Thinking about creating a blog for my 7th grade Language Arts students is really quite exciting. There are so many different possibilities for using a blog in class, and I really need more information, tips, suggestions, etc., from those that have done this, but I find myself mulling over some of the different things that can be done. I really like what Will Richardson says in his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms on page 29, “…bloggers that write in this way [connectively] learn to read critically because as they read, they look for important ideas to write about….[it]requires critical thinking skills as they consider their audience and clarify the purpose of the writing” (2009). Having just completed a unit in class about identifying the audience and writing with a purpose, this seems to be a great tool to reinforce and continue what my students have learned.
We are about to start reading a novel in class and I would really like to come up with a way to use the blog with this. I am not sure exactly how, as I am still so new to this, but in the novel, Tangerine, by Edward Bloor, the main character writes in a journal and I know there has to be a way to connect this to the blog. I think perhaps, if I can figure all this out, I could set up the blog to resemble a journal (?), or not (!), and assign something like two entries per week, per student. Maybe one could be an original posting and one a response to another student. Perhaps they should be required to write in the voice of one of the characters, or even the main character. There are so many questions, and I just don’t have all the answers to this right now. I would love to hear from some other teachers that have already begun incorporating blogs into their classes. I welcome any ideas and suggestions that could be offered.
Now I really am excited about starting this adventure. My students (as probably most) get tired of the typical writing assignments and this offers such a new and different venue for them. I can even see their parents getting involved, which could only reinforce the blogs success. Hopefully this is something that I can become experienced and comfortable with, so that I can effectively share it with my students.
Jane
Reference
Richardson, W. (2008). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (Second Ed ed.). California: Corwin Press Inc.,U.S..
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Hello,
ReplyDeleteI am also in your class, I am Hélène and I teach French in Middle school. I hear you when you say that students are getting tired of the typical writing.
Like you, I have many ideas how to use my blog for my classes and I have so many questions about how to implement it in class. I am afraid I don't know enough about blogging to have my class using it.
It would be nice if someone had samples of lesson plan so we could look at what needs to be done to make the blog effective.
About your ideas, I guess you could have different type of assignment every week. For example, one week you have students work on character voices, next week a passage from the book and have students write their understanding and/or their opinion.
If you working on a specific theme you could have students relate the theme with today’s society. They are just ideas that need to be organized and well prepare. How are you going to grade the students? Do they all have access to Internet? If not what can we do about it?
I am sure there is more to think about, but I guess we have to try to see what works and what does not and learn from our mistakes and our success.
I don’t know if I am helping you but it is nice to see that I am not the only one who does not blog yet.
Heleneg11@weblog.com
Hi Jane, my name is Alisha!I really like your blog title! I feel that I am in the same boat as you. This was my first blogging experience too. I quite enjoyed doing it though. I feel that I am somewhat knowledgeable about technology, but at times I feel that I am not as on top of it as I should be. It is interesting to think about how far technology will bring us in the future with education. I found this week's videos interesting to listen to. I had no idea that there was a guy that had predicted all of the changes in society.
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea for blogging in your classroom. Sometimes I wish that I had some years of experience behind me so I have been through things to know what works and what doesn't. I think you are on the right path with the ideas that you have. You were concerned about your assessment with blogging. One suggestion for your assessment part would be having your students create a rubric to have for each assignment they are supposed to do. You could also have them have a writing rubric also like the teacher Kathy Martin in the video Spotlight on Technology in the Classroom (Laureate, 2008). I was thinking about doing that with my students when I start my blogging website. I also thought about when my students would be able to blog. Would I have to have class time to do this? I would assume that I would have to because I know there are some students do not have a computer at home.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). [DVD]. “Spotlight on Technology”. Baltimore, MD
Jane,
ReplyDeleteI’ve tried using blogs in class with novels before and students, especially those who are hesitant to participate in class, seem to excel at blogging. I have a few ideas that you may be able to use. (A) Students could create their own personal blog as one of the characters in the novel. This would have them focus on the character’s voice and have them reveal the character’s thoughts and attitudes at particular points in the novel. The students would give you the web address of their blog and you could subscribe to the blog through a feed. This way their blog entries would come to you. (B) Another idea may be to have specific questions for students to answer. This gives students time to consider the question and post a well-thought out answer. You, a student, or even a group of students could be required to synthesize the postings and share what they discovered at the beginning of class the next day.
A few problems I ran into with the blogging were that some students did not have access to computers outside of school. To alleviate the pressure to complete the blog at home, I would write the question on the board. The students could, if necessary, write their responses on paper and prior to class, during a study hall, or after school write their responses to the blog. Of course, if this is impossible for a specific student, an exception could be made so that the assignment could be completed with pencil and paper. Another problem or challenge was postings that seemed to say the same ideas that the previous posts had brought to light. Specific expectations will help prevent this from occurring. For example, each student must bring in a new example or piece of support that has not been shared yet. This forces students to either post early or read through their peers’ responses. Having students respond to others’ responses works well, but be sure to have them say who they are responding to since the discussions on free blogs right now are not threaded. This makes it challenging to follow the thought connections of students. Over time I would expect free blogs to include threaded responses.
Good luck!
Brad Feick
HS English
Jane,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about the double post. I have two blog accounts and was accidentally signed into the wrong one. For consistency, I've re-posted with the right user id. Below is my re-post.
