11 Top Tips To Use Blogs in the Classroom
With the inception of Common Core standards and the No Child Left Behind Act, all educators require teaching literacy across the curriculum. Getting kids to write, especially the weaker writers, can be a challenge in itself, but getting kids to write about math can be even more challenging—unless you use blogging as your literacy tactic. Blog writing is informal, unlike academic writing, which may be intimidating to some, if not all, of your students. Blog writing takes the pressure off of writing and gives your students a voice in a safe environment. Using blogs in the classroom provides an excellent platform for students to express themselves while developing essential digital literacy skills that every school deserves.
What Is A Blog?
Blog is short for web log. It’s a bit like an online diary or journal, except blogs aren’t necessarily private; instead, they’re created for an authentic audience. And just like a diary or journal, a blog is relaxed, making it an easy and comfortable way for students to get writing.
Blogs are written on all kinds of topics from A to Z. Readers can usually leave comments, which lead to discussions about the blog's content. For example, a class blog about flipping your classroom can lead to a discussion between novice and experienced teachers about common questions, advice, tips, and clarifications.
Student blogs serve as digital portfolios where learners can showcase their work and engage with fellow educators. Individual student blogs allow for personalized expression, while classroom blogs foster community learning and sharing ideas.
Benefits Of Educational Blogs
Running a class blog comes with several key benefits, including the following:
1. Your Own Content
Whether individual student blogs or a collective classroom blog, you will be able to build your own repository of eLearning content, with lesson plans, extra material, or additional content—whatever’s ideal for your students. This content repository becomes invaluable for other teachers and can be shared across other classrooms.
2. An Online Hub
Your class blog doesn’t have to be limited to your best blog posts. You can even round up resources, such as podcasts, articles, videos, and article links, to create a virtual hub for students and fellow educators, including those in other classrooms. Essentially, a class blog can serve as an online forum for other teachers, allowing everyone to learn collectively. Plus a round up of curated resources makes your classroom blogs a valuable destination for educators seeking better website options.
3. Improving Literacy Skills
Blogging can help increase students' engagement by setting expectations, providing regular feedback, and motivating them. Showcasing the importance of student work encourages them to write when they see a purpose. Blog posts written by students often show remarkable improvement in writing quality over time.
4. Active Learning
Blogs in the classroom are not only ideal for sharing ideas, but also help encourage engagement and active learning. Blogging platforms push students to write and research, dive deeper into their desired topics, and expand their own expertise. Plus, comments on classroom blogs foster interactive learning as students discuss and exchange ideas.
How Can Teachers And Students Use Blogs?
- Teachers can use blogs to publish assignments, resources, and keep students and parents up to date on class events, due dates, and content being covered.
- Teachers can also use class blogs to help students master content and improve their writing skills while creating easy-to-update websites that serve multiple purposes.
- Students can use classroom blogs to publish their writing and educate others on a particular topic. Individual student blogs allow for more personalized expression and creativity.
- Students can also create blogs for the chess club or the yearbook club, the football team, or the upcoming prom.
- Class blogs can serve as platforms for cross-curricular projects, connecting learning from other classes and creating comprehensive educational experiences.
Consider creating YouTube channels to complement your blogging efforts and provide multimedia content. This YouTube video from Palm Breeze Cafe gives an overview of a blog’s place in the educational process.
If you have concerns about student safety online, I highly encourage you to read What Should Teachers Do To Keep Students Safe Online?
Using A Personal Blogging Site
If you’re about to use a personal blog, here are some tips to make the experience hassle-free:
- Choose blogging platforms carefully; select those that offer complete creative control, easy-to-update websites, reasonable pricing, and an easy learning experience.
- Maintain a niche-focused class blog with topics you are passionate about.
- Include keywords on your blogs for better ranking on search engines, making your content discoverable to other educators.
- Create relevant content that students from other classes can also enjoy reading.
- Ensure that you only include blog posts written on student-relevant topics that will add value to their learning experience.
- Consider creating a roundup of your best blog posts to showcase student achievements and highlight exemplary work.
- Make your content accessible to fellow educators who might want to implement similar projects in their own classrooms.
- Regularly update your personal blogging site with resources emailed to subscribers or followers.
The Top 3 Blogging Platforms For Teachers
Your first step in blog creation is choosing a platform. A platform is where you build and publish your classroom blog. There are many secure sites where you can do this for free. Here are the top three blogging platforms:
- Edublog.com is the number one site for education blogs. It lets you create and manage teacher and student blogs. You can customize your design and even add photos, videos, and podcasts. This platform is perfect for creating individual student blogs and class blogs simultaneously, providing easy-to-update websites for educators.
