Class Blogging Policy

1. I will not give out any personal information. This means no name, pictures of myself, age, email address, home address, school name or location, phone
numbers, or other sensitive information.
2. I will not link to other sites that can identify my geographical locations, such as a
school or district website.
3. I will not share my password with anyone besides teachers and parents.
4. If I see something online that makes me uncomfortable or afraid, I will minimize my
screen immediately and report this to my teacher.
5. I will take blogging seriously, posting only things that are meaningful and taking my
time when I write.
6. I take responsibility for what I post on the blog. I will only post pieces that I am
comfortable with everyone seeing (teachers, family, clergy), even 10 years from now
(colleges, employers, coworkers).
7. I will use my blog as an extension of the classroom, posting on any school-appropriate
subject.
8. I will express my ideas, while not over generalizing or making derogatory or
inflammatory remarks.
9. I will use only constructive criticism.
10. I will support any idea, comment, or critique I have with evidence.
11. I will only post comments on posts that I have fully read.
12. I will evaluate what I find online.
13. I will be respectful of others and their opinions.
14. I will not insult my fellow students or their writing.
15. I will not bully others in my blog posts or in my comments.
16. I will never access another student’s account.
17. I will not provoke other students in my blog posts or comments.
18. I will not reveal anyone else’s identity in my comments or posts.
19. I will use language appropriate for school.
20. I will try to spell everything correctly and use correct grammar.
21. I will not plagiarize. I will abide by copyright laws for anything posted on my blog
including videos, images, audio files, etc.
22. I will not spam.

To be a successful blogger:

• Read blogs
• Accept the challenge of blogging to their personal best
• Show improvement in their posts, with practice and guidance from others
• Keep the focus of blogging on academic collaboration insightful
• Frame thought-provoking questions at the end of their blog entries that will invite
valuable comments
• Follow writing conventions
• Respond to posts by others, either through comments, or by writing a post
• Connect to a larger community of learners
• Compose posts that include textual references to support opinions
• Respect others
• Celebrate their successes and those of their peers

Comment Starters

• This made me think about…….
• I wonder why…….
• Your writing made me form an opinion about…….
• This post is relevant because…….
• Your writing made me think that we should…….
• I wish I understood why…….
• This is important because…….
• Another thing to consider is…….
• I can relate to this…….
• This makes me think of…….
• I discovered…….
• I don’t understand…….
• I was reminded that…….

Consequences for not following policies:

• Warning
• Deletion of some or all of the post
• Temporary loss of blogging privileges
• Detention
• Suspension
• Permanent loss of blogging privileges