BlookUp: Blog, Medias, frequency, news and THANK YOU!

At the end of 2016, we gave you informations about BlookUp‘s blogging and social networking activities. Today, we – already- have to update you on the situation!

THANK YOU !

thanks-follow-blog

In the first place (yes, we start the article by the last element of our title, like some kind of blog punks), we would like to thank you from the bottom of our heart for your growing support, your shares, your commitment…

In 2017, significant subscriptions goals have been reached for all our communication platforms, and that is obviously thanks to you!

WORDPRESS

logo-wordpress-blueGOAL REACHED: 5,000 SUBSCRIBERS

The blog is still there, in French (here) and in English (here. Like, no, really, no need to click, you’re already there 😉 ), but as some have noticed, our publication rhythm has kind of declined; No more publications on Tuesdays and Fridays but don’t panic, we explain why!

The first reason to this is simply our desire to propose a unique rendez-vous, every Wednesday, in order to make every article more  like a weekly celebrity coming to sign autographs at a given time. Punctuality is key!

The second reason is also quite simple, and that’s…

tumblr-logo

Tumblr is the latest active network of BlookUp. This microblogging platform will be ideal to share with you the daily life of our startup!

Our Tumblr will be more like a Facebook page, a Twitter or an Instagram account, with a freer and more casual tone. The publications are to be short but more numerous, and this is why WordPress articles, longer and therefore more demanding in terms of research and writing, will be posted once a week to ensure their quality!

That being said, if you have a Tumblr account (or if you are just curious!), Subscribe to this new blog and enter the daily BlookUp life, joys, pains, environment, team… And much more!

SOCIAL NETWORKS

Logo Facebook

REACHED GOAL: 3,500 SUSCRIBERS

Logo Twitter

REACHED GOAL: 1,200 FOLLOWERS

Logo Instagram

REACHED GOAL: 1,200 SUSCRIBERS

(Click on the images to access the corresponding social network!)

There are also some changes on the social networks side, which regularly relay each publication from the WordPress blog (and soon Tumblr), and had a fairly fixed number of publications per day… Now we blow up the locks, get free, and we post, we share, we react live!

We are as well increasing the emphasis on mages… For the pure pleasure of the eyes!

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So, are you ready to choose your favorite platform(s)? Subscribe, and don’t be shy: Participate! 😄

5th graders make a blog and turn it into a yearbook!

This week we had the pleasure of meeting with Sylvanie Girault who is a teacher at the elementary school Sainte-Marie de Mérignac in France.

She came up with the idea of starting a blog for her group of fifth graders to maintain and decided later on to turn it into a yearbook that each of them could get as a souvenir (at a very fair price 😉). She accepted to answer our questions and share her experience with us!

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Tell us a little bit about yourself: you, your hobbies, your projects…

My name is Sylvanie Girault, mother of three children and have been teaching at the private elementary school Sainte-Marie de Mérignac for 4 years now. My group of fifth graders is made of 30 pupils, all 11 years old. I came up with the idea of making a blog that they will maintain 4 years ago.  I wanted them to be familiar with computers and writing in general. What I had in mind was a blog in which the children would be the authors so that they’d be more familiar with writing and would also have a public reading them. The content of the blog is written by them and them only. I only interact with them through the comments. This year’s group is the fourth to maintain the blog.

Picture of Sylvanie holding a blook in front of a picture of her group

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What is the blog about?

This blog is about highlighting the major events of the year (a yearbook of some sort), such as school trips like our yearly trip to London or even smaller visits in the region: of the City Hall, the Courthouse, Museums, of the Cathedral Saint-Pierre, and many more. These activities are very important for the pedagogical process because they discover and learn things that they would not if they stayed at school, moreover some of them are not familiar with their surroundings. Our school trips are in keeping with the school program and motivate some students that are usually discouraged by the academic way of learning. But more important than that, they can use these trips as a source of inspiration to write articles on the blog about what they saw, felt or understood. Writing allows them to cultivate their curiosity and awareness to their surroundings, and doing that through a computerized tool motivates them as well. Every single one of my pupils has written at least one article on the blog during the year, each of them with their own writing style; this diversity of styles is what makes this blog stand out from a blog maintained by an individual. Since the blog opened, we have published about 70 articles and more than 6 000 pages have been viewed by the students but also their parents. The blog is entirely accessible to the public and anyone can read about the adventures of the group.

