1. Blogging Transforming Writing for the 21 st Century

2. Transform Student Writing Read Silently. Highlight, underline, or make note of what seems important to you. Complete an outcome sentence. (Instructions on the next slide.)

3. What is an Outcome Sentence? Purpose: To inspire students to extract personal learnings from school experiences and to promote the habit of learning from all of life’s experiences. Description: Asking students to reflect back on an experience and write endings to such phrases as I learned…, I was surprised…, I’m beginning to wonder… Note that this strategy does not carry an expectation that all students will get the same learning from a lesson. The aim is for students to construct meaningful, personal knowledge.

4. Complete one of the phrases below: I learned… I was surprised… I now realize… I would like to find out more about… I plan to… *Share your outcome sentence with your group. Choose a member from each group to share with everyone. *Share your outcome sentence with your group. Choose a member from each group to share with everyone.

5. What tool can we use to provide authentic writing experiences? Blog (weblog): A blog is basically an online journal. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in chronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominently.

6. Blogs have been described as: An quick, easy way to create a website A place to share thoughts and ideas A way to connect with others A way to collaborate A place to share knowledge with others A place to learn from other professionals A place to network with family and friends

7. How can blogs help me? Examples of Blogs for Educators www.Edutopia.org/blogs www.techlearning.com/section/Blogs http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/ http://www.readingrockets.org/blogs

8. Find blogs you might like to follow: Visit Blogsearch to find topics of interests: http://blogsearch.google.com

9. What research says about blogging in the classroom: Increase in student interest in writing when work is published online and it is subject to reader comments Increase in student engagement and communication among students Increase in higher order thinking Enhanced critical thinking skills Reduced feelings of isolation Motivates students to read and write

10. How can I use a blog in my classroom? Share information Create classroom community Foster communication and collaboration Promote global awareness Promote creativity Inspire self-reflection Digital Portfolio (showcase student work) Communicate with Parents Scaffold Learning and Mentoring (partner with older students)

11. Examples of Classroom Blogs: http://misscox5.blogspot.com http://hill3rd.blogspot.com http://mills5th.blogspot.com/

12. Handout Ways to Use Blogs in the Classroom While reading through the list, mark the ideas you might like to try. While reading through the list, mark the ideas you might like to try. Share your favorite blog idea from the list with your group. Share your favorite blog idea from the list with your group. With your group, chart other ways blogs can be used for purposeful writing in your classroom. With your group, chart other ways blogs can be used for purposeful writing in your classroom. Post charts and share! Post charts and share!

13. Create your own blog!!! Go to www.blogger.com www.blogger.com Select: “Create A Blog” Enter your information. Enter your information. Password should be: Password should be:Simple Easy to remember No spaces Click on “Continue” Click on “Continue”

15. Name Your Blog  Name should be identifiable  Write down your blog address (URL)  Try to keep this short as this is what will need to be typed in each time blog is accessed.  Continue

17. Choose a Template  Select a template (it can be changed)  To customize your background later, visit: http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/free.html

20. Blogger Tools

21. Formatting

22. Settings: Comments Be sure to select “Show Comments” Be sure to select “Show Comments” Under “Who Can Comment” –Select Anyone Under “Who Can Comment” –Select Anyone Select “Always” for Comment Moderation: Select “Always” for Comment Moderation: You will get to approve messages before they are posted for everyone to see. You will get to approve messages before they are posted for everyone to see. Word Verification: Select “No” Word Verification: Select “No” Be sure to save your settings! Be sure to save your settings!

23. Comments

24. Your Blog – Creating a Post Click here to add an image to your post.

25. Use a picture downloaded to your computer. Copy the URL for a picture from the internet. (Ex: Google Images) Inserting Images in Posts

26. Gadgets

27. To add gadgets… - Select the “Layout” tab -Then, select “Page Elements” Click Here

29. Create A Poll… Simply type in your question and answer choices. Choose a closing time, and save!

30. Create A Map… Set up your map on www.clustrmaps.com Post under the “HTML/JavaScript” Gadget Tool

31. Add a Live Traffic Feed … - Go to www.feedjit.com - Select “Widgets” and follow the steps. www.feedjit.com Feedjit will post directly on the blog you are signed into.

32. To add music to your blog… -Go to www.playlist.com and set up a playlist of songs. -Add to HTML/JavaScript at bottom of layout. www.playlist.com

33. To add other gadgets, widgets, and tools… Add any video, photo, or other web tool to your blog by using the HTML/JavaScript gadget tool. Copy and paste any HTML code into this box, and click save to post on your blog.

34. Removing the “Next Blog” Button From the Blogger dashboard, click the Template button for the blog that you want to change. Make sure you have the tab labeled Edit HTML selected. You should see a window with a lot of HTML code in it on the screen. Scroll down just a little bit until you see something that looks like this: body { Below this "tag" will be HTML code that sets the appearance of your blog. Click above the body { text and enter this text: #navbar-iframe { height: 0px; visibility: hidden; display: none; } Select “Save Template Changes”

35. Need Help?  Blogger’s Help is excellent and updated often: http://help.blogger.com/