Persistence- The Key to Successful Classroom Blogging

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><br/><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjevKTVMceqsDoL4RQKGPQSIsGQD4omVOk1grfqvKNoOtL-Iz3t_SXnpGmGbgb7E-YFgdVwU6N0LqYI91d06CWxyj-jQd5lf8Q01IqQ0XS8ygBwjvFX0GhsWE9UXVM7uFS1tGV9cFK_CsQ/s1600/259953_10150289347493162_6906298_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjevKTVMceqsDoL4RQKGPQSIsGQD4omVOk1grfqvKNoOtL-Iz3t_SXnpGmGbgb7E-YFgdVwU6N0LqYI91d06CWxyj-jQd5lf8Q01IqQ0XS8ygBwjvFX0GhsWE9UXVM7uFS1tGV9cFK_CsQ/s1600/259953_10150289347493162_6906298_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><br/><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom and brothers in 1990</td></tr><br/></tbody></table><br/>I've been fortunate to have been <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/work-with-me.html" target="_blank">invited to speak</a> about blogging at a number of schools and conferences. One of the points that I always try to make in my talks about blogging is "keep blogging even if only your mother is reading your blog." <br/><br/>Teachers (and many others) often give up on blogging because they think that no one is reading their blog posts. It takes persistence to make a blog work if you're the only author. Keep writing even if only one person is reading it. That one person may tell another about your work and then you'll have doubled your readership. But if you stop writing because you think no one is reading then no one will be reading or sharing your blog posts.<br/><br/>To take this idea to classroom blogs remember that it takes time and persistence to get students and their parents to regularly check your classroom blog. These are the pitfalls to avoid that I'll fully admit I fell into the first time I tried to use blogging in my classroom. My first use of a blog was simply to distribute information and have students comment on it. The pitfall here was allowing to students to email comments instead of posting them on the blog when they forgot their log-in credentials. My second use of blogging was having students write reflections of what they had learned during the week. The pitfall here was, again, letting students email their reflections instead of posting them on the blog. The whole point of having the classroom blog was to have students share with each other and comment on their classmates' ideas. When I didn't have the persistence to say, "no, you need to reset your password" then the blogging activity lost its momentum. When I started saying, "no, you need to post to the blog" then my classroom blogging activities became successful. <div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>Come learn with me at the <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/04/come-relax-and-learn-with-me-this-summer.html/"">Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp.</a> <br/><br/><i>This post originally appeared on <a href="http://freetech4teachers.com/">Free Technology for Teachers</a><br/></i>.</div><div class="feedflare"><br/><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=I9og5sOYxJI"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=02CchHtc3QI:-mPIWmBNYxo:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo"></img></a><br/></div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~4/02CchHtc3QI" width="1"/><br/><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~3/02CchHtc3QI/persistent-key-to-successful-classroom.html" rel="nofollow">Free Technology for Teachers</a>

Persistence- The Key to Successful Classroom Blogging

My mom and brothers in 1990 I've been fortunate to have been invited to speak about blogging at a number of schools and conferences. On...

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5 Free Timers to Help You Time Classroom Activities and Break Times

