I am a big fan of blogs. This is no secret to readers of this blog. I think they are useful for teachers, students, parents, writers and non-writers a like. With more and more online activity and participation with social media, I see blogs as the personal space each one of us carves out of cyber-space to set up shop and build a home. Like a homestead in the frontier days, blogs are plots of space designated for our voices. The more I work with students and blogs, I am finding that personalization of this space increases authentic engagement.
The thing about blogging is that it is not automatic. It does not come easy to most students and they don’t particularity like it. I have been blogging with middle school ESL classes since October and we are just now at a place where I feel comfortable with their blogs and valuable spaces. Having said that, most of them are still only writing “assignments.” I have tried very hard to encourage personal writing beyond what I “expect” as portfolio posts. It is hard work convincing students to create a space that is both personal and dedicated to school. It is confusing and unnatural and I get that, but I believe if done with patience and love, students can find a voice that fits both their personal and professional selves.
A few weeks ago. I decided ask my students to create custom headers, and it was through this task that I feel many of them turned a corner. Suddenly, their blogs were their spaces. Sure they had all already chosen a theme, but after creating a header I saw students begin to change font styles and colors. A few students began to write posts on their own, and I could see them beaming with pride about their space. In the process, they learned a few tech skills as well.
I asked them to find (Flickr Creative Commons) or use four images that represented who they are. “When someone comes to your blog, what is it about you, that you want them to see? What do you look like in images?” We then used the collage feature on Picnik to create headers. We spoke about color, balance, composition. They added frames and finally, many of them were forced to name their blogs something other than, “My blog.” Some wanted to match the colors of their titles to the live link colors on their blogs. So we explored how to find the color codes on blogs and what that means in terms of design. I had several students change their headers three or four times in a few days, till they got it right. One student, Theo who rarely speaks in class decided to use Keynote instead and created his own header.
Another aspect of the blogs that I feel helps students feel connected is actually adding a picture and a short bio. I know there is a lot of fear of revealing too much information, but there is something to be said about personalizing their space in a responsible way. It must be difficult for students to know what to do if we are constantly giving them mixed messages. On one hand, we tell them to open up and share their voices on line, but then we tell them to be scared and weary of strangers.
The thing about blogs is that they are designed to meet new people. Blogs are about strangers finding similarities and making connections. How can we expect students to create worthwhile content and build authentic audience if they only post school assigned posts and share little to know personal information? There must be a balance, that is obvious, but I have found that the custom header and the brief profile have made our class blogs feel much more like home. Feel free to snoop around our class blog and see for yourself; most of the students now have a custom header.
In short, if you are struggling with blogging with your students, let them personalize their space so they can better connect with it. If not you may find student blogs to be lifeless folders where students dump assignments, another hoop they are learning to jump through.
Good thoughts. This can definitely be a balancing act to show students that they don’t need to compartmentalize.
I wish KidBlog.Org would allow more personalization. I think my 4th graders would appreciate some artistic license with things like that. Maybe it will come in a future update. Even without that, I haven’t found many of my students reluctant to blog. I don’t assign many posts (especially in the beginning) and many still post about their own interests and hobbies. It might be because, as a 4th grader, their blog is their first real online space. They don’t have a Facebook account or another “personal” space to offset their “work” blog.
On one hand, we tell them to open up and share their voices on line, but then we tell them to be scared and weary of strangers.
This is one of the great paradoxes of teaching students responsible online behavior, wouldn’t you agree? They have to do both. That’s why it’s so important to teach wisdom and judgement with all of this.
I think adding widgets would also be a great way to personalize their blog space. My students were so disappointed when they realized that widgets were not available to them.
Thanks for sharing!
– @newfirewithin
Hey Justin,
I know it is more complicated with younger children, but the static lifeless look of Kid blog is what turns me off of using it. I sometimes have students leave comments on blogs from that platform and they are always shocked by how plain they are. I know there is something to be said about letting the content doing the talking, but I see blogs as personal galleries. They are like lockers and binders were to us. Kids need to take ownership and use them to express who they are.
Have you tried Weebly? I think that looks a bit better. But of coached and shown how to make right choices, even a wordpress or blogger blog can be fine for a fourth grader. It is all about empowering students, by trusting them with choices.
You are so right about empowering and trusting students with their choices. I totally agree with you.
I used Weebly for my class website a few years ago. I have nothing but respect for them. It is a great platform. My son still uses it for his site. Unfortunately it got blocked at school.
Blogger and WordPress are also blocked for students in my district as well. I had to apply for special permission to get KidBlog unblocked. It is frustrating having my hands tied, but I am committed to doing the best I can with what I have.
