Week #12: Student Blogging Challenge – Have I Improved?

Week #12: Student Blogging Challenge – Have I Improved?

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BY

O, Let Me Ne'er Forget

Mike Trimble via Compfight

So we are one week away from the end of the challenge. Do you think you have improved your blogging skills since you began earlier this year?

Now is your chance to prove your skills

Activity 1

Write the very best post you can for your teachers and visitors to read.

Remember essentials for a great post:

  1. catchy title
  2. includes at least one visual (with attribution) whether photo, cartoon, video or another web 2.0 tool like padlet or glogster
  3. interesting topic with the passion of the author coming through
  4. well written and not copy/pasted from somewhere else
  5. shows it has been proofread and spellchecked
  6. written in paragraphs – at least three of them
  7. includes links to other websites on similar topics – at least two of these
  8. ends with a question to lure your visitors into leaving a comment

Your choice of topics: only write about one of them

  • History
  • Inventions
  • Travel

When you have finished your post and your teacher has published it, then return here to leave a link to the post. We still have some students just leaving a link to their blog rather than the exact post.

Activity 2

Do you have a favourite blog (not from your class though) that you visit often?

Write a post about that blog and why you keep going back there. Remember to include links to a couple of posts they have written. Also leave a comment on their blog to say you have written a post about them.

Still got time left

Visit other blogs and leave quality comments.

Read the magazine and visit posts to leave comments on.

Week #10: Student Blogging Challenge – Games

Week #10: Student Blogging Challenge – Games

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After some deliberation, I decided to make this week’s challenge EXTRA CREDIT. For those of you who really want to explore new blogs and to increase the traffic to your blog, this is an excellent opportunity to do so. In fact, many of you have already received comments from other bloggers this week, so returning the gesture would be wonderful!
BY

Week 10: Games And More Games

content-marketing_cover

Creative Commons License Hurca! via Compfight

There are two activities this week and they are in the form of a game. They involve visiting other blogs, leaving quality comments and writing a post about the comments you left.

Before playing the games, make sure your blog is ready for visitors.

  1. You have lots of interesting posts for visitors to read and comment on.
  2. Visitors can find posts by using tags or categories on your sidebar.
  3. You have a visitor widget to see where your visitors are coming from.
  4. You have at least five student blogs from other places around the world on your sidebar.

Game week is all about visiting other blogs.

Remember one of  the main aims of blogging includes commenting and carrying on conversations with the author of posts and their other readers.

A good commenter will have:

  • read the post carefully,
  • checked out the links in the post
  • read the previous comments before they leave one of their own
  • added to the conversation with a quality comment – remember that video from Mrs Yollis’ class.
  • included a link to their own blog or a similar post on their own blog

Choose one of the two games below, and complete the post as described:

Game 1: 

This is a game we have run for many challenges and allows you to connect globally.  Those who have taken part in a challenge before know the game of  ‘Count Out Three’. Here are the instructions:

  1. click on a blog on the student list or class list– count one
  2. now click on a blog from the new student’s blogroll – count two
  3. finally click on a blog from that new blogroll – count three
  4. leave a comment on an interesting post at this third blog.

Students: Make sure you are also replying to any comments that have been left for you.

Do this activity at least three times and finally, write your own post saying which blogs you visited and which posts you left a comment on. Why did you choose that post? Remember to include a link back to the post you left a comment on.

Game 2:

This is a new one I have thought of to add to the challenge. Many great student posts are being flipped to the #17stubc Flipboard magazine, but I am not sure how many of you have actually checked them out. So here are the instructions for this game.

  1. Click on the flipboard magazine link here
  2. Click on the title of the post of what looks like an interesting image or a catchy title
  3. You should now be taken to the actual blog post, read it and leave a comment
  4. Come back to the magazine again and repeat two more times

Write a blog post mentioning the blog posts you read (including a link to each of those blogs visited) and the comment you left.

Get to it – start visiting and leaving quality comments that show you have read the post. 

How many quality comments could you leave this week? Can you leave 10, 20 or maybe 50?