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrkUyRx3gQyVh8Nz_ofAtdVl9R5mxip2MdiFrbSaJj1TGiUGV6wm3atECIOVTX8dWlQ7Xuq8F-J17i6zAQrplfCQz8rEDAgvGQFwP2r1pC5UFLtrVfk6_P7yED-8PUo_drI4_nOICD2w/s1600/timer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrkUyRx3gQyVh8Nz_ofAtdVl9R5mxip2MdiFrbSaJj1TGiUGV6wm3atECIOVTX8dWlQ7Xuq8F-J17i6zAQrplfCQz8rEDAgvGQFwP2r1pC5UFLtrVfk6_P7yED-8PUo_drI4_nOICD2w/s200/timer.png" width="200" /></a></div><br/>One of the challenges of teaching in a block schedule is that some high school and many middle school students struggle to focus for 80 minute, 90 minute, or longer blocks of time. I always try to break up blocks like this into shorter segments with breaks. To prevent breaks from running too long, I always use a timer. I also use timers to time break-out activities. Whenever it is possible to do so, I like to display the timer countdown on a projector or whiteboard so that all of the students can see it. Here are five free timers that you can use for these purposes. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.funsumer.com/apps/timer/" target="_blank">Timer Pop</a><br/> allows you to create and save multiple timer settings. For example, if I<br/> want to have a count down that lasts for five minutes, a count down of <br/>fifteen minutes, and a count down of three minutes I can save them all. <br/>Then when I need one of them I'll just click on it to start the count <br/>down.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch/">Online Stopwatch</a><br/> is a free website that gives you the choice of a stopwatch function or a<br/> countdown function. You can set the countdown timer for any length of <br/>time and an alarm sounds when time is up.<br/><br/><a href="http://my.online-eggtimer.com/">Online Egg Timer</a> is a <br/>simple website offering three countdown timers on one screen. You can <br/>set just one timer or run all three at the same time with different <br/>settings. No registration is required in order to use <a href="http://my.online-eggtimer.com/">Online Egg Timer</a>. Just go to the site, set the countdown timer(s) using the up and down arrows, then click "start timers."<br/><br/><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/edebbhkhcaafmolanelponjjanocpacd?hl=en-US#">Timer Tab</a> is a free application offered through the Chrome Web Store and as a stand-alone website at <a href="http://timer-tab.com/">timer-tab.com</a>. As a Chrome app Timer Tab can be used online or offline. The website version of <a href="http://www.timer-tab.com/">Timer Tab</a><br/> can only be used online. Both versions of Timer Tab offer a count-down <br/>timer, an alarm clock, and a stopwatch. For the count-down timer and the<br/> alarm clock you can select a video to play when time expires or when <br/>you've reached your specified alarm time. You do this by pasting the url<br/> of a YouTube video into the "alarm" field below the timer. Also in both<br/> versions of Timer Tab you can customize the background by specifying an<br/> image url.<br/><br/><a href="http://timerrr.com/">Timerrr.com</a> offers two versions of <br/>their free countdown service. The regular Timerrr displays a dial like <br/>my grandmother used to have on top of her stove. The "egg timer" version<br/> displays an egg timer as the countdown device. Both can be used to set a<br/> countdown of up to sixty minutes. <div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>Come learn with me at the <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/04/come-relax-and-learn-with-me-this-summer.html/"">Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp.</a> <br/><br/><i>This post originally appeared on <a href="http://freetech4teachers.com/">Free Technology for Teachers</a><br/></i>.</div><div class="feedflare"><br/><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=I9og5sOYxJI"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=71ZoFGE1oP8:bWVNa9_PsLw:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo"></img></a><br/></div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~4/71ZoFGE1oP8" width="1"/><br/><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~3/71ZoFGE1oP8/5-free-timers-to-help-you-time.html" rel="nofollow">Free Technology for Teachers</a>

5 Free Timers to Help You Time Classroom Activities and Break Times

One of the challenges of teaching in a block schedule is that some high school and many middle school students struggle to focus for 80 minu...

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Wikispaces Introduces a Brand New Look for Classroom Wikis

