Blogcautionary

You do need to remember to be aware of the potential dangers and concerns when you invite your students to participate in blogging with you.

• Determine that all students' AUPs (Acceptable Use Policy) are in place and up to date.
• This is a paperwork thing that should be sorted out at the beginning of the school year, but double check anyway to make sure.
• Inform parents of procedures and secure parental permission.
• Send home a quick email or a short note home to parents explaining why you would like to have your students blog and invite parents to monitor their students' blogs at home too, if they have concerns.
• Teach students safe, acceptable, and sensible behavior as online authors and readers.
• INTERNET SAFETY IS A MUST.
• Create rules and procedures for technology usage and potentially create some specifically for blogging.
• Review policies and guidelines pertaining to student access.
• This should be outlined with the paperwork that students filled out at the beginning of the school year.
• Teach the non-posting rules of no complete names, e-mail accounts, or references to reveal location.
• This can be included in your rules and procedures.
• Set clear expectations regarding tone, respect, and consequences.
• Provide rewards and include them in your classroom management system.

Reasons for Creating a Blog

So why is it advantageous for you to create a blog in the first place?

Reputation… clout… fifteen minutes of fame… narcissism… sympathy… funzies…

On a serious note, there are actual reasons to create a blog, especially for educators like yourself.

1. A blog can help with classroom management. You can keep students informed and help them stay on-task both in and out of class.
• Example: You can keep extra handouts for lesson enrichment for extra practice, reminders for students concerning upcoming events or due dates, or even include question and answer boards.
2. A blog can increase collaboration in the classroom. Students and teachers can work together to improve writing and communication skills, as well as technological competence. 
• Example: Teachers can add tips as comments to their students' blog posts and other online mentoring comments. Students can mentor other, younger students on their writing and they can also work together and share their research findings, ideas, or suggestions.
3. A blog can open up class-wide discussions. Students and teachers can discuss topics both in and out of the classroom and it allows for every person to contribute to the conversation. This is beneficial for all students, including students with disabilities and ELL students.
• Example: Students can all share their thoughts and opinions on a class discussion or a homework assignment. Create literature circle groups and allow students to discuss their thoughts on the reading.
4. A blog can serve as a student portfolio. Save work and monitor student work over time. Knowing that their work will be published is often a HUGE motivator for students to increase the quality of their writing.
• Example: Include creative writing stories and other writing samples. Their work will be published throughout the school year and each post will be dated, which can help you as the teacher track their growth over time.

How to Create a Blog!

This is the post that you were looking for, and probably why you came to our blog in the first place!

Here are the steps to create your very own blog!

1. Find a web host that works for you!
• blogspot.com
• wordpress.com
• edublogs.org
• blogger.com
• And so many more!
2. Sign up or create an account
• create your account with your school or personal email - it's your preference
3. Decide on a creative and relevant title for your blog
• make it catchy and simple
• it should be appropriate to what your blog will be covering
4. Accept the terms and select a template
• you can always change/update your template later
5. Write and publish!

Inaugural Post!

Good Morning, all!

It's a wonderful and rainy morning here in Gainesville, Fl. in our EME class!

Here you will learn how to create a blog and we're also going to include some helpful resources to further your education into the world of blogging and technology.

We hope you enjoy this tutorial blog!

Thanks for reading!
<3 Paige, Amanda, & Zoe