Monthly Archives: October 2017

How To: Create A Class Blog For Elementary

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Several IF,Ts have asked me how to go about setting up a class blog, so I thought I would do my first “How To” blog on exactly that.

First, let’s take a minute to decide how we want to use a class blog. This is a very important step, because there are different settings you will want to choose as you go about setting up the blog. Here are some important questions to consider:

  • What is the purpose of the blog?
  • Is this a place for students to post?
  • Do you want your students to have their “own” blog under your class umbrella?
  • Is the teacher the primary (or only) author of posts?
  • Take some time here to come up with a name!

I have created a few class blogs, and each has a different purpose:

  1. A 5th grade class is using their blog to focus on their year-long PBL lesson on natural disasters. These students each created their own blog under the class.
  2. A 5th grade class is using a single class blog with multiple users to create a “Travel Blog” as they learn about the different regions of the US.
  3. A 2nd grade class is using a single class blog with multiple users to create a class blog to share what they are learning with parents.

Once you have determined how you are going to use the class blog, you’ll have it set up in no time!

Step 1: Create Your New Site – From your dashboard, click on “My Sites” on the left. Add a new site from the button next to “My Sites.” Follow the directions to create your site.

 

Tip: Your “Site Name” is your blog’s URL. You can only use lowercase letters and numbers here. Your “Site Title” is the title of your site.

Once you have your brand new site, visit the site’s dashboard. You should now have a menu of new tools on the left. One of those tools is “My Class.” If you hover your mouse over “My Class,” you can create, or join, a class. Don’t worry if you already clicked on “My Class!” You can choose create or join a class from the menu on the left.

Under “Create a Class,” you have options for your new class blog. You have to check the first box in order to create your class blog. Then you can decide if you want to allow comments, and whether those comments need to be approved. (I’d recommend moderating and approving posts and comments!) I allowed the blog to be viewed, but I blocked it from search engines.

Make sure to scroll down and hit SAVE!

Now, all you have to do is invite students (and teachers!) to your new class blog. From the blog’s dashboard, when you hover over “My Class,” you have a new menu of options that includes “Invite Students.” Make up an invite code for students and teachers.

 Tip: My invite codes are “student” and “teacher.” It doesn’t have to be hard!

Decide if you want to make your users create their own blog. With elementary students, I’ve done both. When I required users to create a blog, I gave them a name in advance (Emma’s 5th Grade Blog, George’s Travel Blog). When you click “Add New Invite Code,” you get a link you can now share with students (or teachers). I turned my links into QR Codes and saved them in Google Docs so the class can easily join the blogs with an iPad.

Congratulations! You now how a class blog set up! Share in the comments some things you might have students blog about.

Fostering Innovation

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As someone who gets bored easily, I cannot imagine teaching the same way year after year. This tendency I have to seek out new ways of doing things has allowed me to change the way I teach all the time. I am constantly designing new projects to try, testing the latest technology available, and learning new ways to teach. Not all of these changes have been innovative; they have just been different ways of covering the same material. Yet, it’s those new and better ways of doing things that my students get the most out of.

In The Innovator’s Mindset, George Couros defines innovation as “a way of thinking that creates something new and better.” (19) Changing the way I teach because I get bored teaching the same lessons all the time isn’t enough. I have to strive for the new lesson to be better than the old ones.

Case in point: One of my second grade teachers recently came to me with the goal of planning lessons that promote the 4Cs in her students through the relevant use of technology. I applauded the last part of that: relevant use of technology. She wants to use the tools available to enhance student learning, but not as the focus of her lessons. We created several math centers that used apps designed to allow students to create something. Our first center involved creating videos to teach first graders the concept of even and odd. This activity became an example of innovation for this teacher. Her new center allowed her to promote the 4Cs (Critical thinking skills, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity) into math for her students in a new and better way.

Notice, in this example, the technology is not the focal point. Yes, students are using the technology to create a video, but their focus was more on how to teach the concept of even/odd to a group of first graders. These students were focused on teaching their content, not on the video they were making. Through their videos, the teacher was able to check for deeper understanding than she would have with her traditional center activities. She used this insight to guide her small group instruction during centers. As a side benefit, the teacher also noted that this year students have taken less time to learn the center expectations and rotations than her past experiences! Students are excited about going to math centers, so they listen to directions better and do what is expected.

In what ways are you going to be innovative this week?