11:36 PM
Kushal Kale
So this is a blog.
Yep. It really is, or at least I want it to be.
This is a space for me to reflect, share, learn and grow with anyone who stops by. It has been a wonderful experience for me and I really do enjoy working on this.
Besides the professional growth, blogs can be a wonderful addition to any classroom too.
So you are thinking? I wanna start blogging? But I don't know anything about it?
Fear not kind reader! I have several resources for you to read and consult as you begin this wonderful journey.
First, you are going to need a space. There are lots of them out there:
Blogger-This is my platform of choice. If you use anything Google you can set up a blog, for free and start. It's as easy as picking a name and writing your first post. There are lots of customization options too that allows a lot of flexibility to personalize your space.
Wordpress-This is also free and there are 2 options. You can open a Wordpress account and, just like Blogger, begin pretty easily. The other option is to purchase your own domain and install Wordpress there. It really isn't as complicated as it sounds. (In fact lots of web hosting sites will do a bundle, the domain and the hosting, for a discount.) There is a great guide to getting started with all that here.
Posterous-Again, free. Posterous is unique in that you can submit posts via email. When you create your space you get an unique email address that you can send your posts too and poof! they appear on your blog. Its great too because you can add collaborators via their email address and they can post too. (Great for classroom blogging.)
And there are apps for all these so you can blog on the go.
Still confused with all the options and how to get the most of of what you choose? No worries.. i will be creating lots of tutorials on how to use Blogger, Wordpress and Posterous.
Ok. Now that you have a space. What exactly are blogs all about?
So you have your space all set up and you have a working knowledge of how things work. What do you post about? Well that's what's great about blogs. They are your personal space on the Internets. Post whatever you think you need to or want to. Decide on a focus but don't get married to it. This blog has gone through lots of changes and I post about all sorts of things. Sure its about Web 2.0 but I touch on Leadership, Education Reform and some personal stuff too. Your blog is what you make of it.
Maybe you are thinking about staying away from the personal reflection stuff (although I really, really encourage it) and you want to do just a Class Blog or have your students blogging. If its a class blog, what do you want to communicate? Maybe its just keeping parents updated on happenings in class. Or you want to spur conversation with your students. There are lots of ideas. The key is to find something to get your started but realize that the focus will change over time and that's ok.
So in my next post i will be provide some more resources regarding Blogging...
till then
Ha-p blogging...