A picture of the 40 blooks ready to be picked up

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What articles are you the most proud of?

The articles about our yearly trip to England last October, without a doubt. Every year the group goes to London for 5 days and discovers the English culture. It is without the doubt the highlight of the year that all the students are looking forward to. During these 5 days they will be immersed in the English culture together, discover the gastronomy, local habits, the lifestyle…that is a strong collective experience!

The fifth grade is very dense in term of things to learn and master before going to middle-school. This school trip allows us to get together and strengthen the group’s dynamic hundreds of kilometers away from home. The articles published at that time are more profound because they crystallize this moment they had together.

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Why did you choose to make a book out of it?

I wanted every student to be able to keep a written record of this moment of their life in England with all their friends. During the making of of the book on BlookUp’s platform, I only kept the articles and pictures of the trip to London in order to have a smaller book that would be entirely dedicated to this trip. Besides it makes sense for my students to have a physical object reminding them of the group because fifth grade is the last step before entering middle-school. Some students have known each other for 7 years, since they were in kindergarten; they grew up together and will, for some of them, be separated from each other once they get to middle-school. Having by their side a book reminiscent of their time in elementary school is something truly unique and precious. A few days away from the end of the school year, every student will go home with a book signed by their classmates. I just received the 40 books and will be signing them as well as writing a personal note, if the pupils and their parents ask me to do so.

An example of a blook signed by the teacher and classmates!

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What are the qualities of the platform? What would you improve?

I found it easy to create a blook, the platform is intuitive. I have one regret however, it is the standardized size of the pictures. Of course you can choose between three different sizes but once you picked one, all the pictures will be of the same size, which sometimes results in blank spaces on the pages. I think it would be nice to give people the opportunity to play around with the spaces between the pictures to reduce these empty spaces. Other than that, the quality of the book is impeccable, and the cover lamination is really good.

(This interview was originally in French, but we loved the idea so much we decided to translate it to English and tried to make it as true to the original as possible.)

Your blog in 5 easy steps thanks to BlookUp

person typing on a computer with the text create your blog in 5 easy steps

Every day, more and more blogs are created on the Internet. A blog is not just a website, it is a place where bloggers can share whatever they want with everybody. They tell their stories, share their best places to go and talk about very different subjects.

Many people want to join this big worldwide community. Men, women, mothers, teenagers, students,… everyone can make a blog in 5 easy steps . The only thing to do is to follow some important steps.

Let’s start !

1-Choose the subject of your blog

Before launching your blog, you definitely have to know what it will be about. Subjects are everywhere : travels, food, fashion, cars, fitness, animals, cinema… If you are passionated about what you are blogging, then your readers will be passionated too.

2- Choose the good hosting platform

There are so many hosting platforms which permet you to create your own blog. WordPress and Blogger are two of the most famous. Friendly-using, plugins, SEO… every single characteristic is important.  Choose the one you will be the most comfortable with.

Wordpress and blogger logos

3- Create a blog you love

This is your own space. It has to correspond to your personality, to who you are and to what you love. It means choosing a nice name of blog, finding your own way of writing your articles, using your photos. The more your blog will correspond to you, the more you will enjoy writing articles… and the more your readers will love it !

4- Focus on quality content

Every single article must be written rigorously. For instance, incorrect spellings will make the reader loose the meaning of the text. He will only be focusing on these mistakes. If you know this is one of your weakness, then work on it ! And do not hesitate to read your post again and again before publishing it 😉

5- Talk with your readers

To create a relationship with your readers is something you have to keep in mind. In one word, blogging means sharing. If you share with them, then you will receive a lot (followers, comments, likes). So do not forget to answer their comments and questions as much as you can (even if it is not always easy when you have a lot of followers), talk to them, offer giveaways…etc.

 

Following 5 these 5 steps you can create your blog in 5 easy steps and print your blook on BlookUp!

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