School libraries come in all shapes and sizes. Whatever the library at your school looks like, a high quality website or blog is crucial.

With a little creativity and a few essential ingredients, you can build an exciting and engaging library website that pushes students to excel in their education. After all, studies have consistently shown that school libraries play a significant role in academic success.

In this article, we’ll explain why your website is a key part of your school library experience. Then we’ll discuss 5 essential features you should include when creating or updating your school library site. We’ve also got 8 examples of great school library websites and blogs to share with you.

Whether you’re part of an elementary school, high school, or university, these library tips and examples will help.

Why Your School Library Website Is Important

All educators know the library plays a vital role in students’ schooling. It serves as a central hub for learning and gathering, while providing resources to help students achieve academic success.

Your school library’s website is an extension of the physical library and serves many of the same purposes. For many students, your website might be their first point of contact with the library, so it’s critical that it provides visitors with the same positive experience they’d have at your physical library.

Your website also gives you an opportunity to extend the advantages your library offers to students or staff who can’t visit in person. This is especially true in the current global climate, when physical locations may have limited hours or might not be open at all.

Your library website isn’t just about browsing the catalog or checking if certain books are available. It also provides a virtual space to interact with your community and spread the word about upcoming opportunities. This is especially helpful for library-specific events such as book fairs, author visits, and more.

5 Essential Features to Add to Your School Library’s Website

Now that you know why your library’s website is so important, you may be wondering how to make it as useful as possible for your students. These five features should give you a solid starting point. 

1. Clear Site Navigation

It might seem basic, but the most important feature you can include on your library site is clear, easy-to-follow navigation. In other words, make it easy for your users to find what they’re looking for. 

This feature is first on our list for a reason. According to surveys, clean and clear navigation is the most useful feature a website can have.

To ensure clear navigation, follow these guidelines:

• Use descriptive labels. Visitors shouldn’t have to guess what they’re clicking on.
• Avoid too many dropdown menus in your main navigation. They can make it more difficult for visitors to find the right links.
• Avoid the temptation to include a link on the homepage to every page on your site. Stick to a maximum of seven items or less.
• Include an easy-to-use, powerful search function. Ensure you have a search box in prominent locations and also link to your library catalog so students can locate books, articles, databases, and other materials.

2. Regularly Updated Content

A school library website or blog requires regular maintenance. This might included:

• Removing dead links or outdated information.
• Regularly posting new blog posts or relevant content.
• Approving and responding to comments if these are enabled on a blog.

An easily-accessible calendar is also a must for most library websites. These are especially useful if your library hosts events such as book fairs, group study times, or training classes. You can also include events from around campus; they don’t necessarily have to be library-related. When you solidify the library (and your website) as a central part of your institution, you can help students maintain interest in reading and education-related opportunities year-round.

Like your navigation menu, your calendar should feature a simple design and focus on providing clear details that are easy to read. If people can’t find key information, they may miss out on the opportunities you’re trying to provide. 

A popular choice is a Google Calendar that you might like to add to the sidebar of your site.

The Calendar+ plugin is another option that makes it easy to add events, manage your calendar, and display it in an easy-to-read format. You can select which event categories to display on each page where your calendar appears, making it easy for you to highlight library-specific events if you want to.

3. Consistent Design

If you work in a school library, you probably put a lot of effort into ensuring it’s a welcoming and attractive place to visit. The look and feel of your school library website is equally important.

Choose some design features that will be consistent throughout your school library website or blog. You want students and staff to become familiar with the website design and know that they’re on the library site. Here are some ideas to consider:

• Colors: Perhaps you have some school colors that you’ll weave into your website design. Keep these consistent so every page looks like it belongs to the site.
• Fonts: Again, consistency is key. Choose one or two easy to read fonts and stick with them.
• Mascot: If you have a school or library mascot, this image might feature throughout your content.
• Images: Pictures can make your website come alive, but you obviously don’t want to overdo it. Also, choose an image design and stick with it. Perhaps your images will be cartoons, professional photographs, or more casual photographs that are taken by staff and students. Of course, make sure you’re acting as a role model when it comes to copyright and Creative Commons.

Bitmojis are a fun element some educators like to add to their site for a personal and consistent design. Here’s an example from Kim Yeomans:

4. Visible Contact Details

Your school library website is a link between your physical and virtual space. It’s important that the site clearly shows users how they can make contact with the physical library, staff, or other virtual platforms.

Here are some tips:

• If your library has an online presence elsewhere on the internet, make these visible. For example, the Jackson Elementary Library blog has embedded links on the sidebar to their YouTube channel, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter account.
• Consider sharing the school library phone number and relevant email addresses on the homepage and the footer of every page.
• Share opening hours and visitor information in an easy to find location. This is especially important during the pandemic when this information might change.
• A map that shares the physical location of the library might be useful especially if you hold events that are open to the wider community, or want to welcome new students.

5. Accessible Design

Your library site must be usable by all people, including those with disabilities or individuals who are less familiar with navigating the web and using technology. A key part of this is following accessible design best practices.

Accessible design requires attention to your site’s color choices. Use a clean, high-contrast theme with a clear distinction between elements. Bright colors are generally the best choice. It’s also important to include readable fonts of an appropriate size, so that users with visual impairments can see them easily.

It’s also crucial to include alt text for your images. Alt text (short for alternative text) is an HTML attribute you can add to images to describe what they look like. 

In WordPress, you can add alt text when uploading images in your posts or via your Media Library: 

If an image can’t be displayed for some reason, the alt text will be shown instead. It’s also useful for site visitors who rely on screen readers, which will read aloud your descriptions of visual elements.

Finally, make sure hyperlinks on your site use descriptive anchor text. Anchor text is the visible text of the hyperlink. It should clearly describe what content the user will find when clicking on the link. In other words, avoid using phrases such as “Click Here”. 

Learn more about accessible design in our complete guide on the CampusPress blog.

8 Examples Of Great School Library Blogs And Websites

We’ve covered 5 basic elements of high quality school library sites, now onto some examples. You’ll see here these examples range from straightforward blogs set up by individual teachers using Edublogs, to professionally designed school library websites. They range from elementary school to college level websites.

1) Jackson Elementary Library Blog

URL: https://jacksonelementarylibrary.edublogs.org
Age Group: Elementary

Amy Kincaid is a teacher-librarian from Texas who runs the very comprehensive Jackson Elementary Library blog.

Amy is a very innovative and future orientated librarian who also enjoys sharing her knowledge with others.

She regularly posts about the wonderful learning activities her K-5 students are working on. Technology is integrated into her lessons in a very creative way.

2) The University of Melbourne

URL: https://library.unimelb.edu.au
Age Group: College/University

Like so many libraries around the world, The University of Melbourne was quick to pivot when physical buildings were closed during COVID, and their library website reflects this.

The University library services are delivered virtually and the website invites staff and students to chat with a librarian, attend online workshops, reach out to librarians via phone or email, or access digital resources.

The clear design of this website, hosted by CampusPress, puts the robust search function in prime position.

3) The MHMS Daring School Library Blog

URL: https://daringlibrary.edublogs.org
Age Group: Middle school

Gwyneth Jones, aka The Daring Librarian, has been blogging since 2006. She is well known in the global education community.

Gwyneth describes her mission as, “to prepare future-ready lifelong readers, learners, makers, and creative thinkers.”

She uses her middle school blog to provide library news for teachers, students, and parents both locally and globally. Gwyneth also shares her lessons and resources on her professional blog which complements the library blog.

