Blogging Your Passion

Sixth, seventh and eighth graders at Chisholm Trail Middle School are expressing themselves differently these days. Under their newly formed aliases, they have identified topics they are passionate about and have begun publishing posts to their very own blogs. Their teacher, Ms. Brown, began blogging over the summer and instantly knew she wanted to share this outlet with her students. You can follow Ms. Brown's blog HERE.

Before beginning their blogs, classes created a Blogging 101 poster. It was discussed how blogs are used for a variety of purposes. Some bloggers even get paid! As a class, they generated ideas to blog about: cooking, fashion, sports, video gaming, etc...Total buy in for this endeavor came when Ms. Brown made two promises: 1. she would never grade their blog and 2. she would never tell them what to blog about. It was for their own personal interest as they explored their passion and shared it with others. 

Each class period begins with "independent interest" time. That time is designated for students to read or write. More and more students are choosing to use that time for blogging and publishing a new post. Students are begging for blog time each day. They are engaged and motivated to publish something new for their readers. 

Additionally, blogging lessons are integrated into their lessons each Friday. Students have learned how to view statistics from the traffic their blog receives, as well as, identify where their readers are located globally. It has been exciting for them to gain followers and see that some blogs have even been visited by readers outside the country. Ms. Brown has also taught mini lessons on the various design elements available through Blogger. Because students have created their blogs through their Google accounts, it's a true work in progress that can follow them indefinitely.

Kat (a.k.a. Glitter Girl) is the author of a fashion blog, The "Kat" Walk. She says, "Blogging is fun because I get to choose what I want to blog about. I'm really into fashion and I feel like if I can share a piece of fashion advice, I may be able to save someone from a fashion catastrophe". She goes on to say that blogging is trendy and that more and more blogs are becoming popular because of today's social media craze. 

Bailey (a.k.a. Frenchie) blogs with a true passion for writing. Her blog, And They Say Writing Got You Nowhere, is a collection of her writing she is most proud of. She says, "My blog is a collection of poetry and fiction work. I like people to see what I've done and what my best is. I like for others to see my strengths. I like to write, and the fact that we get to blog makes me feel special. Ms. Brown has non say about what goes on our blog, so I feel I can be as create and descriptive as I know I can be without fear of someone saying I can't."

Be sure to check out these blogs! Glitter Girl and Frenchie would love some new followers.