The next student and class blogging challenge starts on Sunday 5 March 2017.

Why do we need mentors in the blogging challenge?

When I first began the challenge back in 2008, there were only about 200 students taking part and I could visit each of them three times over the ten week period.

But in the last few challenges, there have been over 2000 students and there was no way I could visit them regularly. So in 2010 I started asking people in education to mentor a small group 20-30 students over the ten week period of October to December or March to May.

If you register to be a mentor, please keep checking back on this post as I will allocate the students to you and mention in your comment reply who you will be visiting.

Once students start registering this week, I will be allocating mentors immediately so please keep checking out the student participant’s page in the main header above to find out who you are mentoring.

Who can be a mentor?

classroom teacher or homeschool teacher
principal or senior staff or faculty members
trainee teachers
students who have taken part in at least two sets of previous challenges or been invited by the organizers
educational coaches or trainers
regular blogger about educational matters
authors of children’s books with their own website

What do you do if you are a mentor?

Visit your allocated student blogs at least three times throughout the challenge
Leave comments on posts written by the students
Continue conversations in the comments
Remind them about visiting the main blogging challenge page each week
Contact me by email or a comment if having concerns or problems (contact is on right sidebar)

So you have read the above and have decided you have the time to visit the student blogs, now it is time to register.

In a comment below, mention the following:

A short bio of yourself including some interests
Link to your own blog, especially a class blog or your personal blog – allows me to check validity as an educator
Age group you would like to mentor and how many students

48 thoughts on “Do you have time to mentor some students?

  1. Sue
    I am happy to do some more mentoring this year. I tried the older pupils last time , maybe somewhere in between this time. Maybe 11/12 yr olds.

    Also happy to do the ‘commenting, bit again if you want it. I quite enjoyed it. I could strip the comments of the Gaia (8-12) and (12-16), do a bit of revision and repeat the exercise. Any thoughts????
    Mike Farmer

    1. G’day Mike,
      Thanks for offering to mentor again. This time I have given you some students aged 11. The first five are from USA same class, the rest from Australia also from the same class, so I could give you teachers’ contacts if you want to connect.As I am going away for 4 weeks, I have already written the posts for the rest of the challenge but would love to use it again in the October challenge.

  2. Hi Miss W,

    This is Karah, I appriciate you for inviting me to become a mentor. I would love to be one. As a sixth grader ages 9-12 is enough. I think 5 students are enough for me to handle… Since I am also bust with school works… 😀

    http://karahsblog.weebly.com/

    Soon to be mentor,
    Karah

  3. Hi Sue,

    My name is Kieran Jackson, I am a Year 6 teacher at Wilderness School in South Australia. I would love the opportunity to further get involved in the Student Blog Challenge by mentoring some students. I would prefer to have around 10 students of similar age (10-11).

    Here is a link to our class blog: https://year6wildy.edublogs.org

  4. Hi there,
    my name is Anja Waldhauser and I am an English and German teacher from Austria. I have got students from different age groups, but I have only recently started to blog with my 15 year old CLIL students. Our class blog is located on http://forestdweller.edublogs.org and includes all student blogs in the side bar. I have been learning about blogging and completed the teacher challenge at the beginning of the school period. My students have been using their blogs mainly to work on their writing in English.
    I would like to be a mentor and learn even more about the system and its possible uses in the classroom. For a start I’d like to mentor up to ten students and I’d prefer students from 15 to 18 years of age.

    Please let me know if you need me.
    Thanks in advance.

    1. G’day Anja,
      Thanks for offering to be a mentor. I have some 15-18 year old students needing a mentor. I will put them in a green colour on the participant list. They are all from the same class in the USA, so I could give you the teacher details if you want. Here is a link to their class blog https://mrspowers21stc.edublogs.org/

      1. Thank you for the information. Until now the students I am mentoring have not written anything as far as I can tell. I am looking forward to reading their first posts 🙂

        Also if there are mentors who still have some capacity, I am sure my students would appreciate a little feedback. They are ESL (CLIL) students between ages 13 and 15. All their blogs can be found on our class blog: http://forestdweller.edublogs.org/ , in the official challenge list, they stand out – as we are the only ones from Austria.

        Thanks in advance 😉

  5. Hi, I could help mentor this year. Please give me about 8-10 chidren, 9-12 years old.

    I am a classroom teacher in a public Montessori School in Boulder, Colorado. My class will also be blogging.

  6. I am a Year 3/4 teacher from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
    I love learning about new ways to engage and motivate my students. I am passionate about finding opportunities for students to extend their learning beyond the walls of the classroom and have presented at Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria (DLTV) conferences and Teach Meets. See linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-wong-primaryteach/

    Classroom blog: http://34wbps.global2.vic.edu.au/

    I would probably like to mentor year 3/4 and above students.

