Student blogging is quickly becoming a well-respected branch of writing as more and more educators embrace it and integrate into their curriculum. When I started blogging with my students in 2010, I had no idea what I was doing, which I think may have been a great approach for me. After all, most of us would prefer just try something rather than read pages and pages of how-to before we do it. Or at least this somewhat impulsive teacher would.

However, there is a system to get student blogging off to a good start. I present to you the beginners guide to student blogging, or what I do in my classroom every year.

1. Figure Out Your 'Why?'

In order to get others excited about blogging, you have to know why they are doing it. Blogging should never just be a way to showcase typed up work, that misses the point of it. So reflect on the why before you decide on the how.

2. Pick Your Platform

I use Kidblog and have loved it every since I started. While some feel this is geared more toward elementary students with their recent changes, I disagree. However, Edublogs is another popular student blogging platform that also comes highly recommended.

3. Get Your Permissions

Check with your principal, your tech coordinator, and finally get parent permission. You have to explain what you are doing and be transparent throughout to receive ultimate support for this endeavor. Often there are concerns regarding student online safety and so it is much easier to be proactive and seek out these conversations rather than scramble for permission afterwards.

4. Blogging Versus Writing

While some students will have an idea of what a blog is, many won’t. Therefore, it s important that you start out distinguishing between blogging and writing. This will lead to heightened awareness of what is appropriate for a blog post and what isn’t and will also lead to the next step.

5. Discuss Safety

Before you even have them log into their blog accounts you have to discuss safety. I use the analogy of “Why the Internet is Like the Mall” to get students to really think about their online behavior and what they post. I also have special permission slips that students have to read and sign to be a part of this. Online safety is a year-round discussion so don’t forget to bring it up again and again.

6 Do a Paper Blog

A paper blog is a great way to introduce blogging and how to add their own personality is an idea I got from Karen McMillan. It helps build excitement and also teaches students how to comment.

7. Discuss Commenting

In order for blogging to be effective, students need to know how to comment well. So we discuss how to create a dialogue in comments, how to thank people, and also how to give constructive feedback. We set up parameters for our posts and our comments in order to uphold a high standard of writing.

8. Start small

When students are finally ready to blog, have them introduce themselves. That way as you start to reach out to others, because ultimately blogging is about connections, students can showcase themselves and thus spark a conversation.

9. Connect With Others

Use quadblogging to get you connected or simply reach out to one or two other classes preferably far away from you to establish a blogging relationship. This is where the kids get excited because they get to establish a connection with other kids in faraway places and maintain that relationship throughout the year.

10 Make It Their Own

I ask students for ideas of what to blog about, I give them free artistic reigns over their posts and I give them time to explore the blog. This is what gives students ownership and has them take pride in their blogging. If it is truly their voice being heard in whatever fashion they want to present it, then they are eager to show it off. Blogging has to be authentic for it to work.

11. Give it Time

Great blogging and great connections don’t happen overnight, so give it time. Let the students develop as bloggers, celebrate their successes, and map their connections. Make it an integral part of your classroom and watch it become one. Blogging is not just about writing, it is about bringing the world and making it a little bit smaller.

In the end, blogging should not be a burden in your already full day, it should be a way to take the writing already done and expand it to a global audience. Students should love blogging, not see it as another thing to get done (which is also why I never grade my students’ blogs) and they should be eager to expand their worlds.

If you are ever in need of someone to connect to or ask questions, please reach out to me @pernilleripp on Twitter. I will gladly help because after all blogging is about expanding your own comfort zone and creating authentic, global collaboration.

Shared Blogging in the Primary Classroom

By Cathy Mere https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1879

Several years ago I discovered blogging as a way to build our first-grade learning community. Blogging changed our community as it opened the conversations between students, gave quieter students a place among their peers, and demonstrated the expertise that could be found within our classroom. It gave us a chance to write about common topics and discuss new learning. I discovered a lot about students as they shared their favorite books, personal stories, and interests. This information proved invaluable in supporting students during writer’s workshop, finding new books for readers, and just learning about my students' lives beyond our classroom. Blogging provides a window into what students care deeply about and what connects them to one another.

