Innovations_Blogs

**TEL 313 Blogs ** **Lauren Rodriguez, Jessica Isom, Patricia Lee **
 * Innovations Mini Teach **

 **What is a Blog? ** In simple terms, a blog is a website, where you write material on an ongoing basis. New items show up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they may or may not comment on it, or link to it, or email you. Video (Creative Commons “In Plain English” or something from YouTube or Teachertube?

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Facts or Need to Knows
When you blog, you should always cite your references so you can look knowledgeable, and trustworthy. If you make mistakes while you blog, own up to them. When reading and posting to blogs, it is important that you do not personally attack the blogger.When you write a blog, it is important that you stick to the topic you chose. If you want to bring up another topic to talk about, you should start a new thread. One of the most important, and basic things to remember, is something that we all usually forget to do. Remember to use punctuation and capitalization!

How to Create Your Own
Blogs are easier to set up than websites. You can use free blog tools and open an account where your blog is going to be made. [|www.blogger.com] is a great website where you can create free blogs. It also shows you three easy steps to create your own. First you need to create a user-name and password for your own blog. The next step is to create a blog title by giving it a name and a URL. The last step is to choose a template, then start blogging!

Examples in “real life”/general uses
Real life uses for the blog would be to use it for students and teachers to present their informatin on a blog.Students could do research on new topics, and collaborate what they found .They can study,they can contribute a set of notes and commentary for other students to have acess to.Teacher in a department or district could build a curriculum or simply just post,lesson plans and assignments. General uses for a blog is it can supports a hyerlinks ,and it has a simple text syntax for creating a new pages and it has a crosslinks between internal pages on fly.

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Using a Blog in the Classroom!
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Communicate with parents.
Some teachers see blogging as an outreach tool for interacting with parents. It’s not always possible to have the kind of hands-on interaction with parents, especially with large class sizes and busy schedules. A blog allows a teacher to summarize what’s going on in the classroom and share it with parents that have Internet access. (But it’s worth noting that not all parents will have access - something we’ll talk about more another day.) And most blogging tools allow readers to comment on what’s been posted, so parents are able to respond to different blog entries and have an online conversation with the teacher.

﻿Communicate with your peers.
Lots of educators blog so they can have a professional dialogue with their colleagues. Everyone can benefit from discussing the various challenges we all face in our work, and blogs serve as a mechanism for sharing those ideas. Some educational bloggers like Will Richardson and David Warlick have developed quite a following because of their eloquence and creativity. In many ways, blogs like these serve the same purpose that email discussion lists have served for more than a decade - they become a platform for discussing topics of interest to a large group of people. Blogging is different, though, in that it’s more personal and intimate, tailored to your professional interests and needs.

** Showcase student work. **
There’s nothing like seeing a teacher beam with pride because of the success of their students. Blogs can be used as a platform for highlighting the best work of your students, showcasing their talent to an audience that goes beyond the classroom. And who’s to say that teachers are the only ones who should blog? More and more educators are exploring blogging as a student activity in itself. Blogging takes writing assignments into the real world, giving students the chance to receive feedback from each other, as well as other online mentors. While some teachers prefer that blogs only feature their students’ polished work, others see blogging as a platform where students can share early drafts of a writing assignment, using online feedback to improve each version. Blogging becomes an interactive form of peer review.

Resource links to examples of classroom uses or articles/online sources with suggestions for use in the classroom, lesson plans
"Students often learn as much from each other as from instructors or textbooks, and blogs offer another mechanism for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and acquisition." -7 Things You Should Know About Blogs []  []

Citations/Works Cited (in APA style)
Agarwal, A. (2007, February 6). Blog Etiquette. In Digital Inspiration//. Retrieved September 20, 2010, from http://www.labnol.org/internet/favorites/blog-etiquette-// keep-these-in-mind-as-you-type/199

Create Your Free Blog. (1999-2010). Blogger//. Retrieved September 20, 2010, from Google database.//

Carvin, A. (2006, May 22). Exactly What is a Blog, Anyway? //In Learning.now. Retrieved September 18, 2010, from PBS Teachers website: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2006/05/what_exactly_is_a_blog_anyway.html//

McGovern, G. (n.d.). What is a Blog? //[PDF]. Retrieved September 19, 2010, from Office of Information Technology website: Carvin, A. (2006, May 22). Exactly What is a Blog, Anyway? In Learning.now. Retrieved September 18, 2010, from PBS Teachers website: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2006/05/what_exactly_is_a_blog_anyway.html//

Santos, R. (1998, July 12). Tax break? The New Republic//, pp. 24-25, 38-4. http://www1.umassd.edu/special programs/infor_lit/cite.htmal// What are the Implications for Teaching and Learning? (2005, August). 7 Things You Should Know About Blogs [Facts]. Retrieved September 20, 2010, from Educause// Learning Initiative website: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7006.pdf