Blogs

"Blogs"

Ideas for using blogs in the classroom:

Writing assignments in all subject areas Create portfolios of samples of student writing Allow students to express opinions on topics being studied in class Students write comments about current events or issues of interest Discuss class activities Use subject and vocabulary words in blog posts and comments Showcase student projects such as art, poetry, and creative stories Students write reactions to thought-provoking questions, photos, or videos Create an online book club Create a collection of story starters or summary point writings Communicate with another class somewhere else in the world Create a class newsletter Appoint a weekly class scribe to write a “week in review” post Use the blog as a reading response journal Post a statement and ask students to provide supporting facts with reliable websites Have students write persuasive explanations on various topics Have other ideas? Start a conversation in the Discussion tab above!

MASD Blog server

Blog How to's

Need to know:
 * Settings
 * Themes
 * Widgets
 * Plugins
 * Posts
 * Pages
 * Categories
 * Tags

Some great examples of blogs in education.

Some things to consider as you begin blogging in your classroom:
 * Develop your purpose for blogging. And this may not be perfectly clear as you get started, but will become so with each post and addition to your blog.
 * Once you've committed, try to stick to updating consistently. Your students, parents, and colleagues will keep coming back for more.
 * Blogging is a great way to continue classroom conversations. The goal is to get readers who comment and participate.
 * Make sure you read and comment on your colleague's blogs and provide support.
 * Our blog site will continue to grow as we all learn more. If you have great ideas and need help implementing them, I'm here for you.
 * If you decide that you want to add your students as "authors" to your blog so that they can add posts, I can set that up for you. Otherwise, students will always be able to "comment" on your posts.
 * You should have your students' parents sign a permission slip in which you detail what blogging is and how you will be using it in your classroom. Download the example below and personalize it for your needs.
 * Never have your students use their full names in comments. Have them use either first name and last initial, last name and first initial, or an alias known only to you and the student.