Blog Posts: Figuring Out the What, Why, How, and When

What topic should I blog about?

Would you believe there are currently over 172 million blogs? Even more astounding,  more than one million new posts are added to the internet each day. Those are staggering statistics!  

With so many bloggers adding all these posts, it can't be that hard to come up with possible topics, right? Wrong. For some of us, coming up with a topic that you think others might be interested in is a daunting task.

Instead of thinking about a topic out of the blue, you can use some guiding questions to get your ideas flowing. Here are some that I use:

• What have I experienced lately?
• trips?
• restaurants?
• movies?
• books?
• sites in Singapore?
• What have been l learning recently?
• at school?
• outside of school?
• in clubs and activities?
• What's been on my mind lately?
• events at school?
• news and world events?

Still stuck? Take a look at these helpful hints from Kids Blog Club:

• 52 Ideas for Blog Posts

Why am I blogging about this topic?

Once you have a topic in mind, you may want to think about why you are writing about it. It's not that hard, in fact, "it's as easy as PIE!"  You see, when it comes right down to it, there are three basic purposes why bloggers write:

• Persuade
• Inform
• Explore

Take a look at the following blog posts and try to determine why the blogger wrote that post.

ISTA Festival (SAS i)
Mockingbird (Dog-Eared)
Person of the Year (TFK)
Bringing SpongeBob to Life (TFK)
Help Earth (ClimateKids)

RollerSkating (Spider)Dogo News

When you think about your topic in terms of PIE, you'll realize that you can write about your topic in different ways.  If you want to write about swimming for example, you could:

• Write about why this sport is so great. (Persuade)
• Write which stroke is the best and why. (Persuade)
• Write about a recent swim meet. (Inform)
• Write about how to swim a few strokes. (Inform)
• Write about your favorite places to swim in Singapore and ask your readers to add theirs. (Explore)

How should I write a blog post?

Any good piece of writing needs a beginning, middle.  A blog post is no different.  One of the main goals of a blogger is to receive comments from his/her readers.  In this way, blog posts are unlike any other genre.  The best way to engage your reader and include him/her part of your conversation is through good writing.

While each post may depend on the topic and purpose, there are some tried and true tips on the beginning, middle, and end:

• Beginning:
• Hook your reader with a fact, a quote, or an interesting connection.
• Make your topic and purpose clear to the reader.
• Middle:
• Get to the heart of your topic through reasons or detailed explanations
• End:
• Leave your reader with an interesting insight on your topic
• Invite your reader to think, act, or add a comment

When is it time to publish?

Of course another big difference with blog posts is the way it is published.  Once you click that button, your words and ideas are out there for a world wide audience to digest.  With that in mind, you'll want to be sure that your words represent who you are and what you believe in a way that is respectful of any potential reader.

One way to make sure that you are ready to publish is to use the POST Filter, a checklist that helps you revise and edit your ideas so that you can be confident in your work.  The POST Filter stands for:

• P--Purpose
• Do you have a clear purpose why you are writing this post?
• O--Online Features
• Do you have labels?
• Do you have videos, images, and/or hyperlinks to enhance your ideas?
• S--Skillful Writing
• Do you have a catchy tite?
• Do you have a beginning, middle and end?
• Is your writing error free?
• T--Think Before You Post
• Do your ideas fit with the Core Values?
• Did you leave out all personal information?
• Did you give credit for images and videos?

Click here for a copy of the POST Filter checklist.

Blog Design: Templates, Layouts, Colors and Fonts

Starting a blog is like staring at a blank canvas.  There's just so much potential and so many choices to make, we often don't know where to begin.  Some of us just click away, adding as many bells and whistles as possible, while others of us feel paralysed not wanting to "wreck" anything.

Whatever the case, one thing is for sure:  we want our blog to be an accurate impression of who we are and what we have been thinking about.  The problem is so much attention is placed on what to post on the blog that we forget about the more subtle design choices that can really make a difference.

Teaching into these design choices can make a real difference especially in this day and age.  Our students have to take their ideas, design and present them in formats that were unthinkable only a few years ago.  And it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon.  In fact, design will likely play a huge role in their lives not only as a student, but as a future employee as well.  It's with these ideas in mind that you may want to teach into the following aspects of blog design.


Templates and Layouts

Blogger has a complete set of pre-designed templates (background designs, font colors, and layouts) that help create a certain feel for a blog.  By clicking on "Templates" in your dashboard, you can scroll through the various options.  When you see one that intrigues you, click on it, and it will give you a preview of what your blog will look like in that theme.

