I would like to use this blog as a way for students to discuss topics. I will post a question for students to respond to each week. This will be used as a way for students to share their thoughts and have classmates respond to each other. I will incorporate writing skills as well as content material that we cover in class. A blog will encourage students to have a "voice" that they will be sharing with others. This will allow all students to participate in discussions as well as gain a hands-on experience of mastering their standards. I teach second grade and I know this will be a slow process at first so that students can become familiar with the process. As we continue to work on blogging skills, students will master how to blog appropriately and share their thoughts with others. This is a great skill to teach students so that they can learn content material, discuss what they have learned with others, and use technology as an advantage for the future. Hopefully this will also contribute to more parental involvement through the use of technology.
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I was wondering if you are anticipating creating blog accounts for each of the students or just using one class blog to post information and comments? If you are teaching second grade students, what issues do you think you might have regarding getting parent permission to set up accounts for each of the students, if that's what you choose to do?
ReplyDeleteI think your ideas are great! If we can get younger students comfortable with blogging and publishing online, they will be able to go that much further later in middle school and high school.
My concerns are very much the same; parental permission and creating accounts. How do you plan to address these issues? I know that I will have to look into my school district's web usage policies and get parental involvement for possible assignment problems that students may have. Do you think that you will involve parents in the blogging process?
ReplyDeleteAt first I would like to use the blog as a class interaction so that students can gain a grasp on what it is that I am expecting of them. By modeling to students what they need to do, my hope is that after several opportunities to post to a blog they would be able to do it on their own.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I will need to get permission from our school principal and our technology director so that students, and myself, will have access to the site since it would normally be blocked by our filters. I would need to send a letter home to parents informing them on what we will be doing in class and to get parental permission. Second, I will have the mobile lab in the classroom for students to use and our grade level assistant will also provide assistance. Third, all adults will monitor students as they are working and read over their blog posts before submitting. I am fortunate enough to have parent volunteers that will be able to help out with this process in the classroom. This is also something I can share with parents at Back to School Night as well as Conference Day at the beginning of the school year to prepare them for what we will be doing. I would like students to blog on the computers at least once a week. Once everyone is familiar with the process at school, I would encourage students to blog at home if they have time and enjoy the process.
I hope I have answered all of your questions. Does anyone have any suggestions on how they might address the above questions you have shared with me? I am definitely open to suggestions and I know this is something totally new and different for me. There may be bumps along the way, but I am hoping that it is something that can get started this upcoming year and the students can continue to use throughout school, much like the teacher addressed in the video with her sixth graders.
I am inspired by your approach to use blogs with the students at such a young age. To be perfectly honest, I am feeling apprehensive about my ability to effectively show my first graders the process of blogging. I realize that the smart board will probably be the best tool to teach blogging, as well as small group. How do you think you will teach blogging?
ReplyDeleteThe SMART board is probably the best approach to doing this. I do not have a SMART board, but I do have an LCD projector attached to my computer. I will use those two things to model to my students how I would like them to blog on given topics. I will also have other adults in the classroom once the students start blogging individually. I think it will take a lot of modeling and time before students are ready to complete the process on their own. I hope that students will really enjoy posting their own comments on the internet and getting feedback from others.
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