Using individual student blogs as a platform for sharing our thinking with others works seamlessly across our day. Once students gain an understanding of blogging, it isn’t long until they are choosing to blog about books during reader’s workshop, publishing their writing in their virtual spaces, or sharing new thinking with their friends during content studies. Blogging allows students to share information with others in the learning community and converse through commenting. Blogging weaves the threads of our community together, but getting to a place where blogging is a natural process for students isn’t easy.

Why Shared Blogging?

When I first introduced blogging and other digital tools, I dove right in with students. It was messy work, but we usually got through it. However, I realized that some students needed more support and struggled with the purpose of these tools. Some students didn’t understand the significance of the title space in a blog. Some seemed confused by the goal of the blog and hadn’t developed an understanding of audience. Some children just had difficulty logging in during the time allotted. I was often left racing from one side of the room to the other, putting out virtual fires. It became obvious that there was a need to slow down, take deliberate steps, and thoughtfully support students.

Using the same supports I use in other parts of literacy learning to guide and support students seemed to be the answer. Instead of diving into this new type of writing, I began to create opportunities for shared reading and shared writing using digital tools. This worked well with blogging. We not only read blogs together as a group, but also took time to write posts together to share on our class site. Our community uses a class blog to share our learning with parents and other classrooms. Our class site is hosted on Weebly because it is perfect for shared blogging opportunities, and works well as a hub for students and parents. Weebly also opens our learning to a more global community. Weebly Pro allows me to have pages that are public and private. Our class page and our blog are open to the public for collaboration, whereas other pages remain private for families.

First Steps: Shared Blog Reading

Before students begin to blog individually, we explore how blogging works and its purpose. Shared reading of blogs can support students in these early days of gaining understanding. We take time to visit blogs written by kids and blogs that help us to understand topics of study, as well as blogs written by other classrooms. Here are a few examples I might share with students:

A Boy and His Blog: Stamps

Many bloggers write about hobbies and interests. This blog is an example of this type of writing. The author enjoys stamp collecting and shares how he got started.

Fun with AGFAN: How to Make a Doll Paper Towel Roll

There are always doll fans in the classroom, and this blog explains how to make a doll paper towel roll. I found a little humor in that myself, but it works as a simple mentor text for “how-to” writing. Many bloggers write to share how to do something for readers. This post also uses pictures to help readers understand what to do, which can help young bloggers think about thoughtfully adding images to posts.

News Bites (A National Geographic Kids News Blog): President Obama Eats Broccoli, But Prefers Pie

Blogs also give us information. National Geographic has a few different blogging sites for kids. This blog is an example not only of how bloggers share stories, but of ways we can get information.

Zoo Borns: Columbus Zoo Baby Gorilla Gets Name

I fell in love with this site after one of the gorillas at our local zoo in Columbus, Ohio, had a baby. I was able to go to the site to find more information about his birth. This post tells how they named Kamoli and shares interesting information about his care. You can search by favorite animals on this site or by local zoos. This site is an example of a blog with a particular purpose, but also one students will enjoy reading.

First-Grade Learners

Katie DiCesare’s first-grade class blogs in this space. They have a variety of types of shared posts. There are examples of informational posts, video posts, student work, shared learning, and much more.

Behind the Scenes in First Grade

Here you can find shared posts from Deb Frazier’s class. Mrs. Frazier’s class is just across the hall from us, but still we learn a lot about their learning here on their blog. Since we are often in similar places in our learning, it is interesting to read a different perspective on topics we are studying.

Occasionally I update a Jog of mentor blogs I have created from blogs that have been recommended to me as well as those that I have discovered. Not all of them are kept current, but all have mentor posts that are useful in helping young writers to see the variety of possibilities available to bloggers. Now that my classes have been blogging for four years, I often return to posts written by past students too. Kids love when I pull up a post of a brother, sister, friend, or neighbor.

We learn in these early days that blogs can give us information, provide new points of view, connect us to other learning communities, and help us to collaborate with a variety of different people. Shared reading of blogs allows students to notice the variety of topics posted, general nuances of a blog, what makes a post interesting, and ways to develop a strong message.