The nice thing about templates is that students don't need to think about what colors go together.  The layouts are also preset and allow the blogger to showcase certain features as needed.  Going through templates with students is a great introduction to design thinking as you can ask questions like:

• What does an overall template make you think/feel?
• Why are certain colors used?
• What are the background images/designs and how can they match who you are?

Once you've selected a template, click "Layout" on your dashboard.  This is where you can rearrange, add, delete, and edit items that appear on your blog.  

Colors and Fonts

If you're up for a challenge, you can design your own Blog Header.  Use Color Scheme Designer to see which colors go well together on the color wheel. You can even study the meanings of colors (see Symbolism of Color) and choose your colors accordingly.
Then use Pages to create shapes filled with those colors. 


Not only do colors portray feelings and moods, so too do fonts.  Another great resource is dafont.com where you can download fonts and insert them into text boxes on your Pages document (be sure Pages is closed when you import them).

As with the templates and layouts, be sure that you can explain why you are making the design choices your making (see sample below).  Ask questions like:

• What colors did you choose?  Why did you choose them? How do they represent you?
• What fonts did you choose?  Why did you choose them? How do they represent you?

Sample Design Reflection:

For this Blog Header, I chose purple because it is a royal and regal color.  The complimentary green dots along the bottom go from light to dark because I wanted to get at the idea that the more you read and use this blog, the more certain (i.e. deeper and powerful) you will feel about using your blog.  I used the Little Bird font to represent a hand-drawn sketch of the title.  I thought this was more of a personal and artist touch which is exactly what I think the Blog Header should portray.


Want to see what else I was considering for Blog Headers?  Check them out.  Which one do you like best?

Images from:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/8750293235/
• http://colorschemedesigner.com/

Blog Names: Going Beyond the Obvious

There's no doubt about it, names are an important fact of life.  People spend a lot of time picking out just the right name whether it's a new product, a title for a piece of writing, or even a pet.  It makes sense since names can have symbolic meaning and emotional connections.  Not only that, names can be an opportunity to be creative and come up with something that has you written all over it.

While there are lots of sites and generators online that can help you come up with a blog name, here are the basic tips to help you begin brainstorming:

• Make it unique
• Have it represent you
• Use alliteration
• Think of a symbolic object
• Play with language
• Make it catchy

With these tips in mind, I came up with my classroom blog title, Mr. Riley's Reflecting Pool.

Now before you roll your eyes, let me explain.  Back when I was in Middle School, I went to Washington DC with my family to visit our national treasures, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonian Museum and more.  Throughout all our visits and excursions, there was one image that lasted in my mind. When I stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, I looked back toward the Washington Monument and marvelled at the mirror image of it in the Reflecting Pool.  

I was reminded of this image when I started blogging because this is exactly what I wanted my blog to do.  Through my posts, I wanted to project reflections of my thinking in meaningful ways just like a reflecting pool.  I also hoped that my reflections cause my readers to stop and think as well.  Not only that, I'm a sucker for alliteration when it comes to titles.

So how about you?  What objects or ideas can you think of?  How can you play with language to make your blog title come to life?

Naming your Blog
How to Name Your Blog
Blog Name Generator


Image from:

• http://www.businessinsider.com/closing-bell-november-2-2010-11?IR=T&

Blog Gadgets: The Funny Things on the Side

Let's face it.  Who doesn't love gadgets?  These small mechanical tools with their rotating gears, clicking levers, or flashing buttons amaze us with their ability to complete the most mundane tasks.  It's no wonder that Blogger chose to use this word (as opposed to "widget") to depict the "funny things on the side" that we can add to our blog to make it even more personalized.

The problem is some bloggers, especially students, add too many gadgets.   From hungry fish to daily horoscopes, gadgets often distract rather than enhance a blogger's voice.  Here are some tried and true tips on how best to use gadgets.

• Give them a Gadget Grace Period.  Why not give them a month to include whatever gadgets they like?  They are pretty cool after all.
• After the Grace Period, have a discussion about which gadgets enhance their blog instead of distracting readers.
• Allow them a limited number (i.e. one) of "cool" gadgets.  After all a creepy spider can still say a lot about the blogger.
• Still think about matching colors to your overall color scheme.
• Take a tour of other blogs to see how other bloggers use gadgets.
• Begin with the preset Gadgets in Blogger.
• As a follow up activity, have students reflect on which gadgets they chose to include and explain why.

Images from:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/4782904694/