I’m a bit sad that the edublogs teacher challenge is ending. This past month I’ve really learned a lot about blogging and it has really helped me become a better blogger! Thank you to all the educators out there participating in this challenge. I learned so much from all of your posts.
5 important lessons I learned about blogging this past month from the edublog teacher challenge.
1) Connect to other bloggers– In order to build readership of your blog you need to comment and subscribe to other blogs. When you make an effort to connect to other bloggers, you will find more people interested in your blog as well.
2) Blog frequently– This is probably the thing I have the hardest time with. A lot of times I have blog ideas, but I just don’t have the time or energy to write the post. The challenge has helped me blog more frequently. I will try to blog at least 2 or more times a week!
3) Create a Twitter Account– I just kept reading post after post about twitter through this challenge. I created an account a few days ago after much hesitation and now I’m so glad I did it. It is a cozy community and a way to communicate with other educators. It is very different from a blog. Also, I know that twitter will help increase readership of my blog. Follow me @jeeyoung_kim
4) Explicitly Teach Your Students how to Blog– I got some great ideas from the challenge about important aspects about blogging that I need to teach my students as they create their own blogs. For example- Copyrights to images online, how to write good comments & creating avatars.
5) Building Readership Takes Time– There’s definitely no shortcut to creating a big readership for your blog. It takes a lot of time and effort on your part. I know that this past month, I have gotten more readership due to the challenge, but each post took time! Also, it took a lot of time to read through other blogs and leave thoughtful comments.
Some questions I have for my readers…
How do you plan on staying connected with other participants from the challenge?
Do you have a twitter account? Have you found it helpful in connecting with other educators? Do you use twitter in your classroom?
*Upcoming post on how to revolutionize your grading!
teach to inspire 
I too am sad that the Challenge is coming to an end. I haven’t written my last post for the challenge, but I am working on it. Making connections has been my overall concept learned from this challenge. Without the challenge, I would have never found your blog. I too joined Twitter as a result of this Challenge. (@cimeronejana). I tried to find you on Twitter but didn’t find you. I plan to stay connected by tweeting with people I have met on the Challenge and continuing to write comments on posts.
Hello!! Thanks for stopping by my blog! I think Twitter will be a great way to keep connected with other educators involved in the challenge too. Glad to have found you on twitter.
–jee young
Hi Jee-Young, I think most of us who enjoyed this challenge are a little sad it’s over. It has been such a good challenge in many ways. I could comment on but it’s probably best to link to my relevant posts instead.
What makes a good challenge? – translating the #ksyb experience into teaching practice.
Follow me on Twitter widget – a couple of ways to add one to your sidebar. I know you’ve got one but you might want a graphic version as well.
cheers,
Malyn
Hi Malyn,
I just added a twitter button on my sidebar~!! Thanks for sharing that information on your post.
–jee young
i like your new ‘buttons’ or.. what are they called? anyway, cute!
can’t wait to see these 2-3 posts a week, I glean so much from you.
i need to get more active on twitter.
this comment isn’t oo thoughtful or deep, good thing you know me^^.
yes..can you please follow me on twitter!! i will tweet u~ hehehee….it’s so much fun!
This is a very thoughtful, reflective post. Twitter for me has allowed me to be well connected to many great educators around the world. I started three years ago and have a terrific network. I like the points that you have made, particularly the one on the fact that it takes time to get established, build a network and learn the best way to use and approach the online tools, including blogging. However, using a network means the uptake can be increased at faster speeds. Thanks for being part of this great challenge.
Hope you will join in the next one.
One last question, Jee Young, did that twitter button embed on the word press side bar. I am off to try that as I find that so many codes will not embed on word press.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment Anne! Thank you for all your hard work on the teacher challenge posts! I learned so much about blogging. The twitter button did embed onto my word press side bar. I didn’t have a problem with it.
–jee young