2013-2014 Blogging Contract

Blogging is:

• Reading AND writing
• A conversation
• Communication with a larger audience
• About EVERY subject
• A portfolio of learning, work, thoughts, feelings, life, etc

The students in Mrs. Thom’s 6th grade Reading and Writing classes will be participating in a class blog for the purposes of:

• Engaging students in conversation and learning
• Sharing opinions and points of view on a topic
• Reflection, expression and evaluation of own learning

Our classroom blog is located at http://thoms6thgradeblog.blogspot.com/

In the interest of student safety, the following restrictions have been configured on the blog.

• Only the teacher can enter registrations and control permissions
• All blog content is subject to teacher approval and/or deletion
• The teacher will be notified of any posts/comments to the blog
• All comments to any posts are subject to moderation by the teacher and will not be approved if the teacher deems them inappropriate
• No individual or identifiable profiles are available on the blog

All students contributing to the Class Blog must agree to the Blogging Terms & Conditions.

• The use of our blog is considered an extension of our classroom. Therefore, any speech that is considered inappropriate in the classroom is inappropriate on a blog. This includes, but is not limited to, swearing; racist, sexist or discriminatory remarks; personal attacks. We expect you to conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of our school.
• Blogs are public. Whatever you post on a blog can be read by anyone and everyone on the Internet.Even if you delete a post or comment, it has often already been archived elsewhere on the web. Do not post anything that you wouldn't want your parents, your best friend, your worst enemy, or a future employer to read.
• Students using blogs are expected to act safely by keeping personal information out of their posts. You agree to not post or give out your family name, password, email address, home address, or other information that could help someone locate or contact you in person. You may share your interests, ideas and opinions.
• Always make sure you check over your post for spelling errors, grammar errors, and your use of words.
• The class blog is to be a vehicle for sharing student writing with real audiences. Most visitors to your blog who leave comments will leave respectful, helpful messages, but all comments will be monitored by Mrs. Thom. Any inappropriate comments will not be passed on to students.

Students who do not abide by these terms and conditions may lose their opportunity to take part in this classroom activity.

Guideline material adapted from:

http://supportblogging.wikispaces.com/Educational+Blogging

http://ahsblogpolicy.pbwiki.com/

http://anne.teachesme.com/2007/01/17/rationale-for-educational-blogging/

http://229grade5.edublogs.org/about/