Skip to main content

Class Blogs: What are they, and why do I need one?

Many thanks to Ms. Orozco for her willingness to be a guest blogger on our blog. We truly appreciate it and can't wait to try out our own class blogs!
~Maggie and Laura

Class blogs can be of great use in engaging students, and fueling their success in and out of the classroom.  I personally first started using a class blog in 2014 with my Geography students.  I had already tried several blogging platforms for personal use, such as Tumblr, Blogger, and LiveJournal, but while initially impressed with their features and overall look, had since become disenchanted, when I stumbled upon WordPress.  WordPress did have a learning curve, and I continue to learn new ways of interacting with it, and leveraging its tools, but it is well worth the time and effort because of all the customization you can do with it, and all the features available.
I created a class blog with the following features that I used and absolutely recommend to anyone just starting out with a blog:
  • Create a “Documents” page, where I uploaded any and all handouts given to students in class, for easy access (this saved students on a number of occasions!)
  • After class, create a post sharing what was discussed in class, and any YouTube videos shown, as well as the homework assigned
  • When students form groups for working a class project, post names of students in groups and assigned task/topic on the blog (for privacy reasons, I put only students’ first name, and last initial) for easy reference later
  • Extra credit!  This was a great way to get students using the blog often.  I would randomly post extra credit opportunities (usually articles that expand on the lesson, followed by a related activity and/or questions) on the blog).  The rule was, I would not announce it in class, so they had to be paying attention, because any extra credits I posted on the blog, must be turned in within a week of being posted.
The class blogs I created were used with my 9th graders.  However, if you are teaching lower grades, class blogs can still be a great communication tool.  By sharing your class blog with parents, they can keep up to date and in the loop with what’s happening in your classroom.  You can include any documents or resources that may be of use to them as they help their child study at home, as well as showcasing student work.  
For inspiration, here are a few of my previous blogs:
Blog01.PNG
Blog02.PNG
If you’re just getting started and need a little help, YouTube has many tutorials to teach you the basics.  Additionally, WordPress has some articles on their website about how to get started.  

Author Bio: Amanda Orozco has been an educator for the past six years, teaching students ages 5 to over 50 both in the US and abroad. She is inspired by the way technology allows educators to work smarter every day, and seeks to provide materials that make technology more accessible and applicable to the classroom.
Inline image 1

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who LOVES the Circus?!

We've got a FREEBIE for ya! That's right. You read that right! FREE!! Just head on over to  our shop  and download this puppy. It's precious! It's great for your Circus themed classroom OR even your own child's playroom. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Who Has Time for Lunch?

Teacher lunch ideas- quick, cheap, healthy We can't possibly be the only teachers in America who laugh when people mention eating lunch during the week. Maybe it's more envy than laughter. Who knows. What I do know is that it's a joke among teachers that we can eat full meals while walking around the cafeteria opening Ketchup packets, telling kids to use their manners, and we don't even get sick when we see milk come out of someone's nose. Now, that's talent! We make wishes about eating with other adults or having a moment of peace during the day, but the honest truth there isn't anywhere we'd rather be. Lunch is a time to get to know our kids. We get to have conversations with them, find out about the latest craze to hit elementary school, and die laughing at some of their antics. But, where does this leave teachers at the end of the day? STARVING! Running to the vending machine and scarfing down anything that comes out of that machine like a Hoov...
Post a Comment
Read more

Guest Blog Post: Failure

Our guest blogger tonight is Lisa Langley. Lisa is an amazing person. She is kind, caring, hilarious, and so eager to learn. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Lisa for a few years. She has been a substitute teacher and vital member of my school community. Sadly for us, she is moving on to better things. Tonight, Lisa brings you her thoughts on something we all dread … failure. Failure Failing is never easy. Sometimes we want something to work so badly that we get tunnel vision. We just keep moving in the same direction, expecting different results, but we are not doing anything differently. My most recent experience of this was nursing school. To make this short, my family had experienced a life altering medical emergency and I found myself not just a stay at home mom to a 3 year old, a 7 year old, and 9 year old, but also caretaker to my husband. And, I had to make some hard decisions on what my family’s future was going to look like. After the initial shock, I dec...
Post a Comment
Read more