BLOGGING TO BETTER WRITING

Rozz HardinThe Potter’s House Christian Academy

Jacksonville, FL

What is a Blog?• Blog is short for “weblog”• Online journal• Interactive• Communication tool• Collaboration facilitator• A place to develop writing skills

What do I need to blog?• Internet access• Parental permission• Alternative

assignments• Online safety

guidelines/training• A blogging platform• A rubric

What Access is Involved?•Internet access•Searchable vs. private sites•Comment settings

Anatomy of a Writer’s Blog • Static home page• Posts•Widgets• Categories• Tags• Comment area

What are the Rules?• The teacher must know everyone’s user name and password at all times.

No exceptions!• Composing• Post original student work• Cite sources when applicable• Comments• No empty comments• Stick to the issues! Constructive encouragement, not conversations

Managing the Blogosphere• Learning Management Systems• Feed manager ( example: Netvibes)• Teacher site• Teacher should always know students’ usernames and passwords• Option – Create student blog framework ahead of time• Limit creativity (bells and whistles) initially to avoid increasing the

chance that the actual assignment will not get done• Define infractions and consequences before beginning class blogs

Things To Consider When Using Web 2.0 Tools• Hmmmmm…• Your work is housed on someone else’s server.• You are subject to their tech support limitations.• You can only access your blog while connected to the Internet.

• Solutions• Periodically print your work (to PDF to save paper).• Test the site in different browsers to find which one cooperates

the most.• Keep an open mind. Part of the fun is exploring with the

students and learning.

Let’s get to the writing already!•What do we blog about?•Writing prompts•Journal entries go digital•Work in progress option•Paper first option•Categories

Scoring Big•Two-fold rubric•Define mastery at each level• Clearly state expectations for writers and

commenters

•Sample Rubrics• https://

timhorgan.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/blogging-rubric.pdf

• http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/blogging+rubric.pdf

How do I set up blogging for my students?• Create the main class blog.• Set the parameters for the class blog and student

blogs.• Assign usernames and passwords for the students.• Familiarize the students with the blogging interface:•Discuss online safety.•Discuss blogging rules and consequences.•Demonstrate customizations and allow time for the

students to enhance their blogs.•Have students create an Introduction post to

practice posting and giving/receiving comments.• Write, read, comment, grow!

Blogging Resources• Kidblog – http://kidblog.org/home • Weebly for Education - http://education.weebly.com/ • http://education.weebly.com (teachers)

http://students.weebly.com (student login page)•Weebly Help Center - http://hc.weebly.com/hc/en-us

• Wordpress - https://wordpress.com/ •Online Learning Guide - https://learn.wordpress.com/

• Netvibes - http://netvibes.com • Setting up Netvibes for your class -

http://www.thethinkingstick.com/netvibes-com-in-the-classroom/

Sample Netvibes Dashboard

Rozz HardinThe Potter’s House Christian Academy

email - rzhardin@att.net

Slideshare - http://www.slideshare.net/rozzhardin