Blogging: What’s It All About?

Blogging= Year-long activity
start in September in Tech technology by showing students how to use their blogging tool
students can even continue to blog over the summer

What to use blogs for:

• Reflection e.g., have students read article and then reflect on it
• Journaling
• Analyzing
• Collaborating
• Commenting/Feedback
• Publishing e.g., Wordles, AudioBoo, Animoto
• Book review
• Differentiation using videos, images, pictures
• Sharing of thoughts through engaging and exciting way

Start with big overview

Can start by showing video “Blogs in Plain English”

Have conversation about blogs – online etiquette and issues

• Discuss privacy/safety issues = digital citizenship conversations
• no personal info e.g., first and last name
• no pictures of self – use of avatars

What does blogging teach students

Online safety/digital citizenship = teacher must review every post/every comment and content teacher needs to get involved in reviewing comments/post

Discussion with students:

• Review what a blog is – show the students some examples  (your own blog)
• Writing skills – have to emphasize that the blog needs to be written well/good                           grammar, title of article summarizes what the article is about, correct spelling,                       short, pithy sentences, three paragraph structure
• proofreading
• plagiarism

Have students sign a blog agreement (Scholastic.com – Blogging Rules – can print out and use as poster on wall to remind students) before they start blogging akin to an acceptable use agreement

• Get in a conversation with students about each of the clauses contained in the agreement –  the clauses cover big ideas of digital rights and responsibilities.

Blogging Platforms

Edublogs

Kidblog (one of the most popular)

• very private
• has a lot of tools (formatting, to insert widgets) for students to use

Google Apps for Education

WordPress

Assessment of Blog

Rubrics (Scholastic Rubric) – share with students – let them see what you are going to be grading them on

Troubleshooting Blogging

Hotlinking: drag and drop a picture from another server to blog

• Impolite to hotline from server
• Make sure that you can use the picture before you save it
• Always save picture to computer

Can only quote 10% of a person’s blog on your own

• even giving a person credit when quoting more than 10% is illegal

Takes a long time to make a blog post = students need to know that

Blogging is very much about being yourself/writing in your own voice

Blogging is easier than it sounds and it is harder than it sounds