‘Back to school’ commenced in the Northern Hemisphere. Lots of educators new to blogging are looking for advice on using blogs with their students.
It’s time we all helped them out and update our list of ‘must read’ posts on student blogging! Yes, we’ve had similar conversations BUT — with experience our ideas and advice evolve!
Off course incentive helps too! So we’re giving away sixteen Edublogs supporter 12 month subscriptions which you can use on your own blog or give away to a reader.
How To Enter
Competition is open to any one — experienced blogger, new to blogging, student bloggers.
Just write a post based on any of the topics themes listed below:
- What are your 5 most important tips for educators starting out blogging with students?
- When you first started blogging what aspects of blogging worked well? What has caused problems? What would you change? — you can discuss this in terms of class, student or your own personal blogging!
- What are your 5 most important questions you would like to ask experienced bloggers? And why?
- What do you like about blogging? What have you found hard about blogging. Students – How can teachers make the process easier?
Once you’ve written your post:
- Leave a comment on this post letting me know you have entered, with a link to your post (plus for students your Grade/year level).
- Explain in your post which topic you are writing about and link back to this post so that we receive a pingback advising us that you have written the post (read this to understand What’s A Pingback? And How To Write Links).
For example you might copy the following into the bottom of your post and just change the topic enclosed in the qutoation marks:
This post has been written on “5 most important tips for educators starting out blogging with students” as part of The Edublogger’s Competition!
The four best post for each topic will win and you can submit posts for as many topics you like. And off course all winners will get a badge they can add to their blogs 
Remember we’re looking for the best — best advice, tips, questions, most thought provoking! — here is your chance to demonstrate your blogging and creative skills! You have until September 30 to enter!
If you are enjoying reading this blog, please consider 
Subscribing For Free!
32 Comments So Far»
I have entered the challenge. http://annmic.wordpress.com/
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goldiemumma Reply:
September 10th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
@annmic,
I have entered the challenge
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Hi I have entered the challenge. Read my advice here: http://annmic.wordpress.com/
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Commenting to receive followup comments. NEW computer teacher here; interested in the tips you’ll receive! Just took a class where we made our own blogs to post assignments. Also had a blog for the class where questions were posted, resources listed, etc.
THANKS to ALL!
d
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Sue Waters Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
@Donna, Hi Donna, I recommend that you might also like to subscribe to all comments from The Edublogger because often the comments are the best tips you get here.
For a start I really think you should read Lauren (below) post – it is an absolutely amazing post with excellent advice both educators. Make sure if you do read to leave her a comment as I know she will appreciate it.
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I have written 5 points on what to remember when starting up with students here: http://annmic.wordpress.com/
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Sue Waters Reply:
August 14th, 2009 at 12:45 am
@Ann, thanks for entering the competition and sharing your tips with Educators Ann. I’m so sorry your comments didn’t appear but I installed Akismet yesterday and some how caught all your comments in spam.
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Ann Reply:
August 14th, 2009 at 1:13 am
@Sue Waters, And now I seem to have a lot of comments. Oh well too bad, I was wondering why they didn’t show up!
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Sue Waters Reply:
August 14th, 2009 at 1:16 am
@Ann, I’m really sorry about that – I couldn’t believe it when I saw they were trapped in the spam filter which I only added yesterday.
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Hi! My name is Lauren and I wrote a post containing five important tips, how teachers can make the process easier, what I like about blogging, and how blogging has effected my class.
http://laurenc604.edublogs.org/2009/08/13/edublogs-advice/
Happy Blogging!
~Lauren
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Sue Waters Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
@laurenc604, Hi Lauren, that is the most amazing post. Thanks so much for writing it. Your writing is coming along so well but more importantly those are really great tips for people!
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laurenc604 Reply:
August 15th, 2009 at 8:18 am
@Sue Waters, Thank you so much! You were wondering how small my town was in your comment at my blog. That’s a great question. The town that I live in currently has about 11.5 thousand people in it. This might seem like a lot, but the neighboring city of Indianapolis currently had about 784,118 people in 2005. So, my town could fill about 15% of the city of Indianapolis.
Also, I’ve been wondering: how do you enable your blog so that you can reply to comments so that they will show up right under the person’s previous comment.
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Sue Waters Reply:
August 15th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
@laurenc604, Well I grew up in a considerably smaller town – called Manjimup (said Man Jim Up) – you can read about it here.
