This week I’ll show you how you can use the Blogger tool to set up a student response journal. The teacher will post a prompt and the students will respond.

Notes:

The teacher will need a Google account / login. Students will NOT need a Google account.

The student responses can be moderated; the teacher can approve them before they are “published”.

Step 1 - Creating the Blog:

The teacher will:

1. 1.Follow the instructions here to create a new Blogger blog.
   

2. 2.For this example, I’m creating one called “4th Grade Brainwaves.”
   
   

Step 2 - Setting Comment Options:

The teacher will:

1. 1.Click the “Settings” tab and then the “Comments” link.
   
   

   

   
   

2. 2.Leave all options at the default except for these two:
   

3. 3.Scroll to the bottom and click the “Save Changes” button.
   

Step 3 - Posting Prompts:
The teacher will:

1. 1.Click the “Posting” tab and then the “Create” link.
   

2. 2.Enter the title and then the prompt.
   
   

   

   
   
   

3. 3.Click the “Publish Post” button at the bottom of the window.
   
   
   

Step 4 - Student Responses:
The student will:

1. 1.Go to the blog address.
   

2. 2.Click the “Comments” link below the prompt.
   
   

   

   
   
   
3. 3.Enter the desired comment.
   
   

   

   
   
   

4. 4.Pull down the “Comment as:” menu to “Name / URL”.
   

5. 5.Enter their name or initials. (No URL is necessary.)
   

6. 6.Click the “Post Comment” button.
   

Step 5 - Moderating the Comments:

The teacher will:

1. 1.Check your email.
   
   

2. 2.In the email message, you will be able to read the student’s response. Then you can click to “Publish” or “Reject” the comment.
   
   

   

   
   
   

Step 6 - Viewing Comments:

1. 1.Click the comments button to view all of the student responses.
   
   

   

   
   
   

Repeat steps 3 - 6 for each new prompt.