Blogging has become very popular and there are tons of different kinds of blogs out there. Educators have started to use blogs in their classroom for learning. These blogs have the ability to expand the walls of the classroom and can support the different kinds of learning styles (Richardson, 2010). Teachers have the ability to use these blogs to help expand a students knowledge. The teacher can put visuals, enhance text, add videos of lectures, and assignments to the blog, which will help with their students learning styles.
Blogs have the ability to work well for the students as they can be worked on at any time, in any place that has a computer with the Internet, which can be helpful to those students, who need extra time completing their assignment (Teaching Today, 2006). I have thought many times that a blog would be great to use in the classroom, and think that it could help a lot of the students that I have worked with. I have come up with many ideas on how I would use the blog in the classroom, and what grade levels the blog would work wonders with.
One of my ideas of using a blog in the classroom is where I would post assignments, announcements, lectures, and a class newsletter. This kind of blog can be used for all grades, and all subjects. The parents can be involved by looking at the blog, leaving comments and questions. The students would be able to log onto the blog and leave their own questions and comments about what is going on in the classroom. The students would also be able to get that day's work and lecture,when they have missed school, that way they would be able to keep on top and not get behind.
Another idea of using a blog in a classroom, is where the blog is set up to be used as portfolio. Also with this kind of a blog, a teacher can use it as a portfolio assessment, to assess the students work. This kind of blog can also be used across the grades and subjects. The students could set up a blog of their own, and showcase their best work. The other students and teachers can comment on the work, making suggestions for improvement or comments on what they like about the work. I think that by using this kind of blog, a teacher is helping their students to learn how to use a blog, and communicate with others online.
One last idea that I have for the use of a blog in the classroom, is where the students would use it to collaborate. This blog would be used in social science, with an emphasis on the the civil war in the fifth grade. The students would be divided into five groups of four, and each group would need to create a blog. The blog would be a newsletter that the students create about the civil war. The students would work together on designing the blog, and as a group decide what information is needed in their newsletter. The newsletter would report on the different battles, how the war is affecting everyone in the states, and if there were any casualties.
The blog would be used during the whole unit on the civil war, and will need to be updated at least once a day with news. The students would get their information to put on the blog from the lessons, and approved websites. If the student takes information from a website, then they will be required to state where they got that information from and supply a link to the other page. Each student will be required to participate in the blog, by posting articles and responding to the other groups blog by leaving comments about the articles.
This blog can really enhance the students learning, by getting them involved with their learning. The students will take a hands on approach to the lessons, and will have to work with each other to make their blog a success. This blog will be a different way for the students to learn about the civil war, and I think that it has the possibility to help them understand what life was like back then for the people.
In conclusion, I can really see how blogs can enhance a students learning and a teachers way of presenting the lessons to their class. I'm excited to start using blogs more and see where it will take the students and me in our journey.
References:
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Teaching Today. (2006). Using Blogs to Integrate Technology in the Classroom. Retrieved from: http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/47
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6 comments:
I love your idea for using a blog during your Civil War unit. I think this could be a connection for students as to how information might be passed along in today’s world on certain issues and topics. The blog would be similar to the newspapers during the Civil War. One issue I could see you possibly having is creating the time for students to update the blog on a daily basis, while learning the content. I think if students have experience with blogs before this assignment that will be very helpful. If students are using information from each days lessons for their posts, you could give them a short amount of time to work together on their post, I’m just not sure how long it would take. The time factor could vary daily. This sounds like an excellent way to incorporate blogs into your classroom and I think students will be highly engaged. Good luck!
I agree with you on having the students have prior experience with blogs before this assignment would be helpful. I figured about a week before the civil war unit, I would introduce the students the blogs and show them how to use them. I'm still trying to figure out the time issue at the end of the lesson each day. I'm hoping that by keeping the lesson to about 45 minutes, then that would give the students 15 minutes to work on the blog. I could also allow the students to work on the blog when they have free time from completing other assignments early in class.
Lori,
I love the idea of your blog being a virtual classroom. Thinking about my experiences when I was in middle and high school, it brings to light how many times I wished I could have had a better idea about what was going on in my classes. My using your blog in this way, students wouldn't have any question as to their homework, assignments, due dates, quizzes, or tests. They could virtually look at what they need, or what they have missed. Through the use of class notes and lectures becoming available online, students would have no excuses for late assignments or bad grades.
All of your ideas seem reachable...but you have to ask yourself how you feel you can be most successful with the blog you use. You don't want to commit to a certain blog type then realize it is too much on your plate. Pick something attainable for you, and most importantly for your students as well.
Whitney
Whitney,
You are right about picking a blog that I feel would be most successful. I don't want to commit to a blog to realize that it was a mistake, as there isn't a lot of time to keep up with the up keep of it. I'm still unsure which blog would be best to use in a classroom setting, though I am strongly leaning toward the one where assignments would be posted online. This would be really beneficial to me, the students and the parents, as everyone would know what is going on in the class, and when the assignments are due.
I love all of the blog ideas. I do agree that it would be beneficial to have assignments posted online. My favorite idea is to have the class divided into groups and create group blogs for your Civil War Unit. This may be a way that I could have certain classes to create blogs for a specific PE unit. Thanks for the idea. Before I read your idea, I would not have even considered having students create blogs because between the other PE teacher and myself we teach all of the classes in our school over a period of one week. Having them create a group or class PE blog may even work especially for the 3rd-5th graders. Thanks again for the ideas!
Lynn,
I'm glad that you liked the ideas, and are thinking about doing blogs for specific PE units. I think that would make PE really interesting. I also really like the Civil War idea for a blog. I think that it would really help some of the kids become more engaged in their learning and make it more interesting for them.
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