Here’s the news the students have been waiting patiently for!
During April we ran The Edublogger’s Student Competition to celebrate the success of the 2009 Student Blogging Challenge while also creating an opportunity to collect examples of student work. The competition was for any class or student blogger and they could submit blog posts based on three different topic themes.
With an incredible number of entries judging has been exciting but challenging when you consider ages span from 6 to 18 years old. All of them would make their teachers’, parents’ and familys’ proud.
Taking into account feedback from how the winners of The Edublogger’s Birthday Celebration Competition was announced this time I’m including a brief summary of why each was selected.
Embedded Media Category
Makaya06’s Blog
Makaya created and embedded an amazing video, with a poem, to remind us all of our social responsibilities to homeless people. As she says “Just know that these people deserve a smile and a small gesture to know that you care. We are all in this world together”.
THS Lit 10 blog
Ginny and her students created this ‘must watch‘ video where her students share their stories on how blogging and the 2009 Student Blogging Challenge has impacted their life. Definitely a video to add to your collection if you facilitate professional development!
The Gamer’s Spot
Everything about Daniel’s blog is worth looking at closely from his earliest posts, to his passion for reviewing games, to his How Blogging Has Connected Me To A Global Audience post through to the quality of writing in his latest posts. In Daniel’s winning post he highlights the creative aspects of using photos of “globes” on Flickr to create a video which is then used as the basis of a blog post.
Now that you’ve looked at Daniel’s blog — guess how old he is? (11 or 12 years old!)
C-O Connections Blog
The teachers and students from the C-O Classroom blog continue to do amazing stuff. Their Making Changes that Made a Difference post includes a video of the students talking about the difference blogging has made to their lives. Unfortunately TeacherTube has changed the location of videos on their site so you won’t be able to check out this video until the link is updated 🙁
The teachers from C-O Classroom blog say:
“The process of blogging has brought a closeness between school and community, and more importantly, between child and parent. Making this change in our classroom curriculum has truly made a difference in the lives of each of my students, and some of them will never be the same.”
Connecting To A Global Audience Category
Read, Write and Knit Blog
Like Daniel, Abbey’s blog needs a close look. Start by reading her blogging story post and then checking out her earliest posts. What you also need to realise is Abbey actively engages, through commenting, with a global audience while also focusing on building her blog readership. What isn’t evident is she seeks out others to help her learning, for example she has visited my blog to ask questions on blog design.
Based on readers feedback she has also set up Abbey’s Writing Wiki!
Now that you’ve looked at Abbey’s blog — guess how old she is? (12 years old!)
SpiderSam Blog
As Sam says “Getting to learn in a different way and learn from other students and hear their views on things is (I find) more interesting because its more than just what a book has to teach you”. Check out her reasons for To Blog or Not!
Taking it Further Blog
According to Priscilla “I know it is hard to explain, but blogging is one of the things that keeps me going”. What amazes me about Priscilla, and other blogger like her, is English isn’t her native language and you can clearly see blogging has helped her learn English.
“The blog has helped me a lot with English because it is hard if your main language is not English, as everybody knows I talk Spanish here, but to be honest now English is my first language too.”
Sacred Heart BLOGATHON!
Based on the students’ ages (7-11 years old), reasons why they like blogging and the difficult questions they asked me I decided that the students from Sacred Heart BLOGATHON! blog deserve to be recognized for their excellent work.
Check out the quality of comments these students left on my post and my responses 😎 .
Difference Blogging Has Made School and Home Life Category
English Social Studies Blog
Carina’s Student Challenge post is a reminder that the different ways we introduce blogging to our students does impact on student engagement. Yet we also need to remember ‘one size doesn’t fit all’; what engages some students doesn’t others.
Nichloas’ Soccer Blog
Nicholas’s own words explain his difference post considerably better than I ever could:
As well as meeting new people blogging has also changed my attitude towards learning. What I mean is last year if I was given an assignment to write on paper and hand in to my teacher, my thoughts would be… oh, what a drag. But if I am given a blogging assignment to show everyone who visits my blog, my thoughts would be great, now I can share my learning with others.
Tara’s Blog
Tara is a newer blogger (2 months) than the other winners but has already realized in her Blogging Benefits!! post that:
“Changes that I have been noticing at school and at home because I am writing a lot more at home, on the weekends and also I am going on a lot after school to write extra posts on my blog. Some differences that has occurred in my learning habits is how I am writing longer texts/ posts. Also, I have noticed that I am writing more full sentences that are easier to understand.”
New and Fascinating English Blog
As I said to Gah I love both his humor and honesty in his Bloggers Challenge 2009 post. He has a natural writing ability and I wish that I had the same skill (especially considering his native language is Norwegian not English).
Any post (and series of comments) that makes me laugh has done well.
Winners Badge
Congratulations to all winners!
