Some people have put a link to a Google Doc/Form/Slide presentation in their post BUT it canât be viewed without logging in. This resource shows you how to make your Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms public.
Do your posts have images? Images make posts much more shareable and they stand out a lot more on our Flipboard magazine.Â
Remember in week 3 we discussed that you canât just use any image you find online in your blog posts? Sadly, Iâve noticed some people are still doing this. You might want to re-read the information in the week 3 post and go back and edit some of your old posts that include images that are not free to use.
Onto the tasksâŠ
Week Seven Tasks
Task 1: Catch Up
You might not have had the chance to complete a task for week 1-6. Or you might have enjoyed one of the topics so much, youâd like to complete an additional task. Go for it.
Here are the links (youâll also find them on the sidebar of the challenge blog).
Remember, the forms are now closed for the week 1-4 tasks but you can submit your task for weeks 5 or 6. Youâll find the Google Forms at the end of the posts.
Task 2: Free Choice
Whatâs something that interests you? Write a post about it! Don’t forget about the essentials of a great post.
If you write a free choice post this week, feel free to submit it in the Google Form.
Task 3: Visit
You might have a bit of extra time this week so it could be a good opportunity to visit at least one other blog and leave a quality comment.
Remember to ask a question and check back to see if they replied to you (most platforms have a box to tick so you can get an email when there is a follow-up comment).
The middle school students teamed up to create a “two truths and a lie” challenge! Can you figure out which statement on each slide is false??
Leave a comment with your guesses!
Remember â if you use a tool to create something, itâs a good idea to provide your readers with the link to the site so they know how you did it.
Results Of Our Language Poll
Last week we invited you to take our quick language poll to see what languages our participants speak.
While English is the predominant language, there were a LOT of languages represented in our STUBC community. How wonderful!
We had nearly 800 responses! (I have now closed the poll).
Here are the top ten languages represented:
English 94.8%
Spanish 20.5%
French 12.5%
German 4.5%
Mandarin 3.1%
Italian 2.9%
Russian 2.8%
Arabic 2.2%
Portuguese 1.8%
Japanese 1.3%
Letâs take a look at this weekâs topicâŠ
Science
Do you have science classes at your school? Even if youâre not formally studying science, science is all around us!
Learning about science just means understanding our world better. Scientists learn about the world by describing, observing, and experimenting. Anyone can be a scientist!
Want to watch a short overview of the nature of science? This 3-minute video might help.
The Branches Of Science
The great thing about science is there are so many different fields and topics. Perhaps there are some areas of science you find very fascinating and others that arenât really your cup of tea.
There are three main branches of science that are further divided into different categories.
The Physical Sciences:Â This includes things like physics, chemistry, and astronomy.
The Earth Sciences:Â This includes things like geology, paleontology, and meteorology.
The Life Sciences:Â This includes things like botany, medicine, and zoology.
What areas of science interest you? Task one involves blogging about this.
Why Learn About Science?
Here are 8 great reasons why children should enjoy science more (created by psysci.co).
Do you have any more ideas about why science is important? Leave a comment or write a blog post about it!
Week Six Tasks
This week there are five science-related tasks to choose from.
Our graphic summarises the tasks and I will explain each task in more detail below.
Task 1: What Are You Curious About?
For this task, consider what youâre curious about (related to a particular scientific field) and write a blog post about it. Don’t forget the essentials of a great post!
Are there any particular scientific fields that interest you? Perhaps you could do some research into the different areas of science. Maybe you could explain some different scientific fields.
Look around you. What do you wonder? Maybe youâre curious about how the internet works or where rain comes from or life on Mars?
Do some research and write a blog post about what you find.
Task 2: Single-Use And Plogging
Your task is to write a post about âsingle-useâ, âplogging,â or any other environmental issue that interests you. Don’t forget the essentials of a great post!
Perhaps you could:
Write a persuasive piece about why single-use items are a good/bad idea.
Make a poster encouraging people to recycle, re-use, or try plogging.
Do some research into plogging and write a âhow-toâ for others.
Explain what initiatives operate in your community or school to help the environment. Do you have a recycling service? Do stores offer you plastic bags? Can you recycle soft plastics to be made into things like playground equipment (for example, we have the REDcycle program that does this).
Any of the above ideas could also be adapted into videos if youâre feeling especially creative!
This week, Collins dictionary announced their Word of the Year â âsingle-useâ.
There has been a rise in public awareness about plastic pollution recently and many communities are taking a stand. For example, in most parts of Australia, the major supermarkets and other stores no longer provide free plastic bags.
Continuing with the environmental theme, one of the shortlisted words was âploggingâ:
You can read more about the Word of the Year here.
Task 3: Video Prompts
Find a video that interests you, then write a blog post about it. You might write a summary of the video and include your own thoughts or questions. Don’t forget the essentials of a great post! Or, you can make a quiz for your readers about the video. Invite them to answer the quiz in a comment.
Remember to include the video in your blog post. Find out how to add a video from YouTube using Edublogs/CampusPress here. (Tip: If you have a free blog, use the URL method).
There are lots of great science videos online.
Here are two examples:
TED-Ed (Tip: Click on filter to find videos suitable for your age group).
Science can involve a lot of terminology or interesting words.