4) Reedy High School Library

URL: https://borchardtlibrary.edublogs.org
Age Group: High school

You don’t necessarily need to enlist professionals to help you set up a user friendly school library website. Reedy High School Library is an excellent site created with Edublogs.

It has a clean and clear design that makes navigation easy. The top navigation menu invites users to choose one of five options: search, books to go, eBooks and audio books, digital resources, and help/FAQs.

A welcome video on the sidebar of the homepage gives new users a glimpse into the library atmosphere with a motto of, “One Pride. Many Dreams. You are seen. You are valued at Reedy Library.”

5) Red River College Library

URL: https://library.rrc.ca/home
Age Group: College/University

This extensive website is a one-stop shop for students and staff looking to engage with their college library.

A rotating banner advertises library services, while a central search box invites users to browse for relevant resources.

This is a library that’s also active on social media and links to all social media accounts are displayed prominently.

The announcements on the homepage keep the community up to date with changes to opening hours due to the pandemic.

6) Forest Hill College Library

URL: https://fhclibrary.edublogs.org
Age Group: High school

The Forest Hill College library site is another example of a basic site set up using Edublogs.

It provides a launching point to the library catalog with links on pages and the sidebar. An outstanding feature of this site is the regularly updated blog posts. These posts share a library newsletter, interviews, tips for parents, library services, and more.

7) Wild About Books Blog

URL: http://wildaboutbooks.global2.vic.edu.au
Age Group: Elementary students/educators

Some librarians like creating a blog to share book reviews with others in the community. This could either be as part of a school website or as a standalone site, like Wild About Books.

Kim Yeomans is a teacher-librarian from Melbourne, Australia. She set up the Wild About Books blog for primary school students and enjoys using the blog to share reviews and book related events that make reading fun.

8) Charleston Southern University

URL: https://library.csuniv.edu
Age Group: College/University

The uncluttered design of this university website makes it easy for staff and students to find what they’re looking for. The search box features prominently, and icons are used to direct users to a range of services.

Clear contact details on a library website are important; a footer on every page of this site reminds users of the physical address, email address, and phone number of their university library.

Conclusion

Whether you’re part of an elementary school, high school, college, or university, your library provides a vital service, and its online presence is an integral part of that.

A school library serves as a first point of contact with students, and can provide resources to those who may need additional help but can’t visit in person. Your library site can also serve as a central hub for campus events and other opportunities.

During the pandemic, a high-quality school library website has only become more important to act as a bridge between physical and virtual learning.

The trick making your library’s website or blog as engaging and useful as possible is to include these 5 essentials:

1. Clear site navigation
2. Regularly updated content
3. Consistent design
4. Visible contact details
5. Accessible design

Do you have any questions about school library websites? Let us know in the comments section below, or get in touch. We’d love to hear from you and our team can help you set up or improve your own school library website.

Have you ever felt completely inspired and rejuvenated after visiting another school? Stepping out of the bubble of your own environment can be so powerful to get new ideas and perspectives.

How often do you get to actually visit other schools? Perhaps not nearly as often as you’d like.

Fortunately, you can take a virtual peek at class blogs and savor the benefits of school visits.

Many educators enjoy using a blog to have an online space that complements their physical space. Class blogs are very popular and yield many benefits for students, teachers, and the school community.

Because we know many of our readers love seeing examples, we’ve put together an updated showcase of 13 great class blogs powered by Edublogs, CampusPress, or WordPress.

If you’re wondering why WordPress, scroll to the end of the post to find out what WordPress is all about and why it’s the perfect platform for class blogs.

13 Great Class Blogs

These class blogs are just a tiny fraction of the high-quality spaces out there. We strongly encourage you to leave a comment on this post with your contributions!

You can also see more examples on our list of class blogs which has been updated twice a year since 2008.

This post showcases blogs from a range of different age groups, subject areas, and locations to demonstrate what’s possible. It’s roughly ordered by age.

1) Learning Stories

Year level: PreK-K1 (age 3-5 multi-age setting)

Location: Nanjing International School, China

Teacher: Shemo Gani

Blogging platform: Edublogs

Shemo Gani started this wonderful blog in September 2015 when she had a kindergarten class of 5-6 year olds. She was kind enough to share some of her insights,

After sending out class newsletters for years, I wanted to find a better way to showcase the learning stories of the children. I also wanted to collect the stories in a way that I can access them more freely, even after a few years.

The blog has helped me strengthen my own practice in many ways. I have learned the value of listening, documenting and following student interests and learning.

My parents are my biggest advocates. They always share how valuable the blog is to them, how it helps them connect with their children on a different level. They enjoy following our stories and often encourage and share action as a result.

One of the fantastic things about this regularly updated blog is that it’s rich with a whole range of content: photos, quotes, videos, curriculum outcomes, and more.

The blog also links in with the class Twitter account.

2) Rousseau’s ELP 1

Year level: Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten

Location: Ontario, Canada

Teachers: Paula Crockett and Aviva Dunsiger

Blogging platform: WordPress

Paula Crockett and Aviva Dunsiger are an innovative pair of Canadian teachers who use a class blog to connect with families.

This blog is a real hive of activity and their Daily Shoot idea is a marvelous way to keep families up to date. This concept has replaced a traditional class newsletter.

Aviva is also a well-known blogger herself. Her professional posts often expand and reflect on the content of the class blog posts.

3) Team 2 Eagles

Year level: Grade 2

Location: Ontario, Canada

Teacher: Becky Versteeg

Blogging platform: CampusPress

Becky Versteeg is a Grade Two teacher from Ontario, Canada. Her class blog is an online hub which showcases student work and events, while keeping families up to date with everything that is happening in class.

You’ll also find links to all her student blogs on the right sidebar. This is such an impressive set up for a class of 6 and 7 year olds!

You can read more about how Becky blogs with her young students in these posts:

• Blogging With Young Students: Becky Versteeg’s Students
• Back To School, Back To Blogging, And Back To The Team 2 Eagles

4) Join the Adventure (French Immersion)

Year level: Grade 3

Location: New Brunswick, Canada

Teachers: Mme Harrison and Mlle Nicholson

Blogging platform: Edublogs

One subject area that has been totally transformed by technology is language learning. What a joy to be able to hear, see, and connect with other language learners or speakers.

Grade Three French Immersion Teachers, Mme Harrison and Mlle Nicholson use their class blog to introduce the students to French resources, as well as sharing student learning.

One particularly interesting idea they use is a ‘Thought Box’ page where students and parents are invited to share thoughts that won’t be published.

5) Westwood with Iford School Blogs

Year level: K-6

Location: Wiltshire, England

Head Teacher: Ian Rockey

Blogging platform: Edublogs

Ian Rockey is head teacher at a UK primary school that is small in size but big on connecting the community in innovative ways.

Links to each of Westwood’s four class blogs can be found on a central landing page. This example demonstrates the benefit of connecting individual class blogs across the school.

One outstanding feature of this school’s online presence is their own radio station which is organized and run by the children. Check out their incredible work!

The school is also active on Twitter — @wwischool

6) Mrs. Rupp’s Class

Year level: Grade 4

Location: The American School of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Teacher: Leslee Rupp

Blogging platform: Edublogs

This is a fantastic class blog that Leslee Rupp updates regularly. Leslee told us a bit more about how her blog works,

I use it as my primary home-school communication tool, posting weekly homework and announcements.

