Blogging for Beginners: Communicating with the World Frieda Foxworth Technology Integration Specialist Lexington District 1

What is a blog? BLOG is short for the word “weblog.” A blog is an online journal. It’s like a diary. There are currently over 70 million blogs on the Internet. Some people have more than one.

Students Blog!

Teachers Blog!

Who is your audience when you blog? Once a blog entry is published, it is completely public. That means that when you are blog writing, your audience is the entire world! Blog writing is real writing for a real audience.

How do you write a blog entry? Every blog entry needs a title. Titles always begin with capital letters. Think about your topic and purpose for writing. Use your best writing when you are writing for your blog. That means writing good sentences that begin with capital letters and end with periods. Always READ and RE-READ what you wrote before you click Publish.

What do you write about on a blog? Something you’ve learned in class. A book you’ve been reading. A personal narrative of an experience in your life. A topic you’ve researched. Your opinion about something. Here are some ideas:

Why blog instead of just writing in a notebook? Writing on a blog is like starting a conversation. When you post a blog entry you are inviting others to write comments about what you said in your blog. Blogging allows you to share your ideas and get feedback from others. Blogging is an online text conversation that you can have with anyone in the world. It’s more FUN!!!

You might receive a comment from the person next to you or from someone as far away as Shanghai!

Important Things to Remember Always use your best writing skills. Proofread and edit your work. Check for capital letters, punctuation, and clear ideas. What you write can be read by anyone. Don’t write anything you wouldn’t want your grandmother to read! Only use words that are appropriate for school.

More Things to Remember Never give out any personal information on your blog or in comments. That means don’t tell your address, your phone number, your school, or your last name. Read and re-read before you click Publish! Always be respectful of others with everything you write. Be creative in your thinking and elaborate on your ideas.

Blogging is your gateway to the world!