As technology is beginning to take over the professional world, people involved in the teaching profession are learning that technology can be a wonderful tool to utilize. In particular, more and more teachers are realizing that the use of blogs for their classroom can be an excellent source of communication. If the teacher uses the blog adequately, then students, parents and administrators should be able to look at the teacher’s blog to see upcoming assignments and important classroom information. Wouldn’t it be magnificent for teacher’s to treat their classroom blog like a classroom planner? Just imagine not only how much more organized the teacher can feel by posting classroom activities through a blog, but how much the student and parents can obviously benefit from the blog as well. Are there techniques and tips which teacher’s should use to make their classroom blog constructive and helpful? Most definitely, and this is where I have researched and hope to help you understand that there are key concepts and techniques that need to be utilized in order to have an effective classroom blog.
10 Tips/Techniques to Consider When Creating a Classroom Blog:
1. Think about who your audience is
2. Choose the proper layout and fonts
3. Be consistent in updating information
4. Add pictures and examples of quality work done by students
5. Be open and responsive to comments received
6. Keep it simple
7. Have students participate in writing on the blog
8. Be creative with it
9. Add outgoing links and teacher contact information
10. Do your research!
1. Think about who your audience is:
First and foremost, when utilizing a classroom blog, a teacher must think about who their audience is. For example, an elementary teacher is going to have a very different type of classroom blog than a high school teacher. Thinking of your student’s technology skills is something to consider when creating your classroom blog. If you are teaching a high school honors course, it would be feasible to post pdf files of readings and assignments, however, if you teach first grade, that would more than likely be too much for a first grader to understand, or for that matter, to do.
2. Choose the proper layout and fonts
Secondly, teachers must think about the layout of the blog. Anyone who has ever viewed a blog knows that the appearance of the blog is key to how many viewers actually read it. Choosing proper font and coloring is key. If the font blends in with the background color, reader’s are going to struggle to understand what is written and may possibly forget using the blog altogether (Wheildon 1996).
3. Be consistent in updating information
Thirdly, since this is a classroom blog, it is very important that the teacher is consistent with updating assignments and material on the blog. If the teacher were choosing to update her blog weekly, it would be smart to pick a certain day, and even more, a time in which the blog is consistently updated. Consistency is key in blogging, especially for a teacher’s classroom blog because it helps students and parents to understand the organization of the class, and reminds them of upcoming assignments (Huette, 2006).
4. Add pictures and examples of quality work done by students
Fourth, something else that can be very beneficial with classroom blogs is to upload photographs and pictures of quality examples of student’s work. By uploading exemplary pictures onto the classroom blog, not only can students see the expectations of assignments, but parents can also realize what is required to succeed on certain assignments (Huette). Of course, there are extra tools required to use this technique on the classroom blog. A teacher would need a camera as well as equipment to upload the pictures onto the computer. However, there tends to be many schools that would be willing to help buy equipment such as this as long as they are used towards education.
5. Be open and responsive to comments received
Fifth, another important use of the classroom blog is the opportunity that people have to make comments. At the end of each post, anyone can write comments or questions to the person that created the blog. As a teacher and educator, it is important to check the comments that are posted regularly, and reply to any questions that may be asked. The comment section of a classroom blog can be a great source for communication and feedback for teachers and students alike. Perhaps some parents or administrators’ will look at the blog and provide critiques that may be beneficial to the teacher. Comments can also be fun and enjoyable for the teacher to read, and if it is encouraged enough, it can be a great way for the teacher to create a strong relationship with readers and viewers of the blog. Blair Thompson mentions in his article “Parent-teach e-mail strategies at the elementary and secondary levels” that communication through the internet has made parent and teacher interaction easier because getting on the internet and commenting is a quick, easy way for people to communicate with one another (Thompson, 2009).
6. Keep it simple
Sixth, author of “Blogs in Education,” Scott Huette, mentions that one of the keys to an effective classroom blog is simplicity (Huette). As readers access the classroom blog, it is important that it looks organized, and that it is easy to find the information necessary. Repetition is key with this; for example, a teacher could put all the upcoming homework assignments on the left hand side of the blog, and all the announcements on the right hand side. By staying repetitive on how the material is presented, the viewers should be able to feel that the blog is straightforward and comprehendible (Williams, 2009). Through my own personal experience, I have struggled to read blogs that have too much information, or too many formatting details. Especially for a classroom blog, in which students and parents are depending on it for important school information, simplicity is crucial so that viewers are clear about the expectations and the guidelines of the class. Author Robin Williams wrote a book called “The non-designers presentation book: principles for effective presentation design.” In this book, Williams mentions how important it is that when people are presenting information, that they don’t write too many details so as to overwhelm the viewers (Williams). One can see, that the more simple and frank information is presented, the more likely viewers are to pay attention to what is being presented, whether it is on a blog, PowerPoint presentation etc.
