Calling All Students! Announcing the #SmartStudent Blog Contest

Here at Getting Smart we believe in the power of blogging in order to promote and strengthen innovations in learning for all students. This year, we would like to open our platform even more and add a strong student voice to our community. That’s why we decided to launch our First Annual Smart Student Blog Contest. And what better day to announce it than Digital Learning Day– the nationwide celebration of innovative students and teachers in America’s schools that achieve to their highest potential by using the most effective applications of digital learning.

Our contest, we hope, inspires students from all over the world to write about and share the visionary lessons, projects and experiences that are shaping their 21st century education.

Here’s how it works: Each month, students are invited to write a blog post, anywhere between 500-700 words, highlighting any innovative learning event you or you and your classmates have participated in, experienced or initiated. As “Smart Students,” you will have the chance to win monthly prizes and a final prize will be awarded to the most read blog at the end of the school year.

What do Smart Students write about? We love to hear about the innovations happening in your classrooms. Tell us about what you are doing that makes you want to jump out of bed and get to school everyday. Tell us about the teacher that is making that happen for you and your classmates. Tell us why you feel like what you are learning is going to help you be successful and happy in the future. Still not sure what to write? Check out the other ideas on the blog entry form. This is about filling us in on what is going on in the student world.

The details. The official Smart Student blog contest kicks off on February 5th, 2014- Digital Learning Day – after that students can enter a post through the entry form to the Getting Smart editors. Once a student is notified that their post has been published, that will be counted as their official entry. Students can write as many posts as they would like, however only published posts will count as entries.

We’ll begin posting Smart Student blogs in March. All student entries will be hosted under the Smart Students category page on GettingSmart.com and accessible throughout the entire length of the contest. The last day to enter is June 30, 2014. At the end of the contest, one student will be awarded a digital device- donated by one of our contest sponsors.

Posts should use proper grammar and spelling. Only first names and last initials will be published along with post, as well as pictures that don’t include faces or identifying characteristics of minors.

How can teachers or parents get involved in the Smart Student contest? We’d love for teachers and parents to use this as an opportunity to help students, as individuals or teams, blog about what they love about school today. This is a time of huge change for our students- and Getting Smart wants to help student voices be heard. They are the most important. Please encourage your students to share their thoughts and help guide the education revolution that is happening now.

Getting Smart reserves the right to edit content, spelling, grammar, etc. upon approval from the author. Getting Smart reserves the right to refuse to publish any works submitted for review for any reasons, which it is not obligated to disclose to the guest author.

Good luck, and please post any questions you may have below or via Twitter using #SmartStudent. To participate, simply enter your post here: http://bit.ly/1nKI8F4.

We are still adding sponsors to this project, please contact Alison Anderson if you have any questions or are interested in sponsoring Smart Student.