In addition, because I encourage my students, as Scholars, to “consider different points of view” and “use multiple sources,” I try to provide enriching extensions for them to explore further or tools to help scaffold learning. I’ve also tried to make the blog a bit interactive by embedding videos and related Google Forms or Padlets to highlight student responses and reflections.

The blog is intentionally photo-rich, as well. Students love to see themselves on the blog, which I hope helps them share learning experiences with their families.

As an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB PYP) candidate school, we seek to develop a learner profile, which, among other things, includes students who are inquirers, thinkers, knowledgeable, risk-takers, principled, and reflective. My hope is that the blog will nurture those traits in my students.

Looking ahead to next year, I would like to include more student work samples and reflections and assessment tools to encourage self-assessment and growth. I would also like to update some of the resources under the drop-down menus to more-accurately reflect our developing inquiry program.

This class blog is well worth a look!

7) Mrs. Moore’s Class

Year level: Grade 5

Location: Arizona, USA

Teacher: Amber Moore

Blogging platform: Edublogs

Amber Moore teaches 5th grade math and science at a STEAM school.

The blog has a great mix of images and recounts to keep their community up to date with all their wonderful learning.

This class also enjoys global collaboration and has participated in the Student Blogging Challenge. 

Mrs. Moore’s class also uses Instagram to share their daily activities (@mooreclass).

8) ePencil

Year level: Grade 6

Location: Massachusetts, USA

Teacher: Kevin Hodgson

Blogging platform: Edublogs

Kevin Hodgson (aka Dogtrax) is a long time blogger who maintains both a professional blog and a class blog for his sixth grade writing workshop students.

The Electronic Pencil class blog is a place where Kevin provides guidelines and examples for student assignments. Student creations are also showcased on the blog

On his professional blog, Kevin often publishes more detailed posts about lessons, while exploring various other topics.

Kevin shares many creative ideas and his blogs are well worth a look.

9) Early History of the United States

Year level: Grade 8

Location: California, USA

Teacher: Barry Hayes

Blogging platform: Edublogs

Barry Hayes has been using Edublogs for the last four years exclusively for classroom assignments.

He told us about the purpose of his blog,

Blogging allows my students to venture beyond the textbook, to explore the richness and vast expanse of the world through the window of their computers, using Edublogs to showcase all they have and hope to learn in the future. We travel time together as adventurers of the digital medium.

The students have their own blogs to share their thoughts, discoveries, research, and experience within the subject of American history. You can find the links to the student blogs at the bottom of the class blog.

10) WooTube

Year level: High school

Location: Sydney, Australia

Teacher: Eddie Woo

Blogging platform: WordPress

Have you ever thought about recording your lessons and publishing them, not just for your own class, but for anyone who wants to watch and learn? Eddie Woo is a Sydney maths teacher who has done just that.

Eddie’s award winning work has earned him a huge following with students from across the world. Eddie uses a WordPress site as an online hub for a blog, his YouTube channel, learning resources, and more.

This is a great example of how blogs have evolved to be dynamic homes for any online creations.

11) Jurupa Hills High School Photography

Year level: High school

Location: California, USA

Teacher: Rebecca Cauchon

Blogging platform: Edublogs

A blog is the perfect complement to a photography class. After all, what’s the point of working on all those images if no one sees them?

Teacher, Rebecca Cauchon showcases her students’ truly amazing creations on the Jurupa Hills High School Photography blog. This is done through posts on the class blog and individual student blogs (see the links on the sidebar on the right-hand side).

This blog really is a visual delight!

12) NCH Chemistry

Year level: High School

Location: Mississippi, USA

Teacher: Tammy Skinner

Blogging platform: Edublogs

Tammy Skinner teaches chemistry and physics at Northpoint Christian School.

She has a very active and popular class blog that houses class notes, videos, test reviews, links, and more.

Tammy Skinner shared the following insights about her blog:

My students and I have been using our Edublogs class website since 2008. It all begin with a huge challenge my students were facing – students gone on mission trips, students out with the flu, students in tournaments, or students who missed the concepts in class and just needed to hear the lesson again.

Our Edublogs class website is a virtual classroom of sorts, with tons of resources for my students. I use it for posting videos of daily lectures, reviews, and help sessions. It’s also a place where my students can access the weekly syllabus, assignments, rubrics, project information, interactive websites, tutorials, etc. So many wonderful teachers and organizations have put incredible resources for learning chemistry and physics online, and my students are able to easily access them though our class website.

Another very important way I use our class website is to keep in touch with my students, and also for them to keep in touch with each other, outside of class. They share lab results, collaborate on projects, etc., through comments. They also use the comments to ask me (or their classmates) questions they forgot or might have been hesitant to ask in class.

These resources are useful not just for her own class but for other teachers and students at schools around the country and around the world.

13) Connected Teaching And Learning

Year level: Senior High School (age 16-19)

Location: Oslo, Norway

Teacher: Ann Michaelsen

Blogging platform: Edublogs

Norway educator, Ann Michaelsen operates this blog in a very unique style. Connected Teaching And Learning is Ann’s professional blog where she publishes regular reflections on what she is reading and learning. Beyond that, it is also a classroom hub for lesson plans and materials, as well as a home for many student blogs (links are on the right sidebar).

Ann shares a great overview of the benefits of blogging for her high school students in this post from 2016.

Ann’s approach makes us wonder if it would be beneficial for more educators to set up one blogging hub for the many aspects of their professional lives. What are the pros and cons of this approach? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.

About Edublogs, CampusPress, and WordPress

Confused about the platforms these blogs are built with? Let’s break it down.

You’ve probably heard of WordPress? It’s the most popular content management system out there. In fact, around a third of websites worldwide are built with WordPress.

Some educators build their blogs straight from WordPress.com or WordPress.org.

Edublogs is a popular option for those who are interested in using a WordPress platform but want the technical side of things taken care of including hosting and backups. Edublogs also offers a blogging platform that’s purely for education with the added elements of support and safety.

CampusPress is a WordPress platform for a whole school, university, district, or other educational institution. It offers the same great features that come with Edublogs, plus more, including individual branding.

So why is a WordPress platform like Edublogs the way to go?

• The fact that it’s export-friendly is a big reason. You want to be able to take your work, or your students’ work, with you.
• Of course, safety is a huge decider for many schools too and we have that covered.
• Many teachers really appreciate being able to have personalized support to help them through their blogging journey.
• Students and educators love being able to customize their online space. Themes, plugins, and other extensions allow you to do just that.
• It’s a great idea to consider the future of your blogging platform too. With WordPress powering so much of the web now, who knows where your students’ blogging skills could take them in the future!

Read more about the benefits of WordPress for student blogging in this post. 

Want To Start Blogging But Not Sure How?

Check out our Blogging 101 page. It includes a 15-minute tutorial video and all the help guides you’ll need to get going!

Add To Our Showcase

Do you know any great class blogs?

Perhaps you have a class blog of your own?

Please leave us a comment with the details so our community can take a look!

This is a guest post from Myles Zhang.

Myles is from New York City and is an undergraduate student at Columbia and at Oxford University. His academic studies and independent research focus on architectural and urban history, with a particular interest in the causes of urban decay.

Myles was introduced to blogging as a high school student and since then his online portfolio has grown and flourished.

The Seed Is Planted…

My experience with Edublogs began back in 2013 when my high school English teacher decided to teach “digital literacy”. She asked each of the 18 students in our class to set up a free blog on Edublogs.

