PGA Blogging Class

Thursday, August 19, 2010

More tips and gadgets for you

Another site with tips and tools

http://www.problogger.net/

Feedburner explained

We talked a lot about Feedburner but the hook up was a little complex. Here is a link to a site that will walk you through it.
go here!

If you have anymore questions please email me. I am so excited about all your parents having a new link to your class this year:-)

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Linking you to your teacher/school website

Getting you blog or blogs linked to your school website

Open up your website

after logging in

choose edit action

For a basic writing blog you can choose Blog from the funtions

Remember to save changes!

View your Site

Add your first post

Adding a link to a blog hosted by a different site

Choose "direct link"

Add URL

Save changes

Follow the link to your blog!!!

Now you are linked up.

blank

Blog safety

Ways to keep you and your kids safe

1. Be the final editor on your blog information
2. Comment moderation is a must

3. Make your blog unsearchable

Make sure to choose "no" for listed and search engines

Other measures

4. Make your blog private

5. Choose a blog that is designed for classrooms

6. Only use first names

Most important:

Be a respectful blogger

don't post disrespectful pictures (especially parents)

ask parents to let you know if they are ever uncomfortable with any pictures or information

communication

Some ways to make your blogging better

Get the trial

where to buy it at a teacher discount

http://www.academicsuperstore.com/

http://www.costcentral.com/

Learn how to use it

http://www.jessicasprague.com/

Want more graphics for your blog and pictures?

Try here

www.vectorstock.com

More lessons for photoshop can be found on http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/

Personal Blogging

Consider starting a blog just for you. This will help you get the hang of blogging and create a great way to document your family

http://thewillitsfamilytribune.blogspot.com/

Reasons for a personal blog:

quick

stay in touch with family members far away

practice

showcase your family photos

stay in touch with friends

fun!!!

Gadgets!!!

On your blog dashboard choose "add a gadget"

Pages~ A great addition to your blog

Page ideas

Calendar

Fundraiser

Spelling Words

Newsletters

Field trips

Polls are a fun class assignment

Other gadgets

Blog List(as seen on Mr. C's blog)

Puppy/Kitty of the day

daily tips

slideshows

Places to get creative help with your blog

My favorite one!

Here

Windows Live Writer Tutorial

Making your blogging easy starting with Windows Live Writer

download it here

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Getting traffic to your blog

Want to get your parents and students to you blog? Here are a few tips to help with that.

☛Fewer words more pictures. #1 rule in blogging. If you post a novel parents and students will lose interest and stop checking in.

☛If you use your blog as connection for parents try keeping as much information as possible on your blog. Parents love having a one stop shopping for all the class information. Consider keeping a calendar gadget with all important dates and information.

☛require students to post a comment or writing assignment once a week.

☛Use "blog candy"..giveaways and contests:-)

☛Link other great sites and information to your blog.

Now you have a blog...now what?

A window to your classroom for parents

mrsbeckydemmer.blogspot.com

A writing log for your students

kidblog.org

classpress.com

A class newspaper(Modern Style)

http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/

Other ideas you might have?

Changing your mind

You are never locked in. It is as simple as exporting and importing.

Exporting also saves your blog. Saving your blog once a month/week is a good idea.

Why I choose Blogger

Linked to Google

Picasa

Flickr

Customizable

tutorials

Step 1: Choosing a blog hosting site

Top 10 Best Free Blog-Host-Providers

Blogger – This is one of the more popular widely used blog hosts. Literally millions of users !! They are free , offer heavy customizationas well as themes. Just google the term “Blogger templates” and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Almost forgot to mention that they have street cred to since they are part of Google!
Xanga - This is another popular online blog host which caters to a younger audience such as high schoolers. It is not as customizable as blogger which may not be such a bad thing if you want to write something quick and easy without worrying about re-arranging this and that.
LiveJournal - This is another great quality blog host that does not charge you a penny. I have personally used it and liked it a lot but it is similar to Xanga that it is not 100% customizable but in my opinion is a notch above Xanga.
Wordpress – Wordpress is the the mecca of blogging origins. If you go on their site and look on the bottom, you can see well known media company names that depend upon wordpress like the New York Times or Yahoo. The great thing about wordpress is that it allows you to host and customize virutally anything. Any first time users will really want to create an account with them to get things rolling.
Tumblr – Now I have not used Tumblr so I would be lying to say that I have first experience. But from what I have noticed most recently is that a lot of great websites out there use the Tumblr platform for blogging. It also looks to be quite as versatile as Wordpress. Check it out!
Weebly - Next up is a website / blog-host called Weebly. It is not well known but it does look promising as it offers free blog hosting and other tools to support you with.
Blog.com – Such an original name , and blunt to the point. I like that , don’t you ? At least it doesn’t sound like a weedwacker compared to the others. This website also follows the suit in offering free webhosting as well as support to help you create your own blog. Setting up an account doesn’t take too long either. So take advantage now !
Thoughts – At the eighth spot I listed Thoughts as another blogging hosting provider. I haven’t checked it out too much. This is definatly great for those of you who want something a little less mainstream.
Experience-Projects – Here is another provider for a person to start blogging away.
Free-Blog-It – Seems to be another promising website to lend bloggers a helping hand.

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