Your task is to make your own A-Z of words relating to science. You could even leave a few letters blank and ask for suggestions in a comment. Include at least two images. Don’t forget to add links to the websites where you got your information from! Â
For exampleâŠ
AÂ is for astronomy: the study of outer space
BÂ is for bunsen burner: a device commonly found in a science lab for heating
CÂ is for carbon dioxide: the gas formed when humans or animals breathe out
DÂ is for data: the facts or pieces of information a scientist uses
With a partner in your section, challenge your readers with a simple âtwo truths and one lieâ science quiz.
Your task is to give two correct science statements and one incorrect science statement to the collective Google Slides in Google Classroom. Do some research in a book or online to make sure your information is accurate. If you use a website, include the link in your slide. Ask your readers to guess the lie! Include a link to both of your blogs in your slide!
For example, you might say:
The smallest bone in the body is found in the middle ear.
An archeologist studies the atmosphere and weather patterns.
The blue whale is the largest animal in the world.
Remember â if you use a tool to create something, itâs a good idea to provide your readers with the link to the site so they know how you did it.
Special Shout Out
All teachers know how great it is to hear from former students. This weekend I was so happy to hear from not one of my students but one of Linda Yollisâ former students!
Back in 2011, Miriam was a role model 3rd grade blogger. Sheâs now a college student who is running a creative writing club for children at her local library.
Miriam is back blogging after all this time!
This is my second year with the writers club at my library and I decided to try to add blogging so that the children both in the club and anywhere in the world could contribute to the conversation.
Would you take a moment this week to drop by Miriamâs blog and say hi? If you leave your blog URL she will no doubt be happy to visit your blog as well!
We have a diverse group taking part in the Student Blogging Challenge. Even though we live in all different parts of the world, we have many similarities as well as differences.
Blogging is a great way to connect with people that we might otherwise never meet!
At last count, we had students and classes from 27 countries and 6 continents registered for the challenge.
Why Learn About Similarities And Differences?
Itâs important for all children and adults to understand that everyone around the world is different and thatâs okay. We need to be respectful and accepting of everyone, whether theyâre the same as us or very different.
Even though we might look different, live differently, and enjoy different things, weâre all the same on the inside. Weâre all humans!
Itâs super fun to hear about how other people live and what sort of things they enjoy or their everyday routines.
If everyone was the same, the world would be pretty boring. Differences in beliefs, cultures, skills, and interests can enrich our lives and bring new ideas to our world.
If you respect and get along with all sorts of people, there are many benefits. Youâll have more friends and enjoy living in peace. The world will become a better place.
As students grow older, they can enjoy working in a global workforce. At Edublogs, we have people from all over the world on staff. More and more companies are working this way. Geography is no barrier.
Any other ideas? Leave a comment! Iâd love to hear your thoughts.
Quick Language Poll
We know we have students from all over the world taking part in the challenge. Most (not all) are writing their blog posts in English, however, there are lots of participants who can speak another language.
Weâd love to know what languages you speak! Take our quick poll below.
Week Five Tasks
This week there are four tasks to choose from that are all about similarities and differences.
Our graphic summarises the tasks and I will explain each task in more detail below.
Task 1: Two Types Of PeopleâŠ
Come up with something that you think categorizes two types of people and make an image. Do this at least three times. Add the images to your post and ask your readers to comment.
Mrs. Morris recently came across a fun website called 2 Types of People. It shows a series of illustrations that categorize people into two broad groups.
Mrs. Morris reached out to the creator João Rocha who kindly said we could use his images for the challenge.
You could try a tool like Google Drawings, Google Slides, PowerPoint, Adobe Spark, or Canva. Just save your creation as a PNG or JPEG and upload it to your blog like any other image.
Or you might have software on your computer (like 3D Paint in Windows) or a drawing app.
You could also use some of the websites we mentioned in week three to find free images.
You can even draw your own images, take a photo, and upload it to your blog.
Hereâs a very quick example of an image I made using Canva. (Canva can be used by under 13s with supervision).
Remember, Alethea Vazquez has a tutorial on how to put a Google Slides presentation together.Â
Task 2: Get To Know Your Readers
Do one of the three suggestions below.
Sometimes blogging can be a little âone wayâ â the blogger writes the posts and the readers read them. But it doesnât have to be this way.
You can get to know your readers and learn more about your similarities and differences!
There are a few ways you can do this. Here are some ideas:
Make a poll for your readers like the âWhat Language Do You Speak?â poll I added above. I used Google Forms to create this.
Interview a Student Blogging Challenge participant, a classmate, or a family member and record some of your similarities and differences in a blog post. You could make a Venn diagram using a tool like this one from ReadWriteThink (see the example below–needs flash).
Write a post with one or more questions that youâd like your readers to respond to in a comment (remember to reply to your comments). Your questions could be things like:
What are your favorite sports?
What fruits or vegetables do you like best?
What do you like to do when you get home from school?
What makes you happy/sad?
What activities do you like doing with your family?
Where is one place in the world youâd like to visit?
Anything else!Â
Note: You can save your Venn diagram as a PDF but I took a screenshot instead.
Task 3: Books Write a book review or book response.Â
Write about a book youâve read where the character was very different from you. Maybe they lived in a different place, had different interests, had a different family structure or so on.
Donât forget to include the important details like the author and full title.
Invite your readers to leave a comment. Make your questions âopen-endedâ. So instead of just, âHave you read this book?â You could invite readers to tell you about their favorite book or author.
One of the great things about reading is you can feel like youâre âwalking in someone elseâs shoes.â
Fiction can play an important role in helping you learn about different types of people and different perspectives.