Next Steps: Shared Blog Writing

After our community has had opportunities to have beginning conversations about the blogs we have read, we are ready to start shared writing on our class blog. We try to pay attention to important things happening in our learning community that we would want to share with others. We then set aside time to blog collaboratively about these events. Our goal has been to post at least one time each week to keep our families informed and maintain an audience. Together we choose topics, decide upon information to include in posts, choose images to help tell our story, and collaboratively revise our posts. Shared blogging provides opportunities for students to do several things:

envision a variety of possibilities for posting
understand the purpose of a blog
be thoughtful about audience
develop strategies for composing and revising
discuss word selection
learn to insert photographs, audio clips, video clips, and documents
use blogging features such as effective titling, linking, adding images, tagging
learn about digital safety
understand copyright responsibilities

Toward Independence

Once students have a foundational understanding of the purpose of blogging, it is time to give them their own space for writing. Though there are many possible sites for hosting individual blogs, I have found Kidblog to be manageable for young learners. Students are always excited to have their own space to blog, and it isn’t long until they are discovering new tricks to share with their friends. Though students have their own space, shared conversations continue to weave across the school year to help writers with their next steps in blogging. Opportunities for shared reading and writing of blogs can help students develop independence in new strategies to strengthen their message. Careful observation, time spent reading posts, and reflecting on conversations can help determine what the next steps for students may be. These experiences support students as they begin to use blogging to explore their thinking and learn from others.

Cathy Mere

Cathy Mere is currently a literacy specialist in Hilliard (Ohio) City Schools. She is the author of More Than Guided Reading. A trained literacy coach and former Reading Recovery teacher, Cathy leads professional development workshops and presents at state and national conferences. She blogs at Refine and Reflect.

Getting Started with Blogging in Fifth Grade

Katherine Sokolowski https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1906

We’ve all heard that kids today have no fear when it comes to technology. I have found that to be true for some children. However, many of my students seem to fear failure—open-ended tasks freak them out, especially my top students. A task like post a blog about your reading is met with questions, concerns, and more.

We began the foray into blogging this year in two separate venues—Kidblog for individual blogs and Weebly for our classroom blog. You might wonder why I would go from having no class blogs last year to managing two sites in one year. I’m not going to lie—it was a big jump. The decision to create two blogs was made after examining my goals for blogging:

Give my students an online place to publish their work.
Open up their world to an online community.
Teach students about digital literacy.
Strengthen our classroom community.
Have authentic reading and writing assignments.

Kidblog

When creating classroom blogs, I knew I wanted a space for each child to host his or her own writing. There are several options out there, but I settled on Kidblog for this purpose. I have three separate reading classes, and each class has its own site on Kidblog. Because my students are only 11 years old, I have our Kidblog accounts set as private. Students in each class can comment on other students’ blogs from all three classes, but the blogs are not open to the public. I also have the comments set to be moderated by me.

So far this year we’ve used Kidblog as a place to post about what we are reading. Students post book reviews and short summaries on the site. Other kids get book recommendations from classmates. I like the format because I feel that it is an authentic reading response, similar to one on my own blog. I like the private feel to our blogs on Kidblog because I think my students are using the comments as an opportunity to post to each other and strengthen the bonds of our classroom relationships.

Weebly

Our classroom blog on Weebly is not private (although that is an option). Although I did want our blogs to strengthen our classroom community, I also wanted to give my students the chance to see the power of the Internet. With some trial and error, we have figured out the best way to use Weebly among our three classes.

One student in my homeroom is our “blog scheduler” for the week. Any student among the three classes who would like to post can contact the scheduler. He or she writes their name on our giant wall calendar on an open day. The topic of their blog is completely up to them. They are welcome to write collaboratively with other students or on their own. The only requirements are that they create their post in Google Docs and share the post with me before their assigned day. I then copy and paste their posts into the blog.

I like Weebly as a spot to host our classroom blog because the students have been able to get comments from people across the country. They cheer when complete strangers comment on their posts. They look forward to checking out the comments and new posts from their classmates. I love that this blog has given them a spot to write on any topic of interest to them.

Digital Literacy

We all know that we are raising children in a digital age. One job I have taken on as a teacher is educating them on what we should share online and what we shouldn’t. We have ongoing conversations not only about cyber-bullying, but also about using the Internet for good. This week I shared the following video with my students:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2InkWRc1zww

The effect was powerful. Although my students are too young to have Twitter accounts, I saw an increase in comments on blogs. Students were trying to post as many “sincere compliments” as possible. I hope to see this trend continue as we work to make our online community as well as our school community a more positive place.

