Feb 24, 2015 / Blogging U.

Introducing: Community TAs for Blogging U.

If you enjoy helping other bloggers, building relationships with them, and deepening your own WordPress skills, why not apply for our new Community TA program?

Do you enjoy giving other bloggers feedback in the Community Pool? Do you like helping people in the support forums, and wish there were a space there for talking about blogging more generally? Do you find yourself drawn back to Blogging U. courses because you enjoy supporting others through the assignments? Apply to become a Community TA for Blogging U.!

What is a Community TA?

We often say that blogging is both an individual and communal experience — you’re publishing your own blog, but you’re part of a vast network of other bloggers. In Blogging U. courses, the community really comes to life: you help one another figure out the ropes, give feedback on writing and photos, talk blogging strategy and etiquette, and make new blogging friends who support you once the course is done.

We want to make this experience available to as many bloggers as we can and to support those of you who enjoy working with and helping other bloggers. Enter the Community TA (Teaching Assistant)! Here’s the low-down:

  • First, tell us a bit about yourself by answering a few brief questions. There are no right or wrong answers — we just want to begin understanding your approach to blogging, and what excites you about it. We’ll choose two or three bloggers to get the ball rolling.
  • Next, the newly-minted Community TAs will each get a mentor from among our Happiness Engineers, along with access to a private site where they can chat with each other and their mentors. The site will also provide recommended resources for responding to common questions, information about the tools your mentors find most helpful in their work, and our best guidance on how to best support other bloggers.
  • Finally, each Community TA will assist in a Blogging 101 course, alongside our Happiness Engineers and Daily Post editors. You’ll answer questions, flag questions that need Happiness Engineer intervention, share helpful resources, and give other bloggers feedback on their work. Your mentor will be there for you all along the way, to share WordPress tips and tricks, help you find information, and coach you on things like tone or when to call in more help.

Along with the satisfaction of helping new bloggers find their “Ah-ha!” moments and all the personal connections you’ll make with other Blogging U. participants, you’ll develop a relationship with your mentor and deepen your own blogging and WordPress.com knowledge — making your own blogging stronger while you help others.

The only prerequisites are that (1) you love blogging and (2) you’ve taken Blogging 101 at some point in the past. (If you haven’t but are still interested in helping out, the next session starts on March 2!)

Ready to apply?

To indicate your interest, tell us a bit about yourself by responding to a few quick questions.

Write as much or as little as you’d like, and don’t worry about getting any answers “right” — we just want to learn more about you and your approach to blogging. A WordPress.com staff member will be in touch with each one of you.

This application is now closed — thanks so much for your interest! We’re reviewing all your submissions, and will be in touch with everyone who indicated interest.

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    1. Since the Community TAs will be working specifically on Blogging 101, we’re asking that anyone who applies have run through it at least once, so you know what’s covered and start to see what questions people commonly have. You’re more than welcome to take it in March, whether or not you actually “need” it!

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    1. As I noted to @bumblepuppies, Community TAs will be working specifically on Blogging 101, so we’re asking that anyone who applies have run through it at least once to get a sense know what’s covered and what questions people commonly have. You’re more than welcome to take it in March, whether or not you actually “need” it!

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  4. I took blogging101 back in september 2014 followed by 201 in Octover. I gave a lot of feedback in the commons to my fellow bloggers here https://blogging101september2014.wordpress.com/ . I generally advise on layout and accessibility of a blog along with simple coding tricks that can be done using shortcodes and such.

    Occasionally I drop by the community pool and give feedback but I’ve only used the forums for bug reporting on my theme. My blog http://somnivision.com has been up since august 2014 and I keep it active with regular postings without relying too much on social media or any attention seeking gimmicks. It actually started as a simple site to host my portfolio but I’ve found that blogging can really be addicting once you get into it. blogging101 opened my eyes and blew away all my misconceptions about what blogging was so I hope to help some newbies get started like I did.

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    1. As in the support forums, this is on a volunteer basis — in Blogging U., the support forums, and on Daily Post pieces like the Community Pool, there are folks who enjoy giving feedback to and helping other bloggers, for a variety of reasons. We love that *they* love it, and want to give them more resources.

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  11. Thanks so much to those of you who have already applied! We love watching your relationships develop in Blogging U., and are really excited that so many of *you* are excited about supporting each other.

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  14. I am Kind of new to this blogging world so this 101 and 201 is not making any sense to me. Is it too much time consuming?? I do want to learn new things on blogs and to share.

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    1. Blogging U is relatively time-consuming, but people only participate to the extent that they feel comfortable and that it fits their schedule. Since there is no graduation, and no one who checks up on you, none of the assignments are compulsory. It is really just a large community support group with some semi-specific aims.

      However, I do imagine that taking part as a TA would require some more regular commitment than taking part as a participant.

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