There are some great books out there that encourage young people to think about similarities and differences.
Task 4: Music Write a post about your favorite type of music. You can add a video clip of a favorite song if your teacher agrees.
Music can bring people together! You might find you a have a similar taste in music to someone else. It can be a good conversation starter.
Or perhaps your taste in music is very different from someone. Thatâs okay too!
Find out how to add a video from YouTube using Edublogs/CampusPress here. (Tip: If you have a free blog, use the URL method).
Example of an embedded YouTube clip
Iâve been teaching music to prep (kindergarten) students so weâve been finding some lots of fun songs. I really like this one because we all enjoy doing the actions.
It is called The Silly Song and is by an Australian group called The Fairies.
If you want a commenter and other participants to visit your blog, remember to fill in the Google Form with the URL of the post you published for this weekâs task.
If you complete more than one task, please choose your favorite one to submit.
Remember to include the URL of the actual post (copy and paste it so itâs correct).
Letâs take a look at just some of the fantastic work we spotted last week:
Georgia summarized the places you can find images and included a slideshow.
Mrs. Kimball made a Halloween themed slideshow for her class that included some information and tasks. Thereâs also the beginning of a story that others can complete.
Eshaan invites you to complete the story of when dolls come alive!
Thereâs a great farewell to summer poem on Frogâs blog.
Emojis were first used on mobile phones in Japan in 1999 and become popular worldwide about ten years later.
Before emojis were emoticons (or smileys). Emojis are different to emoticons. Emojis are pictures, whereas emoticons are the punctuation you use to symbolise emotion.
Emojis look different depending on what sort of platform or device youâre using. As Emojipedia tells us,
Emoji is a standardised set of characters that is available on iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. While the artwork for each emoji character varies by platform, the meaning of each symbol remains the same.
Two years ago, a report stated that 92% of internet users use emojis. No doubt this number has grown now.
The great thing about emojis is that theyâre a universal language! They can help people communicate, even if they donât speak the same language!
More Emoji Fun Facts!
The original 176 emoji are on display at New Yorkâs Museum of Modern Art.
If youâre using Windows 10 or a Mac computer, there is a simple way to choose an emoji as Tony Vincent demonstrates in the graphic below.
Call up an emoji keyboard in Windows 10 by holding down the Windows key and pressing period (full stop). Holding down the Windows key and the ; key also works.
On macOS, hold down Control and Command and press the space bar to make an emoji picker appear.
Both of these keyboard shortcuts require the cursor to be in a text box.
This week there are four fun tasks to choose from to get creative with emojis.
Our graphic summarises the tasks and I will explain each task in more detail below. Iâve included some examples and ideas for how classes can approach each task.
As this topic hasnât been used as part of STUBC before, we donât have actual student examples to show you this week.Â
Task 1: Emoji Story Prompt
Thank you to Tony Vincent for this great idea about using emojis to help you create a story.
Press âAnd thenâŠâ to add some more inspiration for your story with new emojis.
If you donât like the emojis, just press âStart overâ.
Take a screenshot of your emoji prompt.
This article shows how to take a screenshot on any device.
Click here to find out how to add an image to an Edublogs or CampusPress blog.
Write your story in a blog post. If you prefer, you could make an audio recording or even a video.
You could ask your visitors to finish your story in a blog comment if you like.
Task 2: Emoji Guessing Game
There are lots of ways you can use emojis to make fun guessing games for your readers
Emoji Quiz
Make a quiz for your readers using only emojis.
Have them guess something like:
Book title
Movie title
Book/movie character
Food
Word
Phrase
Country
Idiom
You could present this however you like â as a simple blog post, a video, a Google Slide presentation in a post. Or you might have other ideas.
Hereâs an example of a video where viewers are asked to guess the Disney movie.
If you add emojis to a blog post like Iâve done below, theyâll be quite small.
đ + đ = ?
Quick tutorial: Make an image
If you want a simple way to present your emojis so theyâre larger, try making an image in Google Drawings or Google Slides. Google Drawings has a transparent background by default and Google Slides has a white background by default.
Add a title (press on T in the toolbar in Google Drawings).
Add the emojis you want. If youâre on a computer, try going to Emojipedia or EmojiCool and copying/pasting the emojis into your Slide/Drawing.
When your Slide/Drawing is done, go to File > Download as > PNG image (or JPEG image). Save the image to your computer.
You can then upload the image to your blog post (here are the instructions for Edublogs/CampusPress users).
Here is an example I made:
Guess The Word
Tony Vincent demonstrates how to make a Guess The Word emoji puzzle in this graphic.
Want to make something like this? You could try a tool like Google Drawings, Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Canva. Just save your creation as a PNG or JPEG and upload it to your blog like any other image.
Write out a blog post as you normally would. This could be about anything â a pet, a school event, a favorite sport. The choice is yours.
Copy your blog post text. Go to emojitranslate.com and paste your text in the box.
Some words will be replaced with pictures. If you donât want to use some of the emojis, just re-type the word.
Take a screenshot of your result and add it to a blog post.
Ask your readers to guess what it says in a comment.
You donât have to use EmojiTranslate. You can always just make your own post and substitute some words for emojis.
Task 3: Emoji Maths
Emojis arenât just about writing. They can be fun to use in maths too!
Thereâs a popular site called Solvemoji.com where emojis are used in maths puzzles.
You could try making your own puzzles using a tool like Google Drawings, Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Canva. Just save your creation as a PNG or JPEG and upload it to your blog like any other image.
