Above all, I think blogging will increase the level of communication between students, parents and teachers. Blogs can be accessed anytime, anywhere and anyplace which makes them all powerful. This communication that can occur outside of regular school hours is important. I plan on using blogs for discussion topics and journals.
I'm a high school business ed teacher.
My question for fellow educators is how are you successfully using blogs now in your classroom and what tips can you give a novice blogger to use next year.
My question for fellow educators is how are you successfully using blogs now in your classroom and what tips can you give a novice blogger to use next year.
I agree that blogging really opens up communication among students. Much like you said about reaching shy students, blogging empowers those quiet students to share their thoughts. I have started using "quiet" discussion time where I post a question and students start responding just like a class discussion. It allows me to "hear" many answers at one time then when we do move to class discussion students already have some background knowledge and feel more comfortable sharing. You make a great point about showcasing student work. It is nice for students and parents alike to see their accomplishments in "print". There always seems to be problems about release waivers to include students names with work that gets posted. Our school has a photography and newspaper release but it gets blurring when it comes to blogging. I am trying to stick to sites that are only accessible with a school name any password. Do you anticipate and problem with privacy?
ReplyDeleteBlogging is a great way for students to interact with each other. The only problem I see with blogging is using it for a homework assignment. What if some students do not have access to the internet? Are you going to give those students a different assignment? I am curious on your thoughts about this.
ReplyDeleteI think I would try to give students some computer lab time every week to complete these assignments.
It is good that we are all creating and thinking about these blog sites during the summer. There are so many questions to be answered about releases, student privacy, students being appropriate, etc. Hopefully we will be able to help each other through these questions. I will also need to go in and talk to my administration.
ReplyDeleteNice page Coach Bish! I love the ideas - I think that they will go over well. The parent will love to see the student work and the kids will be proud to see it published on line.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good thing that we are creating and thinking about these blogs during the summer. There are so many questions to be answered, such as releases, student privacy, and students being appropriate on line. I hope we will be able to help each other through the questions. I will also need to go in and talk to my administration.
The blog is a great way for you to get the shy students in your classroom involved in the learning process.
ReplyDeleteWhen using the blog for discussions make sure that you have a rubric put into place to make certain that your students know the requirements for their discussions. Also, how are you going to monitor what the parents post on the blog? You are able to control what the students post because they are your students, but it is a whole other ball game when parents are involved. I recommend that in the beginning of the year that you also set requirement for the parents if they want to use the blog. This will be a way to make sure that whatever is being posted by parents and students alike is appropriate.
I think teachers and students will respond well to the idea of blogging. How do you think the parents of your students will feel? Do you think they will take the time to blog. Many parents are hard to get a hold of in the first place. My other concern is, does all of your students have internet access at home? If not how will they blog? Will you do an alternate assignment? Just some thoughts about how to approach blogging.
ReplyDeleteI like how you would use your blog to reach those students who are more on the shy side and do not like participate in class. This is a great outlet for students to voice their thoughts and opinions about any topic that pertains to the classroom and life in general.
ReplyDeleteIf you are using this as a way to communicate with parents also, how will you be able to monitor what parents post onto your blog? In the beginning of the year I would make parents aware of the requirements for blogging. The students will have to follow certain criteria and I believe parents should do the same. Just something to think about.
I agree with Julie, it is very important that parents know the expectations of their children when it comes to blogging.
ReplyDeleteCoach Bish, your page does look great and is easy to manuever I believe your students will do excellent on these assignments with blogging.
I'm not really sure how to approach the subject of parents and blogging. Maybe parents should have a separate blog for comments and concerns. I'm just trying to find new avenues to communicate with parents besides emails and phones calls which often do not get returned. Some parents our active in their childrens education and some are not which everyone knows.
ReplyDeleteStudents that don't have computer access at home are really at a disadvantage when it comes to learning today. A teacher cannot expect a child to do any homework assignment involving the internet with no access at home. The only way I know to solve this is to give them an alternative assignment or find other ways for them to have computer time in or around school hours.