1. Using Blogs in Your Classroom: Stimulating Students to
State Their Opinions
What is a Blog?
A blog (short for “web log”), is a website that
features regular commentaries, descriptions of
events, or opinions about a variety of topics
What are the main reasons that
people have blogs?
posting commentary on a variety of
subjects
online “diary” of daily events in a
person’s life

2. Effective Use of Blogs in
Examples of the
Effective Use of Blogs in
the Classroom:
Miller’s English 10 Classroom Blog
A blog created by a 10th grade English
teacher that features information about
assignments and homework prompts related
to the students’ classwork
Ms. Myer’s Class Blog
An eighth grade math teacher’s blog
that serves both as a resource site
for her students as well as an online
diary of her daily events relating to
school

3. How Can Blogs Improve the Quality of Instruction in Your Class?
The use of blogs in the classroom
promotes an “inquiry-oriented”
approach to learning
Source: “Blogging in the Classroom”
2009/04/13/blogging-in-the-classroom/
Awakens students’ curiousity and
encourages them to express themselves
creatively
How Can Blogs Be Used in a
Classroom?
used as online writing journals
provides a forum for students to express
their opinions on a variety of subjects
allows students to respond to the writings
and opinions of their peers in a moderated
forum

4. Where Can I Find a Free Blog Hosting Site? Wordpress
Blogger
Blog

5. In this case, we will create a blog using
Wordpress.com.
When you begin registering for your account,
you will be asked to create a username, password,
Your address, and to agree to the site’s terms.

6. As you create username and passwords,
the site will “advise” you on the strength
of each word you enter.

7. The site will then display the blog domain
name for your new blog. It also shows
the blog title. You can also change the
language the blog will be displayed in.

8. The site will then send an e-mail in order for you
to confirm the registration of your blogsite.
You will be prompted to update your profile on
this page.

9. Once you
have
confirmed
the
registration
of your blog,
you will be
led to the
log-in page
to your blog.
Type in your
username
and
password.

10. In order to begin posting on your blog,
This page will appear.
In order to begin posting on your blog,
Click on the link along the top of the screen
titled “My Dashboard”

11. of the different features
On the right side of
“My Dashboard”,
You can choose to
compost your first
post through the
“QuickPress” option
On “My Dashboard”,
you can manage all
of the different features
of your blog at a glance

12. You will notice that there is a generic initial post
that appears on the blog’s dashboard. You can
choose to edit that first post and update its
content with your own composition.

13. The first thing you will edit on the blog posting
will be the title.

14. Then you can edit and change the content that
appears in the text box

15. After you’ve entered your content for your blog post,
click the “Update” button on the right side of the screen.
To view your post on your blog
site, click on the link at the top
of the screen labeled “Visit Site”

16. This is what your blog site will appear like
once you have entered your first posting.
You will be able to change its appearance
if you want.

17. Back on “My Dashboard”, you can see how many
posts, pages, categories, and tags that appear on
your blog. You can designate each post you
create into different categories if you want.

18. If you click the “Categories” link on your
Dashboard, you will be able to add categories
to your blog that you can place your postings into

19. You can change the name of each category, and select the
“category parent”. For example, if you have a category
for posts about music, you can create categories for “jazz”
or “rock” that you can file under your “music” category

20. You can choose these options by clicking on
Along the top of your Dashboard, you can choose what
features will be able to be seen on the screen, such as
recent comments, “what’s hot”, as well as how many
columns that your blog will be laid out in.
You can choose these options by clicking on
“Screen Options”

21. You can also choose to import media files, such as images,
music files, or movie files into your blog. When editing
a blog post, you can upload a file to the blog from your
computer. Once you click the link for that option, this
screen will appear. You will be asked to select which
files to upload.

22. Browse to the directory that the file you want to
upload is located, click on the file, and click the
“Open” button on the “Select File” window

23. Once you have selected the file, you will be given
the opportunity to enter information concerning
the file’s title, alt text for the file, a description of
the file, and the alignment of the file on the screen

24. One popular use for the use of blogs by teachers is to
start discussion threads based on readings from the
curriculum. You can do this in the same way that you
created your initial post.

25. The post for the Discussion Thread will appear like this
on your blog site. Remember, you are able to change the
appearance of your blog if you wish.

26. Another popular purpose of blogs is to include
links to other internet sites that the poster wants to
call attention to.
To do so, when creating a blog post, type in a URL address
for a website you want the readers of your blog to navigate
to.

27. Highlight the URL address with your cursor
Click on the icon on your
formatting bar to create
a hyperlink to that
website
Highlight the URL address
with your cursor

28. You can view your blog site to see your blog post.
The hyperlink you’ve created will be active and
will lead to the other website when you click on it.

29. Along the side of “My Dashboard”, you will see a number of
options that allow you to alter the features of your blog.
You can click on the option labeled
“Appearance” to change how your blog looks online.

30. A number of options will appear, including the
option of “Themes”. You can browse through
the different formats that you can select that
your blog can follow.

31. In this case, I will choose the “ChaosTheory” theme
and click the “Activate” link to apply the theme to
our blog.

32. On “My Dashboard”, you will see the current
theme of your blog. Click the “Visit Site” link
to view the blog as it appears to the public.

33. This is how your blog appears with its new theme.

34. There are several other settings that you can
adjust to your liking, including “Writing”,
“Reading”, “Discussion”, “Media”, and more.

35. After you have made your adjustments to your
blog’s settings, click the button labeled
“Save Changes”