You could draw you puzzles on paper, take a photo of them and add them to your blog post.
Instead of making puzzles, you could solve some of the puzzles on Solvemoji.com and write your solutions and reflections in a blog post.
Here are some examples from the Solvemoji.com website.
Â
Task 4: Emoji Art
Do you enjoy creating and making artwork?
There are a few ways you can make your own emoji:
You could draw a picture of an emoji and take a photo of it then upload it to your blog post.
There are lots of places online where you can find âhow to drawâ emoji tutorials. For example, how to draw a peace sign hand on YouTube or how to draw heart eyes emoji on the How to Draw website. Under 13s should check with an adult.
If you have an iPad, you could use an app like Emoji Me Kids to make an animated emoji of yourself.
You could design an emoji in a program like Google Drawing or Google Slides. See the instructions listed in task two.
You could use emoji.ink to create an artwork using emojis. Tip: Use the slider in the bottom right corner to change the size of your emojis. Take a screenshot when youâre done.
You might have other ideas!
Add your artwork to a blog post with a description. Donât forget to include an explanation of how you made it and a link to a tool if you used one.
Final Tips
Add a visitor tracking widget to your sidebar
You will notice on the sidebar of the Student Blogging Challenge blog we have some visitor tracking widgets to see which countries our visitors are from.
You can add these to your sidebar too. Find the instructions for Edublogs and CampusPress users here.
Because you need to use embed code, youâll only be able to add these visitor tracking widgets with an Edublogs Pro or CampusPress blog. Embed code isnât enabled on free blogs to prevent misuse by spammers. Â
Using a different blogging platform?
Youâll find the instructions to add Clustrmaps here and there are instructions to add RevolverMaps here.
Not getting many visitors?
Try visiting other people and inviting them to visit your blog.
If you look on the sidebar of the Student Blogging Challenge blog, you will see the links to the tasks that participants completed for the first three weeks.
Choose some people to visit. Make your comment a high-quality one â proofread it, ask a question, and show a genuine interest in the blogger. Then leave the URL of a post youâd like them to check out.
Which approach do you think would come across better?
Comment one
Comment two
Check back to see if the blogger replied to you too (if possible, tick the box to be notified of follow-up comments).
If you keep visiting a few of the same people over the coming weeks, you could really get to know each other!
This weekâs topic is an important and useful one to know about. Weâre going to explore how to use images easily, legally, and safely.
Some people find this topic confusing but donât worry. Iâll break it down for you in this weekâs post!
Week Two Recap
There were hundreds of great posts submitted by classes and students.
Letâs take a look at just some of the fantastic work we spotted last week:
The McDowell Media students have made some great how-to videos to let everyone know how to comment on their blog. Also checked out the graphic they positioned on their sidebar as a handy commenting reminder.
Ms. Blessingsâ grade two/three students have started visiting other blogs and shared some examples of the comments they left.
Mrs. Yollis added some comment starters to the end of her post. Is this something you could try this week?
Rajyashori from India shared some of the great comments she left on various blogs in this reflective post.Â
Slingâs class in Canada has completed some more fabulous work including this must-watch video on commenting.
Flipboard
Remember, you can view more great work on our 2018Â Student Blogging Challenge Flipboard. Our commenters will be adding some notable posts and pages to the magazine over the coming weeks.
A Special Tutorial
A big thank you goes to Alethea Vazquez for creating a special tutorial this week.
Alethea has participated with her classes in previous challenges and is now a volunteer commenter.
Her tutorial demonstrates how to create and embed a Google Slide presentation into your blog post.Â
You may remember, we shared Aletheaâs slideshow in week one as a way of sharing the avatars and blurbs of all students in the class.
Many classes did a fabulous job of creating their own slideshows but if you were scratching your head as to how they achieved this, this tutorial is for you.
Google Slide presentations in blog posts are SO handy â you can share all sorts of student work or information.
Letâs Learn About Images
A blog without images would be pretty boring, wouldnât it?
Images can really jazz up our posts, pages, headers, and widgets. Students and teachers also need images when theyâre making a presentation, video, or other digital creations.
But where do we get those images?
Canât we just use Google Images?
Do you know how to find pictures using Google? Itâs so easy. You just type in the word you want, find the image you like, and save it to your computer.
But stop right there!
Should we be doing this? Should we be getting any image we like from Google and using it in our own work?
Most images on Google are protected by copyright. This means, they are not free to use and you can get into trouble if you do use them without permission.
You can use Google Images advanced search filter to find images that you are allowed to use but this isnât as simple as it seems. You need to know what the usage rights mean and how to attribute correctly.
We have some easier options to share with you this week.
Including the source is not enoughâŠ
A situation we commonly see on blogs is where someone uses an image they found online and then include a link to the site they got it from.
For example,
Just because you link to the source of an image, does not mean you can use it. You would need to ask the image creator for permission.
Unless stated otherwise, everything on the web is protected by copyright.
Letâs take a look at some options for finding imagesâŠ
Where Can You Find Images?
Mrs. Morris recently updated a post on her blog that goes through the 5 main ways to find images for blog posts or other digital work.
Here is a summary. Feel free to use this poster on your blog if itâs helpful.
This can be done either by drawing, taking your own photos, using computer software, or using online tools.
Just be mindful of two things:
This can take a long time and leave you with less time for your writing or other work.
Many online tools have age restrictions (often over 13).
