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John Hendron

Director of Innovation and Strategy

blogs

A Better Blog: Episode 2

by John Hendron · Jan 29, 2013

DIY Book Scanner

Make your Blog Scannable

Good blog posts can be scanned with the eyes. In order to make this possible, use bold text to make the important content stick out. Make things like dates, times, and people appear in bold type. When a reader is scanning over the content, this important text helps them decide if the content is worth slowing down for.

Changing colors is discouraged. For some visitors, this can make reading the blog more difficult. Stick to standard ornamentation to text by using boldface and italics to emphasize important points.

If you have a really long blog post, consider using headings to break up sections. You’ll find the tool for adding headings in the Visual (expanded) toolbar in WordPress.

Filed Under: Learning for Teachers Tagged With: blogging, blogs

A Better Blog: Episode 1

by John Hendron · Jan 28, 2013

This is the first of a series of ten new blog posts on making a better blog. Today’s is about choosing a great title.

Great blogs are made up of great blog posts. More often than not, great blogs have more frequently-updated content, as opposed to long blog posts. Some folks like to think in daily units, some in weekly. But don’t feel you have to maintain a schedule. Good blogs deliver fresh news, when it’s fresh.

What makes a blog post delicious? If we think of a blog as a smorgasbord or type of edible buffet, then each blog post is a different type of food. Posts people want to read, we could say, are delicious. What’s the recipe?

> It starts with a good title.

The title should relate to something mentioned in the blog post. It’s easy enough to list a week or a date and to cram everything going on that you’ve planned into that blog post. But over time, the dates aren’t so important. In fact, the blogging software is time- and date-stamping each and every post. Instead, what stands out? If you have too many things going on within one post, then maybe you need to split them up.

A good title will draw people in. And it can also help them stay away. If the content isn’t relevant to your audience, they’ll thank you for saving them time.

Above all else, something in the title of your blog post should relate to something unique about the post.

As with each of these tips, I am leaving comments open in case other readers have examples or additional insight to share!

Filed Under: Learning for Teachers Tagged With: blogging, blogs

Blogs by Email

by John Hendron · Dec 20, 2012

This video for parents demonstrates how to subscribe to blogs using a free service called IFTTT.

Filed Under: Resource of Interest Tagged With: blogs, email, ifttt, recipe

Video for Parents

by John Hendron · Nov 26, 2012

Looking for a way to keep track of teacher blogs more easily?

  1. There is a way!
  2. It’s called Google Reader.
  3. It’s free.
  4. It’s easy.
  5. And if you can dedicate a few minutes (up to 15), this video will show you all you need to know!

Filed Under: Resource of Interest Tagged With: blogs, google, parents

Looking for something to read?

by John Hendron · Aug 27, 2012

Check out this list of Top 50 Education Blogs focused on the use of technology in education.

Some are new names to me, but many are old, familiar friends.

Speaking of reading, today I’ve been working on a new webpage template for our schools’s student pages, including library-media resources. Our “prototype” is GHS, and here it is. I look forward to having all school pages updated by the end of this week.

Filed Under: General News, Learning for Teachers Tagged With: blogs, library

Getting Social – with Blogs and More

by John Hendron · Jul 31, 2012

This morning I came across this blog post on creating a powerful classroom blog. It’s got some good tips from an educator in South Dakota.

Yesterday, I led two professional development sessions with teachers. The first was around Edmodo and the second was around Twitter.

When I visit with teachers next month (read: August), one of the topics will be our blogging initiative and where it needs to evolve. Edmodo and Twitter will be new options. But I also saw the excitement from teachers in those sessions about the new features in our upgraded WordPress, too. The important thing is not the tool we use (although the tools offer different trade-offs regarding ease of use, functionality & features), but rather the opportunities of communication with social tools.

This year, as we again embrace social tools as teachers, think about how you can inject your digital contributions with a shot of “steroids,” as suggested in the blog post I listed above. The best way to prepare is to re-consider your audience. While I know parents are one of our biggest stakeholders for blog readership, try directing blog posts or Edmodo announcements directly to students. The most powerful, affective way social media can be used is via engagement!

If you have ideas on how to “turn up” blogs, let me know if the comments for the benefit of our teachers.

Filed Under: Learning for Teachers, Resource of Interest Tagged With: blogs, social

Publishing Multimedia Guide

by John Hendron · Nov 16, 2009

Today I’m proud to offer a guide for publishing multimedia content to your weblog. The concept was created by Bea Cantor, and then I created the chart (using an application called Omni Graffle). Then, Bea took things a step further by changing some of the boxes into links, which load short & informative videos on how to do what is in the box. You’ll find that online here.

The questions you should ask regarding publishing your content online are these:

  • How big is the file?
  • Is it something I want to podcast?
  • Is it something I want to show (a graphic)?
  • Or is it something I want to link to (PDF)?

We’re hoping this guide helps folks out!

Filed Under: Resource of Interest Tagged With: blog, blogs

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This is a blog by a Goochland County Public Schools Employee. © 2021 Goochland County Public Schools · PO Box 169 &middot Goochland, VA 23063 · (804) 556-5623

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