7. Have student’s participate in writing on the blog
Seventh, besides keeping the classroom blog simple, one influential aspect of a classroom blog is that it does not have to be just the teacher who gets involved in the writing part of the blog. In my experience as a teacher, I have seen multiple teachers give their students the opportunity to write information and updates on the blog. One may ask, what are the benefits of doing this? Well quite honestly, there are many benefits. Probably the most important benefit of having students write on the blog is the fact that they are working on their writing abilities. Many times, if a student knows that they will be writing for a big audience, such as a blog, then they will work harder and spend more time on it. Also, students who write for the classroom blog have a chance to demonstrate their creative writing skills (Huette). As a teacher, it would be important to emphasize that when students are assigned to write for the classroom blog, that they are evaluated on their creative writing skills. If students know there is an evaluation involved on their creative writing skills, they are more likely to put in more effort. In addition to teachers evaluating students’ creativity skills, by having them write on the classroom blog, they can feel more of a connection to the blog, and perhaps be involved with reading it more so as to see what their fellow classmates have written. Having student involvement makes the classroom blog more of a “team effort” rather than just having the teacher work single-handedly on the entire project all school year. By having students get involved in the writing process, announcements for the class and such, the teacher does not have to feel as pressured to be constantly writing and updating the blog. The responsibility is spread out which also helps the educator focus on other important aspects of teaching.
Author Gwen Solomon of the book entitled “Web 2.0-How to for educators” mentions that by having a classroom blog, the teacher is promoting effective uses of technology (Solomon, 2010). As our society becomes more and more technological, it is important for students to be able to recognize the amazing tools they can obtain that can help them be more successful in their educational career. Learning skills such as how to navigate a classroom blog is a useful tool for students in this current generation to comprehend. Who knows, the students may explore new ways to make the classroom blog even better! It can be a great experience for students to participate in the creation of the blog because it can help them further their technology abilities.
8. Be creative with it
Eighth, even though it is important to keep the blog simple, it is of course important to keep it fun and be creative with it. For example, a teacher can have a sidebar that posts all of the student’s birthdays for the month. Or, perhaps if the teacher is into quotes they can have a weekly quote posted weekly, daily or even monthly. By having fun and being creative with the different types of information put on the blog, the reader’s can enjoy the website that much more (Wheildon).
Another idea that goes along with keeping the blog fun and creative is updating the blog design to go with either holiday seasons, or with themes discussed in class. For example, perhaps at the beginning of the year the teacher could choose to have the blog background in a fall theme, maybe as Halloween comes around, the teacher can change the blog background to Halloween. Of course the teacher would need to pick the blog background wisely so as to keep it simple, but this can add an extra bit of fun and creativity to the classroom blog. There are many different free blog backgrounds, such as: 1. cutestblogontheblockcom
2. hotbliggityblog,.com
3. shabbyblogs.com
*And the list goes on and on but these are the more popular websites….
9. Add outgoing links and teacher contact information
Ninth, another great tip to use when creating a classroom blog is to make sure to add in links that may be of importance to the students and parents. The teacher’s e-mail and contact information would be very important to have displayed on the blog. The school and district website would also be valuable information to place on the blog. Perhaps a few other ideas could be to add links to other teacher’s blogs within the school. Perhaps there is an assignment that requires links for research and such; the classroom blog would be a great place to post this. For example, in my class my students are to write about a weekly news article. On my classroom blog I feel that it is important to put links to newspaper companies on the sidebar to make it easy and convenient for students to complete their assignment. I know that I have also posted links to class DVDs’ watched in class, that way students that were absent are able to complete the assignment while at home if they need to. There are endless possibilities when it comes to what links a teacher chooses to put in. One suggestion would be to research a variety of different links and pick the most crucial ones that you feel would help the classroom blog the most. Will Richardson, author of “Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms, mentions that it is important to have links on the classroom blog because it can enhance the credibility of the blog as well as be a great resource for students and parents to turn to (Richardson, 2010).