My teacher never explicitly told us “how to blog”. But she gave us weekly writing assignments to respond to and post online.

I attended a school that was only just picking up on new ways to integrate technology in the classroom, like loaning each student a personal laptop. So, the whole experience felt a bit new and unfamiliar to me. From the start, I was excited by the idea of sharing my work online to reach a larger audience than my small, high school community of 75 students.

My teacher planted a seed. I ended up learning how to do things on my own.

Finding A Purpose

Within two weeks of joining Edublogs, I realized a personal website and digital portfolio could become a handy way to showcase my artwork and personal projects.

Over the previous five years, I had created a lot of artwork, merely to shelve it away in my dusty closet.

Over the following years, the website organically outgrew its initial use for high school and became an art portfolio, a place to publish my academic research in college, and a platform to spread awareness of issues like gentrification and traffic affecting my community.

I don’t know what to describe the site as now. I suppose it’s a “digital portfolio”. However, it’s more than just that … For me, it’s a creative opportunity to ask myself: “What work am I proudest of? And how can I best showcase this work online?”

Building and curating a website helps me answer these questions, and gain self-knowledge too.

The Power Of An Authentic Audience

This website also helps me reflect on my audience of readers. My high school teachers and now college professors often speak of the need to “consider one’s audience” when writing. For many of my research papers and essays in class, this audience is, unfortunately, no larger than the professor who reads my writing. But, for my website, the audience can be far larger — basically anyone with internet connection.

This authentic audience encourages me to be more mindful of what I share online. Maybe Edublogs helped me become a more conscientious writer. The experience also motivates me to create more because I know thousands of people might potentially see the results.

Show, Don’t Tell

In other ways, the website has been helpful in internships and college applications. In the automatic footer of all messages I send from my school email, I include a line that reads “More about Myles” with the link to my Edublogs site. Most people discover my site this way, like employers and people who commission watercolors from me.

A resume is often a list of things one claims to have done, which are not always substantiated. For me, it’s helpful to list something on my resume and then to provide the link to see the actual project at Edublogs.

My high school writing teachers always told me the mantra “show, don’t tell”. Resumes are all about telling in brief, bullet points (that are frankly, kind of boring to read). Websites are all about showing, through colorful essays, through drawings, and through embedded video content.

Edublogs has helped me put the mantra “show, don’t tell” into daily practice.

For instance, my project to depict New York City’s diverse and unique neighborhoods in watercolor and photo collages was the main part of my college application.

Or my summer project to document urban change through photography led to several dozen of my photographs being featured at an exhibit at my city’s public library.

A Personal Identity

In other contexts, friends and teachers learn another side of my personality that they never knew of before. In class and at school, I’d describe myself as being a bit introverted — so many of my friends don’t know that I can paint or draw until they see my website. In fact (and this might sound strange), I use my Edublogs website in lieu of posting on social media. In many ways, Edublogs feels like a more authentic and personalized platform to share my artwork than Facebook or Instagram.

Currently, I’d describe the website as a core part of my studies. It’s a way to increase my audience, improve my writing, curate my artwork, and teach myself web skills.

Many of the assigned essays I begin in class end up as larger and longer term projects and featured videos on my website.

More recently, I’ve become interested in building interactive models of gothic churches, computer simulations of gentrification, and animations of urban history – many of which I build from my small laptop in my dorm and feature on Edublogs for academic credit. These are all extensions of a small reading assignment or essay for class that inspired me to go further.

Amiens Cathedral: The Animated Experience from Myles Zhang on Vimeo.

Anyone Can Do It

I’ve never taken a class on website design. I can’t write computer code either. I don’t have one of those fancy computers with a powerful memory. I just have my five-year-old 13-inch laptop and an internet connection. But, there’s something powerful about web platforms like Edublogs and WordPress that give people the tools to build something that was simply impossible a mere twenty years ago.

There’s something equally powerful (and I feel democratic) about a simple web-link that opens up a world of information to anyone in the world. I feel that the world is becoming increasingly digital. Building and managing my website (several, in fact) has hopefully helped prepare me to more actively contribute to this digital world.

I’m just thankful to be a part of this creative process. And maybe through my website, I might inspire others to do the same.

I’m glad I stayed and grew with Edublogs all these years.

What a powerful story from the very talented Myles. Be sure to explore his site further as it is a real visual delight and such an excellent example of a finely curated portfolio.

We just love hearing about what students can do when a seed is planted in school. Blogging is such an authentic medium that can enhance one’s personal or professional life in so many ways.

Myles is following his passions, realizing the power of an authentic audience, building his own community, standing up for what he believes in, inspiring others, and unleashing all sorts of opportunities in his local community and beyond. What more could we want for our graduating students?

Exposing your students to blogging can truly be a gift that leads to endless possibilities.

We thank Myles for sharing his story and invite you to share your reactions or questions in the comment section below!

Recommended Reading

You might also be interested in reading the following posts about student blogging:

• My Class: Student Blogging Made Easy
• Blogging With High School Students: Roslyn Green’s Story
• 100+ Ideas And Prompts For Student Blogging
• Different Approaches To Using Student Blogs And Digital Portfolios

This is a guest post by high school English teacher Howie Jakeway.

Howie is Head of Learning Area, English and Languages, at St Stephen’s School in Western Australia.

St Stephen’s School has a CampusPress network that boasts some impressive blogs for all sorts of classes and extra-curricular activities.

Howie wrote this article about the transformative nature of class blogs in the English classroom for The English Teachers Association of Western Australia. We’re republishing it with permission.

Note: Throughout this post, Howie mentions ATAR. This is the university entrance ranking score for students in their final year of school in Western Australia.

Getting started with classroom blogs

As an undergraduate at university in the early 90s, I remember being introduced to the thing that would indelibly change the world; change the ways in which we think and interact with the world around us.

I stared blankly into a computer screen while my fellow student proudly informed me that I could ‘search’ for anything I needed to know on something called the Internet.

I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to know, and anyway, I was sat in the university library where there were books on everything I needed to know.

In short, I studiously ignored the internet phenomenon for the next decade or so and it didn’t permeate the ways in which I operated, either in the English classroom or in the outside world. However, the Internet –and our relationship with it –has changed the landscape of teaching indelibly, transforming the ways in which we teach, work and interact with our students.

It was on these shifting sands of contemporary pedagogy that my work with classroom blogs was developed and it’s fair to say they’ve revolutionised my students’ relationship with the subject.

Embracing the benefits of blogging

I currently run two classroom blogs:

• one for my Year 12 ATAR English students, and
• another for my Year 12 ATAR Literature students.

In previous years, I’ve run them for Year 8 classes to equally positive effect.

In many respects, these class blogs –and they operate more like a class website than a blog –have had a galvanising effect on student engagement, the ways in which I can exemplify my teaching and learning points as well as being able to engage the wider school community (parents in particular) in framing the subject in a more explicit manner.

My Year 12 ATAR English blog is a reasonably clear example of how embracing the online world can allow for a different approach to our classroom practice.

Resources at students’ fingertips

Modelled work

We all know that effective modelling is central to effective teaching and my blog contains many examples of sample paragraphs, guided reading, exemplar material, practice questions as well as a range of resources typically used with any English class.

What my blog allows me to do, however, is to store these resources in a way that allows students easy access to them, including being able to download screenshots of modelled examples written by me on the whiteboard.

Sometimes, there’s a transient nature to the work we produce in the classroom. All too often these examples are wiped from the board in preparation for the next class to use the room. At the very least, my students have access to these whenever they need them.

