Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Writing Thank-You Blog Posts

Hepatica is finally blooming on the Munger Trail--I took
this photo last weekend. 
Often, in the spring, I have students write thank-you notes to folks in the building who have been helpful or important in their lives. This year, we'll write Thank-You blog posts! Follow the directions below: 

Step 1: Make a list of names of all the adults currently employed by Marshall who have ever helped you with anything, taught you anything important, or made your time here at Marshall good/valuable/special, etc. Don’t limit your list to teachers! 

Step 2: Mark in some way the top 3 people on this list (use whatever kind of ranking system you like). Limiting yourself to 3 is just a way for us to use our time wisely. I highly recommend that you complete the exercise on your own with all the names on your list… 

Step 3: For each of these 3 people, brainstorm another list, based on the following prompts: 

  • I will always remember the time when… 
  • You taught me the value of…or how to… 
  • You are the best… 
  • I hope that you… 
  • Please know that I… 


Step 4: We are going to practice the (Almost Lost) Art of writing a Thank You Note. Open a new blog post, and begin to write a letter to each of these 3 people. Use the material you generated in Step 3 to thank them for all they’ve done for you. Tell them what they mean to you. Shoot for two or three paragraphs, for each person. 

Step 5: Have someone give you some feedback on (and proofread) your letters. Make sure you’ve spelled each person’s name right. Make any revisions you deem necessary. PROOFREAD & PREVIEW your post! 

Step 6: Now, publish your post, making sure you give it a title & some labels. 

Step 7: View your blog; click on the title of the post, copy the address from the browser bar, and paste that link into an email to that person! (I can help with finding the addresses…) In your email message, which should have a salutation & a closing, tell them you’ve written a blog post that you’d like them to read. Tell them to click on the link.

Step 8:  Write another, and another

Step 9:  Come up to my desk and show me your Thank You posts.



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