A few students have staked out on their own and have started blogs on other platforms for more personalization. I applaud them for that, and they don’t mind that no one at school can read them until they get home.
I couldn’t agree with you more, student ownership of a blog equates to ownership of the learning. If you need a few more ideas, here are some suggestions or ideas that I use with my classes as well: http://bit.ly/evrYqg
Ha funny. I remember seeing this a while ago and loving it, now that I know you wrote it makes it even that much better. We need to connect our kids soon. Let’s chat.
Interested to know how and what resources you used to teach them a crash course in color, balance, composition.
thanks
Hi Mark I think resources and course may be too strong of words. We just had casual conversations as to why they wanted to use bright pink font , when their blog background was red. I simply tried to have them explain their choices and explained things like symmetry and balance. It took every once of energy they had to not to bedazzle their sites, but they are slowly getting it.
This is an interesting post. We are just about to make our own blogs, I think introducing custom headers is a good start for us. We are looking forward to creating them and making them into our “valuable space”.
Hi Jabiz,
I enjoyed reading about your personal journey and agree with your point concerning personalization.
We have gone down a similar path with our lower school students and it has ultimately benefitted them. By keeping the blog interface minimal to begin with our teachers have been able to promote greater emphasis on written expression and responsible journalism.
Now they are beginning to personalize their space with widgets and custom HTML and the design/ownership drive is being accelerated by a ‘better blogging competition’.
Hi, I’ve been looking at all the blogs by students and I was looking at all the headers. They are all really creative and they are basically the first thing you see. I think that custom headers are a really important part of the blog and make it more unique and individual.
I really like the idea of them all having their own title because if they all have the same title they think that they all have to do the same thing on their blog and that it is for only one purpose ‘school’. This means that they will not post personal comments about themselves because they think that the blog was not set up for posting their own personal comments.
I like the idea of you making you change the idea of the students. To make the more unique and different from other people’s blog
I think being able to customize your blog is a great idea! At that age, kids are always trying to express their individuality and trying to find out who they are as a person. Allowing them to customize their blogs to make it more like “home” is a great way to engage them in their blogs and help them enjoy it a little more.
I just recently created my first blog this past January. I post in it weekly for school but have not yet found the time to write personal blogs with my busy schedule. Each week I also comment on other teachers and kids blog as part of the class that I am in. I think it is always interesting to see what you can find out about people just by using the internet.
I was reading someone of the comments about kidsblog.org. Some of the “Comments for Kids” assignments that I do have classes that use this blog. I agree that it is extremely plain and would be difficult to try to express yourself on a site such as this.
I agree. It is harder to write stories and make websites if teachers dictate your every move. Creativity can play a huge part in blog-making. If you have very few restrictions to making your blog, it is easier to write and personalize it.
I think it’s a really good idea because people can know more about you without needing to give out any personal information.
Yes I think that having a blog would really connect you to the world and it is cool to find out what people have to say about your ideas about life and what you have to say.
I personnaly think that it is very good to have a blog because you can learn more online in stead of going to that person and spending lots of time asking them about their life. When you have a blog you can see and have fun looking at other peoples life.
Hi,
I too think that the idea of a blog is brilliant. It is a great way of having a sort of space where you are free to put whatever you want on and just de-stress out. But you really have to be responsible and careful on what you are putting on. If you reveal to much personal info, gossip too much (about things that aren’t true), or put things up that aren’t appropriate, you can get into some serious trouble. Cyber Bullying is one of these things, and is something which can really make someone feel depressed, maybe even to a serious extent. But overall, blogs are great spaces and tools so long as you use them in the proper way.
I 100% agree with Pranav! It is easy to start up a blog, its free why not try? You can communicate with friends and discuss many topics online. You can post many of your favorite clips and game sites whenever you want! Just like Pranav says bloggers must be cautious on what they post on the web. Which can easily lead to cyber bullying has caused many trouble such as suicide and more…
In conclusion I think that blogs are a handy gadget/tool that people should use without concern if you use the blogging system in a appropriate way!
Dear Intrepid Teacher,
I totally agree with you. You should never force yourself into writing an entry if you aren’t in the mood for writing. That’s what I did once and I wasn’t the least bit happy with the finished product. I have recently begun to blog and I only write when I am in the mood for it. I like the idea of customized headers and I think I will do it right away.
Akanksha, I think you are absolutely on the money here: if you are not in the mood for writing, it’s a lot of pressure. Some of my best posts are the ones I’ve spent days writing, thinking carefully about what I’m going to write, and how I’m going to phrase things.
