Creating+the+blog

=** Creating the blog **=

Now for the fun part.....actually creating your blog!

This is a good way to introduce the kids to the idea of having online identities. You may want to get your class to vote on a name, or just choose one yourself so you can have the blog all ready to go on the first day of school. Try to think of something more individual than "Grade 2 Blog" as there are a LOT of those. You want something that can be found by search engines easily.
 * Think of a name for your class**

There are a number to choose from. These are the more common ones I've seen in use. [|www.blogger.com] [] [] [|http://kidblog.org/]
 * Choose a blogging platform**

Regardless of where you choose to have your blog hosted, there will be tools to individualise it with backgrounds, templates, pictures, colours, etc. I've found YouTube to be a good source of "how-to" type tutorials for both creating and beautifying blogs.

Your blog needs to have some information about your class. Your readers will want to know where you're from (at least, which country or state) and what grade they are. Some sort of welcome message is nice too, as well as an invitation to leave comments.
 * "About Us"**

In my opinion, there are 2 widgets that are absolutely essential for your class blog. The first is a cluster map of some sort, which shows where your visitors are from. The other is a hit counter. I have found these to be incredibly motivating for my students. They are so excited to check our hits each morning and to see if there are any new stars on our map. It really reinforces to them that their work in our classroom is valued and interesting because all these people come to look at it and to read about us.They're also great for incidental and authentic geography and maths learning (eg. we use calculators to work out the number of hits we've had since we were last at school).
 * Add some widgets**

Some people also like to add time or weather widgets. Google for "blog widgets", or similar, and you'll find all sorts of things. Try not to overcrowd your page, or make it too busy and distracting though. Also, avoid adding anything that automatically plays sound or music. This can be very frustrating to your readers!

Example map widget site: [] Example hit counter widget site: [|http://www.freebloghitcounter.com] or use the one in your blog gadgets

A blog roll is a list of links to blogs that your class likes to read. As you find other blogs to look at, add them to your sidebar and start leaving them comments. Eventually, other classes will add you to their blog rolls and visitors to their pages will have easy access to yours too.
 * Blog Roll**

Your blog can also serve as a portal to other sites you want your students, or your readers, to access. Add links in the sidebar to literacy and numeracy games, your class wikis, projects you've participated in, or anything else you want quick and easy access to.
 * External Links**