I’ve tried using blogs in class with novels before and students, especially those who are hesitant to participate in class, seem to excel at blogging. I have a few ideas that you may be able to use. (A) Students could create their own personal blog as one of the characters in the novel. This would have them focus on the character’s voice and have them reveal the character’s thoughts and attitudes at particular points in the novel. The students would give you the web address of their blog and you could subscribe to the blog through a feed. This way their blog entries would come to you. (B) Another idea may be to have specific questions for students to answer. This gives students time to consider the question and post a well-thought out answer. You, a student, or even a group of students could be required to synthesize the postings and share what they discovered at the beginning of class the next day.
A few problems I ran into with the blogging were that some students did not have access to computers outside of school. To alleviate the pressure to complete the blog at home, I would write the question on the board. The students could, if necessary, write their responses on paper and prior to class, during a study hall, or after school write their responses to the blog. Of course, if this is impossible for a specific student, an exception could be made so that the assignment could be completed with pencil and paper. Another problem or challenge was postings that seemed to say the same ideas that the previous posts had brought to light. Specific expectations will help prevent this from occurring. For example, each student must bring in a new example or piece of support that has not been shared yet. This forces students to either post early or read through their peers’ responses. Having students respond to others’ responses works well, but be sure to have them say who they are responding to since the discussions on free blogs right now are not threaded. This makes it challenging to follow the thought connections of students. Over time I would expect free blogs to include threaded responses.
Good luck!
Brad Feick
HS English
In my experience, parental involvement is critical in academic success. It becomes difficult to involve parents as students get older. I think one of the biggest benefits of using blogs at this level is increased parental access. Of course, this may create more problems as some parents may not approve of what students write. However, the increased responsibility of knowing parents will be reading the blog would be an extra incentive to write well.
ReplyDeleteI love the journaling idea. Some of the most creative writing I have received from my students was a unit on "Treasure Island" where I required daily journal writing. Students had to choose a character or element from the writing and write from that perspective. Several students wanted to write from a different perspective (like a bird, a fish, a rock, or a bullet). I even allowed them to create a character not mentioned in the book. For example, one student wrote about a piranha that ended up eating one of the bodies of a dead pirate. The students loved it and really got into it. Once they started, competition set in and the writing got better and more creative daily. The competition element is possibly another benefit of blogging. As students read each other’s writing, they will want to write better as well.
Happy blogging! I am excited to see what the future of blogging in education holds.
April Grabanski
K-8 Educator
Helene,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response. I really like your suggestion of having different assignments on the blog each week for my students. That may be a great way to introduce them to the different types of writing that can be done using a blog. As far as assessing them, I still have not figured it all out, but it will most likely be a trial and error experience. This is proving to be a very challenging experience for me, as well as others in the class, and I am curious to see how successful I am…but I think it’s going to be a neat learning tool once we master it.
Alisha,
I’m glad you like my title…it was exactly how I felt when I was trying to set this up! You’re right about having the students be involved with the creation of a rubric. That is something that was stressed in my last course and I have never really tried to include them when making one. I have always been a little worried that they might not take it serious enough, or there wasn’t enough time, etc., but that is something that I really will try and use this time. Thanks for the suggestion!
Brad,
You have some great ideas for using blogs and I appreciate you sharing them. About having each student create their own blog…I would have 110 blogs I would have to check and keep up with, and that thought absolutely overwhelms me! How did you do it? I do like the idea of posting questions and letting the students respond to them. And you make a great suggestion about posting the assignments on the board so the student who absolutely is unable to access a computer could submit it on paper.
When you speak of free blogs not being threaded, is that have to do with being able to post directly back to a comment? I am so new at this, and I kept trying to respond to each comment that was made to my post, but couldn’t. Is that what you are talking about? Thanks for this suggestions.
April,
You bring up a good point about parental involvement. I agree that a blog might interest some parents enough to keep up with what is going on in the class. It could also show some of them the level of work their student is (or isn’t) doing. That might actually motivate some of the students to step it up a little!
How fun to be able to write from all the different perspectives, as your students were able to. I love the one from the piranha’s viewpoint…that is hilarious! As I said in one of my postings to someone else’s blog, my students are tired of writing the same old stuff, and you have shown that there are many different things that can be done to make lessons, writing, reading, and thinking fun again. Thanks!
I also liked the parental involvement as part of the blog. I think it would be a great place to showcase work, and let the parents see what is being done in class, to hopefully reinforce at home. "When parents and families get personally involved in education, their children do better in school and grow up to be more successful in life." http://www.ed.gov/pubs/PFIE/families.html
ReplyDeleteI think that this would fit a niche today with parents work schedules as well, I teach high school and only have about 15% of my parents show up for parent teacher night.
I was also impressed with the information from Richardson regarding writing, I had not thought of it in this way before, but I can see how it would also improve the students writing. (Richardson, 2009)
I too have concerns over the students without access to computers, I do not want them to be at a disadvantage. Have you thought about scheduling media time once or twice a week, I don't know if this would work into your scheduling? Let me know how it goes!
Partnership for Family Involvement in Education,
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/PFIE/families.html 1-15-2010
Richardson, W. (2008). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (Second Ed ed.). California: Corwin Press Inc.,U.S..