Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Using Blogs in the Classroom
I teach 8th grade Language Arts. In the district where I teach every teacher has their own classroom website. One of the features we have on our website is to create blogs for our students to respond to. When I post a blog it is usually with the purpose of students responding to an assignment we have already completed. For example, in my class every 8th grader is required to write a 5-7 page research paper on Illinois history. It is a huge assignment for students this age. Recently, upon the completion of the final copy, I posted a blog asking students how they felt about the assignment - how much value they thought the assignment had, how they thought they did on the assignment, and how it will help them in the future. This was valuable to me as a teacher because I now know that the students found the assignment very worthwhile and they are sure it will help them when they get to high school.
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Do you require students to post to the blog on your website about the research paper or any classroom project you may post on the blog? If so, does each student have access to a computer, or have internet access at home. This would be a challenge that I would face. Also, do your students know how to respond appropriately to the blogs which are posted. In my classroom I would face the challenge of making sure the posts are appropriate in the areas of grammar, and spelling. However, I teach second grade so eighth graders may not pose such a challenge in these areas. Do you have any suggestions on how to effectively use blogs for second graders with limited time and resources?
ReplyDeleteI think blogs are useful when used in this manner. The students are able to reflect on an assignment and the teacher gets to see what worked and what they enjoyed. That way we are able to make adjustments where there were problems and see what areas were effective. Good idea.
ReplyDeleteI like you idea of using blogs as a debriefing assignment. I also like that they are forced to learn about the state that they inhabit. I think that more assignments such as these should be required at all ages up through graduation. I teach seniors and you'd be amazed at how far behind the curve they are when it comes to simple grammar, sentence structure and even spelling. Those things simple are corrected with repetition and practice.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you use your blog as a check for understanding tool. This is something that I think would be very useful as a teacher to pinpoint the areas that students may need help with before the assignment is due. Can the students blog about any concerns within the classroom or is it strictly for that project? Do all of your students have access to computers?
ReplyDeleteYes, all of the students in my school have their own laptop, which makes it easy to do assignments like this one. NO, I do not let students blog about just any concern, it is strictly for the project. I'n afraid if I let them do that they would just complain about the assignments.
ReplyDeleteYes, all of my students have their own laptop. They do respond to blogs about their research paper assignment, but so far they have responded to specific questions posted by me. The students write pretty good responses, but some of them do have mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I have to approve their response before it is posted for everyone to see. It is hard for me not to make corrections, but I just leave it the way they posted it. I have actually considered creating a rubric and scoring their blog responses. Maybe this would motivate them to be more conscientious when they respond.
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