Currently I do not have my own classroom rather work one on one with students as a tutor and/or consultant teacher. I have talked with and worked with other teachers on what might be some good ideas for blogging within their classrooms.
One way for teachers to use blogging is during the summer months when students may not be present in schools. A lot of times schools assign summer reading throughout the summer and with the use of blogging, students can keep in touch throughout these months and discuss their readings. Teachers can post various questions through the summer on topics from various reading such as themes or a character analysis and have students respond over the summer months (perhaps every two weeks or so-- it is summer after all!). Teachers can use the posts as a participation grade for the class. This way of blogging might work better in upper grade levels such as middle school or high school.
Using blogging in this way allows students to have conversations with each other on a scholarly level especially if you call for blogging to other's posts. I think that students would enjoy this form of blogging as it is bringing in different technologies that the students may be using on a daily basis as well as calling for them to read more books!
What a neat idea! I love the idea of having a "summer" blog where teachers and students can still interact. The one challenge that I see with this idea is the fact that some students may not have a computer or Internet access at home and this would make it difficult for them to get their participation grade. I know that the local library should have free access, but, if you have some parents like we have, they will still not take their child to the library. This puts the student at a disadvantage. One solution I have for this issue is to turn the participation grade into an "extra credit" grade. Or, use the summer interaction to substitute a classroom assignment for the following year (e.g. - the student gets to use their summer blogging participation as a grade for a regular assignment).
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas!
I think it is a fabulous idea to have students post on blogs during the summer. It keeps them busy and their brains active. They may continue their learning in this way too. I wonder if many students will feel they need a reward for doing summer "work" or that the activity itself will be rewarding? Which teacher would use it as a participation grade, the previous teacher or the upcoming teacher? How could you differentiate this type of summer communication? Would you offer a choice of topics to blog about or would you not even assign a specific topic? Just wanted to give you some things to think about...
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of summer time blogs. What a great way to prepare future students for what is to come! I'm going to try blogging this summer.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea of having the students stay connected throughout the summer. However, will the teacher have to assess these students over the summer and monitor the way it is being used? It may be a hassle for the teacher who is on vacation but having to still be involved throughout the year. I suggest to stick with blogging throughout the school year and have students create powerpoints to share when they return to school. What do you think? Maybe I just miss summer too much :)
ReplyDeleteI love this idea for keeping students connected to school over the summer!! My middle school has expectations for student reading during the summer time and the English department has a summer-reading-assignment in the fall as part of this. I think a blog might encourage more students to read books, since they will be able to have book discussions online! One thing I can think of that might be a challenge is working with the school to have a master schedule ironed out early enough in order for teachers to know which students they will have in class the following year so that they know who to track. Any ideas for working that out? Again, love the idea!!
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