Week #8 – Student Blogging Challenge – Footprints

Week #8 – Student Blogging Challenge – Footprints

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This week we are talking about our digital footprint.

Being connected with all this technology means everyone is leaving a digital footprint.

Activity. Write a post about your digital footprint. Is it positive or negative? Would you be proud to have your grandparents or your future grandchildren look at everything you have included in your digital footprint? Why or why not? Maybe Google your name to see what is online about you, that you might not have put there. Remember to Google your nickname used in online games etc as information might be included there.

Still time left

Check your widgets. Do you have one called Class blogs? If yes, then add it to your sidebar. Use the drop down arrow and make sure the number is 30 or so to cover all the students in your class.

Visit other student and class blogs, read our new flip magazines, add links to your blogroll of blogs you visit often. Try to categorize these eg class blogs, overseas students, my friends etc.

Before playing the games next week, make sure your blog is ready for visitors.

  1. You have lots of interesting posts for visitors to read and comment on.
  2. Visitors can find posts by using tags or categories on your sidebar.
  3. You have a visitor widget to see where your visitors are coming from.
  4. You have at least five student blogs from other places around the world on your sidebar.
Week #7 – Student Blogging Challenge – What To Write About??

Week #7 – Student Blogging Challenge – What To Write About??

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BY

Cabra hispanica Montserrat

Pedro Luna Guillen via Compfight

In a couple of weeks, we will be playing a commenting game. But you need to get prepared for this.

Make sure you have at least 5 other student blogs linked on the sidebar of your blog, in a page near your header area or in a recent post that your visitors can find easily. Make sure these are blogs from other students around the world, not just those in your class or school. Perhaps have a blogroll or link category called Global students or Global classes. Here is how to add a blogroll if using Edublogs.

Have some visitor widgets on your blog sidebar – maybe a revolver map or a flag counter – this way you can see where your visitors are coming from. Remember only one visitor in 30 will actually leave a comment.

Make sure your blog looks interesting:

  • Maybe change your header to suit what you are writing about.
  • Do your pets make a noise as soon as your blog is opened in a tab? That can be annoying so make sure the visitor can click on the sound button if they want to hear your animal pet.
  • Have you changed the tagline under the title of your blog?
  • Have you included some tags or categories to help your readers find a great post?
  • Does your background image make it hard for your visitors to read your posts?
  • Have you written some interesting posts for your visitors to comment on?

This week’s activity – CHOICE POST

Have some interesting posts for your visitors to read when they get to your blog.  I am not going to give any clues as to what to put in your posts but remember the following, especially if you want a post flipped to our magazine.

Having read many of your posts, I came up with the following essentials in a great post.

  1. catchy title
  2. includes at least one visual (with attribution) whether photo, cartoon, video or another web 2.0 tool like padlet or glogster
  3. interesting topic with the passion of the author coming through
  4. well written and not copy/pasted from somewhere else
  5. shows it has been proofread and spellchecked
  6. written in paragraphs – at least three of them
  7. includes links to other websites on similar topics – at least two of these

When you have finished your post, please come back here to the blogging challenge and leave a comment on this post. Mention what topic you wrote about and leave a link to your post. Those posts covering the seven things mentioned above will be added to the flipboard magazine. Many students are forgetting to add links to other websites relating to the topic they have written about.

Still more time left this week

  • Read some of the posts in the flipboard magazine – your teacher might want to create a class flipboard magazine to add to your class blog
  • Visit other classes this time in the lists above the header of the challenge blog.
  • Reply to any comments left on your blog especially if from a mentor.

UPDATE UPDATE

Some of you will notice the name of your country is in pink. This means you have not written enough posts for the challenge so far or mentors and visitors can’t leave a comment because they are being asked to login to your blog. When I am in Darwin over the next week, I will be starting to delete those student blogs and re-allocating other students to mentors instead.

Week # 5 – Student Blogging Challenge – Culture and Family

Week # 5 – Student Blogging Challenge – Culture and Family

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Each Wednesday for the next six weeks, we will focus on the global student blogging challenge. This week you have the opportunity to think about your own culture and family as you continue to build your blogging skills. There are lots of choices for posts this week, so select the one that fits you best.
BY

Week 5: Culture And Family

How are you going getting comments from people other than your classmates?