But now live in Perth which has over 1.5 million people. It is one of the most isolated metro areas in the World — to visit other parts of Australia I normally have to fly 4-5 hours.
Comments
– I use threaded comments. And my gift to you is I just made you an Edublogs Supporter for 12 months so now you have threaded comments. Your post was excellent and deserves rewarding now. Just go to Plugins > Installed and click activate under Threaded comments. (Please don’t switch on Let it Snow though 
)
Keep up the excellent work with your blogging.
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I have posted a link to Applebatch teacher community-a great resource for educators where they can exchange information and blog about education topics. http://applebatch.com
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Hi Sue,
A trackback to my 5 tips for helping students become better bloggers should be making its way through cyberspace right now. Thanks again to both you and Sue Wyatt for supporting teachers’ efforts to connect their students through blogging!
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Sue Waters Reply:
August 29th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
@Gail Desler, Laughing your trackback beat your comment but I’ve struggled as to a response because it is an excellent post and I think people must get sick of me saying excellent post. But it was. Each of your tips were totally spot on a great advice.
Thanks so much for sharing your tips.
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Ms. Waters,
I have posted about starting out blogging. I’m not sure if it can match Lauren’s post, but I hope that you like it!
http://abbeyr604.edublogs.org/2009/08/29/starting-out-blogging/
-Abbey
7th Grade
http://abbeyr604.edublogs.org
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Hi, I’m Linda and here are my comments about when I first started blogging.
I first started blogging as part of a technology-in-libraries class. As the librarian in a middle school, I needed a way to increase my technological skills as well as have an easy way to let teachers know about new resources. I was hooked immediately because it was so easy and user-friendly. Getting the design right was a little difficult because I didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted the blog to do or look like. When I decided to use widgets, I realized my design had to change to 3 columns. I also had a hard time choosing a domain name and actually changed it three times before I got it right. That meant that I lost some information in the transfer, but eventually got it back.
Right now, I am the “chief blogger” at our middle school. As soon as I showed our technology coordinator how easy it was to set up a blog, she wanted one too. Over the summer, five teachers decided they wanted one as an easy way to keep parents informed about what’s going on in class. Students can access their assignments from home, so they have no excuses about not knowing what’s due the next day. Our administration loves this way of staying in touch with parents and the community.
I love how easy it is to upload documents and images. I’m still struggling with videos tho – I’ve got a new Flip video camera and can’t quite figure it out yet. I also love how easy it is to notify teachers and parents of new resources without sending it by paper!
Love this site!
Linda Keulen
Roosevelt Middle School
Tijeras, NM, USA
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Hello Ms. Waters! I replied to your comment on my blog, but I am also commenting here in case you aren’t checking my blog for a reply.
I’m sorry to say that I actually do not have access to the videos anymore. They were on Angel, which is the online resource our school uses, but they were wiped at the beginning of the school year. However, I believe that I can email Miss Sweeney and ask her if she can get them to me.
Second, I personally prefer the videos, as I was able to see the Edublogs page and hear exactly what to do. I was also able to pause the video and try doing it myself. I think that it would be a good idea to have both, because as you said less tech savvy people would probably prefer something on paper. I think that kids, younger adults, and tech savvy mid- age adults would use the videos, whereas older and less tech savvy people would use the handout.
I would assume that my classmates would prefer the videos, because after a year of using computers all day, we enjoy and know how to use the technology on our computers.
Hope this is helpful!
-Abbey
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Gail Desler Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
@abbeyr604,
Get ready, Abbey! I think a lot of teachers planning to participate in the Bloggers Challenge will be sharing your blog with their students. Thanks for leading the way!
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abbeyr604 Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
@Gail Desler, Thanks for the compliment! I love your blog too! From your about me page, I think that you and my teacher from last would get along just fine! She was the person who first got me and all of my classmates blogging! Hope you have a great school year!
-Abbey
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@Linda Keulen thanks for sharing how you got into blogging and it looks like you are doing really well encouraging others to start blogging. What are the other teachers finding as the hardest part of blogging?
@Abbey Sorry your comment about entering the competition got caught in my comment moderations queue. Unfortunately I’ve had a bit of an issue with spammer doing pingbacks on this blog so have had to moderate comments based on specific terms to reduce the problems. Downside is it some times moderates comments I don’t want moderated.
Both yours and Lauren’s posts are equally excellent because they provide different ideas and suggestions. I think they should be on must read lists for educators.