2) Many businesses purchase stock photography
We pay a hairdresser when we get a haircut, pay a baker for a loaf of bread, so why not pay a photographer for their work?
This is good to know about as an option but isnât something schools or students would usually do.
3) Using Google Images is not usually a good idea
We talked about this above.
Most images that you find on Google are protected by copyright. Find out more about copyright by watching this short video.
4) Creative Commons is worth knowing about!
Everyoneâs work is protected by copyright unless stated otherwise.
Many people are happy for others to use their work (as long as they give them credit etc.). They give their work a Creative Commons license to tell everyone what they can or cannot do with their image (or text, videos, music etc).
Copyright means the person who took the photo (or created the work) does not allow anyone to use it.
Creative Commons means the person who took the photo (or created the work) does allow people to use it IF they follow certain rules.
Usually, these rules mean saying who created the image/work and where itâs from.
Sometimes the rules state that you can use the image/work only if you donât change it or donât use it as part of something youâre selling.
These rules are called licenses.
There are a number of Creative Commons licenses creators can choose from.
No matter what license is used, you must always attribute the creator of the image/work (unless itâs a Creative Commons Zero license â see point 5). Attributing means crediting the author. In a blog post, this usually means putting the attribution under an image as Iâve done below.
Hereâs a short video by Nancy Minicozzi that explains Creative Commons.
The trickiest part of using Creative Commons images is often the attribution (crediting the creator: saying who the creator is, where itâs from, what the license is etc).
If youâre using Edublogs or CampusPress, there are two plugins you can use to find and insert Creative Commons images without worrying about attribution.
This week there are five tasks to choose from to help you learn more about using images. The third task links with doing either task four or five.
Here is a summary. I will explain each task in more detail below with some examples and ideas for how classes can approach each task.
Task 1: Educate Others
Many teachers and students around the world know very little about using images legally, Creative Commons, attributing Creative Commons images etc. You can help them learn while learning more about this topic yourself.
Do some more research into any of the topics discussed this week and make a blog post, poster, video, slideshow etc.
Example:
This video is the reaction of students in Mrs. Yollisâ class when she mislabelled their artwork. It helps people learn about the importance of correct attribution.
Task 2: Make An Image
Creating your own images for your blog posts is a great idea! You donât have to worry about copyright and Creative Commons.
You can:
Draw something and take a photo of it.
Take a photo of something in your surroundings (donât use photos of other people without permission and remember not to include personal details like the front of your house).
Remember, some online tools have age restrictions.
Add your image(s) to a blog post and tell us a bit about the images and how you made them. If you used an online tool, include the link so others can try it.
In the blog post Mrs. Morris wrote about images for teachers and students, she prepared two task cards.
Use of these task cards to find an image or a series of images to add to your post.
You could add a slideshow with some of your favorite images you found and write about why you like them. Or, you could use your images to complete task 4 or 5 below.
Tip: If youâre using Edublogs Pro or CampusPress, you can use the slider feature in the Live Shortcodes plugin to quickly add a slideshow to a post, page, or sidebar. Instructions are here. (Another option is the Metaslider Plugin) Find the instructions here.
First, find an image or series of images using one of the task cards above. Or you can try one of the plugins we mentioned earlier if youâre an Edublogs/CampusPress user.
Next, you have two choices:
1)Â Add an image with the start of a story and ask your readers to complete the story.
2)Â Or, come up with a sentence and find a series of images to illustrate your sentence. Ask your readers to tell you what the sentence is in a comment.
Tip: You might need to visit some other bloggers and invite them to look at your post and complete your story or guess your word. Remember to leave the URL of your post for them to click on.
Final Tips
Beware of advertisements
Remember, some of the free image sites have advertisements for paid image sites. We donât want to click on those ads.
For example, on Pixabay, I typed âdolphinâ into the search box. The top row of results has a Shutterstock watermark on it. Clicking on this takes me to the Shutterstock website which is a site where you can pay for images.
Note:Â You wonât see advertisements when using the Pixabay plugin.
Do you need to go back and fix images in old posts?
Have you been using images from Google on your blog so far? Whoops. You might want to go back and fix these up when you have time. Remove the image or replace with a Creative Commons image.
Have you tried using categories, tags, or labels yet?
Categories, tags, or labels are all ways to organize your posts. Itâs a good idea to set up a category (or label in Blogger) called Student Blogging Challenge or STUBC. You can assign this category to all the posts you write for the challenge.
If you use Edublogs or CampusPress, maybe you need to start using categories? You can also use tags once you get the hang of it.
If you want a commenter and other participants to visit your blog, remember to fill in the Google Form below with the URL of the post or page you published for this weekâs task.
Did you complete more than one task? Awesome! Please choose your favorite one to submit.
You need to submit the URL of your post/page
Click on the title of your post/page and then copy the URL from your address bar.
Donât submit the URL of your blog or your dashboard.
Donât include anything that includes the word âpreviewâ. Others wonât be able to see the post.
This graphic below should help you understand what a post URL looks like if youâre using Edublogs/CampusPress/WordPress.
Our commenting team was SUPER busy! There were 720+ tasks submitted by students and classes.
A big thanks goes out to our lead commenter Miss W and her team of around 50 commenters!
For this week, weâre asking you just submit one task in our Google Form on the SBC page (if you complete more than one). This will make things more manageable for our commenters.
Youâll also notice some changes in the Google Form this week to make it clearer to distinguish between students/classes. The country name has also been added.