In the image below, the screenshot of my whiteboard is downloadable. My teaching and learning points are then exemplified below as a series of dot points. The annotations themselves offer a deconstruction of both the assessment criteria and the structure of the body paragraph.

My students were then able to use the modelled example as a way of constructing their own responses; framing learning in this manner allowed me to consolidate my teaching and learning points as well as accelerate the pace of learning in the classroom.

Students don‟t need to copy from the whiteboard, they don’t need to slow the pace of their own learning down and they can interrogate (and apply) the model at their own point of need.

Supporting students with sound files

Recently, I’ve started adding sound files to my class blog for students who need an additional framework from which to work.

These sound files, recorded on my mobile device, work particularly well for a registered blind student in my Year 12 ATAR Literature class, as well as students who have specific accommodations where information needs to be ‘chunked’ for them.

Therefore, a student in my class is able to not only download the screenshot of the whiteboard, they can also listen to a short summary of the main teaching and learning points from the lesson.

It would, of course, be unsustainable to do this for every lesson and I don’t. However, when I need to consolidate an aspect of my work with the students, I can do so in a way that differentiates the learning for all students in a relatively clear manner. The implications for learning beyond the classroom are obvious.

Here is an example of a modelled piece with audio:

Blogging and parents

The class blog has also allowed me to engage with our parent community in a more purposeful manner, particularly where students have required intervention.

Parents are able to engage with Year 12 ATAR English in a direct manner, they’re able to see what their child is doing in class and to have those important conversations at home in a (potentially) more productive way.

I’ve yet to meet a parent who was not supportive and appreciative of how visible these class blogs make our teaching and learning in English.

In many respects, I can invite parents into my classroom without them leaving their house, their office, their place of work.

Reaching beyond the classroom

The statistics from the English blog demonstrate that its impact has gone beyond the small class of students.

Students in an English class at another campus 12km away also use the blog to help with their studies. The reach could be even further than this as students from across the state look online for resources to assist them with their course.

As the graph demonstrates, the blog is accessed regularly during school terms and peaks at key times such as during exam revision.

Finding the time

Of course, the counter-argument is that while class blogs look wonderful, are engaging and work to engage students across the age and ability spectrum, there is a time implication to much of this.

It does take time to produce the modelled examples in class but who doesn’t do this anyway?

I use Microsoft Office Lens (it’s a free app available for both Android and Apple devices) to take a quick screenshot of my whiteboard –which saves the students themselves trooping up to do likewise –and I Airdrop it to my MacBook, all of which takes less than a minute.

From there, the image can be downloaded from the class blog very quickly, which means it’s accessible within the lesson for students to work from on their own devices.

The dot point exemplification and sound files sometimes take a little longer –sometimes they have to be completed after the lesson –but I’ve always viewed them as an investment in my students’ learning and they do save time further down the track when students are using the models to produce their own responses.

Having run class blogs for a few years now, the time it takes me to maintain them is negligible.

Conclusion

Our students live in an online world that is alien to the one I grew up in.

Our students are always connected and the online world is deeply embedded in their experience of learning, from their furtive days in the primary school to the expectations and pressure that ATAR courses bring.

My class blog is but one way in which students’ experience of a subject can be transformed by embracing learning beyond the classroom.

By personalising the learning process, by inviting parents into the virtual classroom, by supporting students who require those frameworks to succeed, blogs have a significant role to play in transforming the ways in which a subject is perceived.

What do you think about the ways Howie is using a blog to complement his classroom programs? Do you have any questions for Howie? Leave a comment below!

Traditionally a blog was simply an online journal. Now blogs can be so many different things — ePortfolios, magazines, online communities, podcasts, forums, directories, newsletters … the list goes on!

A blog is a blank canvas that you and your students can bring to life for any purpose.

A student run newspaper is one type of blog that can offer many advantages for students. This post showcases an impressive newspaper run by the students at Zurich International School in Switzerland (ZIS).

ZIS has had their own CampusPress blogging network since 2012. It’s basically an Edublogs network branded and customized for their own school.

The ZIS network is mainly used for student ePortfolios. They also use blogs to complement the diverse range of student activities on offer. One of these is their student run newspaper — The Lion’s Journal.

Have you ever considered helping your students set up a student run newspaper on a blog at your school?

We interviewed ZIS teacher Ian Hoke to find out more about their impressive publication.

What is the aim of The Lion’s Journal?

The aim of the student newspaper is to provide authentic opportunities for students to write, make media, and lead one another in a meaningful project.

How do the students get involved?

Upper School students can freely join the club, but the structure of the newspaper club itself is unusual.

Students in the club participate in deciding on coverage, building a calendar, etc. The editors of the newspaper are entirely drawn from the club. However, any student may submit to the newspaper at any time for consideration for publication.

Additionally, the school has a Digital Journalism course that students may take for three or four years, if they wish. Students in this course are expected to occasionally submit their work to the newspaper.

What moderation takes place, if any? How much autonomy are the students given?

Students have full control over the site including the installation of themes and plugins. (Ian agreed that removing boundaries can lead to higher levels of responsibility and self-regulation).

The faculty advisor, me until this year when my role changed to more administrative, may be consulted, but makes no decisions about publication, design, etc.

This is not a school newspaper, but a student newspaper, so they have full control. As a result, they can be very fastidious about fact checking and the like, particularly when the topics become controversial.

We are comfortable with them taking risks and possibly making mistakes. Thus far, there have been some exciting moments, but they have managed their newspaper so well that we have had no problems to date with irresponsible publication.

What are the benefits of the newspaper to the school?

It provides students an outlet for their writing and media products. Teachers sometimes use pieces from the paper in their classes, as well.

Over the past six plus years, it has showcased our very talented students and also been an inclusive group that provided success for a heterogeneous array of kids. This speaks to our school’s mission and values.

Analytics data also shows that alumni, parents, and grandparents view the newspaper as a way to stay connected with our students and school.

What are the benefits of the newspaper to the students?

Students learn authentically through their participation in and leadership of the newspaper.

Yearly since 2012, ZIS has sent reporters, editors, and several editors-in-chief to various Model United Nations gatherings like Paris and The Hague. Our student journalists have a sterling reputation at MUN because they come to their newspapers with a sense of real responsibility for their work – they haven’t been controlled by adults, but rather are responsible for their work.

Many of our students have gone on to lead student newspapers and magazines at their universities, as well.

When it operates best, the newspaper is also a common space for student voice.

Conclusion: Students Thriving In The 21st Century

The impressive way in which ZIS challenges their students to take risks and responsibility shines through on publications like The Lion’s Journal. Their articles demonstrate that the ZIS students care about the world and the planet.

ZIS students are not waiting for the future to begin authentic tasks. Through their ePortfolios and The Lion’s Journal, students are developing crucial 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Who knows where these experiences will take them?

Do you have any questions or comments about student run newspapers? Leave a comment!

One of the great things about blogging is how versatile it is. There’s no right and wrong way to blog. A good blogging program will be molded to best meet the needs of your students and school community.

However, it’s always interesting to see what others are doing to get new ideas and perspectives.

Last week we shared Becky Versteeg’s story of blogging with young students. It was an inspiring look at the many benefits that blogging can offer students in their first few years of schooling.

For educators who are working with older students, we want to provide a case study for you too.