Taking Risks

Even with all of our class discussions and lessons on “how to” post and comment, I still had many students nervous about taking the leap into online blogging. It was that worry of failing, of not getting it right rearing its ugly head. When it was almost Halloween, I decided a little bit of bribery was in order.

For one week I suspended our weekly required response (which can be online or in a notebook) and instead offered two incentives to get my students online. If they posted on Kidblog, they would receive extra credit for their post. The second bribe? If they put a constructive comment on someone else’s blog, they would earn one piece of Halloween candy. My thought was this: Maybe a little bribery would entice them to try blogging. Did it work? You bet.

In our first three weeks of blogging, roughly 20-30 percent of the students participated. Those most consistently online amounted to roughly 16-24 of my 80 students. Two months later that number is closer to 75 percent, with 60 of the 80 trying it out. Many of the kids who didn’t choose to post a blog left comments, bringing the percentage of those who were online near 90 percent. I still have a few who are nervous, but it is a much smaller group. My plan is to meet with the kids who haven’t ventured online in small groups on Monday in each class and walk them through the steps as a group with a guided lesson. With added support, I believe we will all be comfortable in our online space.

Jumping into blogging this year has been a worthwhile venture. Although time consuming and, at times, difficult to manage, the overall payoff is huge. My students have become part of something larger than our classroom. They are learning the skills needed to navigate our online world. And they are coming together as a learning community. Classroom blogging has opened up new avenues for my students to publish their work, practice digital literacy, and make connections. Want to try it out? Feel free to stop by our blog and leave a comment or ask a question. We would be glad to connect.

Katherine Sokolowski

Katherine Sokolowski has taught for over 15 years in elementary schools, and currently teaches fifth grade in the same small town in central Illinois where she grew up. She regularly writes about teaching on her blog Read Write Reflect.

5 Easy Steps for Starting a Blog

Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=875

Blog. Blog because it is reflective. Blog because we need you to share what you know with us. Blog because it is good to remember how it feels to be judged by others. Blog because you have a unique view on the world and by sharing it, we all have another piece of this puzzle that is life.

From iLearn Technology

Who knew when we started our blog five years ago what blogging would do for us? When we began our blog A Year of Reading in January 2006, we weren't really sure what we were getting into. We just knew that we wanted a place to have a conversation about the books we loved. We wanted a place to record our thinking and our conversations, but we soon realized that having a blog is about so much more than writing. Blogs are about becoming part of a larger community of people who are interested in things that you are -- building or becoming part of a new network of learners.

We started by learning from others. We had favorite blogs, such as Read Roger and Fuse #8, which became our mentors for writing about children's books. We found Jen Robinson and her Cool Girls of Children's Literature Blog. Her list inspired us to create 100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature. Once we created that, we seemed to find our voice and we began to write for the dependable audience that was emerging, people who were visiting the blog regularly.

Blogging is one of the best tools for collaboration that we know. Not only do we work together to create the blog, but we have connected with so many other people who love children's books. These connections help our thinking about books, teaching, and reading grow.

How to Begin

You've been hearing about blogs for quite awhile now, and you've caught yourself thinking, "Maybe I should start a blog." That's the first step you need to make if you want to blog.

1. You need to want to blog. This breaks down into the smaller steps of sharing your stories and thinking, learning from others.

You love to write, or you at least want to work on your craft and you're not afraid to go public with your work.
You aren't afraid of work, because keeping up a blog and building a voice, a blogging identity, and a readership are hard work.

We know that blogging often becomes addictive. When you get into the habit of writing regularly, you need time . . . and you need a topic that you won't tire of eventually.

After you've decided to start a blog, there are a few steps to take before you jump in and get started.

2. Find your niche.

Your blog doesn't have to be connected to your teaching. Maybe you have something else that you want to blog about -- a passion, an interest, a hobby. A good friend of ours was inspired to start a cooking blog (Cooking With Aldo's Daughter) after a trip to Italy last summer. Another friend is a teacher whose blog is focused on English language learners. The I.N.K. blog focuses solely on great nonfiction for children. There are so many options out there!

