Something that I do not have, but hope to have in the near future is a classroom blog. One use students would get out of this blog would be to make daily posts about what they learned each day about a specific content area. The students would visit this area on the blog at the end of each day. The teacher would make a revolving list of students who will post to the blog after every subject. They will post two to three sentences that capture what the student learned in that subject on that day. Revisiting this blog at the end of the day accomplishes two objectives: it reinforces the daily lessons with the students (I would tell them this is what you tell your parents when they ask “What did you do at school today?”) and it gives me a chance to make sure students grasped the content covered. If a student would be off the mark on the goal of the lesson, I could ask the class to add to the particular statement to make sure the other students were on target. This allows me to do another small assessment before the end of each day. The blog also helps students with their reading and writing skills. Will Richardson, author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, notes, “Blogging can teach critical reading and writing skills, and it can lead to greater information management skills” (p. 36, 2009). With the daily check assignment, students would be able to practice writing complete sentences and using correct punctuation.
Allowing students to start off with this assignment will get them use to blogging. Will Richardson says, “Having small groups of students actually start creating posts to the same Weblog is a great way to introduce them to blogging and to help them understand the process” (p. 46, 2009). The students will be able to read other classmates responses and could comment or ask them a question as well.
The class blog is a good tool because it acts as a daily log that does not waste resources. It is also accessible from anywhere by anyone so parents, administrators, and the students could go and see what is happening in my classroom.
Reference:
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
That is a unique idea by having your students put in the posts of what was covered in class. I have used a class blog before where it was mainly for posting what happened in class, but I think I would have gotten more students on board if I incorporated your idea.
ReplyDeleteI think blogs are also a great way for students who are absent to keep up with what is going on in class. Some assignments and helpful liks can be attached for them to access from home. There seems to be so many great uses for a classroom blog. I plan on using this resource some day too!
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteBased on what you said, it sounds like you teach elementary school. I think you have a great plan for your classroom blog. Do many of your students have computer and internet access at home?
Another idea to add to your plan is to make the student who wrote that day the "expert" and the questions would all be posed to them (rather than you!). Based on the usage at home you could set aside a time in the day where students are allowed to go on the blog to ask a questions and the "experts" could get on the blog and respond to the questions.
I love this idea. I was struggling on how to use blogs in my classroom and this idea is great! Would it be possible to have different experts for different subjects? I just know how students love to be involved and this way you have about 4 students (depending) on your subject matter to become the experts.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea! Would you ever consider giving students a chance to blog during school? When telling students that they can check something online or find a resource online, I am sometimes sadly surprised to have several students respond that they do not have internet access at home.
ReplyDeleteMy other thought when reading your plan was whether it would be overwhelming to have these blogs everyday. Maybe Monday, Wednesday, and Friday? Maybe you could do Tuesday and Thursday during class or as a group. I could see checking blogs daily being a lot for students (and their parents who may need to assist them each day on top of their other homework) and for you as the teacher. What do you think about this? (I did wonder if this is replacing another aspect of daily work in which case this may not be an issue.)
Lauren, having your students post what they learned each day is a very creative idea. What a great subject to subject exit task! It truly keeps the kids accountable for their learning and like you said, makes it easier to respond when a parent asks what they learned.
ReplyDeleteOne problem that I can foresee is the amount of time this would take as a daily task. I know for my second graders it takes some kids a really long time to type just a couple of sentences. Would this possibly get in the way of the next subject you are teaching? I like Fallon's idea of possibly doing posts every couple of days or even posting as a whole class and then the kids can add their own ideas later, if they choose.
That would be a great idea to assign students to become an "expert" for a day. Also, after thinking about it, it may be overwhelming to do this everyday, especially at first. An idea might be to introduce this idea and designate two days a week to work on the blog. Once the students get use to this concept open up to three days. Most of my students, unfortunately, do not have regular access to the Internet at home. That is why it is so important for me to introduce technology to them in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think this idea is great for your students. Having them post the sentences on concepts taught reinforces those objectives. It's a great example of ongoing informal assessment.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, you could give your students ideas of how to access the internet outside of the school day. Most libraries have several computers with internet access. While it would be difficult to require this, many parents may take advantage of these resources.
ReplyDeleteMy son's fourth-grade teacher did a similar blog connected through the school's website. The kids liked contributing, and it was a great way for me to know what was going on in the classroom in more details (Especially since my son would only want to tell me about gym and recess when I asked, "How was your day?"). But the blog was only updated in spurts. It's probably good to have a realistic schedule, especially if some students don't have access at home. Besides, editing will be crucial.
ReplyDelete