10. Do your research!
Tenth, and one of the most important tips to keep in mind while creating a classroom blog is to do your research! By this I mean that it is very crucial that you view many other blogs to get a feel for what you may like, or dislike about them. There is definitely not a lack of blogs in the Internet world today, thus, it makes it easy to look at and view as many blogs as possible to glean from what may work best for you and your blog (Phillips & Young, 2009). Lynne Schrum, author of “Web 2.0: New tools, new schools,” researched that in the year 2006, there was a total number of 50 million blogs (Schrum,2007)! One can only imagine that in five years, how much bigger that number would be. Of course, there is the possibility that looking at blogs could be overwhelming, but when it comes to classroom blogs, that is a narrower search. One idea would be to ask your fellow faculty members who have their own classroom blogs and view their websites, which is a start at least. Google search for classroom blogs can also be another step in finding great examples of blogs (Blood, 2000). Bottom line is, trying to create a blog from scratch, without any ideas as to how to go about it, can be very difficult and complicated. Of course you can always add in your personal style and taste, but as teachers, we know that examples and models are important and useful when attempting a project such as a classroom blog.
In conclusion, there may be many people that may argue that teachers have gotten along many years without classroom blogs so why start now? Well, as one can see there are many benefits to creating a classroom blog. Will it take extra time for the teacher to develop a classroom blog…the answer is yes, but I feel that it is very worth it! The classroom blog can act somewhat as a classroom nucleus if used correctly. It is a wonderful way to keep students, parents, and administrators informed on the happenings within your class. By getting the students involved in the classroom blog, students can further their writing and technology skills. Overall, it can be a fun source of communication.
There are most definitely important tips and techniques to keep in mind when creating a classroom blog. As a teacher, it is important to keep in mind that you are a professional, and your classroom blog should reflect this. I highly suggest you look over the tips and techniques provided for you. As a teacher myself, I have used a blog and after doing much research, I found I have been doing some things right with my blog, and some things incorrectly. The tips and techniques that I found could get you off to a great start for your classroom blog, and there are also many other resources you may turn to that can help with the creation of a blog. My suggestion is to get involved in a teacher blog, I think you will be amazed at how much it can help you create a better classroom atmosphere.
Interview: Brad Barton Web Master for KMTI Radio
I had the opportunity to interview Brad Barton who is the web master for KMTI radio in Manti, Utah. The reason I felt that he would be a beneficial person to interview for this project is because his daily job is working on the KMTI radio blog. I felt that Brad would have some great tips and techniques that could be helpful for people to understand about blogging. Even though he does not specialize in teacher blogs (many don’t), he has learned a lot about blogs through his years working there.
Brad addresses the fact that the Internet has greatly improved the world of communications. Brad mentioned that it would be impossible to do his daily job without the Internet. He states that blogs are a very useful way to communicate information. He feels that it is important to keep the information you are putting on a blog organized and simple so that the viewers can easily understand the information provided.
Brad explains that whenever someone is writing anything to be published on the web that it is crucial that the web master doesn’t publish it until it has been checked for errors. By making sure the grammar is correct, a blog will come across as much more professional and credible.
Another tip that Brad feels is important with blogs is to keep it updated, and choose fonts and layouts that are appealing to the audience. Since the audience that views his blog varies in age range, gender, and communities, he keeps the fonts and colors black and red. He feels that by choosing this type of design layout, it keeps the blog simple, and yet still appealing to his web viewers.
Overall, Brad had some helpful tips about blogging and communicating through the web. He feels that people need to be encouraged to learn how to communicate more through the web because it is a useful way to transfer information quickly to a wide group of people (Barton, 2011).
References
Barton, B. (2011, June 22). Radio web master for KMTI. (Christy Nielson,
Interviewer).
Blood, R. (2000). Weblogs: A history and perspective, Rebecca’s Pocket.
Retrieved June 14, 2011 from
http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html
Huette, S. (2006). Blogs in education. Teaching Effectiveness Program, 1-8.
Phillips, D & Young P. (2009). Online Public Relations. Philadelphia: Kogan
Page.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for
classrooms. California: A Sage Company.
Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Washington D.C.:
International Society for Technology in Education.
Solomon, G. (2010). Web 2.0: how-to for educators. Washington D.C.:
International Society for Technology in Education.
Thompson, B. (2009). Parent-teacher e-mail strategies at the elementary and
secondary levels. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication,
Vol. 10, No. 1, 17-25.
Wheildon, C. (1996). Type & Layout: how typograpny and design can get your
Message across-or get in the way. California: Strathmoor Press.
Williams, R. (2009). The non-designer’s presentation book: principles for
effective presentation design. California: Peachpit Press
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