Classroom Blogs: Ideas for Staying Connected
 Photo by ttarasiuk (flickr.com) Yesterday we talked about starting a personal blog and why it can be a great way to share your knowledge and experience with others. Today, our focus is on the classroom blog and how you can use it with your students and their families. A classroom blog can be created quickly and easily using Blogger or WordPress and is a great way to stay connected to those at home.
Classroom Updates A class blog can be a useful tool for helping share what is going on in the classroom. Post updates about upcoming projects, when permission slips are due and other reminders that may get lost in the shuffle of everyday travels from home to school. Parents can check the blog weekly or daily for updates. You can even post a poll or question on the blog to encourage parents to interact with you and with one another.
 Photo by gaab22 (flickr.com) Homework Reminders Make your classroom blog a resource for homework reminders. Post the daily homework assignment on the blog, so that parents and students can refer to it at night. This may cut down on missed assignments and help students stay on track. Class Collaboration Want to make a class story even when your students are not in class? Encourage them to participate in a class blog story. You start the process by posting the beginning of a story and students leave a comment continuing it. For example, you can begin with a post that says, “While walking around the playground, Sean found a brightly colored disk on the ground. He picked it up, turned it over and there on the back was….”. Students then build the story based on their own imagination and what has been written before their comment. It is a great way to build rapport and encourage creative thinking even while at home. Things to Consider  Photo by aubergene (flickr.com) Write posts telling families about special projects, post pictures of completed work and encourage them to get involved. One golden rule about class blogs, however, is that you should not post pictures of your students or mention their full names. This a safety issue and one that you may not think to consider. No matter how useful a blog is for disseminating information, you want to keep your students safe, so be vigilant about the personal information that you post. If you are considering starting a class blog, work on it this summer to get a feel for how to post. By the time school is ready to start, you will be able to welcome students back to school from your blog and even post pictures of the classroom. Technology, with all its pros and cons, is a part of today’s culture and the means by which many parents communicate. Making use of a classroom blog is just another way to stay connected. Watch for our Really Good Stuff Class Blog contest coming in September! We will be encouraging you to show us your classroom blog and one lucky winner will be chosen by her peers as having a Really Good Classroom Blog! So, get blogging and stay tuned! |
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Commented On July 8th, 2010 2:17 pm
Does anyone have a classroom blog I could look at? I’d love to see some examples before starting my own.
Thanks!
Commented On July 8th, 2010 2:27 pm
I have been considering a classroom blog for 2 years, I’m worried I won’t maintain it. I also work in a Title I school. While many of my parents/families don’t have computers, a surprising number have Facebook and MySpace accounts. I think I will try a classroom blog this year.
Commented On July 8th, 2010 2:58 pm
Adventuresink-3.blogspot.com this is the one I am using for the upcoming school year.
Commented On July 8th, 2010 3:00 pm
I have a website that I created using Google Sites. Since I teach high school, I have a homepage where each class can be accessed. I would say that keeping up with three classes is difficult, so I usually use it actively with my pre-AP grade 10 English class and then in a more static format with my other students. I plan next year to have students post all their final products to their own page within our class site. I haven’t decided what application to use yet: google sites, blogger, wikis, etc.
Open to ideas.
Here’s my link:
https://sites.google.com/site/thvseng2denriched/
Commented On July 8th, 2010 3:44 pm
My school district used to used “E-Chalk”. It was awesome! Perfect for teachers! Now we switched to “Blackboard”. This will be our first year using it, so I don’t know anything about it. I will say that I am bummed we are not using “E-Chalk”
Commented On July 8th, 2010 6:23 pm
I’m working on starting a blog for a team I coach so that I can get the feel of how to use Word Press, before the school year starts. I definitely want to have a classroom blog, especially so I don’t have to send all sorts of papers home. They almost never make it home and back! I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Commented On July 9th, 2010 12:05 am
I have what I call my teacher blog. I use blogger mainly because that seemed to be the simplest and most familiar. I use it to describe life inside and outside the classroom, and I also use it to update parents on various issues. I hope it helps! http://shandajones.blogspot.com/
I am considering creating an all academic blog for the upcoming school year. However, I want to get everything nailed down and finalize exactly what I want included before I launch. I do have a school website which you can check out. http://teacherweb.com/SC/WestViewElementary/ShandaJones/index.html It has most the basic information parents are looking for as well as resources I have created for teachers. In my academic blog, I hope to go deeper into what we actually learn in the classroom so parents can see exactly what their children should know. I’m also considering posting examples of “kid work.” Decisions, decisions!
Commented On July 9th, 2010 1:06 am
I’m a first year teacher in a low income school district. One concern is maintaining the blog and the other is whether my students’ families have access to the internet.
Commented On July 9th, 2010 12:29 pm
I started an experimental blog last year in the spring. I let a few of the parents see it and help me with what to change, add, fix, etc. I don’t write much. I take pictures of finished projects, and of activities, but I try to strategically place the pictures so that only hands or back of heads are showing. I am going to use it more for reminders also this year. On blogger you can put email addresses in so that anytime you update, the parents are emailed. Over 85% of my parents had internet access in some form….I still send home paper copies in the folders though. This way they get the info twice….no excuses for not getting it!
Commented On July 9th, 2010 1:30 pm
Our school system has a site we use. It’s more of a calendar and file not a blog. Don’t know that I have the time to invest in a blog when I have to keep this site up to date. I do know that some parents access it to look for notices that I’ve sent home about projects.
Commented On July 10th, 2010 8:16 am
I blogged with my first graders – the first couple of times I typed their discussions and then after Christmas they typed their own responses, mistakes and all! They loved seeing their words on the internet.
Commented On July 10th, 2010 9:10 am
I plan to start a classroom blog this year. Thanks for the information!
Commented On July 10th, 2010 11:25 am
At our district we are required to have a class website but most parents don’t have access to it or don’t look at it. I had a blog linked to it but no one looked at it.
Commented On July 11th, 2010 8:10 am
I have been using a blog for the past year. Some of my kids use it from home, but I make sure that they all have time during the school day to respond. Sometimes I use it as an extention for a lesson, other times just to get them sharing and thinking. My 4th graders love it! There are some who regularly contribute, and others who only do it when I tell them they have to. I use blogspot.com, but there’s a section of their code you have to take out to prevent your students from being able to get to other blogs.
Commented On July 11th, 2010 12:30 pm
I have a classroom blog and work in a Title I school. It’s true that not all of our families have computers, but when we send information home consistently, and in a variety of formats (including calls and translated newsletters), we do a better job of creating and maintaining the home-school connection.
A great free resource can be found at http://www.weebly.com. Another resource for creating not just a blog, but a virtual extension of your classroom is over at http://www.tiged.org
I’m actually maintaining our class website over the summer, and running a reading contest. Currently, at least three students continue to blog about the books they’re reading. Even if it’s just a handful of students and families that we reach, I think having a classroom blog is important, and very worth the time and effort.
Commented On March 20th, 2011 3:21 pm
I’m loving the examples of blogs and websites that people posted in their comments! I think it’s definitely important to set one up, keep it updated and have that contact with parents. My question, however, is how do you know if parent’s are checking. With a blog, they will have to check it all the time (as often as you post) to make it worth your while.