Edublogs

= ** What is a BLOG? ** =
 * Blogs (an animated video on Brain Pop - geared toward students from Grade 3-8+ - No registration required)
 * Blogs (an animated video on Brain Pop Jr geared toward students from K-3 - requires registration for a free trial)
 * Blogs in Plain English ( a Common Craft Video) - A short introduction to Blogs - How they work and why they matter

= Reasons to blog = = = = ** Suggested Skill Progression With Students ** =
 * Communicate with families
 * Kids learn appropriate social media skills
 * Have students experience success by using different tools (recording audio vs writing)
 * Motivates students, especially reluctant writers
 * Provides an authentic audience
 * Vehicle for sending home links to online activities
 * Metacognition
 * Read this blog post for more ideas
 * Click here for some suggestions of how to provide a gradual release approach with your students

= ** Go Pro... or Free? ** = You have different options with Edublogs. Free, Pro or Campus. - free version has limited space, you cannot embed video/flash || - can create student accounts on a class blog - can link to 50 other blogs (students?) and take the ads off of them || - cost || $39/year || http://mswift.edublogs.org || *best option with most flexibility with themes, design, embed, plugins, etc. ||
 * **Type of blog** || **Pros** || **Cons** || **Cost** || **Samples** || **Notes** ||
 * Edublogs free || - cost || - cannot embed video, voicethreads || Free ||  || - not a bad starting place, especially if you think you may upgrade to pro account later on
 * Edublogs free || - cost || - cannot embed video, voicethreads || Free ||  || - not a bad starting place, especially if you think you may upgrade to pro account later on
 * Edublogs pro || - can embed anything you need to

If you do not already have an edublogs account, here is a video on how to create your account. media type="custom" key="16600044" align="center"

Here is an example of a class blog: http://mswift.edublogs.org/ Come and visit!

 For more details visit: Blogging With Your Class