Social Media SeriesFor Jewish EducatorsIn conjunction with NATE and JEAPresented by Lisa Colton, Founder & President Darim OnlineLisa@darimonline.org434.977.1170http://slidesha.re/natejea3

BLOGGING WEBINAR GOALS

• Understand the potential strategic uses of blogs.• Reflect on your role as a Jewish Educator and how

blogging can help you achieve your goals in the classroom, face to face, and in the home.

• Understand what makes a blog post valuable.• How to integrate blogging into your multi-channel

strategy.

HOMEWORK

• Did you comment on a blog post?• Did you check out your own blog’s

comment history?• Did you notice anything else about

blogs this week?

Common Blogging Platforms

Blogger (soon to be Google Blogs) Wordpress

Your goals &

objectivesTheir

goals & objectives

This is where you gain mission centric attention in an attention economy

P

OST

We don’t live near grandparentsWe move several times for jobs

Spouses raised with different traditions We don’t want the Judaism of our parents

We want everything personalized

So how do we do it?

JEWISH JOURNEYSWHAT ARE THE GOALS & NEEDS OF YOUR FAMILIES?

What would they tell you?

What do they not know how to articulate?

What do they not yet know they want?

WHERE ARE THEY IN THEIR JOURNEY?

How do their needs vary by age of their children?Early childhood

ElementaryMiddle and B’nai Mitzvah

High School

JEWISH JOURNEYS

NOW THE QUESTION IS:

HOW CAN YOU HELP THEM?

Categories of Blog Posts

Insightful and reflective: Give me a window into the class. Curriculum, the children’s experience, an ah-ha moment, a professional’s reflections on how the students are learning and being impacted.

http://pardestreehouse.blogspot.com/

Categories of Blog Posts

Educational & Explanatory: Information and history, “de-coding” Jewish terms, holidays, traditions, helping families feel ownership and confidence.

Categories of Blog PostsGuidance for in-home and in-community engagement:Suggestions for activities to do as a family, resources for home life, turning them on to other communal and online resources.

Categories of Blog Posts

Building Trust & Relationships:Share yourself as a director or educator or Rabbi. Help your community know you better, trust you more, and make yourself accessible.

http://templeisaiah.com/rsblog/ and http://cbipreschool.blogspot.com/

Categories of Blog Posts

Platform for Community Sharing & Feedback:What are hot topics where parents can learn from one another? Or where you want feedback or insight?

What tricks can you use – or value can you provide – to get people talking?

Categories of Blog Posts

Building Community and Culture:How can you share stories about families, involvement and giving that inspire others and evolve the culture of your program and community?

Categories of Blog Posts

Answer Common Questions:Can you predict what your families will need and ask about? Make a list of issues or topics you want to address and blog about them over time. You can send the links as needed, even if it was posted months (or years) ago.

http://joshuahammerman.blogspot.com and http://www.temple-isaiah.org/religious-school-blog

TAGGINGTags (or labels) allow you to describe your posts, make them more easily searchable, and publish a tag cloud which describes the range of topics you are addressing.

http://www.chizukamuno.org/synagogue-life/community-blogs

COMMENTS

MARKETING

Blogs are NOT an “if you build it they will come” tool.

• Add the blog link everywhere• Add teasers (good ones!) in enewsletters with links• Mention the value of the blog in person• Email parents links to posts that have a picture of

their child, or address a need they have• Link to blog posts from Facebook and Twitter• Include the link to your blog in your email signature• Other ideas?

DELIGHT

“The blog is an opportunity (one of many) to take real and true delight in the work of the teachers.  The delight the director or whomever takes in what she sees in the classroom can extend to the blog.”

- Ellen Dietrick

NEXT SESSION

Tuesday, August 2 – 1pm eastern / 10am pac

Classroom Widgets and Gadgets: Fun Tools to Enhance Classroom Learning

Got tools to share?http://bit.ly/classroomtools