Wednesday, March 10, 2010
How would I use a blog in my classroom?
Just a few months ago I wasn't positive it I even knew what a blog was. Now, I am excited about blogging! I think that blogging in the classroom would be an excellent idea. In my tenth grade English class, I have my students write journal entries every week. I am the only one that reads them, and some of them are really well written and interesting. It would be awesome to be able to make them accessible for each student to see. My class blog would have the journal prompts posted, and each student would have to complete it. I would also require them to read and respond to the responses of some of their students. They would have to follow some blogging rules that would be specified beforehand so that they know that everything posted has to be appropriate. This would enhance the lesson because the students would learn how to respond to the prompt and respond to each other. This would teach excellent communication skills that they would use throughout their lives. They could also add more later and reflect on the comments that they received from their peers. This particular blog would serve as a showcase for student work that they can be proud of and reflect on at the end of the year. The blog would be an excellent instructional tool because it would have the attention of the students, they wouldn't lose the work or prompt, they could easily access it outside of school, and it gives them something to showcase for other people to see. Giving the students ownership of something that other people will see makes them work harder and do well to make it the bast that they can do.
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Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of using blogs for students to post their journal responses is a good one. It definitely allows for all students, especially those who may be too shy to read aloud in class, to have a voice. I do wonder what type of journal entries the students have to respond to. I know that when journaling with my students, I have sometimes gotten some personal stories that students did not feel comfortable sharing with their classmates. I think that the students do benefit from being able to share their experiences and insights, but you may encounter some students who may not feel comfortable posting a response to a particular topic for all to see. Perhaps you could have a requirement that students select a journal entry from perhaps a week's worth of entries, to post. This way, students have more choice as to what they want to post, and can also spend additional time editing and improving upon their writing, since they know others will see it.
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI like your idea about using a classroom blog for journal entries. I think students are more likely to respond by typing on a computer rather than the traditional pen and paper method. This would give them some motivation. I would be careful about making their journal entries available to other students. I think it depends on the purpose of the journal in your classroom. Some students write more freely when they know that only the teacher will be reading their responses. I would suggest keeping the topics/prompts for public journaling focused on comments about the classroom literature. You could ask students to make predictions based on the character's choices of behavior. If the journal entry is geared more toward personal experiences, you may want to find a way to keep those responses between you and the individual students. Sometimes it is motivating for students to know their work will be seen by peers. I think it will depend on the nature of the prompt you give. It sounds like a great class assignment. I'd like to follow your progress and read your thoughts on student journals through a blog. I am also teaching 10th grade students. Look forward to reading about your experience. Good luck with it!
Susan
Melissa: I think that giving the students an option on what journal entries they want to post would be an excellent idea. I agree that they would feel more comfortable posting if they had an option of which ones to post.
ReplyDeleteSusan: I think that the students would be more motivated to type responses rather than write them out on paper. Literature responses would be good or everyone to see, but maybe for the more personal entries I could have an option on the blog to keep it private so that only I could see it. I would have to check into when I set up the blog to see if that is an option. I would love to use blogs in my classroom, but I haven't tried it yet. I think it will take some summer work on my part to check into the blogs that are good for the classroom.