- Kidblog.com is a safe, secure publishing platform designed for grades K-12. It’s free for up to 50 students per class. Some of the features include no advertising, privacy, password-protected access, no personal information needed from students, and a simple-to-use interface so students spend more time publishing blog posts written for authentic audiences.
- WordPress.org is a free blogging site and a good choice if your classroom blogs go public. Although not as simple to use as platforms designed specifically for fellow educators, it has some good features, such as numerous plug-ins. It's considered one of the better website options for educators who want complete control over their class blog design.
11 Top Tips To Use Blogs In the Classroom
Once you’ve chosen your platform and reviewed the web builder’s tutorials, it’s time to start blogging. But first, here are 11 tips for blogging in today’s classroom.
1. Guidelines And Expectations
Before starting, check with your school for written guidelines. From here, you can develop clear goals, guidelines, and expectations for you and your students. For example, your school may or may not allow photos of students on blog pages, or they may require written permission from a parent to participate in a class blog. Guidelines can be published and updated right on your classroom blogs for easy access by students and parents, with resources emailed to all stakeholders to ensure everyone understands the expectations.
2. Integrate Classroom Curriculum
Blogging can be used across the curriculum. From math and science to history and health, blogging is a great way to take literacy across the curriculum. A class blog can serve as a central hub for all subject areas, connecting learning from other classes and creating comprehensive educational experiences.
3. English Is For Everyone
Blogging not only requires subject knowledge but also good writing skills. Even if you’re using blogging in a math or science class, you should set some time aside to teach writing and grammar. Student work improves significantly when writing instruction is embedded across all subjects through classroom blogs.
4. The How-To Of Commenting
The comment section of a blog post is where students can share thoughts and opinions and have discussions. Initially, it is a good idea to teach students the dos and don’ts of commenting. Start by writing the first few blog posts and have students comment according to your criteria. Encourage quality comments while discouraging inappropriate language. This process helps create meaningful interactions on student blogs.
5. Be Realistic
Building a class blog takes time, so set your sights small. Start with a classroom blog focusing on one topic where students can contribute posts under your supervision. Choose something the kids are passionate about. For example, a classroom blog could be about an endangered species or the importance of eating healthy. Once a topic is exhausted, create a new class blog on another topic. The old blogs remain static but are available for readers. By starting with a classroom blog, students build the skills they need to create individual student blogs. Remember, every school deserves realistic expectations for digital literacy projects.
6. Read Other Blogs
Take time to read classroom blogs and student blogs on other sites. This gives you concrete examples and ideas when creating your own blog. Exploring blogs from other classrooms provides inspiration and helps identify the best blog posts that serve as models. Plus a roundup of excellent examples from other teachers can showcase what's possible.
7. Be Consistent
Blogging takes commitment. If posts are published haphazardly, reader interest will most likely decline. Set a goal of a post every two weeks per student and gradually increase submissions. Consistency in publishing blog posts written by students helps maintain engagement. Consider creating a content calendar to help maintain regular posting schedules for your class blog.
8. Plagiarism
Explain that plagiarism will not be tolerated. Student work contributions must be original. Don't post copyrighted images. Teaching proper attribution through blogging helps prepare students for academic writing in other classes. Blog posts written by students should always reflect original thinking.
9. Network With Other Bloggers
Encourage collaboration by having students network with bloggers and follow other student blogs. Provide selection criteria to help their choices. Networking with other teachers through classroom blogs creates opportunities for collaboration. Plus a round up of favorite blogs can be featured regularly to highlight exemplary work from other classrooms.
10. Dive Into Social Media
If your classroom blogs are public, connect your blog with social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for better website visibility on search engines. Social media integration helps your class blog reach fellow educators interested in your teaching methods and provides access to resources emailed from the broader educational community.
11. Hang In There
As with most new ventures, there's a learning curve with blogging. Maneuvering blogging platforms while monitoring student blogs and classroom blogs can be time-consuming. But most students will be excited about blogging and want more responsibility. For older students, assign blog management roles and rotate these responsibilities. Resources emailed from other educators provide ongoing support.
Conclusion
As the traditional classroom changes nationwide and careers depend on computer skills, blogging helps students develop the necessary skills for continuing education and employment. Consider blogging as a creative way to bridge literacy across the curriculum. Whether implementing individual student blogs or maintaining a single class blog, the educational benefits that every school deserves are substantial and long-lasting.