Thanks for following up here re-videos. Unfortunatley my comment tracking isn’t working effectively like it used to. I am going to think more about videos.
Everyone here in comments — what are your thoughts about videos vs ‘how to’ instructions. What works best for you and what have you noticed works best for others?
PS I am grinning about this as it is James’s job to do the videos — so I’m happy to give him a nag
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abbeyr604 Reply:
August 31st, 2009 at 2:50 am
@Sue Waters, It’s alright about the comment issues. That happens!
Thank you, I know Lauren and I appreciate it! We are good friends and we are going to be helping the new bloggers at our school as well.
-Abbey
Hopefully you can help make the videos even better!
P.S.
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Sue Waters Reply:
August 31st, 2009 at 4:04 am
@Abbey, well you and Lauren do really amazing work and should be both really proud. Comment issue really annoys me but I’ve had to do it to prevent commenters from receiving high amounts of comment spam.
Re-video. The only thing that has kept me going while writing all the information on the Help and Support site — http://help.edublogs.org/getting-started-with-edublogs/ was the knowledge that I wouldn’t have to create the videos. And that James will enjoy this task
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I like Miss W’s page it rocks.
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I have contributed my 5 important tips for getting started. Hope you like them!
http://davemendell.edublogs.org/
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Sue Waters Reply:
September 13th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
@davemendell, thanks for entering the competition. All excellent advice for blogging with students.
I’m just adding a link to your post so others can follow across to it easily – 5 Important Tips for Blogging with Students
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Hello! Thanks for giving me this opportunity! I really appreciate it. I blogged on 5 tips for educators thinking about blogging. The post is http://mrsmaley.edublogs.org/2009/09/06/share-your-tips-and-win/ I hope you like it! It is about blogging with children in early childhood.
-Danielle Maley-
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My post is on the top 5 questions I would like to ask experience bloggers.
Thanks for the great topic!
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Sue Waters Reply:
September 13th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
@Kbarnstable, Thanks for entering the competition and they were excellent questions. I’m just inserting the link to your post so that others can read your questions and check the comments for my response.
Here is the post – Five Questions I would like to ask Experienced Bloggers
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Dear Sue,
Here’s my contribution. http://collablogatorium.blogspot.com/2009/09/blogging-with-students-in-5-tips.html
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Hey, Sue. Here’s my contribution.
http://collablogatorium.blogspot.com/2009/09/blogging-with-students-in-5-tips.html
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Thanks Danielle and Carla for entering the Edublogger competition. Both excellent posts and I’ve left comments on both of your posts.
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I have entered the challenge and my url is: mattphillips.edublogs.org
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Sue Waters Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
@mattphillips, thanks Matt for entering the competition and I’ve left a comment on your post. I’m just adding a link to your blog here so I can follow it back later – http://mattphillips.edublogs.org/2009/09/10/hello-world/comment-page-1/#comment-2
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i have accepted the challenge
What do you like about blogging? What have you found hard about blogging.
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Sue Waters Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
@nathanrohloff27, Thanks Nathan for entering the competition and I’ve also left a comment on your blog. Here is the link to your post so others can visit – http://nathanrohloff27.edublogs.org/2009/09/16/blogging-good-or-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-5
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i have accpeted the challenge
What i like about blogging
http://bradleyvallette.edublogs.org/
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Sue Waters Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
@bradleyvallette, Thanks Bradley for entering the competition. Have bisited your blog, left a comment and hopefully tomorrow you will see a dot from me on your ClustrMaps.
Just adding this link so others can check out your post http://bradleyvallette.edublogs.org/2009/09/16/what-i-like-about-blogging/
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Hi Sue I have entered this challenge.
heres my site: http://jessicawya09.edublogs.org/ and I am in grade 7
Thanks
-Jess
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Hi Ms. Waters!
I have written a post on “5 tips for educators” on my blog. Here is the link to my site:
http://dominiquelovestoread.edublogs.org
-Dominique
Grade 8
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Sue Waters Reply:
September 22nd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
@Jess and @Dominique Thanks for entering The Edublogger competition. I’ve dropped past both your blogs and left comments. You have both written excellent posts.
I’m also adding the links directly to your posts so that others can find them easily.