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFe0QdFcgR49uWz8hef_NWCqUbEORmooPL_tnowotf-2a2WeU-svc_x9c938fBEtZFYUXxkQ6xLELD3pVzqCzcepCo3PHL3DYQ68kutPWH67b9c87Q6njo0dopfcREBclYP4Yw6L9CcgU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-16+at+9.36.16+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="65" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFe0QdFcgR49uWz8hef_NWCqUbEORmooPL_tnowotf-2a2WeU-svc_x9c938fBEtZFYUXxkQ6xLELD3pVzqCzcepCo3PHL3DYQ68kutPWH67b9c87Q6njo0dopfcREBclYP4Yw6L9CcgU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-16+at+9.36.16+PM.png" width="200" /></a></div><br/><a href="http://www.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">Wikispaces</a> has been a great supporter of classrooms for years now. They allow any teacher to use their services to create wikis for free and without advertising. Today, Wikispaces introduced a brand new look for classroom wikis.<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJOayFS1D1D50LSbiMAAllF8M75Gg9oJQpr3Z8lJPAS5sRX9wZ8dCcKLwzs4ZhhEyZqXcnqB5Bqvm0GOr-GOwBqxBjU6qHgZsjX2wFXofYh7leyvdTLF07Bl6iz_TXPY4aUuRrkPhKAc/s1600/Wikispaces-Classroom-Wiki-Page.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJOayFS1D1D50LSbiMAAllF8M75Gg9oJQpr3Z8lJPAS5sRX9wZ8dCcKLwzs4ZhhEyZqXcnqB5Bqvm0GOr-GOwBqxBjU6qHgZsjX2wFXofYh7leyvdTLF07Bl6iz_TXPY4aUuRrkPhKAc/s1600/Wikispaces-Classroom-Wiki-Page.png" width="400" /></a></div><br/><br/><a href="http://www.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">Wikispaces Classroom</a> is a new, free offering from Wikispaces. From the first look you'll notice that Wikispaces Classroom is quite different from the old Wikispaces format. Wikispaces Classroom simplifies the layout of pages to put only the tools students need in order to edit a page on display and hides the tools students don't need. On the management side of things Wikispaces Classroom is arranged to make it easy for teachers to quickly manage projects, alter settings, and see reports on students' use of the wiki.<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJDnrfWdERmdw4wnwDGvKwlcb9b2q7csTm7lKz9XTK4gF5-8cD3EjRUJ5T5tnCZ7-4rEczIIdKu28ngvEXh_3R8fzWXovYM6YmwwrwnapME7tsuqmVmTYkglhgDz6chfWW-0VCKoYBdY/s1600/Wikispaces-Classroom-Assessment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJDnrfWdERmdw4wnwDGvKwlcb9b2q7csTm7lKz9XTK4gF5-8cD3EjRUJ5T5tnCZ7-4rEczIIdKu28ngvEXh_3R8fzWXovYM6YmwwrwnapME7tsuqmVmTYkglhgDz6chfWW-0VCKoYBdY/s1600/Wikispaces-Classroom-Assessment.png" width="400" /></a></div><br/><br/>Wikispaces is offering some free webinars about the new Wikispaces Classroom. You can get more information about those <a href="http://help.wikispaces.com/Webinars" target="_blank">webinars here</a>.  <br/><span style="color: #38761d;"><b><br /></b></span><br/><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>Applications for Education</b></span><br/>Last year I wrote <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/12/5-ways-you-can-use-wikis-with-students.html" target="_blank">5 Ways You Can Use Wikis With Students</a>. Included in that list is creating digital reference pages as alternatives to textbooks. That was one of my primary uses of wikis when I taught a ninth grade geography class that didn't have a current textbook. I often started a set of pages and had students finish the pages. The new Wikispaces Classroom has a tool that I wish I had then to quickly see not only when students accessed pages, but also what they did on the pages. <div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>Come learn with me at the <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/04/come-relax-and-learn-with-me-this-summer.html/"">Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp.</a> <br/><br/><i>This post originally appeared on <a href="http://freetech4teachers.com/">Free Technology for Teachers</a><br/></i>.</div><div class="feedflare"><br/><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=7Q72WNTAKBA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=qj6IDK7rITs"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:V_sGLiPBpWU"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=I9og5sOYxJI"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=kcgN8TGieys:KtxwQrazXS4:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo"></img></a><br/></div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~4/kcgN8TGieys" width="1"/><br/><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~3/kcgN8TGieys/wikispaces-introduces-brand-new-look.html" rel="nofollow">Free Technology for Teachers</a>

Wikispaces Introduces a Brand New Look for Classroom Wikis

Wikispaces has been a great supporter of classrooms for years now. They allow any teacher to use their services to create wikis for free an...

Read more »