Some notable posts and comments
With so many amazing posts and pages written last week, it was hard to choose just a handful to showcase.
Letâs take a look at just some of the great work we spotted last week:
Musings From Mack is a sixth grade class from the US with a class blog and student blogs. They published a Google Slide presentation to introduce themselves on their class blog. They then created aâfun factsâ list that links to the studentsâ blogs. Creative!
Ash Eryn from the Philippines is doing a great job of replying to her comments and engaging in conversations. Check it out.Â
Zaprina from the US has made a creative About post thatâs an acronym of her own name. It includes paragraphs and colored text.
Slingâs Class is a year 7/8 class from Canada with a class blog and student blogs. They published a Google Slide presentation to introduce themselves on their class blog. Their teacher Amanda also had the great idea of choosing a few global students and classes to visit. She placed these links on a page for the students to reference.
Mrs. Hollidayâs second-grade class is from the US. They created some great avatars which they put in a slideshow. Their post ended with questions which is an excellent way to encourage comments. They have also received some comments from families. Fantastic!
Madison is a very talented writer in the fifth grade. She has done a great job of proofreading her About page and writing in paragraphs to make it easy to read.
Cashton is a seventh grader who has been busy visiting a few other student blogs. He wrote about the blogs he visited in a post and included the links.
Flipboard â Sharing more great work!
Flipboard is a digital magazine that brings together stories and articles from the web.
You can use Flipboard on your computer, or via the app on your phone or tablet.
Click here to view the new 2018 Student Blogging Challenge Flipboard. Our commenters will be adding some notable posts and pages to the magazine over the coming weeks.
A Commenting Story
You never know where a single comment might lead you.
Iâve made so many connections, just through commenting.
Hereâs one storyâŠ
I first began blogging with my grade three class back in 2008.
During the first year of our blogging journey, we received a comment from Mrs. Yollisâ class on the other side of the world in California, USA.
The commenting conversations continued throughout the following years with different groups of students. We had lots of Skype calls and worked together on projects.
I even had two different students visit Mrs. Yollisâ class on family holidays!
In 2012, my husband and I visited Mrs. and Mr. Yollis. Mrs. Yollis and I presented at a big conference for teachers called ISTE.
Even though Iâm not teaching full time currently, our classes still connect â nearly 10 years later. For example, this year we made landmark videos together and collaborated for International Dot Day.
I have learned a lot from Linda and enjoyed the friendship.
This all started with a simple comment. Who will you meet through a comment?
The Benefits of Quality Commenting
Whatâs so special about commenting? Why not just publish blog posts?
Here are ten reasons why I believe comments are important:
Comments turn your blog from a static space to an interactive space. This means itâs not just you talking. There is interaction.
Back and forth conversations are fun and you can learn a lot.
Because comments are not instantaneous (like online chat or text messaging), you can have more time to reflect, research, or think about your response.
When someone leaves a comment, they can leave feedback, constructive criticism, or give you new ideas. This can help you grow and learn.
A commenter might suggest something that you didnât include in your post. You can learn new perspectives.
When you have an authentic (real) audience, itâs more motivating! You know someone will read your post, so you will probably put more effort into it than if you were just writing something in a notebook.
Commenting can be an ideal way for busy parents to get involved in the classroom.
You can learn how to interact politely and how to have conversations.
You can meet new people and form friendships.
Students who donât have their own blogs can enjoy the benefits of blogging by being a participant in the comment section.
Could you add anything to this list? Tell us in a comment!
What is Quality Commenting?
Which of these comments do you think is better?
Some students are young, learning a language, or just starting out and no one expects students to be perfect.
However, when we aim to do certain things in our comment, we will learn more and develop skills that we can use in all areas of our life. Weâll also have a better chance of forming strong connections with others.
So what makes a quality comment? Here are some ideas.
Elements of quality comments:
Written like a letter with a greeting, body, and sometimes a closing.
Correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and spacing.
Questions, compliments, and/or relevant new information.
Making connections without revealing personal information like surnames, addresses, birthdays etc.
You wonât always include all of the above in your comments but these are the sorts of things you might aim for.
Quality commenting videos
This is a video about quality commenting that Linda Yollis made with her third-grade students back in 2010! Many classes still enjoying viewing it.
For older students, this video by Nicolas Weiss is popular.
Week Two Tasks
This week there are four tasks to choose from to help you learn more about commenting.
If you complete more than one, just choose your favorite to submit in the Google Form.
Here is a summary. I will explain each task in more detail below with some examples and ideas for how classes can approach each task.
Task 1: Commenting Guidelines
Come up with your own commenting guidelines. How would you like people to write their comment on your blog? Make a page, a slideshow, a poster, or a graphic that holds your commenting guidelines.
Examples
You might make a How To Write A Quality Comment poster like I did. Teachers, if you want to use this poster for your own class blog, feel free. You can grab a PDF copy here.
I used a free Chrome extension called Screencastify to make the video above.
Loom is another good tool for making screencast videos if you use the Chrome browser.
If you use an iPad you can make a screencast without any special app. Tony Vincent shows us how to do that in this graphicâŠ
Tip: Find out how to add a video to an Edublogs or CampusPress blog here. If you have a free Edublogs blog, you wonât be able to embed the video into your post or page. This is to prevent misuse by spammers.
HTML is a computing language for making blogs and websites.
If youâre using Edublogs and you switch from Visual to Text in your post editor, youâll see the HTML code that makes up your post. Weâll learn more about code later in the Student Blogging Challenge.
