KidBlog

 Kidblog is a student online blogging platform that I have been using for a few years now.  I really enjoy using this system for a number of reasons:

1) It's free! My first rule for classroom software...
2) The teacher is the administrator for all student accounts and passwords- no waiting for a password reset or asking for permission to read a draft of a post or comment.
3) It is very intuitive and offers a great visual interface that is easy for students to use, but also allows those "advanced" students a chance to explore simple blog programming.
4) Once all the students are added to the system, they can be ported to a new teacher/ classroom the following year without re-creating every account.

Kidblog also offers some nice features (they have been updating these features on a regular basis recently) that allow users to link their blogs to their Google Drive or Evernote accounts.  I also make use of the "post broadcasting," which allows me to create a single post which is then sent to all my accounts for different classes.

I use Kidblog primarily to allow students the freedom to write "on-demand" pieces from prompts AND to give each other comments.  This is a really powerful tool when I have students offer advice, peer coach, and encourage each other in their writing.

Kidblog is where we can take our final drafts from more extensive writing in our Google Drive accounts and post them.

Lastly, the blog has also become a place where we can embed creations from iPad or web apps and house them permanently.  I also understand that by the end of the school year, Kidblog will allow teachers to download offline copies of every students blog- something the student can take with them after they leave your class.

If you're looking for a neat way to incorporate higher order thinking and evaluation into your classroom's writing experience, give Kidblog a try.  Still a little wary?  Check out my classroom blog HERE.

3 Classroom Blogging resources I use:
Comments4Kids- a resource for signing up your classroom to receive comments from students worldwide.

Imagination Prompt Generator- the IPG is a website that gives students simple prompts to help them begin on-demand and free-writing opportunities.

180 Prompts- a teacher designed website that has 180 different writing prompts paired with pictures/ videos to aid in the creativity process.

1 iPad app I use for Classroom Blogging:
Educreations- An interactive whiteboard that allows students to record voice over what they write AND gives the ability to embed final creations into a website.