Lessons Learned: Implementing a blog in a classroom

Blogs are easy and fun to create and use. That's the good news. Why, then, are blogs not-so-easily implemented? The answer will sound familiar: a new technology, however exciting or useful, will only start living and breathing, if people use it. Technology is as useful as people make it. In other words, if no one is using a blog it has no function or purpose. That may seem simple, but failing technology is a recurring theme in Education. I just finished an internship in an urban K-5 school, where I watched computers collect dust in every classroom.
One lunch-time I heard a teacher voice frustration about the lack of response she was getting from her students. She posted each Monday a "Question of the Week" that students were to research and answer. Only 3 out of 27 kids were turning in an answer. I thought a blog might be an inspiring tool; the kids could read the weekly post and submit answers online. If the teacher moderated the submissions, she could published them on Sunday or Monday morning. Students could view and submit to the site from anywhere they had an internet connection and, with edublogs.org I could password protect student work. The teacher was very receptive to the concept and the tool, so I created it. And a few students got excited - you guessed it - the same students who were already submitting paper responses. The blog never took off.
Here are some insights into my recent experience and notes to myself on what I would do differently next time. Again, this won't sound new to those of you who have tried to introduce new technology in a classroom or any other setting, but there's nothing like experience to hit these concepts home!
Do a short "How to Blog" workshop for all staff
Be sure to have coffee, tea and cookies (as always) and invite staff to watch blogging in action. After a short presentation on the basics, give them a chance to try it. I wish I'd made time at the start of the year to do a Blogging workshop for all staff. After the busy start of school and parent-teacher conferences, the holidays were upon us. I plan on returning to the school to do a workshop in January, but it would have been much more effective to introduce Blogging to staff, and let projects grow organically, stemming from their interest. Doing a workshop for everyone gives staff a common base knowledge. Then they can learn from each other's blogging experiences. This is a way to get you, the librarian, out of the drivers seat and into the role of consultant.
Have the Teacher Create the Blog
I created the blog and then presented it to the teacher. If we had created it together (it only takes 5 minutes tops) sitting side-by-side, then we would have been equal partners from the beginning. As it turned out, I seemed to be the one driving the project, and, as the librarian, that didn't make sense. She's the classroom teacher, and if the tool is to be used by her students, she should be using it from the start. Plus, when she saw the new (and beautiful) blog I created, she was automatically intimidated. After that, I couldn't get her to sit down with me so I could show her how easy it was to edit and use the blog.
Involve Parents
After you've helped a teacher create a blog, it's paramount to send a letter home to parents introducing the blog: it's purpose, role in the classroom community, and expectations for student involvement (see Safety First for more details). This extends the community and creates a school-home connection. If you introduce it well, parents will just love seeing their child's work published!
Help the Kids - a lot
Introduce blogging in stages. First, just show them the site and put information on it for them to view only. Bookmark the blog in the classroom and the library for easy access. Then, show them how "comment" and and submit their work. In a K-5 environment (and perhaps Middle School-ers too at first), be sure to have students first write down what they will eventually type. It's also a good idea to make the blog optional at first (students can submit by paper or by publishing a blog comment). If students seem motivated by seeing their work published online for all in their community to see, then their interest will be more authentic. That intrinsic motivation is what will keep the blog going, and the online community has a chance to flourish. As the librarian, it's important to support the kids blogging efforts when you can - during recess or before/after school. Just be sure to make yourself known as a resource to both the teacher and the students.

I look forward to a time when I can blog again with kids. I got a taste, and I'm hooked :)
The effort is well worth it, so keep blogging!