Learn One Thing -Blogger

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So I am presenting at several conferences and workshops that focus on Google Apps tools for use in the classroom.  If you haven't noticed there are MANY Google tools, but Forms, Sites, Docs, Drive Slides, and Sheets tend to get the first run of attention.
When I am sharing Google tools, I love to share Blogger.  I think it often gets passed over as "just a blogging platform."  I am sure that my daily use of and success with Blogger is one of the reasons I love this platform.  One  of the challenges to learning tech as a teacher is that time is finite.  If I want to learn how to use a platform i have to put time into it.  This can be made easier if the platform uses common editing tools and icons, but it takes time and research to understand the potential uses of a platform and to really zero in on the best uses for the tool in your class.
I am trying to gather all the best uses I know of Blogger into one demo introduces the idea of Blogger as 
  1. a professional reflective space for teachers
  2. a private class newsletter
  3. an inclass workflow tool to collect and share student work
  4. a classwork and homework support center for students and parents
In the workshop we will look at some blogs, but more importantly we will build blogs for each of these purposes.  The key is to deliver a balance of skill-based instruction, inspiration, and creation of useful work product.  William Carlos Williams famously said "No ideas but in things."  In my workshops I try to live this by making sure participants leave with something they have built using the ideas in the session.  this gets the ball rolling. Below is the first version of this presentation aimed at primary teachers, no worries, we have a full menu of awesome for upper grade too.



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