Blogging in the Classroom
One of the classes I teach is fifth grade English Language Arts. This fall I plan to start a blog with my ELA students. The purpose for my blog will be to serve as a literature circle. The reading portion of my class is focused on novel units, so I think our novel studies will lend itself to a blogging project very well and help improve our reading and writing skills at the same time. One of the things I have learned from my reading assignments in my graduate class at Walden University is “…connective writing is, for the most part, expository writing, but the process starts with reading…bloggers that write this way learn to read critically because as they read, they look for important ideas to write about” (Richardson, 2009).
At present my plan is to begin the experience with a lesson on “How to Blog,” discussing safe practices, blog etiquette, and exploring some other elementary class blogs. One of the blogs I plan to use with my students is The Write Weblog, a blog by Anne Davis’ fifth grade class in Georgia. Her students have posted a PowerPoint presentation (see the download under T.A.G. Blogging Machine on The Write Weblog) about blogging that incorporates the Six Traits of Writing. Her class blog has been very inspirational to me and has shown me several possibilities for incorporating blogs into my own classroom.
After learning the how to’s and the etiquette of blogging, I will allow for my students to practice blogging by asking them to post comments on their reactions to what they have learned. Finally, my goal is to post thought-provoking questions on our current novel for my students to respond to me as well as each other; eventually allowing them to take the discussion into their own hands, making posts and asking their own questions on our blog. I think that a blog will enhance our novel studies by providing a place for every one to share their thoughts on the reading assignment, not just a few, as usually occurs in the classroom discussion simply because of time restraints. Additionally, “the Weblog is a democratic tool that suports different learning styles. For those students who might be more reticent in class, a blog gives them the oppportunity to share in writing the ideas they may be too shy to speak” (Richardson, 200). The blog will also give us a place to showcase students’ work that is related to the novel.
I believe that blogging is a good instructional tool for the 21st century classroom. “Using blogs and other spaces provide insights of deep, thoughtful reflection moves away from simply playing with the technology but truly uses it to support the practices that improve student learning” (Dean Shareski, 2009). I think it gives students ownership of what they write and publish, allowing them to take more pride in their work. Richardson (2009) said, ” As students participate, they also take ownership of the space, and depending on how teachers frame that participation, this can lead to a greater sense of participation” (p.27). Students are surrounded by technology at home with cell phones, mp3 players, digital cameras, and the Internet. Why should it be any different at school? Most of our students will be creating My Space or Facebook pages in the next couple of years so I think it’s important for them to learn now how to do it right and I think blogging will help accomplish that goal. Technology has created a global classroom where we can learn anything, at anytime, at any place.
What are your thoughts? How do you use blogging in your classroom?
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful webtoolsfor classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California:Corwin Press.
July 9th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Hello
These are some great ideas, although I do not teach language arts, my sisters both do, so I am constantly hearing about responding to text etc. My two thoughts for your lessons are:
1-does your school send home a general persmission slip about technology uses -if so does it include blogging? If not, should a separate permission slip be sent home allowing students to blog at school.
2-Yesterday (after summer school) I tried to log in to my eblogger site and could not because the security noticed “blog” and did not allow me on. If this is the case at your school as well, do you need to ask the tech department to remove the block?
Hope these thoughts help!!
Take care
Great work!!
Christine
July 9th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Hi Christine!
In answer to your questions:
1. Yes, each teacher is responsible for sending home technology permission slips that include e-mail and blogging if they plan to use these technologies in their instruction. Otherwise, students have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) that is signed by parents and students to cover basic Internet and computer use. The AUP is sent home with every student in the school since all students use the computer lab and tech center.
2. Our district uses blogs that can only be viewed and commented to by logged-in users, so the site our blogs are not blocked. However, our Tech Dept. does block sites and if we need one unblocked we fill out a form and e-mail it to them for approval and then they remove the block (which sometimes takes several weeks or can be instantaneous).
Thanks for your thoughts!
Coleen
July 12th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Coleen, you’ve put great thought into your plan! I love that you’re conscientious about teaching “How to Blog” first. And I fully agree with the concept that good blogging starts with reading first. Learning how to respond critically and how to write appropriately are such great benefits of blogging. I’ll admit that I’m somewhat jealous of you language teachers who can use blogging for such direct teaching of your subject matter. I teach math which is going to require a little more creativity in my blogging lessons, but I’m still very excited to start my classroom blogs!
How will blogging affect your time constraints in your classroom? Will you allow students to blog during class or will they be required to do so on their own time? Will you have to take something else off your classroom plate in order to fit in blogging?
Great ideas and great planning on your part!
July 12th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Susan,
I also teach Social Studies (SS), Science, Health, and Math! So far, I have only used blogging in my ELA class. This year, I will be able to include my SS students since many of my novels relate to SS content.
As far as time management, I usually devise a computer schedule so students can blog at school. So many of my students do not have Internet access at home so this works out best. I do however have my students draft their initial posts/comments in a notebook before allowing them to go to the computer. This is usually a homework assignment. The main purpose for this is time – it allows them to post faster.
I’m trying to find ways to incorporate blogging in math too. Maybe a $1000 math words blog for vocabulary and how to’s? Not sure. Let me know if you come up with any ideas for math. Maybe between the two of us we’ll be blogging in Math this fall!
Thanks again!
Coleen
July 12th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I enjoyed reading your blog again this week. Your idea of teaching your students how to blog sparked an idea in my mind. We have to have parent meetings once a quarter at our school. This would be a great time to inform parents about the blog being used to help educate their children.
Thanks for the idea!
July 13th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Thanks for the comment Travis! I agree that parent conferences would be a great time to share information about your class blog. If you set it up prior to school, I recommend you share the information on your “Back to School night” or parent drop-in, if you do either of these activities at the beginning of your school year. Thanks again!
Coleen