I have been reading the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson. Some of the ideas that he describes for using blogs in the classroom not only seem doable but they are very progressive. Yet, because I am still very novice to blogging, I appreciate the ideas for getting both my class and myself comfortable. Eventually, I can return to this book of resources and to embrace more engaging activities like allowing each of my middle school students the opportunity to create and maintain their own student weblog. Most important, Will Richardson continually encouraged his reader to remain readers of blogs so that we can share with each other the cool ideas for using blogs in the classroom.
For a couple of years I used Class Homepage on www2.Scholastic.com. What I realized is I can begin to introduce blogging the same way that I used my Scholastic homepage. I can update homework information, highlight student achievement, upload forms for parents, showcase student work, and give my parents and students links to helpful websites. This is important to me because I had a group of dedicated and tech savvy parents that appreciated the ability to communicate with me and access the resources that I had found to benefit their student. My students were very much interested in the website, seeing their work displayed, and would often help me make updates. Therefore, I know that my students will benefit from blogging.
Blogging is a good instructional tool because it not only fosters the read/think frontier of learning but it also forces students to remain conscious of their audience, which is now the world. Eventually, it is my goal to allow blogging in my classroom to enhance the lessons and allow my students the opportunity to interact about content. For my middle school students, “the relevance of student work no longer ends at the classroom door can not only be a powerful motivator but can also create a significant shift in the way we think about the assignments and work. . . (Richardson, 2010).” Now my students will become more serious about their writing traits, revisions, and editing skills. Who wants to look bad in public? Ultimately, my students will grow in my writing class and be more prepared to interact with the world.
Resources
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Hi Dreanna.
ReplyDeleteI think it's terrific that you were able to implement such technology in to your classroom already. Did you find it time consuming to update your webpage with all the information you mentioned? I would guess you must have been providing a daily update, since you were putting homework on it.
Great idea!
-Heather
Heather,
ReplyDeleteYou are right. It was time consuming when I used the site for information purposes. I learned to put the week's homework in first, and then update the other information at the chances provided. That is why my student got involved because they thought that I wasn't moving fast enough. And I am proud to say that one of those students is prospering in technology as a high school student as we speak.
Thanks,
Dreanna
I like the flow of your content, and I look forward to viewing it's progress with great anticipation. Make it a great day.
ReplyDeleteHello Dreanna,
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of using your blog as a place where you can make announcements, communicate with parents, etc. because it seems like a way to manage these things more effectively. I also like how you plan to use blogs to have students interact about content. You mentioned that it should help improve your students writing traits because it is public. Is this something you will address with students on a regular basis. I think that you could use this in your class to model good and not so good examples of writing as well as model how to communicate appropriately on the internet.
Have a great day.
Bryan Bird