are. Sarah Love, Sarah, http://www.sarahlcc.com/search?updated-max=2014-09-29T12:38:00-04:00&max-results=3&start=3&by-date=false [|Sarah]  is a crocheting, tea-drinking bookworm who aspires to be a 3rd Order Carmelite. She write about her daily experience and how they relate to her Catholic faith. Sarah is a mom of two boys, a student, a cat owner, and someone discerning the Carmelite way of life. Her blog share her daily encounters in a way that is down-to-earth and identifiable. Her journaling probably helps her gain a better connection with her values, emotions, and goals.

// Parrt 2 : Do you agree or disagree?// //**After listening to Scott Rosenberg's video,**// **10 Myths About Blogs//, do you agree or disagree with what Scott states in the video? Why? Please post your name with your answer//**

//**For example:**// //Scott Rosenberg's video,// 10 Myths About Blogs,// gave a sometimes humorous but pointed critique of the typical arguments against the legitimacy of blogging. I have to admit that some of these Myths have been some of my own! Viewing this video gave me an opportunity to look at some of these arguments and to think about blogs and bloggers differently. As Rosenberg seemed to imply, blogs and bloggers each need to be evaluated on their own merits, just as individual authors or newspaper writers. It was interesting as well to hear him speak of 'lifecycles' of blogs. Whereas blogs seemed before to sometimes to be merely 'flash-in-the-pan' and 'transitory' in nature, perhaps they are more correctly tools which can serve issues of 'immediacy' and of a 'here-and-now' nature which are time-limited. The specific blogs must then be judged against the whole of others on the same topic to discern the authority and legitimacy and veracity of the opinions and thoughts which are discussed. Pat Ruthemeyer

Colleen Murray - I really had not thought of blogs as journalism before, but I agree with his simple answer that some blogs are journalism and some are not. I tend to be drawn more to the personal reflections blogs and not corporate or "news" (in the sense of press) blogs and I'm not sure I would readily trust a blog for reliable information as a news or authoritative source. It's not that bloggers can't be trusted, but with all internet information caution and confirming information with other sources is always a good idea. "Blogs are trivial" and "blogs stink" are matters of opinion and I'm sure I would find some to be trivial and some to be lame, but as an overall generalization I would agree with Scott Rosenberg that these would be myths. I didn't realize there were so many myths about blogs.

Maureen Rotramel - Overall I agree with Scott Rosenburg's assessment of blogs. While some blogs have some journalistic merit, just like talk radio or TV you have to discern what is opinion and what is based in fact. As I see it, if you are well informed about who the author of a blog is, what his or her perspective is and are careful to maintain a certain skepticism when reading some blogs (and do a little work your self fact checking!), blogs can be a valuable source of information, resources, reflection or just to hear what others think. And as far as diving into authoring a blog, if you have an audience and something meaningful to say (and the silly can have meaning too), then why not utilize a tool that is free and pretty easy!


 * Jonathan Sansgaard** - Generally I agree with Rosenberg's assessment, although I don't find anything in there to be earth shattering. I think he hits, however, on one particular idea that separates the sustained blogger from those who do not find success in this medium. I think the key words with blogging are passion and expertise. I was once in a training on the use of different social media, and the emphasis was on HOW to use different forms. I remember clearly the point of a blog is to communicate something about which you are passionate, and/or something about which you have expertise. Perhaps the best blogs have both, sort of like the best vocations are "where your greatest joy meets the world's need."


 * Carolina Helsel** - I do agree with Scott Rosenberg's opinion on blogs. Just like reading an article or listening to a news report, you take everything in with a grain of salt. People are inevitably going to deliver their message underlined by their own thoughts and beliefs. There are good relevant blogs out there, and then there aren't. I love that it's a free and easy way for someone to express themselves and put their views and ideas out there. It is our choice whether or not we give a blog our time of day. And if nothing else, blogs provide a therapeutic outlet for its author. To each his own.