Please read these steps carefully and complete step1 before class tomorrow.  You will be creating your own blog page to use as an ongoing e-journal throughout the duration of this course.  You will be expected to use the next couple of days to develop your blog using creative yet appropriate images, design, fonts, colors, etc. to make it your own.  You need to follow the steps as well as the restrictions that are listed below.

NOTE:  Do not use last names on the blog and do not use specific identifiers such as your address or the name of our school.  Instead, you can consider using your first and middle names or other nicknames and for the school, simply say a suburban high school or something like that.

STEP 1: Please go to https://www.blogger.com/start and follow the steps to create your blog.  Begin by clicking on “Create a blog.”  If it asks to text you a verification code, you can do that without fear of google spamming you.  Don’t feel pressured for a good title – this is changeable, but the url address is permanent.  As you fill out the info,  PLEASE BE SURE THAT YOU WRITE DOWN THE FOLLOWING INFO:

 USERNAME:  _____________________________

PASSWORD: ______________________________

BLOG ADDRESS/URL:  http://www.                                                     .blogspot.com/

AND YOUR PASSWORD TO GIVE TO Mr. Reints

 

STEP 2:  Click on settings and then click on comments and scroll down to the bottom where it says Comment Notification Email.  Enter in the email address you check most frequently.

STEP 3: Once you have created a blog and are logged into your blogpage (which should be at the blog address in Step 1)

• Click Design(At the top) or "layout"(on the side)  
• Then--> (on the side bar) click "add gadget" --> scroll down and click add link list
• In the “new site url” box, write: http://sociologyrei.blogspot.com
• In the “new site name” box, write: Reints’s Page

Click “add a link” to add any other links that will make your blogsite more useable (add any websites you might check frequently like your yahoo/aol/hotmail, or your facebook or whatever).

STEP 4:  Feel free to add pictures/change fonts/layouts/templates to make this blog personal and conducive to you!  There’s lots of gadgets – feel free to explore them. 

STEP 5: Use for the Course:

• You are to make at least 1 post (on your own page) and 2 comments (on a classmate’s page each week) but feel free to post more.

For this class, each post should (This is how you will be graded):

• Should demonstrate that you understand the sociology terms, ideas and content in class.
• Should apply the sociology to your own life and help others understand the sociology.  Use examples from your own life, or examples you find in your posts.  Be unique.  Avoid cliché’s.  Make your blog authentic.  Bring in new ideas from your experiences, what you read, your daily life, etc.
• Write properly, use proper prose and grammar, and post on time – by classtime the last day of each week.
• Comment on a different classmate’s page each week.

STEP 6: First post:  Blog 1

• Who am I?  Write a blog entry that defines who you are.  Explain to the class what makes up the person you are.  What are the biggest influences in your life?  What are your goals/purposes in life?  

Precautions:

• Please remember that this blog should be treated as seriously as you would treat a test or an essay or a project for class.

• You should also refrain from using your full last name anywhere on the blog.

• You will be responsible for monitoring what people have posted on your blog. 

This is not your facebook account, you need to be aware that this site is public, therefore DO NOT use your Full Name on the page, DO NOT use information that a “creeper” could use to identify you.   DO keep your posts, pictures, and songs appropriate.

No the founders of sociology were not freaks and geeks, but the series Freaks and Geeks has some great sociological insights in it. In the pilot episode, we see that the characters are part of a dynamic that is larger than who they are as individuals. To understand this is dynamic is to have a sociological imagination. Three specific ways of having a sociological imagination are the three perspectives of sociology.  These three perspectives were the beginning of sociology.  All three of them were a reaction to the extraordinary changes of the industrial revolution taking place n Europe in the 1800s.  The founder of each of these theories is considered one of the founding fathers of sociology.

Blog 2:  Using what you know about the founding fathers write Blog 2 giving thoughts and ideas from the pilot episode.  Include examples from the show relating each theory to 1 or 2 examples from the show.  Include the following questions below in your blog.

What are the groups and what functions do they serve? Are there negative influences from any of the groups (dysfunctions)? This is functional theory. It was developed by Emile Durkheim.

Who has power in the episode? How or why do they have power? How do they use it? This is conflict theory. It was first developed by Karl Marx.

What are the important symbols in the episode? Note that the symbols might be an object, but also might be an idea, an event or something else. How do the characters act based on the symbols they find important? This is symbolic interactionism. You can connect it to Max Weber.

To rewatch this episode go to youtube.com.  Type in Freaks and Geeks pilot episode.

Can you relate any of these theories to your own life? How can the things you do be interpreted through one of these theories? For example why do you wear what you wear or why are you going to college or why do you stress yourself out to get "good" grades?