Have you received comments from overseas visitors?

Has anyone in your family left a comment? Remember you might need to teach them how to leave a comment.

Select ONE post from the choices below:

Activity 1: Write a post about your family – include their interests, where you might have been together as a family. Remember to include grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.

Activity 2: Guest Post!! Have a family member write a post for you to add to your blog. They could write it and email or post it to you. Does this post attract more visitors or family members leaving comments? One family member regularly blogs on Mrs Yollis’ blog – Where is nonno?

Activity 3: Interview a family member and write a post about them – include the interview recording. You could use audioboom online or from your phone then upload the file to your blog. Make sure you ask permission first before putting it on your blog.

Activity 4: As a family, are there any cultural activities you do together? This might relate to food, celebrations, festivals. Write a post about at least one of them.

And once you finish your post for the week, a few ideas to spruce up your blog for the Spring Challenge…

Add a widget to find out where your commenters are coming from.

There are many different widgets you can use – clustrmaps, flag counter, feedjit or revolver map.  Have you seen any others while visiting blogs of other students?

Add one or more widgets about your area of the world

This might include a clock or weather or a translator widget in case students who don’t speak your language can translate your post.

When adding widgets to your sidebar, copy and paste the embed code into a text box on your sidebar. Save then close. If the widget is too wide, you will have to adjust the number next to ‘width’ in the embed code. This might appear more than once in the code.

 

Still got time left:

Check out these posts from previous weeks

Global issues: Emily, Lauren, Angel, Claudia, Isabella (yes, our own Isabella is getting lots of traffic… You might ask her how she managed to get her post highlighted by Miss W. this week), Logan, Mohamed, Iqra,

Series of posts on one topic: Shahreen on HIV/Aids,

Odds and ends: Molly using scratch, Thunyama , Chloe and Ella want you to finish the story, Chloe on idioms,

UPDATE   UPDATE

As next week is Easter here in Australia, there will be no post on the 16th April. The  next post will be Sunday 23rd April.

Maybe you could use this time to visit other blogs, have a go at some activities you haven’t finished or just write some interesting posts.

Have you been checking out the class blogs as well? Many of these have student blogs attached on the sidebar.

Apply to be a student blogging expert below!

Apply to be a student blogging expert below!

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Are you one of those tech savvy students who loves to come to the aid of friends when they’re struggling with their blog? Do you love volunteering to demonstrate technology skills in front of the class? Do you love to write thoughtful blog posts that go above and beyond the expectations?  Are you a strong writer who would like to assist students as they edit their blog after receiving a blog rejection notice?Student Blogging Expert BadgeConsider applying to become a blogging expert. Not only do you get the chance to help your fellow students, assigned a special seat at one of the tables in the class, but you get the honor of having a special student blogging expert badge installed directly onto your blog.

Students who are interested must meet the guidelines below:

  • Up to date blog
  • Strong knowledge of blogging behind the scenes
  • At least a C in LA
  • A willingness to help others

Please respond to the questions below or at this link no later than Friday, April 7th, to apply to become a blogging expert.

Week #4 – Student Blogging Challenge – Let’s Look Globally

Week #4 – Student Blogging Challenge – Let’s Look Globally

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We’re jumping right back into the blogging challenge, but since it started a few weeks ago, you’ll notice we’re already on week 4. This week gives you an opportunity to think about a global issue that is important and relevant in your life. Remember, we are part of a global community, not only through this blogging challenge, but also through our letter exchange with students at Nipaba Brew School in Ghana and through our reading of A Long Walk to Water and The Sign of the Chrysanthemum.
BY

Week 4: Let’s Look Globally

Earth Hour 2010

Creative Commons License Alice Popkorn via Compfight

This week we are going to continue on similar topics about global issues.

Global activities from January through March

Did you or your class discuss or take part in any of these events?

What do you think are some of the worst global issues at the moment?