Roslyn Green kindly allowed us to interview her recently for our Better Blogging With Students Course. We’re cross posting this interview here on The Edublogger to share her excellent insights with a larger audience.

Roslyn is a secondary school (high school) teacher from Melbourne, Australia.

She uses Edublogs and a CampusPress platform to blog with a number of her classes in different ways.

Let’s hear from Roslyn…

My Life as a Blogging Nerd

Although I had actually completed an Applied Diploma of Science in Computing in the years before gaining a full-time teaching position, I don’t think that really helped me with blogging. Perhaps it made me believe that I could figure out how to solve problems along the way. I was pre-wired to be a total nerd, even back then!

I finally gained an ongoing position at Box Hill High School in 1990. It was there that our librarian, Dee McQueen, initially mentioned the concept of blogging to me. She had decided to create a blog for the library and I was immediately taken with her idea. In fact, permanently hooked!

At that time, in 2008, blogging was much trickier: the software was far less intuitive and the options relatively limited. My aim initially was to help my history students find their way through the labyrinth of the internet by recommending worthwhile sources to them and directing their research.

You now have four blogs for various classes. Could you tell us about them?

History

https://year7historygr.edublogs.org

The first blog I set up in around 2008 was for History (basically Year 7 and 8), because I found it to be a useful platform from which to guide students to the most reliable and worthwhile websites.

English

http://booksliveon.global2.vic.edu.au

My English blog is only a year old, but I have really enjoyed developing it. I have tried to upload all my handouts and internet activities to it, so that students and other teachers can find them and use them.

Many of my students have also written very thoughtful comments on various topics. I had a wonderful Year 8 group in 2017.

Psychology

http://psychologyrats.edublogs.org

My Psychology blog is rather inactive at the moment, though I devoted many hours to adding posts in 2016 with the new course for Year 11. Since then I’ve just made a few little adjustments but haven’t changed much.
The blog is called “The Rat Pack” and my original byline was “No rat was harmed in the making of this blog”. There are links to the whole course that I have taught, including to all my handouts, online activities (such as quizzes and Kahoots) and explanations of various topics.

German

http://germanisland.global2.vic.edu.au

The name for my German blog “German Island”, derived from a German word that translates in English to “Language Island” and refers to a little group of people who speak a particular language.

I started to learn German in the middle of 2009 and created the blog about 3 years after that. I quickly realised that students would only visit it if they could undertake interactive activities on it, so I built it like a website, with a page devoted to each unit, each grammar issue, etc.

Eventually each unit page included a downloadable PDF booklet, essential links, online activities related to that unit and sometimes audio clips as well. This is an example of a unit page for an accelerated Year 7 class.

My colleagues and I also built in a podcast, which can be found here: http://germanisland.podbean.com

How do your blogs operate?

How do you encourage commenting?

At the start of the year, I ask my students to find and save the address of the appropriate blog.

During some (but certainly not all) classes, I direct them to particular activities or questions on that blog. This varies significantly from subject to subject.

• For History, the blog is often a springboard to research, videos, and quizzes.
• For German, I spend almost the whole time with students in face-to-face interaction, so the blog serves as a place for students to go later to consolidate what they’ve learned in class. Sometimes I create Wikis of class notes that they can read through to revise. I often place a link to the material they should visit on “Compass” (our school’s internal network).

Student comments are more appropriate for History and English than for my two other subjects.

For History, I might ask students to read several web pages to which I have provided links and then write a paragraph on a tricky, challenging or intriguing historical question, such as: Which factors might have contributed to the dying out of the Neanderthals? OR: In what ways did the development of farming enrich humanity? What kinds of disadvantages can you also identify?

Sometimes I ask students to comment on an activity that we have completed, which is an ideal way to gain thoughtful feedback.

I moderate ALL comments and usually correct the most heinous English errors.

Requesting a comment on a particular issue or in response to precise questions definitely helps to focus students, because they try harder to write carefully when they know that others might read what they write.

Last year I asked students in my English class to write a farewell comment to our retiring principal, and many of their comments were mature and touching.

My favourite comments, however, were the ones that I never intended to elicit, from my little History class last year, who wrote me comments at the end of Semester 1 to thank me for teaching them.

I always ask students to draft their comments in Word, because sometimes a comment can be lost in the ether; if they have spent a long time drafting it, this is naturally upsetting for them. They require quite a bit of time to write thoughtful comments. This is not a quick five-minute activity.

How has your approach to blogging changed since you first began?

My blogging has changed significantly since it became possible to create more interactive content through quizzes and the like.

I am always searching for potential quiz-making options so that the students can do more than just read and click. In this way, a blog post or page can evolve into a multi-layered worksheet, with embedded quizzes, videos, links to activities and sites, requests for comments and so on. (See suggestions for embeddable interactive content below.)

I try to write in a personal way to students, but I remind them not to be too personal in their own comments.

They are only allowed to write their first name and I rarely if ever have photos of students on the blogs. I used to include photos early on, but I soon abandoned this idea, since publishing photos became a charged issue over time.

I’m wary of putting anything on my blogs that might identify an individual student. Sometimes I upload pictures of their work after trimming out family names.

Are there any particular tools that you could recommend to make content more interactive?

There are several:

https://www.learnclick.com – Cloze activity maker, along with other types of quizzes. You can embed pictures, audio and videos in the quiz and then embed the whole quiz in your blog.

https://kahoot.com – Online multiple choice quizzes → I place links to the class and the preview version of the quiz on my blog. Students need a membership with Kahoot in order to play the preview version.

https://quizizz.com – Another online quiz-making site with the possibility of adding teacher-made memes (a built-in time waster for teachers!).

https://www.sugarcane.com – Create a data set and then make up to 18 activities based on it (excellent for revision and differentiation).

https://edpuzzle.com – I have just found this one and can’t wait to begin using it. You can create simple quizzes based on YouTube videos.

https://www.proprofs.com – Another quiz maker, but relatively expensive; search for the education package, which is cheaper.

https://tinycards.duolingo.com – I make a set and place a link to it on my blog. This is also an excellent activity for students. The flashcard-making software is built around the Duolingo program.

https://www.podbean.com – You can create a podcast and embed episodes in your blog or put links to your episodes (or those read by students) on your blog.

https://learningapps.org – Create your own activities (e.g. crosswords) and embed them in your blog. Use the HELP function to ensure that students can find possible answers even when you’re not present.

I sometimes make my own pictures (such as my avatar) on Keynote (an Apple presentation product). This takes a fair bit of practice, but is strangely soothing and infinitely adaptable.

My favourite sites for finding free pictures are:
http://pixabay.com
https://www.wpclipart.com
http://www.clipartlord.com

(Note: Check out Where To Find Free Images For Teachers And Students for more suggestions of royalty free and Creative Commons Zero images).

Do you have any other tips you could share for high school teachers who want to get started with blogging?

Students need to be directed clearly on what to do with your blog materials. Don’t believe all the drivel about them being “digital natives”: they need explicit and precise advice, because they are nowhere near as savvy with this kind of site as with mobile phones and the like.

I give them specific step-by-step instructions and nearly always have to repeat them for some students. Students tend to view the internet as a playground, rather than as a serious learning environment.

It is a good idea to speak to younger students about being safe and secure on the net by only putting their first name into comments, not mentioning their school or suburb, etc.

Think about whether you want your blog to be based on POSTS (dated, one after the other) or PAGES (more like a website). My history blog is post-based, while my German blog is page-based. You can mix the two: posts for day-to-day content; pages for content that is relatively unchanging, like “Downloadable Handouts” or “Online Activities”.

