Blogs+and+blogging

=What is a blog?= A blog (short for [|weblog]) is a personal online journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs are defined by their format: a series of entries posted to a single page in reverse-chronological order. From [|this site].

Books and Reading

 * [|Create Readers] (National Library blog)
 * [|Christchurch City Libraries Blog]
 * [|Beattie's Book Blog] (NZ blog)

Public Libraries

 * [|Central Hawke's Bay District Libraries] blog

School Libraries

 * [|Library Displays Blog] from Elaine, Horowhenua College
 * [|Palmerston North Boys’ High School Library Blog]
 * [|The Girvan Library Blog] from Wellington College
 * [|Golden Bay High School Library Blog]

Classrooms
> This blog includes student book reviews as podcasts. > [|Room 2's Book Reviews] - Year 6 students at Buckland's Beach Primary School, Auckland
 * [|Mrs Raman's Cool Kids] (Year 4/5 at Kelvin Rd School, Papakura)
 * [|Point England School Blog] (Glen Innes, Auckland) Korero Pt England
 * [|Room 9 Nelson Central School 2008] - Year 1-2 students with teacher Rachel Boyd.
 * [|Room 9's writing spot 2008]
 * [|Navigators] Jody Hayes and her Year 6 class at Our Lady or Lourdes School, Palmerston North.
 * [|Room 4's 2008 Blogspot] - Year 5 students at Bucklands Beach Primary School, Auckland

ICT and Education

 * [|Derek's Blog] -Musings on the use and impact of technology in education, and of the future of education in general.(NZ blog)
 * [|McGovern Online] (NZ blog)
 * [|2¢ Worth] - David Warlick
 * [|Stephen's Lighthouse] - Stephen Abram

International Librarians

 * [|HeyJude] (Australian)
 * [|NeverEndingSearch] - Joyce Valenza
 * [|The Shifted Librarian - Shifting Libraries at the Speed of Byte>]

= = =National Library's [|Create Readers Blog]=

"We want to help create motivated and engaged young readers. This blog is about children's and YA literature (especially New Zealand), literacy research, and ways to get, and keep, kids reading."

Contributed to by National Library School Services Staff.

Check out these posts by Courtney Johnston, the National Library's Web Editor, for more information about the [|setting up of this blog], and how our [|comment moderation] is working.

My first posting - [|Boys Into Books] Most commented entry - [|What book got you hooked?]

= = =Why blog with your students?=

" Weblogs are about reading and writing. Literacy is about reading and writing. Blogging equals literacy. How rarely does an aspect of how we live and work plug so perfectly into how we teach and learn?" [|David Warlick, introducing his book Classroom Blogging]

See these links for reasons: [|Why Let our Students Blog?] - a short video by Rachel Boyd, a Nelson Teacher.

"The students love it because it’s fun. They stop me in the hall in the mornings to ask if today is their day to blog. Teachers love it because it motivates their students to write, it ties directly into their curriculum, it builds literacy, it improves technology skills, and it provides a great way for students to reflect and share what they’ve learned." [|Thinking About Learning]

From the author of this same blog, check out the great video for students: [|Blogging for Beginners] and one for teachers [|Top 10 reasons to blog with students].

=Microblogging with Twitter= [|Twitter] is a site where you can send 130 character messages to everyone on your network at once. You can also see what they are saying to you, and all their friends. A quick way to find out about new developments and happenings, there are lots of ways it could be harnessed for book discussion groups, or discussing a school project.

See this article from [|School Library Journal] for some ideas about how to use twitter in the school library.