Blogs are a great way to share information with others. You can post assignments to a class blog for easy access by students, create projects for classroom use, keep parents informed about news and activities in school. Students can use blogs as a place to share their progress on projects, to share their writing and other creations, to comment on the work of other students. Your own blog can also give you a place to share ideas with about your work and start creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN) of colleagues who are interested in the same things you are.
Uses in Schools:
What are blogs good for?
Writing, critiquing, analyzing, research chronicle, journaling, sharing projects.
Replace the traditional 'log' notebook. Teacher can review log without student handing it in and being without it while it's being graded.
Students are more engaged in the writing process. they have a global audience, parents can be more involved, students can learn from each other, connections with students around the world.
Ways to use blogs:
Instructor sets up a blog and post topics for discussion. Students & instructors interact in the comments section
Students are co-editors of your blog and can post topics for discussion. Students & instructors interact through the comments section.
Each participant has their own blog that they can use for writing, reflection on a project, chronicle of a research project Instructor and other students can monitor blogs and participate through the comments.
Main Activity
In this activity you'll set up a blog to post your thoughts, ideas and notes during the workshop. If you already have a blog, why not try out a different service to see how they compare. These are all free and could easily be used with students.
1: Pick one of theses services and create a blog
WordPress.com - Tons of options for customizing. Lots of widgets to add to the sidebars. But there are limits on the types of things you can embed in your posts. Check the help pages and these WordPressTV videos.
EduBlogs - Works the same way as WordPress.com. Had ads on the free pages. Pro account (~$40/year) lets you turn off the ads on 30 free accounts, perfect for a classroom. More options for embedding video than you have with WordPress.com.
Blogger - Google's free blogging platform. Includes options to add tons of extra widgets on the sidebars. And more options for embedding video than you have with WordPress.com.
Follow the directions on the screen and you'll be ready to write your first post!
Explore
Posterous - I love this service for posting notes and ideas quickly. You can add a button to your browser tool bar and add content directly from other web pages. I use my posterous account to save recipes and home renovations ideas. You can even post by email. Iin fact, that's how you get started with Posterous.
Fire up your email account send something like "hello world!" to post@posterous.com
Within a minute or two, you'll get two messages back saying your account has been set up.
Follow the link for Set up a password for this site.
And click on the confirmation link in the other email.
Follow the directions on the screen and your site is all set up.
Click on the Manage link at the top of the screen to see all the options.
You can post via the web, email, text message and more
See the bookmarklet page to add a posting shortcut to your toolbar.
Explore!
2: Write your first blog post!
Jot down some notes about what you want to learn this weekend, ideas you have for using these tools in your classes.
3: Register your new blog so we can all share ideas.
Take a look at your colleagues blogs and share your thoughts via comments.
Additional Activities:
Add more content to your blog.
Explore options for adding material to the sidebars on WordPress, Edublogs & Blogger.
Find the RSS feed for your blog and add it to your Google Reader, iGoogle or NetVibes account.
More Resources:
Blogging is Elementary - Just getting started with student blogging? Great post on blogging with elementary students.
Telling the New Story - Video interview with Kathy Cassidy, 3rd grade teacher. "they feel differently about themselves as writers" "they have a global audience" "you have to take little steps" "start with what you think will work for you"
Student Learning projects
Club Click - VanMeter School (Iowa) Photography Club. Some of the kids have their own blogs & flickr accounts.
Room 9 Nelson Central's Blog - Fun example of classroom blog. The students are aged 6 & 7. And see the next blog ....
Room 9's Writing Spot - "This blog is written independently by Room 9 students. Our work is not corrected by our teacher. The Writing Spot is a special spot where we can express ourselves freely."
Guerrilla Season Blog - Join 8th grade American History students at South Valley Jr High in Liberty, Missouri as they read Guerrilla Season by Pat Hughes. Check out the video from TeacherTube about the project.
Applied Math 40S Winter 2009 - Class notes & discussions. Students are responsible for summarizing what was covered in class.
The NMH Library Reading Room High School Library Blog - Northfield Mount Hermon School, Northfield (MA) Highlights student workers, student book picks and more. Very student oriented.