Unlike the personal blog where you only need to look after yourself, the classroom blog is a bit more complicated. As educators we are charged with keeping our students safe. School districts must comply with the Children’s Internet Safety Act and in doing such must come up with tons of policies. So how do you prepare your students with 21st communication skills and comply with all the rules and regs. This is where I have doing a lot of reading and supposing. Here are my thoughts on this matter so far.

Be open and honest about what you are doing. Explain the process of blogging and the purpose of your classroom blog. Talk to students, teachers, parents and administration.

Be prepared to support the educational soundness of the project.

Make sure you and your students are very familiar with the AUP. You may need to come up with a separate document that outlines your expectations.

Remind them frequently that the work they produce is public. Mom and Dad are looking in.

Model the way you wish your student to blog

Provide clear assignments and expectations

Choose a host/blog service, such as Blogmeister, that will allow you to:
o Moderate posts and comments before they go live
o Password protected the blog
o Specify members
o Create user names that comply with your school’s AUP such as students first name last initial

Have fun with your students and share their and your successes with others.

What insights do you have to make blogging a good experience for students and teachers? Any thoughts and comments are most welcome.