When considering ideas for this final project the concept of win-win-win was the one that really resonated with me. I want something that will benefit me in my studies for this class and stretch my learning a little beyond my comfort zone, something that could possibly help my colleagues and most of all something that would be useful to my students. The idea that I’ve landed on is a class blog. Blogging is something I am becoming more comfortable with, thanks to this class and LIBE 467.
In this class we’ve covered a vast array of topics. Many of them were ones that I felt very comfortable researching and commenting about, but one that is really out of my comfort zone is ICT. It’s not necessarily that I’m uncomfortable using technology, it’s that I have a hard time wrapping my head around integrating it into a primary classroom! Especially as I feel that kids are exposed to a lot of tech in their lives already. A class blog will force me to branch out of my comfort zone in terms of incorporating a little more technology into my classroom and will also teach the kids how to use technology in a productive way.
I work with a really tight-knit group of colleagues, for which I am really lucky. There is a lot of collaboration and support on our team. I’m hoping that if I can be successful with class blogging that I might be able to support some others to do the same. Especially as I am deeply involved in professional development planning, it could be something that I could run as a workshop in the future.
Finally, I think my students and parents will benefit the most from a class blog. How many of us in the elementary classroom struggle to get students to write in journals? I know I get a lot of one or two sentence entries and whining complaints along the lines of “I don’t know what to write…” Jackson (2012) points out that “Blogs, because of their ease of use, and because of the context of news and editorial column writing, have become a highly effective way to help students to become better writers. Research has long shown that students write more, write in greater detail, and take greater care with spelling, grammar, and punctuation, when they are writing to an authentic audience over the Internet.”
Following are some useful resources to help me get started:
In Blogging with Very Young Students Kathleen Morris explains the process of getting a blog started, particularly with younger primary students. She also has an extensive list with links to other classroom blogs.
In Blogging with Elementary Students Sharon Davison shares her own journey, tips for blogging with students and the benefits of blogging with students.
https://edublogs.org/ In my searching for a blogging platform, I came across Edublogs (a Wordpress product). Edublogs offers a free account to educators and allows the admin (teacher) to set the level of privacy and control at whatever level they feel appropriate. This means that it can be used across a wide age-range of students, the younger the students the more control the teacher can have. There are also options to have the blog password protected, which means the parents can be given a password to access the blog but it won’t be available to the general public.
Works Cited
Davison, Sharon (2019, February 21). Blogging with Elementary Students. Powerful Learning Practice. Retrieved from https://plpnetwork.com/2019/02/21/why-i-blog/
Jackson, Lorrie (2012, February 28). Blogging? It's Elementary,My Dear Watson!. Education World. Retrieved from https://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml
Morris, Kathleen (2011, July 19). Blogging with Very Young Students. Primary Tech. Retrieved from http://www.kathleenamorris.com/2011/07/19/blogging-with-very-young-students/
Good brainstorm post that outlines your identified key goals going forward and a good idea for the win-win-win to help you continue growing, contribute to your strong group of collaborators at your school, and provide a platform for your students and class. There were some good example blogs, as well as suggestions and advice for effective usage. A good overview of where you are at personally, and what you hope to gain from your vision project.
ReplyDeleteHi Jen,
ReplyDeleteI really like your ideas about blogging with your students. The more I think about it the more I think I may do a simple one as well (A little later in the year though!) Your idea about students possibly being more into blogging then writing in a journal is interesting-I'd like to try it and see how it works. My project is definitely geared towards teachers I work with and this is away to reach out to some of my students. I think I may miss blogging and this is a way to try it out differently. Thanks for the idea:)
Also, I think Kathleen Morris is a fabulous resource, so I'll be looking at her blog a little more as well.
I've heard from so many of my students' parents that their children just don't like writing, particularly in their journals, either. I like the idea of using a blog to make the writing more engaging, but also to give the students an authentic audience for their work!
ReplyDeleteThe Blogging with Very Young Students article was helpful because she showed how she used the idea of gradual release of responsibility to show how she taught her students to blog. I'd love to hear how this works for you - what went well and what challenges you had - because I'd love to do this with my class either later in the year or next year.
This is such a cool idea! I had no idea about the research around blogging vs. journaling. It makes sense that having an authentic audience would help encourage writing (and better writing habits!). Do you think you will incorporate photos and visual communication in the blogs (not necessarily of the students, but of their work or classroom activities, etc), or will it focus more on writing? Good luck with this - it sounds fun!
ReplyDelete-Kelli
I would really like to put some photos in. I would need to be careful not to have any identifying photos though as some families have not consented to having their child's photo published. I think there are a lot of photo opportunities though, projects, hands working, etc.
DeleteYou're idea sounds amazing Jen. I'm sure your students will love it. I hope they make some wonderful global connections. The parents of your students will also love it because it will bring them one step closer to the classroom and allow them to interact with their children. You may find sharing your class posts on Twitter using the hashtag #comments4kids generates traffic and interesting connections. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks Christopher! Great idea about the Twitter hashtag. I was thinking of keeping the blog private for the time being. Perhaps once working with it for awhile I'll get brave and remove the password!
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