As I was chatting with my principal, Mrs. Schmid, about my Integrating Technology class she asked me if I knew how to start a blog. Of course at the time I didn’t have a clue but I knew by the end of the eight weeks I certainly would have a better understanding. Our school received a grant to continue our Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program next year and Mrs. Schmid thought starting a blog about this program would be a great way to involve our staff and students using technology.
Each week, during the school year, our students are able to sample fresh produce. The kids go crazy just waiting for their fresh treats and it is great way to introduce our children to fruits and vegetables that will hopefully prod them into choosing healthier options later in life.
The purpose behind creating the blog was for students to research and develop their writing skills to communicate with their school audience and families about what they learned about each new fruit or vegetable. They may want to learn more about where the produce is grown, how it is grown, how is it shipped to various places, the nutritional value, scientific name, what it is similar or related to, what it tastes and looks like, and did they like it.
One small glitch in the process of creating this blog was the ability to access it from school. As of now, Omaha Public Schools does not allow access to blogs and forums. This is something I will be working on in conjunction with Mrs. Schmid but in the meantime we will use the blog I created and let the students, staff, and family access it outside of school. Another option may be to use the social forum on DotNetNuke through OPS. This forum can only be accessed through OPS so unfortunately parents and community members are not able to see and read what the kids have researched and written and is limited in its creativity.
Technology is constantly changing and transforming so I imagine and hope that within a short time our district will begin to allow various sites for students and staff to communicate and collaborate in direct relation to curriculum standards.
The blog I created is through blogspot.com. Students and their families will be able to comment on posts and teachers will be invited to be authors on the blog in order to post student facts and photos.
Teachers will first need to sign up for a gmail account and send it to the administrator. http://mail.google.com/mail/help/open.html
Invite authors to a blog
Sign in to www.blogger.com and type in the
username and password
Go to the “Settings” page of the blog
Click link for “Permissions”
Click “Add Authors” and type in email addresses of each author then click “Invite”
Blogger sends the invitation to each author listed and once they respond to the email they are ready to go.
New authors can write and edit their own blogs but are not able to edit or delete posts written by any other authors.
Here is the blog I created for our Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program. New postings will begin in August or September of 2011.
Hi Carol, I thought your blog (website) was beautiful. Did you have to create all this (formatting and images) or did it format for you? Was this easy to use? Did it already have format and you chose design or was it way harder? Looking at everyone's project got me in the mood to do more to enhance teaching in my class. My old website was maintained and generated by the school so very limited capabilities and access. I want to creat a new website AND have blogging accessability. It is kind of better than the old discussion board. Nice work!
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