What is the challenge about?
The challenge is about getting students to blog and develop a world wide audience while doing so, rather than just having their teacher and classmates look at their work.
How can my class be involved?
Your class can be involved as a class blog or each student with their own blog can be involved in the student section of the challenge. If students don’t have their own blog, they might want to leave comments instead. There will also be activities for a whole class to do.
As the teacher, what do I have to do?
If you have a class blog, make sure the link to this challenge blog is on your blogroll somewhere to make it easy for your students to find the challenges. If you would prefer, you can copy and paste the challenges into your own class blog and adapt them to suit the needs of your students.
Mainly, keep reminding the students of the challenge and allow them time in and out of school to complete the activities.
How do I join the challenge as a student?
There will be a post on this blog in both February and August each year, about three weeks before the challenge begins. This will be a Google form for each participant to fill in. This document will then be converted to a page called Student participants and you will be able to see all the students and links to their URLs so you can visit them to read posts and leave comments. Students will be sorted according to age making it easier for you to visit.
How do I join the challenge as a class?
First two things to do are register your class blog and add your name and email to the mailing list widget on the sidebar.
You might also want to check out the page labelled ‘Teacher Challenges’ as this has information so you can organize your class ready for when the first set of student challenges is posted.
Email me whenever you want extra help.
Does my blog have to be Edublogs?
No you can use any platform for your blog eg blogger, wordpress, kidblog, weebly, posterous but when I give detailed instructions in the challenges, they will refer to Edublogs.
Can we start later than other students and classes?
It doesn’t matter when you start. You can catch up the activities or you can leave some out. I realise some schools will be on holidays for various parts of the year.
What will the challenges involve?
Below is a list of what students had the chance to do in ten weeks in a previous challenge:
Write blog posts:
- why did you join the challenge
- write a post for BAD on climate change
- favourite interests
- favourite holidays or countries to visit
- storytelling using images
- how to write a post that invites comments
- favourite blogs you visit
- Edublogger competition post
- what did you learn from other bloggers
- about a positive digital footprint
- a challenge post for the international student blog
Commenting:
- count three out activity
- own commenting guidelines
- comparing comments
- replying to comments
- commenting habits after eight weeks of the challenge
- visit posts from overseas students and classes to leave comments
Non written posts:
- comic
- quiz
- poll
- images only
- using embed code for links in comments and widgets
Blog presentation:
- create avatar
- about page
- translation widget
- weather widget
- create blogroll
- add badges
- clustrmap
- using tags and categories
The email link did not arrive in my mail box to register me as a class.Do I have to wait longer for this?
I hope there was not an age maximum, as my students are a little older than most of the K to 12 students you have registered here. Please let me know soon if we are able to join the challenge still.
Thanks,
Jane
I think its great that you want your students to blog; however, I would be concerned about adults visiting and commenting on K-12 student blogs.
Mr Teague,
Most people who know about this challenge are educators. Most students signed up for the challenge are under the guidance of their class teachers or a home school group. The students are taught if they come across a comment that does not seem legit, to talk to their teacher, who will then often use it as a teaching moment with the rest of the class. Having run this challenge now for three years, I have only had 3 comments that were inappropriate and they were from students. But thanks for your concern.