Connecting parents through blogging<\/h3>\n
One of the many benefits<\/a> of having a class blog is the strengthening of home-school relationships.<\/p>\n Most educators would not be surprised that research<\/a> identifies family involvement in schooling as the key predictor of a student’s success.<\/p>\n Family life has changed rapidly over recent times with many parents working full time and juggling various commitments. A class blog is a convenient and effective way to encourage ongoing family involvement in schooling.<\/p>\n A class blog can be like a virtual window into the classroom.<\/p>\n As a teacher who maintained a class blog for many years, I certainly found\u00a0families enjoyed being able to keep up with classroom events and student learning. Many parents would point out that their child was often reluctant to tell them what they were working on at school.<\/p>\n A class blog can provide conversation starters.<\/p>\n Parents who are up to date with their class blog can ask their child about what they’re studying while driving to soccer practice or sitting around the dinner table. These conversations can bridge the gap between home and school, and further extend students’ learning while strengthening relationships.<\/p>\n Unlike traditional forms of written work, blogs offer an authentic audience.\u00a0Your most obvious audience for a class blog is parents and families. We can’t waste the opportunity to get this ready-made authentic audience on board.<\/p>\n The impact of an authentic audience is summed up well by Clive Thompson<\/a> who noted that,<\/p>\n …studies have found that particularly when it comes to analytic or critical thought, the effort of communicating to someone else forces you to think more precisely, make deeper connections, and learn more.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Alan November<\/a> also has some strong advice for educators:<\/p>\n \u201cStop saying hand it in, start saying publish it.\u201d This paradigm shift from an audience of one to an audience of the world will inspire more students to achieve up to their potential, while instilling a life-long passion for genuine learning.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Parents and family members have the potential<\/em> to be engaged, active and regular readers of your class blog. We need to bring this potential to life. Parents must be educated about blogging and encouraged to participate in different ways throughout the school year.<\/p>\n Parent participation cannot be left to chance.<\/p>\n Education is key when aiming to get families to join in your blogging community. We can’t assume that parents (or students) bring any blogging knowledge or skills with them when they join your classroom.<\/p>\n While it can be easy to educate students about blogging during your face-to-face time (or learn with<\/em> them), it’s important to come up with different ways to educate parents. Family members\u00a0won\u2019t be willing or able to get involved in blogging if they don\u2019t know anything about it.<\/p>\n You want your message to be clear, easily accessible, dynamic and ongoing.<\/p>\n Like students, parents have different learning preferences and it can be a good idea to offer parents a range of different ways to learn about blogging.<\/p>\n The following outlines eight sequenced steps that you may consider when educating your families about blogging.<\/p>\n Ensuring you have informed consent to blog is crucial. On the first day of the school year, I would send home a blog permission note along with an information note. These can be found in our guide to obtaining permission to blog with students.<\/a><\/p>\n The information note covered topics such as:<\/p>\n If you want families to connect with your blog, it’s important that they know how to find it and<\/em> return to it. This is an important step that<\/span>\u00a0can’t be overlooked.<\/span><\/p>\n As pointed out in our Teacher Challenge guide<\/a>, you can’t expect that parents will be able to find the blog through a Google search or students’ handwritten notes. There’s too much room for error.<\/p>\n Make it easy for parents to find and remember the URL of your blog. A good first step is selecting an easy to remember URL like mrswaters.edublogs.org<\/p>\n I would always include the blog URL in a navigation guide (see below) but you might also elect to post the URL:<\/p>\n And don’t forget to set up an email subscription so parents can be automatically notified of new posts. Tip: We have a help guide <\/a>to walk you through this process.<\/em><\/p>\nDeveloping an authentic audience<\/h3>\n
Educating parents
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\nSteps to success<\/h3>\n
1) Obtain informed consent<\/h4>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2017\/09\/Blog-info-note-JPEG-1kijyxz-1k2avob.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n2) Ensure families can find the blog<\/h4>\n
\n