I think it would be beneficial to implement blogs into classrooms. At my school, I think blogs would be beneficial for grades 5-8. Most of the kids at the school are extremely interested in social networking so the idea of an online learning community would hopefully spark their interest. I would implement the use of blogs at my school in the area of writing. I would make sure safety guidelines and cyber bullying guidelines were reviewed and post a rubric for any assignment I posted on a blog. By posting a rubric students would see exactly how they were being graded and keep them from getting off task. I would post a monthly writing assignment where they would respond to a prompt I gave them from their Scholastic Magazine. I would base the prompt around what writing element we were focusing on that month. This is a cross curricular assignment since it is Social Studies as well as Language Arts which is in line with the Common Core focus. The topics addressed in Scholastic Magazines are usually current events and students generally show interest in them. The interest they have in the topics will then facilitate response to each other’s writing. I can also give immediate feedback that will hopefully make stronger accumulation of correct knowledge that will better the next piece of writing they do in class.
Hi Liz, I definitely agree that blogging would be a useful tool to implement for writing in the classroom, especially for the grades you mentioned. As you said the students would probably be much more engaged and you as a teacher would be able to provide students with much quicker and more relevant feedback. I love your idea of using the blog for a writing activity in response to a Scholastic magazine. Especially since this is current events based, I think the students should also read one another's writing and comment on other students that might share a differing opinion. Part of the blog could even be set up like a debate. Thanks for sharing your ideas! Candice
Hi Liz- I think this is a great idea! Your idea is very well thought out. Writing can be such a difficult and undesirable task for many students, especially as they get older. Incorporating the use of a blog in the classroom would hopefully be engaging to students, and make the writing aspect less intimidating. I also think this would be a good way to introduce students to an online community in a safe environment. This would be a great way to have students engage in discussion as well. Students could comment on one another's writing, which gets them writing in a more authentic manner. You should look into the site www.kidblog.org, it's a blogging site designed for the classroom. It is completely free and sounds like a great platform for what you want to do. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the ideas, Elizabeth! I have used a blog in the past for a 5th grade classroom, and I just wanted to say that it is very important to establish the rules and expectations BEFORE giving students their assignments online, just like you say. It prevents students from creating online hostile environments and students wondering off to another topic or website. Once, I posted a Calvin & Hobbes short cartoon and asked my 6th grade students to share an inference about what was going on on the last sequence. Even though the answers had to be submitted anonymously, I asked my students to write their names next to their comments. It was very fulfilling to see that none of them made a negative choice when posting their answers. I believe this was possible because rules and expectations were made clear in advanced. I also have to agree with Candice when she talks about the Scholastic article. Involving students in current events around the globe and asking them to take a position and share their opinion is a great way to initiate a positive debate. Great idea!
This would be my 2 or 3rd attempt of leaving my comments. Somehow, my comments keep disappearing.
Anyways, even though I do not have much experience with blogs,I believe that they would be beneficial for any classroom. It certainly would give the shy, introverted student the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions with the class if they didn't have that opportunity in class.
As with any social media etiquette, it is always good practice to go over and review safety and cyber bullying guidelines. Even for adults and professionals.
Great reflection Elizabeth. Not only can blogs facilitate writing activities but also art activities. I have seen several elementary school art teachers use blogs as a way of showing the progression stages from start to finish of their artwork. By using photos to show the progression, the time taken for the teacher to write detailed directions is drastically reduced. Blogs also help students see how they are progressing compared to the rest of the class. Students can motivate students in this manner.
Using Scholastic mag as a way to engage students in a blogging forum is a great idea. Using the articles to spark conversation can be taken even further and have students do further research and post to the blog or even ask questions for other students to respond to. They can also respond as "guest" reporters with follow up articles or responses to the debate section that Scholastic always has at the end of their issues.
Aisha, Fifth grade teachers assigned students the task of doing a research article this year. I think it would be great extensions of the research article activity to have the fifth grade students create a blog to share ideas. The students could ask questions about their projects. It would be a great way to collaborate on shared topics because the students would be able to access it at any time.