If you are going to blog about children's books (or teaching or coaching or cooking or whatever), what will make your blog unique? To help you figure this out, move on to the next step:

3. Read lots of blogs of the type you want to start.

Find yourself some "mentor blogs." Read them with a writer's eye. What is it that you like about them?
Start commenting on blogs so that bloggers from the corner of the blogosphere that you plan to join will get to know you.
Gather contact information from the blogs you like so that when you launch your blog, you can let your potential readers know.
Start a Twitter account and follow your mentor bloggers. Twitter is a great place to get links to new blogs, and it will be a great place for you to publicize your blog and build a readership and find your place in the blogging community you've chosen.

4. When you know what you want to say and how you want to say it, you need to choose a blogging platform. Try Blogger, Tumblr, LiveJournal,WordPress, or one of the many other blogging host services. Do some research - some are free, and others charge nominal fees.

5. Name your blog.

Choose several names that reflect what you're planning to be the theme or focus of your blog. You might not be able to use your first choice - you'll need to do a search on the web of the names you've chosen to make sure there aren't any other blogs by that name.

All of this background work will pay off in the end. It's just like painting a room. Choosing the color, buying the supplies, moving the furniture, masking, laying down drop cloths, and priming all take up way more time than actually painting the room.

If you are not quite convinced, listen to the recent words of Kelly Tenkely in a post entitled "On Blogging" and we're sure you'll be inspired.

Now that you're really ready to start your blog, it's just a matter of following the directions, writing the first post and hitting the publish button.

Welcome to the blogosphere!

Franki Sibberson

Franki Sibberson is the Lead Contributor for Choice Literacy. She has worked for over 30 years as a teacher at different grade levels and school librarian. Franki is the co-author with Karen Szymusiak of many books and videos on teaching reading in the intermediate grades. You can keep up with Franki on the popular blog she writes with Mary Lee Hahn, A Year of Reading.

Mary Lee Hahn

Mary Lee Hahn has been teaching 4th or 5th graders for more than 20 years. She is the author of Reconsidering Read-Aloud (Stenhouse Publishers). Mary Lee and her colleague in the Dublin City Schools, Franki Sibberson, blog about their reading lives at A Year of Reading.

Read. Write. Reflect. - a blog that intrigues me!

http://readwriteandreflect.blogspot.com/2017/05/can-you-teach-resilience.html Post about resilience - may be a good blogging example

BRANDING STUDENT WRITING

January 27, 2016 https://teachitivity.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/branding-student-writing/

My husband and I dine at new restaurants every chance we get. We even have an Instagram account to share all of our experiences! There are, however, a handful of restaurants we always come back to on those exhausting Fridays where we just need to grab a quick bite to eat and decompress. One of those places is this out-of-this-world Thai/Laotian restaurant called, Bangkok Golden. When we crave authentic Pad Thai, Mee Kathi, or Crispy Basil Chicken, we know we can always depend on Bangkok Golden to serve us exactly what we remembered from the last time we were there. Authentic Thai and Laotian food is what they are known for and I am so grateful for that. I love what they offer. I love their brand.

Our loyalty to restaurants is very similar to our loyalty to blogs and authors. There are certain blogs I am loyal to because I like what every blog post is about and I love the quality of the posts. This combination of a blog’s topic and how the posts are written creates a brand. Branding is what a blog needs to gain readers. Readers will continue to come back if a blog’s brand speaks to them. It is something a reader can depend on. For instance, when I need to find a good book to read, I always go to the Nerdy Book Club blog first. I love their brand and it never fails me. When I want to spice up my fashion, I am loyal to Atlantic-Pacific. The girl can dress and her gigantic following of readers says it all. My best friend, Ashley, loves a good cooking blog and her current favorite is Skinny Taste. Whenever she wants to try a new recipe, she doesn’t waste time shopping around. She goes right to Skinny Taste. She trusts them and as a result, I trust them too.

But how often are we using blogs in schools for the purpose of branding? It is hard as teachers to not assign writing challenges or writing topics to our students but if we were to let that go and just coach our students into creating a brand for themselves as writers, what would happen? Would they hate it or would they do what the grown-up bloggers do and fall in love with writing?

