Blogging with students has been on my mind lately, as 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th graders at my school are embarking on blogging adventures with their teachers. A few weeks ago, I blogged about Taking Student Blogging to the Next Level. I also prepared a 3 hour workshop on the same subject for the teacher2teacher conference in Alberta, Canada.
You can find the slideshare presentation of the conference below as well as resource links and suggested classroom blogs.
I tried to emphasize the recurring theme of “It is not about the tools, it’s about the skills” in this presentation as well. It is not about blogging for blogging sake. It is not about being able to say “I have a class blog”. It is not about jumping on the “blogs-wikis-podcast bandwagon”.
Blogging is about going deeper than posting a few questions and expecting your students to answer them in the comment section. Continue blogging with your students to get deeper…
It is about the learning community you are building with your students. It is about the content you and your students are producing. It is about the writing and commenting. It is about giving quiet students a platform to express themselves. It is about an authentic audience. It is about the worldwide connections you are making.
- Commenting Guidelines (Youth Voices) 

http://youthvoices.net/node/22555 - Commenting Guidelines (5th-6th Grade) http://huzzah.edublogs.org/commenting-guidelines/
- Student Blogging Challenge
http://theedublogger.com/tag/student-blogging-challenge/ - 30 Days to Be a Better Blogger
http://30d2bbb.pbworks.com/ - Comment Challenge (2008) http://commentchallenge.wikispaces.com/
Classroom Blog Examples-
Edublog Class Blog Nominations 2009
- Alice Project
- All Saints Languages Blog
- Billings Middle School Tech Class Blog
- Borman Blogging
- Class 4OQ’s Blog
- Creative Voice
- East Dragon Den
- English With Rosa
- Extreme Biology
- Fab4@Work
- Forrester High School Int 2 Info Systems
- Gelincik Grubu
- Griffin Science – 8th Grade
- Huzzah!
- Intermediate English class blog
- Luce Semester 2009
- Ka Tangi Hoki Ko Au Room 15 Blog
- Law Primary School East Lothian Primary 6 Blog
- MrCs Class Blog
- Mr McClung’s World
- Mrs. Yollis’ Classroom Blog
- Ms Mourad’s Absolutely Sensational Learners
- Mrs Goerend’s Blog
- Planet Infinity
- Room 10 Grey Lynn School
- Room 18’s Learning Journey blog
- Room 231
- Rumford Writers
- Saint Exupery 6
- South Paris Collaborative Chat
- Tamaki Tales
- Tamaki Primary Blockbusters
- Technology in the Classroom
- The Greatest Middle School Blog in the World
- The Overlakes 6th Grade Blog
- The Skinny
- Think in English
- Watch Out!
I have been using my class blog to give my 11th and 12th graders more chances to 1) write often, and 2) connect the texts we read with their own lives. It is a lot of work for me to write good posts, but really worth it as I review them over the year. I love looking at some of the blogs here for younger grades–they are more “collaborative” and have given me some great ideas. Right now, I am working on a Frankenstein entry for my juniors and an Ibsen post for the seniors, who have read Hedda Gabler and pronounced it “modern.” Thanks!
.-= Leslie Healey´s last blog ..SENIORS: HOW IT GETS DONE =-.