Hi Elizabeth, Planning to implement blogging in your classroom seems like a great idea. Blogging may captivate your students’ curiosity, motivation, and learning. I think that between the grades 5- 8, children have already developed some understanding on how different social networking tools work. I agree that this is a good time to start blogging in the classroom. Your plans on posting a monthly assignment, providing a rubric, and encouraging a safe online environment provides a good framework to introduce the use of blogs. Thanks for sharing,
I would like to start using a blog in my educational environment this coming school year. Last year, as the fifth grade special education teacher, I sent home an introductory letter to share with parents /guardians information about myself and how to contact me. The introductory letter also described my homework policy and class expectations, so using a blog would be a perfect way to communicate. I want to start a parent newsletter this year. A blog would be a perfect way to integrate information and keep the lines of communication open. For example, by posting my introductory letter as part of my blog along with my class expectation shares the information with everyone; it can be accessed by anyone at any time. Another benefit to using a blog would be continuous communication. A parent newsletter would be the conversation starter that would continue the topic(s) outside of the school and possibly the school community. The parent newsletter would take a life of its own because the information could be accessed by those outside of the school community such as parent support groups in the DC, MD and VA area. A parent newsletter blog would be an awesome way to share ideas, share upcoming events, parents to collaborate or just express themselves. Art
Blogs are not thought of as a common tool for the math classroom, but I think I have a good idea for implementing a blog with my seventh grade math students. Writing in math is soon to be on the rise with the implementation of the Common Core. Writing in math is nothing new, but it is not a very well received task from the students. The problem I commonly see with the writing from my students is the amount of information they assume the reader knows. The students have a tough time writing as if the reader knows nothing about the task. In order to work on this, I would have students create a blog to write about different skills. Students would be writing the blog to explain the skills to a friend, fictional or non-fictional, at a different school. This use of a blog would give students the perception that the reader is not the teacher, and thus, they must be sure to explain every part of the problem or skill.
Kevin, Math students creating a blog to share what they have learned in math class is an awesome idea. Students teaching students is the best source when it comes to explaining a math problem in kid friendly terms, so that the student understands how to solve the problem. Great idea, Art
I think it would be beneficial to implement blogs into classrooms. At my school, I think blogs would be beneficial for grades 5-8. Most of the kids at the school are extremely interested in social networking so the idea of an online learning community would hopefully spark their interest. I would implement the use of blogs at my school in the area of writing. I would make sure safety guidelines and cyber bullying guidelines were reviewed and post a rubric for any assignment I posted on a blog. By posting a rubric students would see exactly how they were being graded and keep them from getting off task. I would post a monthly writing assignment where they would respond to a prompt I gave them from their Scholastic Magazine. I would base the prompt around what writing element we were focusing on that month. This is a cross curricular assignment since it is Social Studies as well as Language Arts which is in line with the Common Core focus. The topics addressed in Scholastic Magazines are usually current events and students generally show interest in them. The interest they have in the topics will then facilitate response to each other’s writing. I can also give immediate feedback that will hopefully make stronger accumulation of correct knowledge that will better the next piece of writing they do in class.
ReplyDeleteHi Liz,
DeleteI definitely agree that blogging would be a useful tool to implement for writing in the classroom, especially for the grades you mentioned. As you said the students would probably be much more engaged and you as a teacher would be able to provide students with much quicker and more relevant feedback. I love your idea of using the blog for a writing activity in response to a Scholastic magazine. Especially since this is current events based, I think the students should also read one another's writing and comment on other students that might share a differing opinion. Part of the blog could even be set up like a debate.
Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Candice
Hi Liz-
DeleteI think this is a great idea! Your idea is very well thought out. Writing can be such a difficult and undesirable task for many students, especially as they get older. Incorporating the use of a blog in the classroom would hopefully be engaging to students, and make the writing aspect less intimidating. I also think this would be a good way to introduce students to an online community in a safe environment. This would be a great way to have students engage in discussion as well. Students could comment on one another's writing, which gets them writing in a more authentic manner. You should look into the site www.kidblog.org, it's a blogging site designed for the classroom. It is completely free and sounds like a great platform for what you want to do.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the ideas, Elizabeth!
DeleteI have used a blog in the past for a 5th grade classroom, and I just wanted to say that it is very important to establish the rules and expectations BEFORE giving students their assignments online, just like you say. It prevents students from creating online hostile environments and students wondering off to another topic or website.