Jess’s post – http://jessicawya09.edublogs.org/2009/09/21/blogging/
Domique’s post – http://dominiquelovestoread.edublogs.org/2009/09/22/le-blogging-defi-de-sue-waters/
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Hello — I’ve posted for Question 2: When you first started blogging what aspects of blogging worked well? What has caused problems? What would you change? at http://wp.me/pijWo-3z
I’m a middle school classroom teacher still entering the digital world and hope to read and learn from the wonderful responses. Thanks.
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Sue Waters Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
@Sheri Edwards, Thanks for entering the competition and for the tips you shared.
I did leave a detailed comment on your post but am now worried that the comment may not have worked as it did not say it was sent to comment moderation.
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Sheri Edwards Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
@Sue Waters, I did receive your excellent referrals to help us start again this year — Thanks, Sue. You always help out with referrals to great tips. I’ll read the student blogs and look at the challenge. Sounds like fun, and a great way to start. Thanks again. Sheri
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Hi Sue,
I’ve entered the challenge: 5 questions I really want to ask experienced bloggers:
http://skorlaki1983.edublogs.org/2009/09/27/what-i-really-want-to-know-about-blogging/
PS – thanks for running this competition, it’s actually provided me with a new wealth of knowledge/resources.
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This has caused me to activate my dormant interest in blogging after a three-year hiatus.
Here’s my small post:
http://interneton-line.blogspot.com/2009/09/blogging-in-ict-class.html
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As I stated in my post, I’m as green as a sapling when it comes to the art and science of blogging. As such, I listed some of the things that have helped me along the way.
I don’t really know that I’m interested in winning the contest (of course, I wouldn’t turn it down if I did!), but rather, I appreciate the chance to give back when I have received so much. This entire experience has been most enriching for me, and it is my sincere hope that whatever small contribution I can make might help someone else feel a little more comfortable and perhaps remove a stumbling block from their path.
Thank you, Edublogs, and everyone associated, for the wonderful times I am experiencing and will continue to have!
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Gregory Stringer Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
@Gregory Stringer, More specifically, here is the post (remember, I’m a newbie!)
http://gregorystringer.edublogs.org/2009/09/26/the-most-important-tips-for-educators-starting-out-blogging-with-students/
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oops! I almost forgot, here is my post:
http://gregorystringer.edublogs.org/
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These are the instructions to my 9th, 10th and 12th grade students as they begin blogging.Not sure it qualifies for the challenge.
http://hharvey.edublogs.org/2009/09/13/making-your-blogs/
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@skorlaki1983, Peterv, Gregory Stringer and hharvey, thanks for entering the competition.
I’ve dropped past each of your blogs and left some comments — unless they were eaten
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skorlaki1983 Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
@Sue Waters, as usual, Sue you provide anyone and everyone with great advice. I did check out Lauren and Abbey’s posts already, they are great! I’m so suprised at how young they are yet how brilliant they are. It just shows you how far edtech can actually take you. And thank you for answering my questions, the reasons one blogs I think dictates the answer to most of my questions!
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Hi my name is Blake. I wanted to let you know I have entered the challenge and here is the link to my page:).
http://bajennings.wonecks.net/
It’s titled “What I Like About Blogging!”
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Sue Waters Reply:
September 30th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
@bajennings, Hi Blake, thanks for entering the competition. I’ve dropped past your blog, left a comment and your blog is looking really good.
I’m just adding a direct link to your post so it is easy for everyone to find http://bajennings.wonecks.net/2009/09/30/what-i-like-about-blogging/
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I have created a post for the contest on my history class blog. I teach United States History to sixth graders. I am keeping my fingers crossed to win as this blog adventure grows and continues with my students and spreads at my school.
My post may be found at:
http://msprinkle.edublogs.org/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=75&message=6
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msprinkle Reply:
September 30th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I just want to add that I have helped other teachers at my school develop a new love of blogging as well. We, too will begin our own little challenge. There are probably, at least, a dozen teachers who have created blogs. They need a boost to keep going, to continue the adventure, so I thought, why not have our own little challenge. Miss W. has really set the bar to give me ideas. I am still trying to catch up on her week 3 for myself. Again, we are just getting started but you can view our progress by going to http://www.fmstechnolog.blogspot.com
Blog on!
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msprinkle Reply:
September 30th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
@msprinkle,
OK-it’s way too late. The correct address is http://www.fmstechnology.blogspot.com
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msprinkle Reply:
September 30th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
@msprinkle,
My post for the contest address is http://msprinkle.edublogs.org/2009/09/30/to-blog-or-not-to-blog/
I am so sorry for any confusion these replies may have caused.
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