Blogging in the elementary school

USING BLOGS IN
ELEMENTARY
CLASSROOMS AND
LIBRARIES

Kelly L. Knight
Librarian, Fork Shoals School

A little background…
How I started blogging

Why blog?
 Blogs allow users to communicate about a variety of
different subjects. In a school library or
classroom, blogs allow students to share information
about what they’re learning or reading, making them
active participants in their own learning and the
learning of others, not just in their schools but in the
larger world around them.
 Students are going to communicate via
blogging, social networking, and any other way they
can find, with or without our influence. Why not use
those tools for an educational purpose? Along the
way, we may just teach them how to communicate

Before you start
blogging…
 Consider what you want the mission of your blog to
be. Do you want to only focus on reviewing
books? Do you want your blog to be a promotional
tool for your library or classroom? Do you want it
to be used primarily as a communication tool for
parents? Think about what you want out of your
blog and who your target audience is before you
start.
 Explore the different blogging programs. There are
a lot out there, and some are blocked in schools.
Make sure you don’t start a blog that people in
your school will be unable to use. (In Greenville
County, we are limited to the district blog server.)

When you’re ready to Enter the
Blogosphere…
 Share your ideas for your blog with your administration
and teachers. If they don’t buy in and get excited about
what you’re doing, your students won’t either.
 If you’re a school librarian, work with a few classroom
teachers on some blogging lessons. Teach students
about how blogs work, netiquette, how to post
comments, writing book reviews, and any other skills you
deem important.
 If you’re a classroom teacher, work with your school
librarian. I promise you that he/she will be helpful in using
this Web 2.0 tool!
 Look to other professionals for ideas if you get “blogger’s
block.”
 When you’re teaching lessons on blogging, have at least
ten posts ready to go so that students have options when
learning how to post comments.

Things to consider
 Make sure you keep the safety of your users in mind.
If you or your principal are uncomfortable using real
names, have your students create pen names. (They
have a lot of fun with this, too!)
 It’s vital to instruct your students on the rules of
netiquette. You may have to re-teach these rules
quite often.
 Post to your blog often (at least once per week)!!!! If
you neglect your blog, your users will, too!
 Have fun with blogging! Let your students know that
you love what you’re doing. Your enthusiasm will be
contagious!

How can you promote your new
blog?
 Place a link to your blog on your email signature, your
website, and on your school’s website.
 Send out information on the blog in your newsletter.
 Let the local media know that you’re doing something new to
promote reading (or whatever else you may be blogging
about).
 Share the information with your colleagues at meetings and
conferences and through email and listservs.
 Provide incentives to students and teachers who comment
on your blog. (I got permission from my principal to do this
for our summer reading program.)
 Tell all of your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and even
Pinterest!

My blogs
Knight Reader
Fork Shoals Reads!

Knight Reader Junior

Adventures in Library

Land

Highlights of my life as a
blogger
 Comments from authors
 Comments from readers around the
world
 People who use my reviews to

create their reading lists
 Students getting excited about

communicating with others about
books, libraries, and reading

For Book Review and Author
Blogs…

 Visit Knight Reader at
http://knightreader.wordpress.com,
and go to the “Book Review and
Author Blogs” page.
 Please add any other blogs you

find in the comments, and I’ll add
them to the main page.

Comments and Questions
 Don’t be afraid to try something new. If it doesn’t
work, adapt and try something else. Remember
those all-important words—monitor and adjust.
 If you’d like any of the lesson plans or materials
I’ve used to teach blogging at the elementary
level, you can email me at
klknight@greenville.k12.sc.us.
 You can also email me with
questions, concerns, gripes, and anything else
when you’re starting your own blogs. I’ll do
whatever I can to help you create a successful
blog!

Now…who’s ready
to get started in
creating their own
blogs?!

Step One

 Go to http://blog.greenville.k12.sc.us.
 Click on “Create a new blog.”

Step Two
 Enter in a username. (I use my district
username)
 Enter in your preferred email address.
 Select “Gimme a site!”
 Click next.

Step Three
 Type in your blog’s domain (the web address
you want). This can be your name or
something specific to the blog you’re creating.
 Select a title for your blog. (This can be
changed later.)
 Select “yes,” and click Signup.

Step Four
 Activate your blog at your preferred email
address.
 Click on the FIRST link in the email notice.
 You will be directed to a site stating that your
blog is active.
 Copy the password listed there. You’ll have a
chance to change it later.

Step Five
 Log in to your blog!
 Enter your username, and paste the password
that was emailed to you.
 You should be directed to a site that looks
something like the screen shot below.
 If you screen doesn’t go to this, don’t freak out!
There’s probably a simple fix.

Step Six
 Before we get to the fun stuff, we need to set
our discussion settings.
 Click on “Settings” and select the “Discussion”
menu.
 Next to “Before a comment appears,”
deselect the “comment author” option, and
select “An administrator must always
approve the comment.”
 Scroll down and save changes.

Step Seven
 Still in the “Settings” menu, click on “General.”
 Change (or delete) the default tagline. (You
can also change the title of your blog or your
email address here.)
 Scroll down and save changes.

Step Eight
 Now we’re getting to the good part…choosing your
theme!
 Go to the appearance menu, and select themes.
 You can choose whichever theme you want. Just
make sure you pick one that’s easy on the eyes!
 You can preview your theme before committing.
 Once you find one you like, activate and save that
theme.
 You can change this theme anytime!

Step Nine
 We’ll now add a “Meta” widget to your blog.
This will allow you to log in or out directly from
your blog.
 In the appearance menu, select widgets.
 Drag the “Meta” widget to one of your sidebars
on the right.

Step Ten
 Let’s write our first post!
 In the Posts menu, select “all posts.”
 There’s already a post there, so we’ll edit that one
to fit our blogs.
 Change the title to something like “Welcome to our
class blog!”
 Enter your first message.
 When you’re
finished, click
Update.

This is what this new blog looks
like right now…

Final stuff
 I haven’t begun to cover everything about creating
your blogs. Play with it! (Don’t be afraid to press
buttons!) I promise, if you make a mistake, it can
always be undone!
 If you need extra help, you can email me or visit
http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/Departments/main.asp
?titleid=acad_techblogs for A LOT of instructions on
setting up your blog. It includes some advanced
stuff, like embedding videos or things from other
sites, customizing your blog, and much more.
 There will likely be sessions at the UTC this summer
on using blogs in the classroom. Make sure to attend!
 For ideas, go to http://blog.greenville.k12.sc.us, and
click on some of the blogs that have recently been
updated. Some of them are pretty awesome!

Blogging in the elementary school

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Blogging in the elementary school