65 Interesting Ideas for Class Blog Posts to Support Learning

I have always enjoyed supporting classroom blogging and encouraging teacher networks to share and visit each other’s work. Blogging was the social media platform that completely changed the way I learned professionally.

The single most important decision I made in my career was to begin writing a blog, and actually my class blog started at the same time.

I hope these ideas inspire you to continue your blogging work with your classes and perhaps begin writing and sharing on your own space.

Please help with the resource above by considering what new ideas you could add – instructions on the last slide on how to add to it.

Unstoppable Creators and Powerful Thinkers

This is one of the finest descriptions of a class blog I have ever come across:

We are a class of groundbreaking inventors, unstoppable creators and powerful thinkers. We learn cooperatively together but most importantly with a shared dream of success and impact. We are shaping the future and grabbing every opportunity life throws our way. Join us as we work hard to reap the rewards…after all, to appreciate the beauty of a snow flake, you’ve got to stand out in the cold.

These 5 and 6 year olds must have a great time!

Class 1JR at Rosendale Primary School

20+ Classroom Blogs to Enjoy

2image.png.scaled.1000I spent today working with staff at Christ Church Primary School in Brixton, South London – and we were predominantly talking about the use of classroom blogging to support learning.
During the day I was tweeting to ask people to share their own class blogs as I was working with different year groups and it was lovely to look back this evening and find so many all across the world that people sent me – so a big thanks to those of you in this list.
I have gathered them up and indictaed where the cass blogs are from and thought I would share in a post for everyone to benefit from.
And here are the class blogs from Christ Church Priary School too – they would be so pleased if you and your classes dropped by and added a comment or two. They have just started their blogging journey and would welcome the support.

Make sure you spend some time exploring the different blogs and look for links to other school blogs they have displayed and I hope you perhaps find a class to link to and share some stories with.

Please share your class blog in the comments below

Can teachers stand idle any longer?

In last Friday’s Times Educational Supplement an article I had written was published about the use of social networking in schools. It seems to me that we are getting to a point where children in schools are experiencing a hidden social curriculum that we are no longer part of, this is especially the case for their use of social networking. In my own words:

Social networking should be taught more widely and in more depth in schools. No longer are we able to stick our heads in the sand about these communication tools. Nor should educators distance themselves from using them.

The paragraphs that were missing from the piece went as follows:

This is not simply about how much time students spend learning about social networking in GCSE ICT. This is an issue for every subject and teacher, a system wide issue, a social issue that needs the whole school to act, and it won’t just take the one or two teachers who use Twitter or write a blog to do it.

Those of us who are willing should take steps to develop a more supportive and positive ethos around the role of social networking in learning, school and society. Those who are unwilling need to get out of the way, because where we continue to remain idle we further disadvantage our students.

Teach it, don’t fight it” was published in the TES magazine on 16 September, 2011 

The Internet in Society

After the recent successes in Scotland by the SNP in using social media tools and the internet as part of their historic re-election, this lecture by Evgeny Morozov is an interesting exploration of the wider debate around society and the internet.

Does the internet actually inhibit, not encourage democracy? In this new RSA Animate adapted from a talk given in 2009, Evgeny Morozov presents an alternative take on ‘cyber-utopianism’ – the seductive idea that the internet plays a largely emancipatory role in global politics.

Exposing some idealistic myths about freedom and technology (during Iran’s ‘twitter revolution’ fewer than 20,000 Twitter users actually took part), Evgeny argues for some realism about the actual uses and abuses of the internet.

Morozov refers to the much debated distinction between the digital native and the immigrant, but suggests we should be focusing on the differences between digital renegades and digital captives. This is an interesting point that refers to the filtered and restricted use of digital tools in some countries compared to those more freely using the tools in others.

A healthy reminder of the relative openness we have in our digital lives compared to other parts of the world.