It is definitely different than what we have been taught to do as writing teachers. We are taught to inspire students to write by giving them lots of writing themes or ideas. Unfortunately, no matter how brilliant our writing topics are, our topics are ours, not theirs. We must teach students how to find their own writing topics by sifting through their own life and their own stories. It’s scary at first especially if you’re like me and have secret control-freak tendencies. But, having seen the outcome, becoming a topic-inspirer rather than a topic-producer makes teaching writing a magical process.

I challenge you to rethink how you use blogs in your classroom. Let go of the weekly prompts or the writing assignments. Instead, spend a long week helping students develop their brand. Help them list potential topics and then push them to double check that their topic is sustainable by creating a list of 5 blog posts they could already write in relation to that topic. A good brand takes time.

Here are some fabulous branded blogs written by my 5th graders and my wonderful colleague Kelly Purman’s 7th graders:

Marisa’s Cooking Blog

Sophie’s DIY Craft Blog

Maya’s Fashion Blog

Pranav’s Blog on Indian Culture

Adoniyas’s Movie Review Blog

Carina’s Cat Blog

Chiara’s Irish Dance Blog

Bryson’s Warriors BBall Team Blog

Sam’s Pet Care-Taking Blog

Know that just like any other writing, branding a blog requires guidance and mentors. The magic happens if and only when we dedicate our teacher role to the following:

Writers need mentors! Provide real blog posts for students. If they want to write about fashion, find a fashion blog for them to use.

Notice how bloggers begin and end posts
Notice how bloggers tell information
Notice how bloggers use media and hyperlinks to support their writing

Be their marketer! Create an audience for them.

Share with staff, friends, and social media

Coach when necessary. Give them feedback but focus on craft instead of mechanics.

Let them write in class. Developing bloggers need to see others in action.

Don’t have blogging as extra credit.

This last point is crucial. Blogging should not be in addition to what you are teaching in writing. Let blogging be the core of writing instruction. Teach into what they are writing. As writing teachers, we need writing pieces so that we know what to teach students. Use the blogs! I have had students create an “author’s corner” to share what convention they have learned to apply into their writing. I have had students comment on each other’s blogs to apply main idea or author’s purpose.

These branded blogs will start off rocky and need at least three blog posts to take off. Keep at it. The real audience will soon keep writers accountable as their brand becomes a demand and their followers are eagerly waiting for the next post. A blog’s brand becomes more than just a writing assignment, it becomes a writer’s identity.

One of my fifth-grade bloggers came to me one morning and said, “Ms. Hale, I woke up in the middle of the night with a blog post idea. I didn’t know what to do! Is this normal?”

Yes, sweet amazing writer. IT IS.

Blogging in the 21st-Century Classroom

APRIL 8, 2013 https://www.edutopia.org/blog/blogging-in-21st-century-classroom-michelle-lampinen

This year, I admitted a hard truth to myself. I wasn't having my students write enough. In an attempt to follow Kelly Gallagher’s advice that students should write more than we can assess, I decided to have them blog weekly.

One Assignment, Many Objectives

After giving students some practice and solidifying my ideas by talking to a colleague and past student, I developed this assignment. I tried to ensure that the assignment would:

Address multiple Common Core standards
Hold students accountable while minimizing stress
Be structured enough to provide clarity while giving freedom to experiment
Be varied enough to keep students engaged
Get students to write for multiple purposes

I introduced blogging to my juniors, reminding them to keep an open mind about this experiment (they could relate to that; I teach in a STEM school that focuses on life science and experimental research). We spent one period creating profiles and writing ungraded posts to get to know the interface. (Side note: students are allowed to make blogs private as long as they provide access to me. As far as I know, no one has chosen this option.) After that, I let them loose.

It. Is. Awesome.

Skill and Enthusiasm

First and foremost, student writing is improving by leaps and bounds. When I read their blogs (which, by the way, are mature, insightful, funny and engaging), I don't find myself pulling my hair out over the careless mistakes they make in formal papers. Not every post is perfect, but the majority are well written and free of grammar and usage issues that I am so familiar with seeing in their other work. If they become sloppy, all I need to do is politely comment about it on their blog, and I don't see it again.

