Keep Your District Blog Fresh

Reprinted from CommLINK

The informational post, which simply provides information about a topic, might be the most common type of blog post. Informational posts include district news, policies, schedules, and board meeting agendas. While the information might be useful, consider mixing it up occasionally with new forms and topics. There are dozens of types of posts you can write. Here are a few to consider:

Instructional

An instructional post tells your audience how to do something. This could be a post about how to start volunteering or how to register children for school. 

Reviews

Reviews come in all shapes and sizes and on virtually every product or service you can think of. Give your fair and insightful opinion and ask readers for their opinion. Reviews can be highly powerful posts that have great longevity.

Lists

A list is one of the easiest blog posts to write. Posts such as “The Top 10 Ways to Prepare Your Child for College” and “Eight Reasons Why You Should Join the PTA” grab your readers’ attention. When you make a list post, be sure to expand on each item in the list with one or two sentences of explanation.

Case Studies

Is your school considering a four-day week? Post case studies and articles about other schools that have made the transition and the positive and negative effects.

Profiles and Interviews

Pick an interesting personality in your district and present him or her to your readers. Do you have an outstanding teacher you would like to praise? Profile him or her, including teaching background, philosophy, and quotes from parents or students. Do you have a community member who volunteers as a mentor? Interview that person as a way to promote community volunteers.

Resources and Links

If you’ve found some great articles from other sources, do a “round-up” post. Include the link and explanation of why you are posting it, a comment from your perspective, and a quote from the linked article.

Stories and Inspiration

People like to hear good news stories from their own community. Follow up with a graduate who is doing great things. Write about successful school programs and student groups who win awards. The possibilities for inspirational posts are endless—seek out the good news and spread the word!

Sources: Problogger.net; pureblogging.com; winningtheweb.com

May 2009