    1. Hi Michelle,
      Thanks for offering to be a mentor. I have given you some 11 year olds from Australia. I can give you teacher details if you want to make real time connections. There are two different classes from Australia as well as some students from USA.

  7. Good morning

    I have just tried to register some of my students, and realise I have forgotten to add http:// at the start of their addresses so they are showing up in black on the participant’s page instead of blue. Can I fix this?

    Also, I am new to this challenge, but am willing to be a mentor to some 10-12 year olds if you need more mentors…? About 12 students would be a good start.
    Here’s my bio…no worries if you don’t need me this time around.

    Kia ora. I teach Year 6-8 students at Mahana School in the South Island of New Zealand. Hockey, touch rugby, swimming, cycling and the occasional round of golf keep me fit and active. I also enjoy playing guitar and piano and I’m trying to get better at drawing. Looking forward to meeting up with other bloggers around the world. Whaea Jane

    1. Hi Jane,
      Sorry you have been having trouble registering your students but looks like it is sorted now.

      Thanks for offering to mentor some students. I have given you some 11 year old Australian students. They are all from the same class and you might want to connect your classes via Skype or Google hangouts, so if you want their teacher details, get back to me.

  8. Hi Miss W.
    I would like to mentor age groups around 10-12 years old and about the same number of students. I took part in 2 blogging challenges before this and even took place as a finalist last year. I enjoy playing sports and also like playing around on my computer. Thanks!

    Ethan Caba
    http://ethancaba14.edublogs.org

    1. Hi Ethan,
      Thanks for offering to be a mentor this year. I have given you a group of 12 year old students from Australia. They are all in the same class. You might even be able to connect with their teacher and I will send him your email so he can contact you.

  9. Dear Sue,

    I am a youth services librarian in a public library in the United States. I would like to mentor 20-30 students of any age again. I enjoy reading and travel.

    My blog is mwohlafka.wordpress.com

    1. Hi May,
      Thanks for offering to mentor again this year. I have allocated some 12 year old students to you, but if some more register I might add some more. One blog looks more like a teacher blog so I have highlighted that in pink.

  10. Dear Sue,
    I am happy to be a mentor this year, please give me around 10 Year 6/7s.
    I love using technology to enhance the learning of my girls in Year 6 and have seen first hand how being involved with the Edublogs student blog challenge improves the literacy skills of our students. They love the idea that others will be looking at their blogs and work really hard to make their blogs as interesting as they can.
    At present we still have some security settings on our blog as we are really stressing the importance of careful proof reading and editing and I will remove this once we are all registered and start the challenge.
    Kind regards,
    Heather Davis
    http://year6wildy.edublogs.org/

  11. Dear Sue,

    I am available to mentor again this March. Doesn’t time fly? It seems like no time since last time. This is a wonderful opportunity for the students and you are great to keep it up.

    My name is Merry Beau. I am thirty five years teaching and blogging for just six. Blogging is a hobby as is gardening and I also enjoy family and walking the dog.
    I enjoy the conversations one has as mentor with some of the students doing the challenge.

    I have three blogs on the go at the moment with my students. This is our newest one: a history one just started in September of this year: http://thegreystones.edublogs.org/

    I work with students between the ages of 4 and 12, so could mentor students between those ages.

    With every good wish for a successful student blogging challenge

    Merry

    1. G’day Merry,
      Thanks for joining in the challenge again this year. I have allocated some 10 year old students to you from Mr Geiman’s class in USA. He is also listed on the class groups as well I think.

  12. My name is Adam Geiman and I am a 4th-grade teacher at Blue Ball Elementary school in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. I have been teaching for 13 years and have taught 3, 4, 5th grades during this time. I am passionate about using technology to teach students. I have always struggled with writing and want to get better at it. My students know that I have a disability in writing and I push them to love the art of writing and using technology like blogging helps this. My wife and I are expecting our first child in June. Our daughter is currently the size of a cantaloupe and we both can’t wait to meet her. I am a huge Philadelphia sports fan. The Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and 76ers are all I root for. Other hobbies I have are doing ridiculous things to make my wife, friends, and students laugh. Finally, I enjoy traveling with my wife and cooking / eating amazing food.

    Here is the link to my class blog.
    http://blog.elanco.org/ageimanla
    Age group: 7-9 or 9-12.

    1. G’day Adam,
      Thanks for taking part in the challenge again this year. I have allocated some 10 year olds to you but they are in two groups in the list. Some of your students are in between the two lists and I will allocate someone else to look after them.

