I have had the pleasure of working with the Kauai Pacific School and Martin J. Gottlieb Day School faculty this past month in getting started with classroom blogs. The familiarity of reading and writing in a blog platform varies tremendously. I found it very helpful to start out with a brief overview of the architecture and vocabulary of a blog.
Establishing common vocabulary
As I am continuing to support individual teachers and administrators in getting started with creating and maintaining their classroom or their own professional blog, it was time to create a comprehensive How-To-Guide.
You can directly download the entire How-To-Guide- Getting to Know Your Blog here as a .pdf file.
A Step by Step Guide on how to:
- login to your Dashboard
- add a post
- add a page
- edit a post or a page
- add and organize links
- add and arrange widgets on your sidebar
- insert images
on your WordPress platform based blog.
Difference between POSTS & PAGES
(from WordPress Support)
Posts
Pages
Added this great list What kinds of pages are common on education blogs? on 9/4 from Stephanie Sandifer‘s blog Change Agency
The following lists are just general ideas and certainly do not include all possible page ideas.
For classroom blogs:
- Contact
- About
- Blog Rules
- Resources
- Classes (or individual pages for each class)
For professional learning education blogs:
- Contact
- About
- Archives
- Presentations and/or Workshops
- Resources
- How to Use This Blog
- My Portfolio
- CV or Resume
- Disclaimer/Disclosures
Login to your Dashboard
After you click “login†on your blog (usually the link is located on the bottom of your SideBar,
you will be directed to the following screen. Enter your Username and Password given to you by your administrator/ webmaster. In my current school, it is customary to have “firstname.lastname” as the username. This may be different in other schools.
The Dashboard
Once logged in, you will be taken automatically to your Dashboard.
This is where you will make any changes to your blog.
All About Posts
Take a look at the left sidebar of your Dashboard for “Postsâ€. Click on the upside down triangle next to “Posts†in order to see more options.
All About Pages
Take a look at the left sidebar of your Dashboard for “Pagesâ€. Click on the upside down triangle next to “Pages†in order to see more options.
4 Steps to Writing a POST
4 Steps to Writing a PAGE
Editing a Post or Page
If you are in need of editing an already published post/page or a draft post/page, in the sidebar of you dashboard, click “Posts†or “Pagesâ€.
Add and Organize Links
Take a look at the left sidebar of your Dashboard for “Linksâ€. Click on the upside down triangle next to “Links†in order to see more options.
4 Steps to Adding a Link
Add and Arrange Widgets in your SideBar.
Each widget represents a different TITLE in Your SideBar.
Inserting an Image
In order to insert an image into a blog post or page, add or edit a post (or page). Make sure you insert your cursor at the point in your post (or page) you want the image to appear.
The image will be uploaded to the Media Library of your blog. Make sure that the image is not too large. It is a good idea to resize larger images (that came directly from your digital camera) BEFORE you upload them to your blog.
Thanks for sharing this valuable material, Silvia! I’ve learnt the hard way but it’s helpful to share with colleagues.
Regards from Argentina,
Marisa
Hola Silvia, nuevamente gracias por compartir, ya tengo tarea para el hogar… traducir este HOWTO 😉 Heidi
@Heidi
Cuando tenes la traduccion, mandame un link, y lo agrego al post, para que otros tambien lo tienen en castellano. Asi se colabora 🙂
What a brilliant guide. Thanks so much for sharing it.
Thanks for the guide! It’s very helpful especially those who don’t know how to manage blogs.
Silvia, I am truly amazed at the wealth of knowledge you possess, and am so thankful there are people out in the world of technology willing to share their tips, tricks, and strategies for implementation. I have following your blog for the last year, and have gained many ideas from your content. I especially plan to use this article on “Getting to Know Your Blog” as I venture out into this exciting new world. In the past I’ve used a simple version of a blog on my teacher website, but it has many limitations. I’ve just started a class assignment of beginning my own blog through my graduate course, and I’m excited about this new learning tool.
I’m curious as to the benefits of using a WorldPress over other blogging services. I’m new in the world of blogging and am trying to understand the differences. Thank you so much for your input, and I look forward to learning more from your vast wealth of knowledge.
A quick question: Are you on the computer 24/7? I don’t know how you do everything you do!