There might be some that are more specific to your area of the world. But this week research one of the following topics:

  • clean water
  • hunger
  • water
  • racism
  • use of resources
  • global warming
  • specific aspects of the environment
  • unemployment
  • war and unrest
  • use of land
  • terrorism
  • HIV/Aids
  • child labour
  • women’s rights
  • education and literacy
  • another global issue of your choice

Activity 1: Write a post about a global issue of your choice.

In your post, include links to where you researched and some images with attribution. You might also want to include a poll or survey, a collage of images, a slideshow you have created. You may have found a great video you could also include.

Teachers – Here are some links to where you might get some ideas –  Global Concerns Impact, educating for global citizenship, ACEE – student voices,

Activity 2: Global issues in your classroom

Have you or your class taken part in some work associated with a global issue? Create a post about what you were involved in. Check out what some classes did a few years ago relating to Uganda. Here is a wonderful newish website about projects students and classes can join in.

Activity 3: Visit other blogs

Visit at least ten other blogs not from your country. Ask questions about some of the issues they might have in their country. Make some comparisons between the countries taking part in the challenge. Here are some classes from Turkey who are working on global issues – 5B Plewes, 5C Plewes, 5A Ecosite, and 5B Ecosite.

Activity 4: Be creative

Use a web 2.0 tool to be creative about global issues. This might be a poll or survey, a quiz, write a poem, create a poster, draw a picture, write a story or cartoon about a super hero saving the world – just be creative.

Activity 5: Do something

Do something about a global issue. Here are links to games and activities for kids about global issues. What did you choose to look at? Write a review in your post.

Still more time to spare?

Visit students and classes from the other countries involved in the challenge. Leave a comment or question relating to a global issue that might be affecting them.

Leave a comment on this blog telling Miss W. the global issue you think is most important to be solved. It might not be one of those mentioned in the post. Give reasons why it should be the first issue solved.

Week #2 – Student Blogging Challenge – Commenting Well

Week #2 – Student Blogging Challenge – Commenting Well

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Another opportunity for extra credit… Week 2 to of the challenge invites you to think about your commenting skills as you visit the blogs of other students in the challenge.  
BY

Week 2: Learning to comment well

About week 2: Commenting skills

This is another important week in the challenge. Blogging is all about having your voice heard and connecting with others who might like to read and comment on what you have written. But, as in many things we humans do, there are some protocols bloggers in schools like to follow.

Check out this video about leaving quality comments.

Nicolas Weiss – Leaving high quality blog comments

Activity 1: Make a set of commenting guidelines

Explain what you expect when someone leaves a comment on your blog.

  • What type of comment is acceptable?
  • Which type of comment will you put in the trash?

Here are some examples:

Huzzah commenting guidelines,  a Glogster poster about commenting, WarriorKat used a variety of tools for her guidelines, notice how Sophie included a link back to Mrs  Yollis’ blog where she got her information from, Emme created a PowToon, Darcey included some interesting points, Kyndal has her guidelines here.

Activity 2: Visit other student or class blogs

Visit 4 other blogs on the lists above the header area. Leave a quality comment on one post on each blog. Might be the About Me page or another post you found interesting.  Write a post on your blog mentioning who you visited, which post you left a comment on and why, then include the comment you left. Hint: make sure you copy the comment before you hit the submit button. Here are some examples from previous students in the challenge: Allegra but try to include a link to the actual post you left a comment on

Will visitors to your blog find it easy to search for a post they might be interested in commenting on? Maybe you need to start using Categories and Tags or Labels (blogspot) or Categories (weebly) or Categories (Kidblog) or make sure you have an archive section.

Great posts to visit

Some student blogs don’t allow posts to be flipped to the magazine, so I will include links to them at the bottom of each post. Here are some introductions and avatar posts.

Catrina (Australia), Jayson (USA), Maddison (Australia), Emily (Australia), Erandi (USA), Angel?(USA), Anthony (USA), Angela (USA), Angela – avatar (USA), Chelsea (Australia),

Also remember to check out the comments left for last week’s post. These will include links to student, class and mentor blogs you could be visiting.

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