Think up an imaginative name for your blog and make sure that your URL is exactly what you want it to be – it’s the one and only thing that you can’t change afterwards. The name can be changed, but the URL can’t.

Blogging is a lot of extra work but it helps the creator too. I believe that I have improved my abilities as a writer and a teacher by developing my blogs. They also allow me to share my work easily with other teachers and find something I did years ago. I am gradually uploading all my handouts in PDF form so that other teachers can help themselves.

In a way, my blogs serve as an online brain backup!

We want to offer Roslyn a big thank you for sharing all these tips, tricks, and experiences with us. Roslyn has demonstrated that blogging can be incorporated into all sorts of subject areas. She also shows that there are many ways to involve students in blogging programs, and you don’t necessarily have to have individual student blogs. 

Do you have any comments or questions for Roslyn?

Do you blog with high school students? Tell us about it.

Many bloggers, both new and experienced, enjoy hearing stories and tips from others in the educational blogging community. Understanding the obstacles and successes that others have experienced can be so powerful, whatever stage of your blogging journey you’re at.

In our Better Blogging With Students Course, we’ve had a few teachers who’ve blogged for a while kindly share their stories with the group.

We’d like to share some of these case studies with our wider community in the hope that they might provide you with a little inspiration or new ideas.

Teachers often ask about the best way to blog with young students. Some might wonder if it’s feasible at all. The good news is, it is! There are many ways you can incorporate blogging into the first few years of schooling.

This week, we bring you the story of Becky Versteeg. She is a Grade Two teacher from Listowel, Ontario, Canada​. Most of Becky’s students are 6 and 7 years old.

Becky’s fantastic blog is called Team 2 Eagles. Her students also have their own blogs. They blog on their iPads using the Edublogs website.

This class uses a CampusPress platform (this is basically Edublogs that her school district set up for the whole district to use).

Enjoy Becky’s insights and feel free to leave a comment with any further questions you might have for her.

About Becky

Pencils and paper were the only ‘technology’ that Becky was confident with when began her career with the Avon Maitland school board in 2006.

Old habits die hard, and she still does not own a television. This aside, she has thoroughly embraced the challenge of turning her physical classroom into a place where digital natives can thrive, and has enjoyed every minute.

Becky is discovering that the educational blogging community is a place where she learns, shares, and hopefully, models for educators how to take risks themselves by embracing their fear of technology and failures, and turning it into a success.

Becky’s current personal inquiry project is an Instagram account (@justanotherclass) used to connect with primary teachers around the world.

Everyone who meets Becky remembers her laugh, and Becky remembers just about everybody…

​Why did you start blogging?

I started to blog because of grant I applied for: creating student digital portfolios was the condition for getting 10 iPads for my classroom!

I had an old classroom website and I remember being reluctant to change, and even more reluctant to manage all those student blogs. I think I was overwhelmed — I’d never used an iPad, and just figuring out how to manage 10 of those seemed Herculean!

However, I had seen the difference iPads for learning had made for district colleagues, and… I was beyond inspired. I told myself ‘If it makes you uncomfortable, it probably means it’s good for you. Learning isn’t supposed to be easy!’ and I applied for the project.

Looking back, if I had to choose between what I’ve gained from blogging and what I’ve gained from having classroom iPads, I would choose blogging in a heartbeat.

When did you start blogging?

​My first post is dated October 23, 2013.

Fun facts:

• I’ve published 631 posts since then
• Together these have received 1372 comments.
• I have created and moderated over 100 student blogs. (They aren’t all here, I didn’t think of creating this page until I’d lost a set of URLs.)
• My ‘flag counter’ today tells me that the blog has had over 63 000 page views. This isn’t accurate, since I tend to accidentally delete it every few years when I’m teaching students to add their own. It’s the greatest little widget for inspiring social studies inquiry — the numbers and flags change daily and I field all kinds of questions about countries around the world.

​​Where do you get ideas for your daily posts and how do you integrate blogging into your classroom?

The Ontario Curriculum

My blog drafts act as my daybook. My day plans double as blog drafts. At the end of the teaching day, I edit my day plan to decide what to trash, what to publish and what to cut and paste into the top of the next day because I didn’t get it finished.

The Calendar

My audience is my six and seven year old students, and to them every birthday/holiday/school event/weather event is a big deal. These things get written about.

I also try to include my ‘star student‘ of the day in my daily posts. (The kids have to present some kind of project or oral presentation).

TIP: My class does not present in alphabetical order. I use birth order. I just started this idea this year, and I think all primary teachers should do this! The oldest kid, not the AA kid goes first – they are after all, a sixth of a life older than the youngest!). This means that their projects and presentations are also assessed in birth order. My December babies have had time to figure out what to do by the time it is their ‘day’ and are far more successful than they often are otherwise.

Friday Check Out

This is my version of a weekly class meeting except I take notes and publish at least one thing that each student shared. Parents love it and kids love seeing their name.

My ‘notes this week’ take different forms — straight typing, photos of student sticky notes, voice recording, student typed comments, Padlet… whatever.

On Monday the students read their contribution which helps to review and set the tone for a good week.

The weekly note guidelines are: Share your best memory from the week and one learning wish for next week. I generally make every wish come true. They think I have Santa power!

(Check out the video below which formed part of a recent Friday Check Out and visit Becky’s blog to see the full post. It’s fantastic!).

What have been the benefits of having a classroom blog — for yourself, students and families?

​For Me

Getting started was a lot of work, but since I discovered that a blog draft can double as a day book, it’s made my teaching life so easy.

I teach the same grade every year, so my January lesson links are all ready to go, as are student exemplars at every achievement level!​ (I just scroll through former students blog archives for this one).

For Students

Motivation to learn! Since my students are 6 and 7 years old, a blog that is used as a digital learning portfolio is their first chance to communicate online. I haven’t met a child yet who was not motivated to by this. They want to share, and they want their audience to like what they share. Since I require them to share their Grade 2 learning, they put a lot of effort into what they are learning every day!

Do you have any tips for new bloggers?​

The more you blog, the more mistakes you will make. Mistakes are important. You will make a lot. I sure do. ​But ​I’m a better teacher because of it, and you will be too.

​Is there anything you would do differently in hindsight​?

I’ve never bothered to develop a decent way to categorize or tag old posts.

Furthermore, my titles are often creative, or student written (alliteration, joke titles, birthday shout outs, etc) and really do not give much insight into what the post is about.This means that, much like my own closet, I’m sometimes the only one who can find things I need without using the search feature!

What a great insight from Becky! Is there anything that Becky said that resonated with you?

Feel free to leave a comment and ask any further questions too!

If you’re more interested in blogging with older students, we’ll have some stories coming up in the future for you too. Be sure to subscribe to The Edublogger newsletter so you don’t miss our future posts. 

It’s often interesting to hear how educators got started with blogging.

Some people are told to blog. Others are encouraged by colleagues or inspired by seeing what other classes are doing.

Then there are the school trailblazers who don’t know much about blogging but decide to jump in and learn as they go.

Some educators have an interest in trying blogging so they investigate what platform they should use.

Others are presented with a platform and they try it out because they can. This was my experience.

My Blogging Story

My personal blogging story began back in 2008 in my fifth year of teaching. I was teaching a grade three class in Geelong, Australia.

Always having had some interest in technology, I applied for a grant through our state Department of Education to have some time out of the classroom to learn more about technology integration.

