Blogetiquette for Students

Vicki Davis’ post on “How to comment like a queen or king” has prompted me to search for some more resources on some related topic :

I believe that part of the new literacy we need to teach our students how to navigate, read and write in the digital world. Learning appropriate “blogetiquette” should be part of that education.

When introducing blogs in your classroom what are the guidelines you give your students?

What is appropriate/ inappropriate to write in your blog? (language /personal info/ topic/ rumors/etc.)
How do you pick a topic to write about?
How do you and why do you comment on other people’s blogs?

Regarding the question of commenting on other blogs I found the following from Micro Persuasion:

• Stay on topic
• Contribute new information to the discussion
• Don’t comment for the sake of commenting
• Remember that nobody likes a know-it-all
• Make the tone of your message clear
• Own your comment
• Cite your sources with links or inline quoting
• Be courteous
• Do not feed or tease the trolls

I found a great list of pointers when taching your students blogetiquette. From The Art and Aspirations of a Commenter by Blogging in the K-12 classroom

I believe in the power of a free exchange of ideas. I also recognize that words or access to some information can be of harm to others, intentionally or unintentionally. As a commenter, I therefore aspire to participate responsibly in the great online conversation by:

• treating all bloggers with respect.
• seeking first to understand what is being said.
• celebrating another’s accomplishments.
• using school appropriate language.
• rephrasing ideas in the blog that made me think, made me feel, or helped me learn to let the blogger know his/her voice has been heard.
• commenting specifically and positively, without criticism. If I disagree, I will comment appropriately, politely stating my perspective.
• being mindful always that I may be a role model to my audience, especially if they are younger than I.
• making no reference to, link to, and/or giving access to any information that may be inappropriate for a school setting.
• asking at least one question in my comment with the hopes of continuing a conversation and deepening thinking.
• using a triple check before submitting any comment: Would I be happy to have my mother read this comment? My grandmother? My favorite teacher?

Here are some comment starters from Edublogs Insights:

This made me think about…….
I wonder why…….
Your writing made me form an opinion about…….
This post is relevant because…….
Your writing made me think that we should…….
I wish I understood why…….
This is important because…….
Another thing to consider is…….
I can relate to this…….
This makes me think of…….
I discovered…….
I don’t understand…….
I was reminded that…….
I found myself wondering…….

Also, take a look at Comments make a difference by EduBlogs Insights.
Filed in: langwitches education teaching blogs

Comments on Commenting

Vicki Davis wrote another inspiring post. “How to comment like a Queen or King“.

She pointed out and blogged about something that others might do, but did not take the time to write and specifically point its importance out to blogging- newbies.

I encourage anybody to read her post… Re-think your stand on commenting… Be encouraged to comment, even if you have only blogged for a few days … Join in the conversation… Teach your students proper “commenting- etiquette”… Maybe it should be a new writing genre taught in school?

Filed in: coolcatteacher blogs web2.0 writing teaching

Diigo: Social Bookmarking Tool with great features

Techcrunch » Blog Archive » Diigo is a research tool that rocks

My favorite feature? When you highlight a word on any page a drop down menu automatically appears (see image below) that lets you:

search for the highlighted words on the web with any of four search engines
search for highlighted terms in four social bookmarking systems
do a blog search for highlighted terms
search for your terms in the entire site you are on (Google, Yahoo, Ask site: search)
search for inbound links to the URL you are on in four different search engines (including Technorati and Google)
search for your highlighted terms in seven different verticals from local to TV to stocks.
search for the highlighted words on the web.

This post was actually posted directly from “Diigo”. After I created a free account and installed the Firefox toolbar, I just highlighted a quote on a website and right-clicked when the quote was automatically posted to my blog. The tool as many more features such as highlighting text directly and placing sticky notes with your comments.
I am looking forward in using and exploring this tool furhter.

Filed in: langwitches social_bookmarking tools web2.0