For the first part of the session I presented an overview of what blogging is all about and also gave some suggestions for different types of blogs. Showing examples of blogs helps develop preferences for the look, as well as content of appealing blogs. We also discussed readers and how to subscribe to favorite blog sites into a format that allows you to know when new posts are made and revisit old posts later. The readers I suggested (since Google Reader deserted us) are Feedly and Newsify. The advantage of a reader is that you are customizing what news you want without filling up your e-mail inbox. This is a separate entity. You can also unsubscribe to blogs if you find they are not really what you are looking for and don't have time to read them.
The second half of this session was used for creating blogs. All six participants created a blog and hopefully they see the benefit and future uses for this communication tool.
(Sorry, we can only see five of the six participants!)
Your blogging workshop was immensely helpful and inspiring. I came to the institute with one goal: creating lessons in smart notebook software. I am going to leave with several accomplishments: my first smartboard lesson, my new school blog and the ability to upload entire folders to google drive. I think my favorite thing at the institute (and that is a hard choice) is the networking that takes place among a community of music teachers, who just 'get it.'
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you found the blogging workshop helpful! It is a valuable communication tool. Here's a chance to share what we do in the classroom with others. It's that sharing that I find most exciting. But here at this institute I am LOVING the ability to bounce ideas back and forth, face-to-face. Although our day will end and we will go our own ways, we now have avenues to keep the dialogue going!
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