Are you looking for a learning opportunity for yourself and/or your students?
Become a Student blogging challenge helper!
The Student Blogging Challenge needs teams of helpers who are willing to comment on class and student blogs for the duration of the Challenge (finishes end of November).
We would like to do is allocate 5 class blogs and 10 student blogs to each willing helper.
The more helpers the better!
Currently we already have 253 individual student blogs and 65 class blogs participating from twelve countries (USA, Austalia, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Hong Kong, Canada, Scotland, Thailand, Venezuela). You can check out the Challenge participant list here!
Benefits for you!
This is an ideal chance for teachers and preservice teachers (student teachers) to:
- Increase their understanding of how blogs can be used with students
- Observe the impact blogging can have on student learning
- Investigate the different approaches to class and student blogging
It’s also perfect for students and classes that aren’t in the position to be a Challenge participant but would like to be involved in a less formal manner.
A key benefit is commenting is an important part of blogging. It’s often where most learnng happens. Unfortunately most people find commenting more challenging than writing posts.
Being a helper will increase your commenting skills while giving you (or your students) opportunities to practice.
How to become a Help!
Can you help?
Just write a comment on this post to tell us you want to be a Challenger Helper and we will contact you with more information.
If you are enjoying reading this blog, please consider 
Subscribing For Free!
I would be interested in assisting with this. I have been an educator for over 25 years. I have taught at all three levels (high school, middle, and elementary). I am currently an Instructional Technology Specialist with the Armstrong Atlantic State University ETC. I work with teachers and students in five school districts integrating technology into the classroom.
Hi everyone, I started creating the page with information about how to be a challenge helper.
But I will need blog URL (if possible) or school web site addresses so Sue Wyatt and I can quickly drop past. To make the teachers in the Challenge feel comfortable we have said “All helpers will be either a teacher, a student, a pre-service teacher or a blogger related to education”
Before we get you started we need you to do the following:
1. Can you please leave your blog URL here so we can check it out?
2. Drop past Sue Wyatt’s post and leave a blurb of background about yourself so the teachers and students know more about the people helping them – http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/2009/09/14/blogging-challenge-helpers/
Sue,
Once the helpers have been allocated classes and students, perhaps they could come to my classblog and leave a little blurb about themselves so the teachers and students can find out about their helper. I have created a post where they could do this http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/2009/09/14/blogging-challenge-helpers/
I would like to participate. Count me in.
Hi Sue (and Sue), this is Fiona Beal (http://fionabeal.edublogs.org) from South Africa. I have absolutely loved being an edublogger along with my Grade 4&5 class in the last seven months. The new challenge sounds amazing, and I would love to be a helper. Many thanks…
I would love to help out. Sounds like a great idea!
I would be interested in helping. Just let me know what I need to do.
Hi everyone so far who has offered to be a helper! It is definitely going to be exciting and I can guarantee as you work with the blogs you will gain insights yourself.
Gail is definitely correct. One of the biggest challenges faced is some times there might not be much on the blogs that have substance to comment at and it is very important that it isn’t about commenting for commenting sake. In the last challenges I always visited blogs of students that commented on my posts and for some would need to spend some time searching their posts to find one that I could share my thoughts or add to the conversation. The other hard aspect is also teaching them (the students) that they need to also engage back in the comment conversations.
There is quite a bit of skill involved in all of this — so my thoughts are that I create a page on this blog. The page will include your names with blogs that you will be mainly looking after — feel free to also add more to your list if you want.
But we also need on this page tips or advice on how commenting on the student blogs. Would love to hear all your suggestions on the information we should add to this page. If you have thoughts please leave a comment here so I can start writing the page.
I would love to help and learn more about the blogging process. I read a lot of blogs, comment on a few, but haven’t yet made that leap to blog myself. I think this would be a great learning experience for me.
I am willing to be a challenge helper/
Hi Sue,
I would like to learn more about participating.
Carrie
Oh, I know what a struggle it is to get people to comment on blogs! Yes, I’ll help out too:)
I’d love to help, Sue (and Sue)!
I would love to help out and gain this valuable experience!
Sue
Please enlighten me and no doubt others about the nature of commenting on the student blogs. I ask because last year I visited a few blogs for the purpose of commenting and sometimes found little substance there.
Should we be looking to support the fact that they simply have a blog page? “Nice beginning here Chad. Keep at it and soon you’ll want to share more thoughts and ideas.”
If there is simply a collection of their favorite movie idols or vampire conversations, how do we respond? “Uh, I see you like the Twilight series. Have you …. ??”
Or how about the person who comments on your own blog, “I saw your blog and it’s neat; why not visit mine and leave a comment okay.” So you go to it and find a collection of avatars.
I guess I really need to understand where they are in their blogging journey and to understand how much work they have done to get there. I am used to commenting on content so please help me to wrap my head around what it means to really comment on student blogs. I think you know I’m up for the job but do need more guidance.
Thanks Sue.
Gail
Hi Sue,
Count me in!
I would be willing to be involved, as well.
I want to use blogging more effectively in my classes. I am struggling to find ways to make blog writing relevant to my work with 10th grade English classes. I am certain it is, but haven’t yet found a rhythm or method that works. I would love to get some ideas and see some good examples.
I suppose I should sign up to participate, huh? I am having some issues with filters at my school. Edublogs seem to get through better than blogger blogs do. I may have to have kids migrate to edublogs because of the fliter issues.
Hi Sue
This sounds very interesting. I’d love to help out an gain valuable experience. Sing me up!
Suzette
Hello Sue
I would love the opportunity to be a blog reader and commenter. CPD and enjoyment rolled into one!
I would be interested in being a Challenge helper. I have my own class blog with yr 7 English and students have their own blogs. Not quite ready to participate in a blogging challenge. This would therefore also assist me. So count me in!
Hi,
I would love to be a challenge helper!
(Pre-Service Teacher, Qld, Australia)
Cathy-Anne
Hi,
I am interested in participating. Thanks.