I can’t wait to read your upcoming posts, and see your new header.
I think that having a different header is important to the blog because it makes it unique. If there is nothing special about your blog then not as many people will want to read it. This is the same as if there are no images then you don’t get a good idea of what the blog is about quickly
Jack, I’m finding it tricky to explain to (mostly) adult non-bloggers why personalisation in a blog is so important. For the same reason you change the background of your computer every time you come into my class, personalisation makes you feel like the digital space is ‘yours’. This is why I hope your blog will not just be used for the tasks set in class, but as a means of expressing your interests outside of class too.
I think its great to have your own blog because you get to post anything you want and play around with it. If you don’t have an header in the blog then not many people will look at it and also for images ( they think it will be boring). When it comes to blogging you get to be creative and also get to showyourself which kind of person you are to others.
I agree that you must open yourself up to the world, and to be yourself…. but at the same time to really be weary of strangers and to think: “Is this the side of me that I want EVERYONE to see? Is this appropriate?” . Anyway, i’m just about to start a blog and the idea of customized headers and widgets would make it a whole lot more exciting, just so that you could really make it your own.
The thing about blogging is that you want to make people read it, and understand what your saying. Not just have something empty floating around the internet.
Hi Suzanne,
I am so impressed with your comment here. It shows you are enthusiastic to get started on your own blog, but also aware of the permanence of it as a digital footprint.
I also love your final comment about how you want to have something decent out there, “Not just have something empty floating around the internet.” This sums up what I feel is so important about crafting your blog posts – making them have value, not be just ‘stuff’.
I am very much looking forward to see how you customize your blog.
I agree with Ms. Beasley. I can’t believe you guys are in 6th grade. You have such a deep and mature understanding of blogging. I cannot wait to see your work.
I hope that maybe your class can help me explain blogging to some principals at our school.
Wow! Everyone. Thanks for sharing so many great opinions and ideas. This area for comments is what blogs are really about. I can’t wait to see all your terrific new headers and maybe you can all share your blogs with my sixth grade students. I will be in touch with Ms. Beasly to see how that would work. Maybe we can even Skype into your class and share stories about blogging.
Keep up the great work and thanks again for taking the time (Even if it was homework) to leave a comment.
Dear teacher,
I think this is a great idea. we love to change font, change the colour and make it look unique.
That is an easier way of getting people to know you without giving away that personal info.
I think that custom headers are really important because the first thing you see is the custom header on a website
I think this is a very interesting blog. It is a good thing for us to read as we are just starting our blogging unit. I really like the idea that we should write about what we want on a blog and to make it personal. I still think it is not a good idea to give to much information on a blog though.
I agree with everything ‘Intrepid Teacher’ has said
Dear Intrepid Teacher,
I agree about all the points you have talked about blogging. Blogging is a space where you can express yourself and your feelings to other people. It is a great tool to have in life. You sometimes may not be in the mood for blogging but you can always start and write later. You have to be careful and not give too much information on a blog. Blogs can be about events, feelings, books and all sorts of things. It’s a way for you to show the world who you really are and how your life is. Custom headers are like the catch lines of blogs. The first thing you see on a blog is the custom header. You’ve got to make yours catchy to make people want to read all the posts and who knows comment! It’s a great experience as a child and an adult. You learn more about how the world thinks about you and how exciting everything is. For instance you can put a post saying “I just competed in my school pi competition and i remember 80 decimal points!” Many mathematicians will comment and look. You may put a movie review about some new movie you saw. Blogging has a lot of freedom since you can write anything you want.
I agree! you should always be open and express yourself in many differant ways, like through-out art, music, game or just talking to your friends. You should also always be creative and have fun when bloging!
I think that custom headers should be creative, unique especially because its the first thing you see and Its what draws the others to look at the website ,I also think this is a really interesting blog as we are starting our blog unit. As bloggers, although its great showing your personal side of you eg. Personality, Name, DB, Where you live you etc. you should also be aware of how much detail/amount of personal information you put on the internet as anyone can access it.
I think it is great to personalize your blog, just make sure you don’t post too much personal information. You can express yourself by personalizing your blog for example: Cupid Couture (which was one of the blogs I viewed that really stood out). You can also post pictures and create a fancy background too.
I like this blog called Intrepid Teacher because it explains what you can and can’t do on a blog and it shows you how to create a blog. It also says that if you want to, you can put any amount of work into it and have a great blog – Kimberley Marsh 6MiB
i really like the idea of making your own unique blog and not just copying the idea from someone else
I Really think this idea of making your own blog because it is unique and original.