You can use some code in your comments to make your words bold, italic, or to add a link or symbol. â„
Check out these tutorials to add HTML code to a comment:
Mrs. Yollis includes a page on her blog with some HTML code you can use when commenting.
If you want to leave a link to your blog that looks neat and tidy, check out this post.
Write a post about HTML codes that you know how to use. Show how to use the code and tell your readers what the different codes do.
Tip:Â If you want to include a demonstration of HTML code in a blog post, it can be best to write it in another program like Word, Google Docs etc. and take a screenshot of the code. Then insert the screenshot into your post like any other image.
This article shows how to take a screenshot on any device.
Click here to find out how to add an image to an Edublogs or CampusPress blog.
See this example below from Mrs. Yollis: she didnât write it straight in the post. She made it into an imageâŠ
Task 4: Comment On Other Blogs
We know the benefits of commenting, so letâs leave some comments!
Find around four blogs youâd like to leave a comment on. Check out the pink week one list on Mrs. Morris’ sidebar (the week two list will appear in a couple of days), or use the lists in the header area. There is a list of participating classes and one for students.
Leave a quality comment on one post on each blog.
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. Include a link to the blogs you commented on too. Hint: make sure you copy the comment before you hit the submit button.
Example posts:
Figgy wrote a post telling us about the comments she left on other blogs.
Allegra wrote about the four blogs she commented on.
Sally wrote about her commenting conversations and included links.
Task 5: Organize Your Posts
Will visitors to your blog find it easy to search for a post they might be interested in commenting on?
If you use Edublogs or CampusPress, maybe you need to start using categories. You can also use tags once you get the hang of it. Start with categories.
Categories, tags, or labels are all ways to organize your posts.
Itâs a good idea to set up a category (or label in Blogger) called Student Blogging Challenge or SBC. You can assign this category to all the posts you write for the challenge.
Final Tips
Encourage comments
A great way to encourage your visitors to comment on your post is to ask a couple of questions at the end of the post. You might make these bold or colored so they really stand out.
Try using open-ended questions. So, instead of saying, âDo you have a dog?â, you might say, âPlease comment and tell me about your favorite animalsâ.
Safety first!
Remember when youâre commenting or writing posts, donât yap about your YAPPY!Â
Submit Your Post URL âŹ
If you want a commenter and other participants to visit your blog, remember to fill in the Google Form below with the URL of the post or page you published for this weekâs task.
Did you complete more than one task? Awesome! Please choose your favorite one to submit.
You need to submit the URL of your post/page
Click on the title of your post/page and then copy the URL from your address bar.
Donât submit the URL of your blog or your dashboard.
Donât include anything that includes the word âpreviewâ. Others wonât be able to see the post.
This graphic below should help you understand what a post URL looks like if youâre using Edublogs/CampusPress/WordPress.
Itâs time to start the challenge and time for some introductions!
This post is quite long because we have some reminders to go through. Tip: there is a menu on the right-hand side of Mrs. Morris’ page to help you navigate the post (you might not see it if youâre reading this on a tablet).
Who is leading SBC this year?
My name is Kathleen Morris. Iâm a primary school teacher in Geelong, Australia.
I wonder what hemisphere you live in? I live in the Southern Hemisphere so itâs currently spring.
I work with Edublogs to help teachers learn about the wonderful world of blogging while also teaching part-time at a school near one of Australiaâs landmarks â The Great Ocean Road.
Hereâs a photo I took just a few days ago at a beach called Jan Juc.
I have a husband whoâs a teacher, a 5-year-old daughter, and a son who is 3.5.
I began blogging with my students in 2008. I have my own blog for teachers where I write about global collaboration, blogging, digital citizenship, online tools etc.
All of these things keep me very busy and I also enjoy doing a little running, hiking, reading, and cooking.
Iâm looking forward to getting to know you, too.
About SBC Participants
So far we have about 1100 individual students and 23 classes registered. Our participants represent 24 countries and 6 continents. Are any of the continents of the world not represented? Why?
Four Step Weekly Process
Read the weekly post.
Task. Complete the tasks
Form. Once your post is published, head back to the weekly post on the Student Blogging Challenge site. At the bottom of the post, youâll see a Google Form. Enter your blog post URL and details into the form if youâd like a commenter to visit you.
Comment. Making connections is a big part of the challenge and the more you put in, the more youâll get out! Take the time to visit another participantsâ blog and leave them a comment. Youâll find the links to everyoneâs weekly posts on the sidebar of this blog. Note: This link will appear on the sidebar in a few days.
Here is a summary of the weekly process. Feel free to copy this graphic and display it on your blog etc.
Stay Safe Online
Remember, as weâre sharing information about ourselves, we need to be internet savvy and avoid sharing too much information or personal details.
Mrs. Morris likes to tell her students to never share their YAPPY online. There is some other information thatâs more of a âgrey areaâ. These are things you should discuss with your teachers and parents.
We already did our avatars! Check out what Mrs. Morris has to say about avatars:
Do you know what an avatar is? Itâs simply an image that you use to represent yourself on the internet. Itâs like a character that represents your online identity.
A lot of adults have a real photo as their avatar, like this picture:
It is a better idea for children to use a cartoon representation
of themselves (check with your teachers/parents if youâre not sure).
We already wrote posts about our avatars, but check out these exemplars from former HMS students!!!!  As seen on the actual, worldwide post! Really!
