Kidblog

Kidblogis a tool teachers can leverage for cultivatingdiscussion, encouragingwritingand developingcollaborationamong students. Students publish posts and participate in academic discussions within the secure classroom blogging community. Teachers maintain complete control over student blogs and user accounts. BCPS has an Admin Pro account license for teachers in grades 1 – 5. Kidblog is free for other teachers for 30 days with a paid upgrade available.

Creating an Account*

* BCPS teachers for grades 1 – 5 should follow the Kidblog Migration Directions(found on the BCPS ODL Resource Wiki Kidblog page) to create and join your account to the BCPS Admin Pro account.

Teacher Dashboard

You can always get back to your dashboard by clicking on the K in the upper left or clicking on your name and choosing Dashboard from the dropdown menu.

Student Dashboard

Creating a Class Blog

  1. From your Dashboard, click on Create New Class
  2. Enter your class name (make sure this is as simple and memorable as possible because it becomes the blog URL)
  3. Choose Baltimore County Public Schools as your organization. Not an option? Log out and follow the Kidblog Migration Directions (found on the BCPS ODL Resource Wiki Kidblog page) to join your account to the BCPS Admin Pro account.

Students Loggingon to Kidblog

Baltimore County Public Schools1

Office of Instructional Technology: Kidblog

October 2015

Class Blog Main Page

Adding a New Blog Post

Baltimore County Public Schools1

Office of Instructional Technology: Kidblog

October 2015

Adjusting Class Blog Privacy Settings

Adjusting Other Class Blog Settings

Adding Users

Click on the Users icon from the dashboard or in the settings’ navigation bar

Option 1: Join-Codes

  • Click on Join-Codes to access codes for various user roles. Codes will automatically become disabled in 14 days, but may be re-enabled.
  • Provide students the URL to your class blog and have them select Enter your Class Code
  • Once they enter the code they can set their usernames and external passwords. They should NOT enter their email addresses or last names

Option 2: Manual Entry

  • Click on Create Students
  • Enter the students’ display names and external passwords. You should not use students’ last names

Option 3: Bulk Upload

  • Click on Create Students
  • Click on Bulk Upload
  • Follow the directions to upload an Excel CSV file with your students’ names and passwords

Moderating Posts

  1. From the class blog main page, click on the Posts view tab.
  2. Use the filters to view published posts.
  3. Any post that is yellow and lists “Teacher” as its status needs to be approved.
  4. Click on the post to view and in the upper right corner, click on Status: Publishedto post.
  5. In list view, you can also use the check boxes to select multiple posts and use the Editbutton to approve more than one at a time.

Moderating Comments

  1. From the class blog main page, click on the Comments view tab.
  2. Use the filters to view unapproved posts.
  3. Any post that is yellow needs to be approved.
  4. Use the excerpt view to easily read large numbers of comments or click on each comment to view, edit, and respond individually.

Baltimore County Public Schools1

Office of Instructional Technology: Kidblog

October 2015