As I think about ways I would utilize a blog site for usage in my 8th grade Pre-Algebra classroom, I think of having a blog in terms of having it as a “Class Portal” as referred to in the book “Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms.” I kind of have something pretty similar to this already for my class. However, I do not have it open for discussion or for anyone to comment on. To be quite honest, I have always been a little apprehensive of this because I work with 8th grade students and I fear someone might post something inappropriate (or use profanity). Has this ever been a concern for others?
I would like to use the blog as way to communicate with not only students, but my student’s parents. I often feel my student’s parents are sometimes out of the loop with what their children are doing in school and I think this is a great way for parents to be involved in their child’s education. I would post my student expectations, online textbook information, class announcements, homework assignments, All Stars of the month, information for students/parents to check their grades, a class calendar of upcoming events, extra credit opportunities, useful links, and ways students or parents can contact me.
I also feel it would be benefit to have a section where I can upload in-class notes for my students to utilize via recorded SMARTboard lessons. Often students get home and might forget how to do certain problems so if I can provide examples that they can go back and revisit (and they will actually use!), I think it would be worth my time to have a section like this. I think it would be useful to have this open for students to discuss and to ask each other for help if needed. A blog can enhance learning because it is another resource they can utilize to support their learning. They can engage in conversation with other students who utilize the blog and it is a way I might be able to help out a student later in the evening when they are working on their homework at home if they have a question. Students can also no longer give the excuse of “I didn’t know we had homework!” because it is all updated on the blog site. They can also download the class homework/worksheets at their own free will if they need an extra copy.
I think I am on the right track to getting a blog started for my classroom, but suggestions are always welcome. Here is my class website that I am utilizing now: http://www.msdaughtersmathclass.com/
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ReplyDeleteEmily, I share your concern about the possibility of students posting inappropriate things on your blog. One possibility is to moderate your blog by adjusting the settings so that all posts and comments are sent to you via email for approval before they are published on the blog. I have this setting for my blog for this class, in fact, and while I worried it would slow up and make collaboration among students slower, it really works well. I actually receive my email through my smartphone, which allows me to read quickly proofread posts and publish them almost in real time. As an example, when you posted a comment to my blog on Thursday, I received the email about your comment, read the comment, and published it on the blog all within about 10 minutes of you posting the comment. And I did all of this while sitting in Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines while watching the boys state basketball tournament. Like Thornburg said this week technology allows “anytime, anywhere learning.”
ReplyDeleteI also think it is a great idea to utilize your blog to help communicate with parents. Any way to help open up and increase parent communication and involvement is a great resource. I find myself guilty at times of complaining that parents are just not involved enough, or do not care enough about their kid’s education. Yet, I do very little to help change this. I think the use of a blog to help encourage more communication and involvement is a great idea. The only concern I have is that while our students are very comfortable and eager to use technology, many of their parents are not. So how do we help them learn to use these technologies and gain confidence in them as well?
And lastly, I absolutely love your idea of using your blog as a place for students to collaborate on activities and assignments, as well as using the blog as a resource and a way to encourage peer help. I had thought about utilizing a blog in a very similar way also, what are some of the ideas you have for making this effective?
Mark Fisher
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI think you have proposed two wonderful ideas for how to use your blog to enhance your classroom for your students and parents. I had a similar idea to use the blog as a place to share what we have been doing in the classroom with parents. I am a kindergarten teacher and a frequent comment I hear from parents is that students are not always open to sharing what happened at school that day or they simply do not remember by the time the day is over.
Since my students are too young to actually post in the blog I do not worry about inappropriate posts in my blog, however I understand your concern. I agree with Mark that moderating the blog would be a good way to help prevent this from occuring. I also think it is important to discuss the possible ramifications for the actions they take online, especially in 8th grade. This seems to be the age when students start using the internet in inappropriate ways. Students need to be aware that the internet does not provide them with anonymity and immunity from their actions. A short discussion about internet protocol might help to curb these behaviors before they even begin.
Do you think this would be effective with your students?
Patrick Hall
Patrick,
ReplyDeleteI do believe this actually could be effective with my students. I think I have developed a pretty good rapport with them and they would respect my concerns with inappropriate posts, etc. I think in general having this discussion with any students is good because they don't realize the comments or video postings can be hurtful and considered bullying (which is a whole other situation itself)!
Mark,
I guess I didn't realize how easy it would be to quickly proof read and then accept student comments. Could you help direct me to where I would find that option for modifying "approval" comments on blogspot. You're awesome!
Thank you both for your input! Greatly appreciated!
-Emily
Emily, it is actually very easy. I found it just by playing around with the settings, etc. If you go to "settings" and then in settings go to "posts and comments," there should be an option for comment moderation with the options of always, sometimes, or never, as well as a place to enter an e-mail address to send requests too. Let me know if you have any trouble finding it.
ReplyDeleteMark