Some ideas I am considering...
- We are beginning our science unit study of ecosystems. I would like to see a blog become a tool for my students to reflect on the week's content. "What have you learned this week about ecosystems? Be sure to include two new vocabulary words in your post."
- In writing, we are practicing expository writing (descriptive). Instead of everyone reading their papers in front of the class [no time!], a blog post would be a great way to share their composition about their favorite pet. Students could choose which papers to read and leave comments about what they liked and maybe one suggestion to make it better.
- Our school has used guided reading groups (small group instruction) for third through fifth grade. Guided reading groups and workstations/centers have been more focused on the primary grades, but I have enjoyed getting to know my students as readers. This time allows for "technology" workstations, so each student has a chance on the computer for reading comprehension/grammar games at least once a week. With this "extra" time, another way my students could use blogs is by reflecting on a text -- I would like to specifically try an editorial piece. Could they post their opinion in an intelligent fashion?
Janelle,
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea for reflecting on the upcoming science unit. I teach 6th grade and I also wonder if the students could maturely handle this task? I guess we won't know until we try. You could have the students find links to good school appropriate sites that deal with your topic as extra credit.
Jenelle, I agree with your emotions of fear and excitement. I'm excited to see how effective blogging can be in my 7th & 8th grade math classroom. However, since I don't have much experience blogging, I'm nervous about it.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea about having students blog about what they learned for the week. Will you have a weekly blog requirement for each student? Meaning, 2 blogs per week from each student? How do you plan to keep track of who has and hasn't blogged? Will the students receive participation or homework points that count towards their grade?
Jenelle,
ReplyDeleteUgh, I just wrote this nice post and I lost the whole thing before I posted my comment! This is sooooooo frustrating at times! OK-there is a problem that you may encounter. Students becoming frustrated when they work on stuff and completely have to redo it!!!!!! But then again, these kids today pick up on this stuff much better than I seem to be doing!
Seriously though....you seem to have some great ideas for your students. The only problem that I could think of that you would encounter is computer time. Do all of your students have access to a computer in class? I know in my room I only have 2 computers (art room). I could definitely use more. I always have students waiting for one.
I think, as described in our dvd in which Ms. Martin's class began blogging, that once the students realize that their work will be viewed by everyone that they actually try harder to make sure that everything is excellent because they do not want to embarrass themselves.
Let me know if you end up trying this out!
Susan
PS-my room # at school is 110 also!
Jenelle,
ReplyDeleteI think that your emotions are very normal. Teaching using blogs (and other technologies) is important for the very reasons you worry about. Our students need to know how to handle the public domain. They need to know how to write for an audience. That is the future, and we are the ones needing to teach them what they need to know. I would suggest spending some time in advance talking about the difference between writing online for social reasons (something most of your fifth graders are probably already doing) and posting on a public blog. It may take some time, but it is an important lesson. Also, keep in mind that most blogs allow you to moderate all posts before they are posted. You may have to play around some first to find the option. Your ideas for blogging in the classroom sound great!
Shannon
Jenelle,
ReplyDeleteI understand your concerns and I think about the same things even though I teach at the high school level. I think that we may both be pleasantly surprised as long as we put faith in ourselves and our students. It will probably be difficult to adjust at first, just like for all of us in this course that are blogging for the first time but it is slowly coming together. As far as if your students would be able to post their opinion in an intelligent fashion, that might take some work but instead of helping them improve this skill on paper, what better way to practice expressing their opinions then by writing and posting to a blog.
Hi Jenelle,
ReplyDeleteI understand your fears about your students' writings; however, if you have a school website, you can create the blogs on the school website,and in this case you can control the postings. This way you can check their contributions to the blog before posting them.
While I am currently not teaching an elementary school class, I have experience teaching 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. Right now, I am an educational technologist so I work with grades k-12.
ReplyDeleteAs with anything, I would suggest providing specific guidelines and writing prompts with your students as you start to blog. Gradually, as students get better, you can allow for greater autonomy with their blog posts. It might also be worthwhile to find a blog host where you can approve posts before they are shared
In my blog, I also discussed using blogs to reflect on learning but now that I think about it, a blog would be also be a great tool for gathering input on existing student knowledge before starting a unit.
I think having students compose their reflections in a word processor and then copy and past them into their blog posts would be a worthwhile skill. This way they can spell and grammar check their writing before posting
Hi Jenelle,
ReplyDeleteI had a thought about the unit on ecosystems. Can you Wiki in your school district? Now, remember I'm just brainstorming, but could you break up the different ecosystems and have cooperative groups in charge of each system. Have them report to each other and then publish the results on a class Wiki. Then, maybe you could collaborate with a few other classes (possibly older students, as well as, other 5th graders). All involved students could build on the information that your students have posted and they can watch the information grow.
Just a thought... my school district has a lot of filters, but we can get http://wikispace.com/. It seems like an easy site. I have yet to explore though.
Look forward to reading other posts,
Kim Phillips
EDUC 6710
Jenelle,
ReplyDeleteHi, I was wondering if you did, in fact receive my comment that I posted to this blog on friday night. I do not see my comment posted anywhere and I am confused. I know that I posted here and not to your old site.
Ugh. I feel like a sinking ship right now!
Susan
Jenelle,
ReplyDeleteYou have done a great job! This blogging thing is new to me also. I teach science, K-5, so I listed what we were doing per grade level.
Frank
I understand your concerns and I often think about the same things even though I teach at the high school level where it is assumed the students could "handle" it better. I think that if we have a little faith in ourselves and our students, we may be pleasantly surprised. At first, the students may not be sure about the proper way to post or express their opinions but I am sure they would improve with time and practice. After all, blogging could serve as a good way to help them with these skills.
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ReplyDeleteI see my post or I should say posts finally showed up, sorry the same one is there so many times, I thought I was doing something wrong.
ReplyDelete