Here’s a badge if you would like to add to your sidebar (thanks to Tidertechie for designing the badge):
Larger version
200 pixels wide by 100 pixels high
Smaller Version
180 pixels wide by 90 pixels high
Please send an email to:
- Tell me if you want to use the free 12 months Edublogs supporters subscription on your own blog or to give away to a reader.
- Get the code so you can easily add the images to your blog sidebar!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Thanks to everyone who entered! Choosing the winners was incredibly hard due to so many excellent entries. You can check all the entries in the comments on this post!
If you are enjoying reading this blog, please consider 
Subscribing For Free!
Hi Mrs Waters, I can’t figure out how to put the badge on my blog. My classmate Nicholas said that you did it for him, so I was wondering if you could put it up for me?
Hi Daniel, I’ve added your badge and I’m not sure if you wanted it but I upgraded your blog to Edublogs Supporter. If you had wanted to use it on a different blog let me know 😎
I think that I’m going to have a contest (like Nicholas is) to see who gets the supporter thingy because i’m not sure if I want it.
No problem at all Daniel. Just let me know when you have decided, including the blog URL and will organise it for you.
Hi Ms.Waters,
Thank you for adding the logo to my blog
Hi Ms.Waters,
Actually I’m going to try again at putting the logo on my blog because my teacher just told me how to do it.
Thanks again!
Hi Nicholas, I think that is an excellent idea about running a challenge in your classroom. How do you think you might do it? What are your thoughts? Any way when you are ready to use the subscription just let me know whose blog you want me to add it to.
PS let me know if you need help adding it to the blog.
Hi Ms.Waters,
I think I would just let the students be creative and try to put their best work forward. And about that logo I do actually need help with that f you wouldn’t mind.
Thank you and Bye.
Hi Nicholas, I’ve added it to your blog. Your idea sounds great — please tell me how you go!
Hi Ms.Waters,
It’s Nicholas. That’s very exciting. I can’t manage to put the logo on my sidebar, it won’t paste. Last time when I won the competition you somehow put it on my sideber. If you could do the same this time that would be most appreciated. I already have that twelve year blogging subscription so for this one I might have a challenge in my class and give it away to the winner. Thanks and Bye.
What a fantastic variety of entries! New students and classes to blogging and a few from last year’s challenge. But I can see a great improvement in writing from all the bloggers. Well done, Sue, on running this competition.
To be honest Sue I wanted to give them all a prize because as you said they have made great improvements. Perhaps we need to consider, with this type of competition, whether including a participants badge is also important. What do you think?
Thanks re-competition. But lets be honest you have done totally amazing work with the student blogging challenge that has made a huge impact on some many students and their educators. Full credit to you.
A participants badge sounds great. I might need to get someone to design one for those taking part in the student blogging challenge each year. Maybe one for students and one for the classes that participate. Hint, hint Tidertechie
I love the idea of a yearly participants badges along with winner badges! The challenge was great (as always).
I will totally take you up on making badges. I already have some fun ideas. I’ll have student input for the next set too (they always come up with great ideas). They also are extremely honest about what they like and dont like:)
I was thinking perhaps we could run a competition where students around the World to design a series of badges and maybe Lisa you would enjoy being the judge? That way they get input into the process.
Yearly challenge. Is this where I mention another idea? What I’ve noticed is that while the students are doing well with the blogging and design aspect the commenting in terms of responding and quality needs improvement.
I’m thinking of whether it is worth having a Comment Challenge — once per week task that would be for both educators and students. Think we could get people to help and we could talk to Michele about using some of her ideas from the Comment Challenge so it wouldn’t be to heavy. PS I’m just floating the idea at the moment.
That is a GREAT idea! Do you have the open source software link for Photoshop/Fireworks? If not, I’ll email it to you so students without Photoshop/Fireworks can participate also.
Even students with teachers lacking Photoshop/Fireworks training can fully participate, there are several basic tutorials that could get students started. Once the students get started, the sky’s the limit:)
I think Sue and I’ve just nominated you to be in charge of organizing all aspects of any badges and such said competition.
But you also need to consider the technology levels and whether other tools need to be consider 🙂
Sue & Sue 🙂 Ill put some ideas to paper and then you can decide – I’ll email later in the week. I do have some other software tools also.
Perhaps in September, we could run two challenges, one a blogging challenge – getting the blog set up, designed, writing posts, blogroll etc and at the same time a student comment challenge giving ideas for improving their commenting – you run the comment and I run the blogging … good idea??
Lisa I will leave all badge stuff in your safe hands 🙂
It is totally up to you Sue. What I was wondering is maybe it is worth considering having one student blogging challenge per year and one Comment type challenge per year. That way you are working on the two different aspects of blogging while also mixing it up.
But to be honest it is all cool. Whatever you want to do is fine with me. It was more a thought then any thing because I’ve noticed that they could do with some work with that aspect. Also you both know me I will continue to find lots of extra stuff to be doing!