Their improved skills transfer to formal work. Integrating quotations in literary papers has become simple now that we have so much practice with smoothly embedding hyperlinks. Additionally, student response to texts has improved; some of the posts they must write are based on stimulus texts of their choice. Once a student blogs about archetypes in Kim Possible, tackling Pride and Prejudice becomes that much easier.

Students' persuasive writing is improving, too. A mini-lesson and quick in-class prompt using rhetorical questions has resulted not only in well-argued blog posts, but also in students excitedly telling me how they used that technique for their HSPA persuasive task.

Benefits extend beyond the classroom. Introverted students tend to share more online than they do in person; blogging is an invaluable way for me to get to know them better as people and students. It's also great to see reserved students garnering attention from their peers. Furthermore, students understand the importance of hearing many voices. One recently noted that she enjoys the blogs because "[s]ome of the quieter folks during discussion can talk about their opinions too, so we finally get to hear them."

Less Agonizing Pain

It’s no secret that students value an authentic audience for their writing. One student enthusiastically posted on my class Facebook wall that his blog post turned his friend into a Dave Matthews Band fan. As the new fan says, it's "the power of the pen (or the keyboard in this case)"! Additionally, I post exemplars on a student showcase, and students are visibly proud when I ask for permission to share their work with a broader audience.

I surveyed students for feedback, and the majority of responses were favorable. Here are a few:

"[I]t forces me to write. I usually try to write a couple times a month on my own but that is pushed to the side when I have too much homework."
"It is a good way to have us write without it being formal or full of pressure. I also like the fact that I have control over what I write about, and that definitely makes the assignment easier."
(my personal favorite) "I don't like any assignments in general. However, I feel like the loose nature of the structure of the assignment makes it less agonizingly painful to do than most other assignments."

If making my homework "less agonizingly painful" than other assignments isn't a success, I don't know what is!

Of course, some students aren't enamored by blogging, expressing frustration with the class-related response (one of the required posts). I can understand their point, though I keep the assignment as written because I want to provide them with different levels of challenge. If the passion and free-choice posts are easy, the class-related responses should be more difficult. This reinforces the fact that writers need to have a broad repertoire when they encounter more challenging tasks.

I believe this assignment can be adapted to every grade and subject area. Encouraging students to blog about topics from other classes helps them see connections among subjects and realize that writing is a worthwhile skill in any field. As an added bonus, blogging addresses many of the Common Core literacy standards that most teachers now need to address.

Have you tried blogging in the classroom? Or will you? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

MICHELLE LAMPINEN, NBCT'S PROFILE

Blogging in the Secondary Classroom

https://edublogs.wcs.edu/teachingfromoutoftheblue/2014/02/26/blogging-in-the-secondary-classroom/

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to work with a group of teachers who were digging into learning more about the possibilities of using blogging as a writing, communication, thinking, and learning tool in their classrooms. We looked at the two resources readily available for teachers and students to put to work as blogging tools – Kidblog and Google Sites.

We investigated reasons why we should blog and why students should blog. The primary reason which kept working its way to the top of the heap was to improve student thinking. Yes, I did mean thinking. E.M. Forster once said, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” That statement has never been truer. We have ideas. We have opinions. Yet, until we commit those to writing, they are still vague and vacillating.

There were other reasons, of course. Some of them are that it provided students with an authentic audience for their work. This instilled motivation for quality writing. It gave them practice at writing – explaining and clarifying ideas. It expanded their vocabulary. It improved their grammar and mechanics skills. Writing and responding improved conversational skills. It also promoted thinking to come up with a new topic or respond to another student’s post.

Blogging also offers students the opportunity to collaborate and communicate in ways that sitting within the same four walls does not. A shy student might post something profound and intriguing in a blog that he/she would not have the courage to say aloud with peers sitting around.