Once, I posted a Calvin & Hobbes short cartoon and asked my 6th grade students to share an inference about what was going on on the last sequence. Even though the answers had to be submitted anonymously, I asked my students to write their names next to their comments. It was very fulfilling to see that none of them made a negative choice when posting their answers. I believe this was possible because rules and expectations were made clear in advanced.
I also have to agree with Candice when she talks about the Scholastic article. Involving students in current events around the globe and asking them to take a position and share their opinion is a great way to initiate a positive debate. Great idea!
Hi Liz,
DeleteThis would be my 2 or 3rd attempt of leaving my comments. Somehow, my comments keep disappearing.
Anyways, even though I do not have much experience with blogs,I believe that they would be beneficial for any classroom. It certainly would give the shy, introverted student the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions with the class if they didn't have that opportunity in class.
As with any social media etiquette, it is always good practice to go over and review safety and cyber bullying guidelines. Even for adults and professionals.
(Michele Lee)
Great reflection Elizabeth. Not only can blogs facilitate writing activities but also art activities. I have seen several elementary school art teachers use blogs as a way of showing the progression stages from start to finish of their artwork. By using photos to show the progression, the time taken for the teacher to write detailed directions is drastically reduced. Blogs also help students see how they are progressing compared to the rest of the class. Students can motivate students in this manner.
DeleteUsing Scholastic mag as a way to engage students in a blogging forum is a great idea. Using the articles to spark conversation can be taken even further and have students do further research and post to the blog or even ask questions for other students to respond to. They can also respond as "guest" reporters with follow up articles or responses to the debate section that Scholastic always has at the end of their issues.
DeleteGreat ideas Elizabeth!
Aisha Bryant
Aisha,
DeleteFifth grade teachers assigned students the task of doing a research article this year. I think it would be great extensions of the research article activity to have the fifth grade students create a blog to share ideas. The students could ask questions about their projects. It would be a great way to collaborate on shared topics because the students would be able to access it at any time.
Great idea,
Art Lewis
Hi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeletePlanning to implement blogging in your classroom seems like a great idea. Blogging may captivate your students’ curiosity, motivation, and learning. I think that between the grades 5- 8, children have already developed some understanding on how different social networking tools work. I agree that this is a good time to start blogging in the classroom. Your plans on posting a monthly assignment, providing a rubric, and encouraging a safe online environment provides a good framework to introduce the use of blogs.
Thanks for sharing,
ReplyDeleteI would like to start using a blog in my educational environment this coming school year. Last year, as the fifth grade special education teacher, I sent home an introductory letter to share with parents /guardians information about myself and how to contact me. The introductory letter also described my homework policy and class expectations, so using a blog would be a perfect way to communicate.
I want to start a parent newsletter this year. A blog would be a perfect way to integrate information and keep the lines of communication open. For example, by posting my introductory letter as part of my blog along with my class expectation shares the information with everyone; it can be accessed by anyone at any time.
Another benefit to using a blog would be continuous communication. A parent newsletter would be the conversation starter that would continue the topic(s) outside of the school and possibly the school community. The parent newsletter would take a life of its own because the information could be accessed by those outside of the school community such as parent support groups in the DC, MD and VA area. A parent newsletter blog would be an awesome way to share ideas, share upcoming events, parents to collaborate or just express themselves.
Art
Blogs are not thought of as a common tool for the math classroom, but I think I have a good idea for implementing a blog with my seventh grade math students. Writing in math is soon to be on the rise with the implementation of the Common Core. Writing in math is nothing new, but it is not a very well received task from the students. The problem I commonly see with the writing from my students is the amount of information they assume the reader knows. The students have a tough time writing as if the reader knows nothing about the task. In order to work on this, I would have students create a blog to write about different skills. Students would be writing the blog to explain the skills to a friend, fictional or non-fictional, at a different school. This use of a blog would give students the perception that the reader is not the teacher, and thus, they must be sure to explain every part of the problem or skill.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
DeleteMath students creating a blog to share what they have learned in math class is an awesome idea. Students teaching students is the best source when it comes to explaining a math problem in kid friendly terms, so that the student understands how to solve the problem.
Great idea,
Art