Adding Kidblog to your devices

Last week I made the decision to switch from Edublogs to Kidblog. I'm really happy with the decision. Kidblog is a much better platform to work with especially younger students. Here's how to add it to your devices.
You can also get to it from this blog, go to Favourite Links and click on 'Student Blogs' it will take you to the main page of the blog. If you decide to add this blog to your child's device here's how to do it.

1. Go to App Store and find Kidblog; it looks like this: It's also free.

2. Download the App and then open it up.
3. You'll get a screen that looks like this:

4. My kidblog.org url is MsBrownsClass1314 (not bold) you need to type it in just as you see it or it won't link to our class blog and the kids won't be able to add to their blog.

5. Once they can open the blog they will see a screen which looks like this:

• They add the title and then type in the body just like they would if they were on Edublogs. This blog allows them to log out and back in again on our class devices. It's a much easier site for the kids to work with. Good luck with downloading. If you have any questions please just ask. 

Switching Blog Sites

I've finally made an executive decision. I'm switching our blog site. I've had nothing but problems with the Edublogs site. I'm finding it too difficult for the kids to navigate around, the iPad app keeps crashing and half the time it doesn't load all of their posts properly. I spend more time, trouble shooting than I do helping students with their writing. Today was the final straw. Edublogs made changes to their iPad app (Yah!!! Was what I was thinking) but as it turns out, it was a huge HAY!!!! 

It appears I've got to individually load 19 blogs on all of my devices. Right now we're borrowing 6 iPads from a friend and to do this 8 times, it just plain RIDICULOUS. I've got better things to do with my time. 

So I'm going back to Kidblogs. It's still operated by the same company but it's a much easier blog to use for the students than Edublogs. You can still download the app for free. I'll show you how to do this tomorrow and to get the students logged on. If you want to download the app onto your personal devices then I can help them get logged on in the next couple of days. 

Here's the link to the students' blog site. 

http://kidblog.org/MsBrownsClass1314/

Best of luck. Let's hope this works better than the other one. 

How to Get Edublogs on Devices

Blogging has become part of our routine in grade 2. Some of you might ask, What is blogging? Good question. It's an online journey which allows you to keep up to date with friends, family (close or far away), global community or write about how you're feeling or just share some of your thoughts. 

I've created this classroom blog, my apologies for not keeping it up, but I can always strive to be better so that I can share what happens in our classroom with all of you. 

I started blogging with my students to help improve their writing and willingness to write. Writer's write for an audience, blogging provides that audience which is you the parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent as well as an engaging platform. The possibilities are endless, images and videos can be added which opens up the opportunity to be creative in other ways. 

This video from Linda Yollis who has been blogging for many years with her grade 2 and 3 students shows a little bit about what the possibilities are with blogging. She uses it for a more global perspective, I'm not quite their yet. 

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating that your child should be on their device for hours on end. Devices can be used for creative purposes rather than than just a taking in of information or an escape from boredom. 

I am using a new blogging platform this year called Edublogs. In the past, I've used Kidblogs but I wanted to try something new that allowed the kids to add more content. This is an experiment and we'll see how it goes. 

I know Edublogs has an app that can be downloaded onto your child's device, that way they won't always have to go to the web to have access to it. Here's how to download the app and save it on their home screen so they can use their devices to blog with.

Let's get started:

1. Find the app (Edublogs) in the App Store. It looks like this. Download it. 

2. Open it up and you'll see a screen that looks like this or like this, it will depend which device you are using. 

iPod Screen

iPad screen

3. You want to press "Add blog hosted at Edublogs"  to get access to your child's blog. 

4. You'll then see a screen that looks like this. 

5. Your child can add their username and password. If they don't know it, please email me and I will pass it on. 

6. Then it's time to start blogging. The app is easy to use and I am showing students in class how to use it. I am open to having your child blog on their devices during writer's workshop time. 

Also, here is a nice link to show the reasons why kids start blogging. 

http://kidsblogclub.com/why-do-children-start-blogging/

I hope this helped and we are looking forward to hearing your comments. 

Hello Boys and Girls

Hello 2B! I trust everything is going well. I left Mrs. Carol some things for you to do on the blog today. I am really excited about the choices you will make. 

I would like you to write a blog post about something that interests you. On the post you will need to have: 

1. A title
2. 2 or 3 sentences about your topic.
3. Use some of the tools we talked about last week B, I & U
4. Font size no bigger than 4 points.
5. A different looking font that can be read.  

Have fun and remember I will get to approve them. 

Ms. Brown