Ideas for Student Blogging – A Baker’s Dozen. I’m sitting in a session at the MI Google Summit¹ and I’m listening to Jessica Winstanley melt my heart with adorable images of elementary students working through the mechanics of blogging with markers, sticky notes and reflective thought. Her session was focused on getting students (and teachers) to start blogging, and provided a host of reason why you might want to start blogging in the classroom. It instantly took me back to my post a few weeks ago about how educators should approach the blogging process; give me the “why” first, and then figure out the mechanics of “how”.
Jessica did a wonderful job, barely touching upon the tools for blogging, and instead focused on the why. So I thought I’d share her compelling examples for why you should get your students blogging, a full baker’s dozen! Alright, so there are 14 ideas here, but 13 made for a better title, poetically speaking Jessica Winstanley’s Ideas for Student Blogging Elementary Specific Secondary Specific Want more ideas? Making Paper Blogs to Prepare for the Online Experience. I’ve decided to take my students on a fun-filled blogging journey for the last few weeks of school. In some ways I think I might be crazy trying to do this in such little time, but my guts are telling me to, “Just do it!” I’m glad I listened! I decided to start as is suggested by some of my awesome PLN – with paper blogs.
I took the lesson outline from Leonard Low and adapted it for my classroom. After going through this process, I really feel that introducing the concept to my fourth graders this way helped them to grasp the idea of what it means to create, interact with and maintain a blog. Introducing Vocabulary – First, I told the class about the blogging project and explained that we would start with paper and then move it online. Get Students Writing – I then assigned a very easy and short writing assignment for the kids to do – write about their favorite food or drink. Get Students Working – The students got busy right away! Then came commenting… Commenting on Paper Blogs. Blogging in the Classroom Infographic. The Blogger Name Generator: 9 Easy Ways To Name Your Blog. Fashion crisis alert!
You want to start a fashion blog but have no clue of what to name it! Help! SOS! Ladies and gentlemen, this is sarcasm. While sarcasm is having this ‘moment,’ I figured I’d push it for its full fifteen minutes. Before we get started, you must always remember, alliteration is always preferred when naming a blog. 1. . - Sugar Plums and Saddle Shoes - Cheesecake and Charm Bracelets - Animal Crackers and Couture - Peplums and Pineapples - Manicures and Extra Frosting… Please - Braids and Brownies - Models and Macaroons - Lipstick and Lemon Drops - Celine Bags and Sour Skittles - Kate Moss and Candy - Polka Dots and Popcorn - DIOR AND DUNKAROOS!!!! 2. 3. . - Chanelista - Diorista - Anna Dello Russo-ista - Gypsyista - Jet Settista - Manicurista - Audrey Hepburnista - Sparkle-ista - Parisianista - Romancinista - Hippy-ista - Rouge-ista - Lipstickista - Pin Stripe-ista - Karl Lagerfeldista - Choupettista (I went there.) 4. 5. 6.
. - How Do You Wear That? 7. 8. 9. Making Paper Blogs to Prepare for the Online Experience. Blogging with Elementary Students. Notes From McTeach: Learning to Blog Using Paper. That's right...you heard me! And it's one of my favorite activities all year long. Paper Blogs. I use them to introduce my seventh graders to the idea of blogging and, more importantly, commenting. Let me just be clear right from the beginning. This was not my original idea! We also had to decorate our new blogs so they might reflect our own personality.
I didn't require that their paper blogs actually look like blogs (we use Google Sites, in case you were wondering), but several of my students chose to be tech-creative. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself a bit. After we were done writing and decorating our blogs in our blogging workshop, it was time to read some blogs. As you probably know, teachers are just great big kids at heart. Before I continue with my take on the lesson, let me share with you the original lesson developed by Leonard Low and shared with us at our workshop: The McTeach Version Step One Thank you. Step Two Step Three The next day we start creating! "Yes! "Yes!