  13. Hi Sue,

    I’m a high school English teacher in Ohio, USA. This year I teach ninth and eleventh grade; it would be my ninth graders participating in the challenge. My classes participated last year and we ended up doing a Google Hangout with a class we met through the challenge! The students loved the interaction they had with people around the world. They also took their writing more seriously since they knew more readers would be checking it out. I feel like since it was such a good experience last year, I need to give back this year!

    Here is a link to my blog: http://lauragfhhs.edublogs.org/

    And a link to a page where I’ve hyperlinked all of my student blogs (although they will be registering separately, not as a class). http://acceng2016.edublogs.org/

    Laura Garber
    laura.garber@swcsd.us

    1. Hi Laura,
      Would you like to look after the 16/17 year olds with the wordpress.com blogs? Their teacher is mentoring your students aged 15. Beth Crawford is the teacher and she is also from Ohio. I will check with Beth if she will also look after the two 16 yearolds that are from your class.

      1. Hi Beth,

        I can definitely mentor the other 16 year olds. When is the deadline to have our students register? I should have about 40, not two; this will be incorporated into our class. I had many register Friday and was going to have the rest complete registration tomorrow. Is that ok?

        1. Hi Laura,
          Most of your students have registered but are in the other age groups. I am leaving registration open until end of March as some schools will soon be on Spring break in the northern hemisphere.

      2. Miss W,

        I’m sorry; I misread that. I wasn’t aware I had any ninth graders who were that old so I’m supposing they made a mistake. Anyway, I am happy to mentor whomever you need me to! Looking forward to it.

  14. Hello!
    I’d love to participate as a mentor again this spring. I’ve enjoyed helping with the previous challenges.
    I work as a Media Specialist for an instructional resource center. I keep a personal blog http://dinahhunt.edublogs.org
    as well as maintain the work blog.
    Any age group would be welcome.
    Thanks for your consideration.
    Dinah Hunt

    1. Hi Dinah,
      Thanks for offering to mentor again. I have allocated some 11 year old students to you, mainly from two classes – one in USA and the other in Canada.

      1. Hello.
        A teacher asked me about the embed code for the Edublog Student Blogging Challenge badge for 2017. Is this available yet?
        Thanks.
        Dinah

    1. Hi Philip,
      I just had a look at your blog and I think you might need to take part in one more of the sets of challenges. You have some fantastic posts about Pokemon and I like your style of writing. Apply to be a mentor again for the challenges in October 2017.

  15. My name is Mary Davis.

    I was a secondary math teacher and instructional coach for almost 20 years (gosh!). Most recently, I am working with the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Our work focuses on K–16 mathematics and science education with an emphasis on strategies for improving student engagement, motivation, persistence, and achievement.

    I do not have a blog. I’m sorry – but I don’t. Is this a dealbreaker? I love to read blogs and support students. To prove I am who I say I am, you can refer here: http://www.utdanacenter.org/about-us/staff/mary-f-davis/

    My interests include travel, movies, outdoor time with my 2 dogs (one border collie, Fosbe, and one lab mix Pepper) and husband, jet skiing, and reading. My secret addiction is to the game Survivor on reality TV. (Guilty pleasure)

    I taught middle school through high school – so I think I’d like someone to mentor between 7th grade and 10th grade… the middle of the secondary set. As this is my first time, I would ask for no more than a few to mentor – so I can get used to it.

    Thank you for considering me. I need to start blogging, eh?

    1. Hi Mary,
      You gave me more than enough to prove who you are. I have allocated some 14 year old students to you. To find their blogs, check the March 2017 students above the header in this blog. Go down the spreadsheet to the 14 year old list and they will be highlighted in a pale green.

  16. My name is Beth Crawford, and I teach College Composition, Intro to Literature, and Advanced 10th grade English at Kenton Ridge HS in Springfield, OH. This year, my students in Composition & Literature are blogging 1x a week, on whatever topic they choose. I read all their blogs and try to comment at least once each week. I love to read fantasy & scifi, have 2 kids, one dog, three cats & a husband, and feel encourgaging student writing is the way to go.

    I’d love to mentor some 9-12 graders. Maybe 15-20? And can my students participate and be mentored by someone in additon to me?

    Here’s my teaching blog: bethctech.wordpress.com and here’s my poetry blog: kentonmusings.wordpress.com.

    Right now, each student has their own blog address, but I could put a blogroll on my teaching blog, if that makes it possible for them to participate.

    1. Hi Beth,
      Students don’t have to be on a blogroll but if you have a class blog and register that as well, it makes it easier for other teachers to connect their students with your students.

      I have allocated a group of 15 year old students to you. They are all from the same class and are also in Ohio. Their teacher is Laura Garber if you want to connect.

    1. Hi Marg,
      Thanks for offering to be a mentor again this year. I have allocated the 8 year olds to you at the moment. But could you also look after the couple of 7 year olds as well. If more 8 year olds register, I will also add them to your list.

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