Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Blogging in the classroom.
I teach 3rd grade. One of the weaknesses our school has according to our state assessment is writing. I feel that having a classroom blog would be a great way to encourage students to write. I could post a topic, and when the class goes to the computer lab, they could comment. I could also post a journal topic. Creative writing would be more fun to do on a blog than on paper. I have talked to my students about this, and we are going to try it. I hope it motivates my students. They seem very excited about the idea. What types of problems do you see with my idea?
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Kelly,
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I think most schools struggle with writing and show weakness on state assessments. This is true in Michigan. My grade level (5th) is working very hard to introduce all the required genres and write as much as possible using the 6+1 Traits. I think that blogging is a great way to have students write. I currently use it for discussions about novels we are reading or specific Science topics that we are studying. I think our goal is to get them excited about writing and work on those critical thinking skills. Your biggest challenge will be getting the students to use their time wisely getting logged in, finding the blog, etc...). As for the technology part, it will be a breeze. Children today easily adapt to new technology. You may surprised at how many of your students have already blogged. Good luck!:)
I think you are right about using the time wisely. I have an hour in the computer lab and many students take most of that time to find what we are doing. I think what I will do is set up the blog and bookmark it for them. That way they can just get on!
ReplyDeleteKelly-
ReplyDeleteI do not see any problems with this apporach to blogging. I think all schools lack in the writing area and it shows when it comes to assessments. The only situation I see is students not having enough access to technology to practice writing in this way. I do not know the situation you face as to access to computers, but that would be the only concern. Students need ample time to practice "writing" assessments on a computer because it is a different way of doing old things for mandated tests. Then when it came time for the "real thing" it would be a breeze for students to do them on computers instead of writing on paper. Let me know how it works!
Kelly,
ReplyDeleteBookmarking the site would save you a lot of time. My classroom blog/website is linked to the school website, so my students automatically know where they are going.