This opportunity transformed my teaching career. What a luxury to have time to visit, explore, play and share!

I used one of my ‘Teacher Professional Leave’ days to visit the eLearning unit at the Education Department in Melbourne. Staff members showed me various tools and introduced me to our state’s CampusPress platform called Global2.

Global2 is one of the largest and longest running CampusPress networks. It serves teachers and students in Victorian Government and Catholic schools. Educators are free to set up blogs for themselves, their classes and their students.

Back to 2008. I didn’t know much about blogging but was open to new ideas so I happily set up a educator blog to share all the tools and resources I was discovering as part of my Teacher Professional Leave project. I cringe to look at the quality of my first blog now but we all start somewhere!

Having set up a teacher blog, I was also keen to introduce my class to blogging. I didn’t know much about the benefits of blogging but thought it would be a great way to connect with parents and a bit of fun, if nothing else.

My students and I thoroughly enjoyed blogging and by early 2009, I began to make global connections with other blogging classes around the world. My first real connection was with Linda Yollis and her class in California. Little did I know I’d hit the jackpot there!

Over the years many amazing connections were established and my students and I worked on many global collaborative blogging projects.

During my blogging journey, I also spent a few years team teaching with Kelly Jordan. I found it hugely beneficial to have one class blog, two teachers and many students working and blogging together.

My blogging journey has had many highlights so far including:

• Raising $20,000 for a Ugandan school through a global project I created with other educators.
• Having my grade two students asked to contribute regular content on our local radio station blog.
• Seeing individual students transform in and out of the classroom through having their own blog.
• Creating strong lines of communication with parents and even seeing parents make their own global connections and friendships.
• Meeting many blogging buddies at ISTE in San Diego and presenting with Linda Yollis after meeting her face-to-face for the first time.

I could go on. These sorts of experiences stemmed from a simple decision to sign up for Global2 and give blogging a try.

Nearly a decade later I still host my professional blog on the Global2 network. I write about educational blogging (unsurprisingly!), global collaboration, digital citizenship and technology integration.

Enough about me.

There are many other educators in Victoria doing fantastic things with their Global2 blogs. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Global2 Showcase

There are thousands of educators, students and administrators using the Global2 network to create blogs, websites and portfolios.

We’ve showcased just ten and encourage you to share any other Global2 blogs you’ve come across in the comment section.

1) St Charles Borromeo (School Blog)

This Catholic school in Melbourne has a fantastic blog which is unique in many respects.

They began by only having teachers contribute to the blog before year 5 and 6 students became authors. They now have students from year 1 to year 6 as regular contributors. The overall management of the blog has also recently shifted from teachers to an elected ‘Student Action Team’.

School ICT Leader, Frank Cotela, describes how their Student Action Team operates,

They are in charge of the rosters and we have seen a reversal of roles at our school where it is these students who approach others students, the teachers and even the principal about making sure they fulfil their blogging obligations. Positions last a term, so soon there will be an online election for a new Action Team and students will be allocated votes according to how many posts they have contributed.

This gradual release of responsibility is a fantastic way to empower students and overcome the obstacle of time that many teachers face.

Frank has found an enormous amount of learning stems from the blogging program.

Our blog is an important tool for our students to collaborate, contribute, connect, create, communicate and critique (6 Cs). But, there’s an equal amount of mathematical, entrepreneurial, interpersonal learning behind the scenes with managing the blog.

Check out some of their terrific ‘Blog Shows’ like Around the Yard, Oliver’s Australian Adventures and Junior Scientist. Presenting the menu of shows as a Google Slide presentation on a page is another excellent idea.

Other highlights on this blog include the library of eBooks created by students and the collection of student made games.

2) Learning With Digital Technology (Schoolwide ICT)

Prepare to be blown away by some of the media and digital technology work being done at Berwick Lodge Primary School.

They have their own weekly television series called LODGERS which is extremely professional and nothing short of inspiring. Check it out!

If that’s not enough, Berwick Lodge have their own weekly radio show, a weekly live streaming of a STEM class on YouTube, and an impressive showcase of work in the areas of robotics, coding, 3D printing and more. Wow!

This blog is truly a credit to teacher, Rob Kelly, who also has classroom teachers participate in all the lessons with their students as a form of ongoing professional development.

3) German Island (Language Learning Resources)

Teacher, Roslyn Green created this blog in 2011 when she was in the process of learning German herself. It’s always so powerful when teachers show that they too are learners!

In the last few years, Nathaniel Smith and Jana Kühn have also become authors.

The blog houses study materials for teachers and students including links, ideas, quizzes, videos, worksheets, and lots of information and strategies that may be useful for German language learners.

4) Prep Communication Blog (Connecting With Families)

A blog that is updated regularly is particularly useful to families.

This blog for students in their first year of school is an credit to the Prep team at Princes Hill Primary School.

It offers lots of updates and reminders on administrative matters while showcasing student learning.

It’s safe to say, parents would love this virtual window into the classroom.

5) Encore Podcast (News from Grade 5/6)

Traditionally a blog would contain simply text and images. The nature of blogs is evolving and the possibilities are endless. This Global2 blog is used to broadcast a podcast.

The Encore podcast is run by grade 5/6 students at Fyans Park Primary School who interview people from the school community on a weekly basis.

They use a tool called Spreaker to embed the podcast into the blog.

Members of the school community are encouraged to get involved via the comment section of this blog as well.

6) Kororoit Creek Music Blog (Student Music Resources)

This comprehensive primary school blog is used as an online homework platform for instrumental music students.

It uses pages to divide resources into grade levels and subject areas. Students can find: sheet music, chords, lyrics, videos, audio files and more.

Kororoit Creek Primary School also has some other great blogs in different specialist departments such as French, Art and Physical Education. 

7) A Glimpse Into Grades 5/6 At Bell PS (Team Blog)

This is a blog run by the grade 5/6 team at Bell Primary School.

A team blog can be a great way to connect classes and present a united approach to the curriculum and school programs.

This blog showcases student work as well as providing recounts, housekeeping information for families, and homework resources.

Some other areas of Bell Primary School use blogs including the Prep team (kindergarten) and the Music/Visual Arts Department. 

8) Ringwood Secondary College Library

This is a comprehensive school library website. The home page is used to showcase new additions to the library while pages are used to house useful resources by year level according to subjects being studied.

It is clear that the school library staff work closely with students and teachers to support everyone’s needs.

9) Think Outside The Box (Primary ICT Blog)

This is a very practical ICT specialist class blog from St Robert’s Primary School.

There are pages for each year level that link to lesson resources. The blog also provides relevant information on digital citizenship and other topics.

There are links to other school blogs and wikis that showcase student work. Overall, this is a useful and well organized hub for the ICT subject area.

10) Digital Learning News (Department of Education)

The Learning and Teaching Branch of the Victorian Department of Education and Training uses this blog to share digital learning news.

This site is a hub for educators and schools looking for professional development news and resource collections.

Educators across the state are encouraged to subscribe to blog updates.

What’s Your Story?

How did you get started with blogging? We’d love to hear your own story and invite you to leave a comment.

We also encourage you to comment if you know any other standout blogs on the Global2 network, or any platform!

If you’re feeling inspired and you’re wondering if a whole network of blogs could work well for your school, district or even state, our CampusPress team can help. You’re welcome to get in touch at any time and chat about possibilities.

Global2 has produced many stories over the last decade or so, and the future is bright. What will your blogging story be?