Our class blog is a way for us to share our ideas and our learning with other people. Sharing our learning means that it is very important that we understand how to use the blog and the internet in a secure way.

The following guidelines have been established to ensure the safety of our students when blogging. The guidelines are also reminders of how to use the blog to improve writing and keyboarding skills.

• Student work will only be identified by first names. All comments should have first names only.

• Parents who leave comments are asked not to use last names either. (Please post comments as “Amy’s mom” or “John’s grandfather”, etc.)

• All comments submitted have to be approved by Mrs. Hill before they are included on the blog. Inappropriate writing will not be approved.

• Proof-read your comments carefully. Students should have a family member check for spelling mistakes before submitting a comment.

• Only Mrs. Hill has access to post things on the blog.

• Always write in full sentences and words – no “text talk” please!

 

Announcements

The teacher may use the blog as a one-way communication tool by posting information and notifications to it instead of sending out print-outs or emails to every individual in the class.

Class Discussions

A blog is useful for extending class discussions to the Web. In this case, the teacher generally starts a discussion, and students can post their comments and views, which allows the topic to be discussed both inside and outside the classroom. This tactic is great for students who may not be comfortable speaking in class or those who do not get a chance to air their views during the class hours.

Student Participation

The teacher may also use the idea of requiring each student to make a post on the classroom blog as a form of assignment, homework, etc. which the teacher can then browse and review.