USING BLOGS IN

ELEMENTARY

CLASSROOMS AND

LIBRARIES

Kelly L. Knight

Librarian, Fork Shoals School

How I started blogging

A little background…

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

appropriately and safely.

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!

Questions?

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.

Your first post is now live!

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!

Questions?