Some of the resources we used as fodder for discussion (in a blog post and comment segment) included:

The workshop was work intensive for the teachers who participated. However, I think we had a productive afternoon. Don’t take my word for it… Teachers like Carolyn, reflected in a blog post saying, “I believe the use of a blog will increase student’s “digital footprint” and writing skills, as well as communication skills and using/accepting constructive criticism in a digital setting. ” While Laura’s reflection said, “I do think mathematics makes blogging for assessment a bit more challenging, but as a resource I could definitely see the benefit. Honestly, I was interested in blogging when I walked in today, but I really didn’t think it had a place in my content area. However, I can now see how it could be utilize in a mathematics class. I think the biggest benefit of blogging in my class would be the formative assessment.” Fred was inspired and reflected that, “This was… something I can use immediately. I enjoyed the hands on approach, and help build my confidence in using a blog.” JoEllen even sent me a link to the blog she is utilizing later this week with her students!

Why not give blogging a try in your classroom? You might get a clearer picture of how your students are thinking!

Best Blogs for My Class

Blogs that I want to use for examples

Frugal-Millennial.com #money

Especially this post on how to start a blog in 5 easy steps

https://millennialmoneyman.com/ #money
http://balancingtoday.com/ - “Working mom learning to balance it all” #parenting
http://www.shannanmartinwrites.com/ Heidi Sisson - “City living, adoption, good food, and missional community” Shannan Martin is a writer who found her voice in the country and her story in the city. She and her jail chaplain husband, Cory, have four funny children who came to them across oceans and rivers. Having sold their dream farmhouse, they now live entrenched in community on the wrong side of the tracks. They’re surprised every day by God’s goodness. #parenting
Themattwalshblog.com - Absolute Truths (and alpaca grooming tips)
www.aholyexperience.com - Ann Voskamp - because God has burning bushes everywhere
https://www.brightontheday.com/ Dallas, Beauty, & Lifestyle Fashion Blog
SteveHeronemus.com - Music reviews, audiophile recommendations, SACDs, and CDs
Lipstickandlessonplans.com - CLHS grad Mallory Belote cosmetologist-turned-teacher
Thepioneerwoman.com Plowing through Life in the Country...one calf nut at a time
Wellness Mama
Mama Natural
The Nourished Kitchen
https://thebackpackdiaries.blog/blog/ Here is one...2 of my former students. Kevin Perkins lhs 2012 and Sarah Perkins she would have been lhs 2012, but she moved before she graduated. 2 great kids on an adventure to travel and make the world a better place.
http://www.livingwhole.org/ Building you up. Breaking it down. Natural health, real...
Cal337.blogspot.com Chinese American Living
http://designformankind.com/ Design for Mankind - a New-Fashioned lifestyle - local lady who has made herself nationally known
http://www.medievalhistoryblog.com/
http://beekeepinglikeagirl.com/
https://www.perfectbee.com/blog/
http://natepyle.com/
https://www.becomingminimalist.com/
http://www.carrotsformichaelmas.com/
http://www.jenniegscott.com/
http://crunchylutheranmommy.com/
http://inspiredbylifeandfiction.com/
http://jenhatmaker.com/
http://onthebankoftherubicon.blogspot.com/ - Miss Carson’s blog
http://www.peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.com/
http://relentlesspursuitoftikkunolam.blogspot.com/ - Peace Corps volunteer and teacher in Indonesia
http://rightontheleftcoast.blogspot.com/
http://beckythompson.com/
http://www.sisterdaughtermotherwife.com/
http://www.thebettermom.com/the-better-mom/
http://kaelynalysa.blogspot.com/ The Life of the Kings - army family, parents to special needs baby
https://thenewbienesters.com/ - Miss Drier’s blog
http://unclutterer.com/
http://dadoralive.com/ The Confessions of an Unexpected Stay-at-Home Dad
http://mrdad.com/ Advice column in Q-and-A format
https://blogs.lcms.org/category/leader-blog LCMS Leader Blog
https://thejaggedword.com/ What the hell is going on?
http://www.piratechristian.com/fightingforthefaith/
http://thefederalist.com/
http://dailyrushbo.com/
https://www.daveramsey.com/blog
http://www.clhscadets.com/apps/news/ Concordia Lutheran HS Blog
http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/
https://ispyadiyblog.wordpress.com/ - AP English student blog
https://mittenbackpacking.blogspot.com/ - AP English student blog
http://glazeitup.blogspot.com/ - AP English student blog
https://daveastoronliterature.com/ - Blog on literature

Jump to top