Braeden made a Lego avatar and wrote about it here.
Activity 1: Update your avatar Make sure you added your avatar to your blog so that it shows up when you comment. Check here for instructions.
Activity 1.5 for 7th and 8th grade only: Update Doc for an “About Me” page on the class blog Create a post that includes a short introduction, everyone’s avatar, and a link to their “About Me” pages. See the Doc attached to the “LA Schedule for 10/8-10/12” assignment in Google Classroom.
Activity 2: Leave at least one comment on a non-HMS blog
Please see the information below for help.
One important aspect of blogging is commenting on other blogs.
Remember:Â The more you put into making connections during this challenge, the more youâll get out!
There are two places you can find other participantsâ blogs to visit:
The pages at the top of the blog. There is a page for student bloggers and a page for class bloggers. These are sorted by age. Student bloggers have hobbies listed so you hopefully can find someone who is not only a similar age to you but shares some of your interests.
The link on the right-hand sidebar of the blog. This will show you the spreadsheet of students/classes who have submitted their posts in the weekly Google Form. Note: This will appear mid-week when some people start submitting their posts.
Commenting advice
Weâre going to talk more about quality commenting next week but for now, you might want to remember:
Write your comment like a letter
Ask a question, make a connection, or give a compliment
Leave your blog URL so the blogger can also take a look at your blog
Donât forget to approve your comments and reply to any comments as soon as you can! The following video by Mrs. Yollisâ third-grade class demonstrates how they approach commenting as a whole class activity.
Activity 3: Submit Your Post URLÂ to the Google Form at the bottom of the SBC page Do not submit the URL of your blog or your dashboard. Click on the title of your post/page and then copy the URL from your address bar.
If you submit more than one post/ page, you can fill out the form more than once.
This graphic below should help you understand what a post URL looks like if youâre using Edublogs:
Thank you all very much for taking part in this ten-week blogging journey with Miss W. As something comes to an end, we usually reflect back on what we have learned, what we will change next time and so on. This is what the activities will be about this week.
Over the past ten weeks, you have learned so many skills to help you improve your blogs. Many of you have improved those writing skills or maybe digital skills with using a variety of tools to embed on your blog. But it is now time to evaluate your progress as well as the progress of the blogging challenge itself.
This week there are two things to do:
Evaluate your own blog
Evaluate the actual blogging challenge
Sixth-grade Activity Part 1: This is an audit of your blog since the beginning of March 2018. In a post, answer all of the following questions. Anyone who reads your post should know what you are talking about (restate the questions in your answers!).
How many posts did you write? How many were school based, your own interests or set by the challenge? How could you improve your posts in future?
How many comments did you receive from classmates, teachers, commenters from #stubc or overseas students? Which post received the most comments? Why do you think that happened?
How many other blogs (roughly) did you visit and comment on a post? Why choose that post?
Which post did you enjoy writing the most and why?
Did you change blog themes at all and why?
How many widgets do you have? Do you think this is too many or not enough?
How many overseas students do you have on your blogroll?
Which web tools did you use to show creativity on your blog?
Sixth-grade Activity Part 2: Now ask another student and teacher/parent from your school who might not have read your blog to do an audit. Sit beside them while they navigate around your blog, record what you observe as they interact with your blog. When finished, ask them the following questions and include their answers in your post:
What were your first impressions of this blog?
What captured your attention?
What distracted you on the blog?
What suggestions can you give me to improve my blog?
Here are some great examples of an audit: Justin M., Raya, and Skye.
how often you visited other blogs and left comments
whether you read the challenge Flipboard magazine (97 stories so far)
whether you left your post URL weekly on the google form
a PMI or plus/minus/interesting point about the challenge
the most important thing you learned while doing the challenge
did you use the challenge sidebar to find posts by other students
Some statistics from this challenge:
964 students aged 8-56 registered for this challenge under 54 different teacher names
78 class blogs were registered with 54 of them having student blogs attached to their sidebar
22 countries represented by students who registered
12 countries represented by class blogs of which 6 were not mentioned on the student list
Number of post URLs left each week via the Google form for commenters to visit:
Avatars: 366
Commenting: 181
Images: 120
Global issues: 92
Free choice: 23 left on blog
Quotes: 171
Visiting: 31
Games: 36
My Best: 70
Thanks again for taking part in this challenge. Hopefully, you will join Miss w again in October this year. If you have taken part in at least two sets of challenges, you can also become a commentor, so watch out for the commentor post in late September.
Keep writing, keep reading the magazine, and if you have a great post you would like Miss W to add to the magazine over the summer/winter break, feel free to leave a comment on her page.
Well, this is our second last week in the March challenge for 2018. Over the last 8 weeks, you have learned a lot about blogging if you have done most of the activities and checked out the links included in my posts.
It is now your time to do your best and show your teachers, the special commenters, and Miss W what a great blog post looks like.
The one and only activity for this week:
Write a post on one of the following topics
Money
Bucket list
Favourite
Don’t forget to include the essentials of a great post:
A catchy title.
At least one visual whether photo, cartoon, video or another web 2.0 tool.
An interesting topic with the passion of the author coming through.
It has been well written and not copy/pasted from somewhere else.
It has been proofread and spellchecked.
At least three paragraphs.
At least two links to other websites on similar topics.
When you have finished your post, please go back to Miss W’s page and fill in the form at the bottom of the page so our commenters can visit. Those posts covering the seven things mentioned above will be added to the Flipboard magazine.