**These are the steps I’m sharing with teachers new to blogging in the classroom:
- Choose a blogging platform. See THIS chart for comparison of the widely used platforms in education.
- Teach students how to blog. Have students either do a “practice” journal post online or HERE is a cool example of a “paper” blog activity to get students understanding the concept of sharing with an authentic audience without actually sharing online yet.
- Talk about online safety and etiquette. Taking time to teach some do’s and dont’s goes a long way. Don’t assume they know the proper code of conduct. Common Sense Media has some great lessons. Last year, my school used some digital citizenship lessons from them – more HERE.
- Teach students how to comment. In order for blogging to be effective, connected comments are needed; but, if students don’t practice proper comment etiquette, they will lose out on a significant part of the experience. I tell students that the rule of thumb is only write what you would not be afraid to tell someone in person. My comment rules are HERE.
- Start small. You may want to make the first post be a journal entry about the students’ favorite subjects – themselves!! You may want to invite them to make one appreciative comment to one another student as well. HERE is an example of a first post assignment I’ve used in the past . . . although every year I do something different for the initial post, depending on the nature of the students and the class.
- MY BASIC POST REQUIREMENTS:
- two paragraph minimum
- one media (picture, map, timeline, word art, video etc) to be included
- one comment on one peer’s post of the same assignment
- MY BASIC POST REQUIREMENTS:
- Include parents. Parents appreciate knowing what we are doing, what students are writing about and enjoy an invite to comment. The students enjoy the extra connection too . . . even if they don’t always admit it. HERE is an actual post assignment in which I involve parents. Providing parents with the website URL during Open House and/or within Schoololgy, iTunes, or an Infinite Campus note is helpful too.
- Connect with one or two classes. While comments from around the world are phenomenal, the connections anywhere outside of class are key. Pair up with another class within your building or within the district. Here is an example of when I paired my senior E405 Expository Writing students with my E108 Freshman English. Reach out on Twitter or QUADBLOGGING or through #comments4kids to set up something more permanent.
- Visit other classroom blogs. Inspire your students by opening class with an example class blog from time to time. I usually find blogs simply by searching “High School English Class Blog” or “High School World Geography EduBlogs” or something like that.
- Let students explore. My students love to play around with font, color, and images. They often change their themes too! They teach each other how to do anything fancy (and also let each other know when font or color choices are poor!). This is a way for students to come into their own as creative writers and also start to think about creating their online identity.
- Perhaps, don’t grade the first post. Blogging is meant to be a way to practice writing for an audience and learning to respond to critique. I, of course, am clear about requirements and the edit process but I never ever chastise them for mistakes made . . . online or off; usually, peers point out mechanical errors and/or students immediately fix errors themselves once they see them “showcased” as clear as day on their sites. By the way, HERE is an example rubric I’ve used for posts.
- Challenge students. Often students write about a given topic we are studying but, to keep students writing on their own, you can offer weekly (or bi-weekly) challenges in which you ask students to research to find the answer to a tricky question or have them write one higher-level thinking response to a prompt you give them a week or so to ponder.
- Map class connections. To motivate and inspire, you can start a WORLD MAP OF YOUR CLASSROOM on a bulletin board within your classroom, marking those places where site visitors come from. Placing the CLUSTER MAP widget on the site helps too!
- Have patience! Some students take to blogging instantly, others aren’t so sure, and yet they all end up loving it! The sheer mass of paper we save by having students create online is staggering. By the way, if you have a homebound student, blogging is a GREAT way to keep them writing and involved with the class!!
TLC TIP: Take part in blogging yourself!!! I’ve been blogging on my own personal site since February 2009 and never looked back. We need to practice what we teach, it’s a perfect venue for us to professionally and/or creatively hone our own writing skills, and we better understand the trials and triumphs our students experience. ONE OF MY FAVORITE INFOGRAPHICS on “Blogging in the Classroom:” (courtesy of Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano)
**I modeled my above steps from Pernille Ripps “14 Steps to Meaningful Student Blogging.” I modified my steps for the high school classroom, using my own resources as examples. Check out Pernille Ripp’s site HERE for fabulous blogging resources!