Years ago, I began blogging to document the daily adventures of my family and it occurred to me that I could create a blog for the families of my students to follow the (weekly) adventures of my students.
I got very excited about the thought of creating a blog for my classroom because blogging was fun, easy and FAST for me. I also liked how easy it would be to share classroom pictures and videos.
I have had a classroom blog since 2010 and it has been a huge success with both students and their families. I say "families" because with a blog, the learning my students do in my classroom can be shared not only with their parents, but their grandparents and others living across the country (and even out of the country).
Having used a blog as the main form of communication for parents the last years, I would like to share a few tips that you should consider when starting your own blog.
1. Create a Permission Slip
Make sure to get a signed permission slip for each of your students so that you may take pictures and/or videos. If a parent does not want their child photographed for the blog, ask them to talk with their child about it as you will need to ask that child to step out of group shots. So far, all of my parents have allowed me to photograph their children so this has not been a problem for me.
2. Never Use Last Names
When writing about your students NEVER use last names. The same goes for parents. When I have parent volunteers or a visiting grandparent read a story to my class, I always refer to them as "Joey's Mom" or "Ali's Papa". Again, this will help parents (myself included because I have taught my children's teachers how to blog) feel more comfortable having pictures of their children on the web. Another thing to remember is to blur last names in photos of student work. Most computers now make it easy to do this.
3. Keep in Quiet
As much as you can, try not to refer to your location or school by name. This too will help parents who may be leery about your using a blog with their child's picture on it. You can also set up settings so that your others can not to a 'search' for your blog through google or other search engines. Again since other's can't 'stumble' upon your blog in a search engine, you should be OK.
4. Picture Tips
If you are using pictures in your classroom blog (which I highly recommend because it is a HUGE draw for parents to come 'see' how cute their children are), be sure to take one group picture for every post. I say this because (again speaking as a parent), before I read anything on a blog, I first scan to see if there are any pictures of MY kids. If you do at least one group shot you will cover everyone. I also take A LOT of pictures and any pictures I don't use (I try to post under 10), I post at the end of my blog in a "Smilebox" slide show (I will show you how to do that on your blog).
5. Start Out Slow!
Like anything, there is a learning curve to blogging. The more you do it, the better you will become. Think about what YOU want to use your blog for and make a goal as to how often you will update it. I update my blog once a week (publishing it on the weekend) and all my blog titles are quite generic, "Week __ in Review". I do have the occasional midweek blog for information I want my parents to have quickly.
6. Make Media Your Friend
Computers can be scary, but we know as educators that the world is changing and as it changes, so should our classrooms. Parents are on computers, they're on facebook... make these things work FOR you as our ultimate goal is for families to partner up with us so that together we can help make learning all it can be for their child.
If you would like to see my classroom blogs (I have one for my classroom, one for my students' writing pieces, and one for "Summer Suggestions") or you have questions or would like me to write a post about something you would like to know more about, please feel free to leave a comment here or email me at: momentsofpause@yahoo.com
Happy Blogging,
Laura
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