Helpful Hints

• Follow your parents' and teachers' directions and do not make your blog public unless everyone agrees it's okay.
• Do not EVER chat, email, or meet with someone you don't know or someone who contacts you online. Remember, anyone can appear to be ANYone online.
• Do not show your full name on your blog . . . EVER.
• Monitor your blog and delete comments that are not school appropriate immediately. Make sure your friends know that your blog is being monitored by teachers and staff. Force logins for posters. If necessary, close commenting on your blog.

(Are you getting the picture? Be safe. Use common sense!)

• Be able to define your topic in ONE clear, concise sentence, for example:  
• Brand Name=Bad Deal
• Sunscreen Can't Take the Heat
• My Cat is Cleaner than Me
• Choose or create a theme that reflects the topic of your blog.
• Give your blog a clever and memorable name that isn't too hard to type in.
• Get as much feedback on your blog as possible and make changes accordingly.
• Use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Don't use text messaging abbreviations, like "b4".
• CAREFULLY avoid plagiarism as that will be grounds for dismissal from the competition.
• Use your own "voice" when you post. Check out the way successful bloggers write. You will see that the way they say things is almost as important as what they say. We should be able to sort of "hear" you saying what you write.
• BTW (ha ha, I can do that, but you shouldn't!) think outside the box. Maybe you could make a post with an audio recording of yourself talking.
• Use other applications and embed the products into your blog, for example, Animoto, ToonDoo, Capzles, Blabberize, Scrapblog, Wordle, etc. For more ideas, click here.
• Link words and phrases to source sites or to sites that give further information/definitions. See the "RSS" link below for an example.
  

Feed yourself (Post RSS ) this blog so that if there are competition updates, you'll know. This will put a sort of bookmark list on your browser.

Ask questions and make suggestions. But remember...we're depending on YOU to FIGURE IT OUT so that WE can ask YOU those questions!