I think the most important function of blogs in my classroom, however, is to open up discussions. Since we are on the computers, it is often difficult for me to get my students to actually talk in class when I want them to. Sure, they talk about their personal lives all the time. But they close up when I ask them to discuss content or to share what they know. If I have them post into a blog one or two times per week, the discussion topics could be endless.
Even though I'm really excited about the idea of using blogs in my classroom, I don't want to intimidate the students with them. Therefore, to start off, this could be used as an exit slip or bell ringer. I could post a blog with a question of the day or discussion topic, and they could post a two to three sentence response. This is an easy way to help the students ease into the idea of blogs before I have them posting original blogs of their own.
I think overall my students will really get a lot out of blogs. It is a simple form of collaboration that will not only help them to communicate better, but will also open the door to more lessons on etiquette and such. Instead of using texting language like they do on their phones, and often, unfortunately, in essays and papers, they will need to use proper language. This is a struggle for students from what I have seen, so I know they could use all the help they can get to determine what is and isn't proper language etiquette!
Now that I have thought about this, I'm ready to set up my first blog for my class. I am going to start small by using the Moodle blog tool since this is something that is already available and accessed every day in my class. Eventually, I would like to use sites such as blogspot and wordpress. But again, I can't get too far ahead of myself!
I enjoyed reading your post! I like the idea of using the blog as an exit slip for your age group. I think that is a great way to get students to talk about what they learned or post what they may be unsure about and then friends can post back with positive feedback or support to help them figure out their uncertainties. Do you need parent permission for students to use sites like BlogSpot or wordpress?
ReplyDeleteI teach grades 3-5, and what I am hesitant about at that age level is not having much control over what is posted when it comes to a blog. I need to keep track of over 500 students. This is why I like Edmodo for myself, because I can create groups and have quick control over their posts.
Happy Blogging:)
You are set up perfectly for using blogs in your classroom. Your students have access to computers and they already know how to use a blog website. I am sure adding a blog for student interaction would impact your classroom. I also love the idea for the bell ringer or exit ticket. I hope it would be easy for you to go through and read their responses. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas and your class is set up very similar to mine. I have 1:1 computer environment in my class as well. I like the bell ringer idea as well and it would definitely work in my class as well. I would like to work out procedure of how to use since we don't have a blogging environment in my school but I am going to pursue. Great post.
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