I hope you enjoyed learning about blogging and that you took some time to explore the list of blogs. Many teachers have discovered that blogging can be a fairly simple way to begin incorporating technology into their lessons in a meaningful way. What is your take on blogging? Do you think it is something you will do either with your students or for yourself? Was there anything new you learned?
Please share a link to the new blog you created in your reply and make sure that you added it to our class blog doc. Happy blogging!
I was very excited that this was our first project. I love writing and have gotten the itch to share some recently but just wasn't sure what outlet to use. I would love to start a class blog with my Third graders this year (I had the intention of doing it this past year, but as a first year teacher, it got put on the back burner). I have already found some blogs that I will be following written by other teachers. They have been incredibly inspirational as well as gratifying, knowing that there are others facing the same frustrations that I do.
ReplyDeleteThe concern for my personal blog would be sharing it with others and connecting to people who will appreciate it. My major concern with a class blog would be to protect my students, since as we know the internet can be dangerous if not monitored properly, and managing posts, time, etc. If anyone has suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated!
http://lessonsfromrookieteacher.blogspot.com/
Candace-While I have not actually used a blog with students personally, I have help create them. You can make them as controlled or as loose as you choose. You can make it so that every post and comment or reply has to be approved by you before they are posted. While it is more work for you, you can feel confident in knowing what is being written and posted on your class blog. It all depends on what blog source you use.
DeleteWelcome to the world of blogging, Candace. Blogging is a great outlet to share our ideas, lessons, and at times, our frustrations. When I looked at your blog I was delighted to see that you are reading Stump The Teacher. Josh Stumpenhorst is a brilliant educator who shares so many terrific ideas. I hope that you will decide to continue this journey and take the next step by connecting your class with other students from across the world. You will find a world full of teachers who would love to connect with you on Twitter!
ReplyDeleteI love to read other’s blogs. I find it to be a great way to share ideas, get help when you’re stuck and not recreate the wheel! I find it especially helpful when teaching the little ones, it great to be able to see the ideas that other teachers have in real time. I believe we learn best from other professionals and without blogging I would have never had the chance to see these other teachers’ ideas. But I have never thought about blogging myself. I have it set up, and I’m off and running. Once I can figure it how to make it private I think it will be a great way to share the photos and videos that we make in class with families.
ReplyDeleteI tired to get a published piece for each of my kids that they used paint to illustrate and did their typing. It didn’t happen… So as I learn more about blogging maybe it will help me get that accomplished this year.
I had a hard time starting this first project. I wasn't sure what to post and if anyone would really be interested in what I had to say. Now that I have blogged, it wasn't that painful. Our district uses a class page for each teacher that I had a hard time remembering to update. This seems easier to use.
ReplyDeletehttp://extensionruralschool.blogspot.com
I also had a hard time starting. I tend to make things harder than it needs to be. Just starting the blog I worried about what the username should be, the title, and the url. Took more time that it should and I haven't even posted to my blog yet! I'll get there - eventually. A'Lisa
DeleteThank goodness you are in this class!! After reading the other blogs I was afraid I was going to be the only one that wasn't familiar with blogging. I had the exact same concerns that you did and I still do. I don't think my username is correct. I did blog but have no idea how to link it. M. Siegel/Davis
DeleteBlogging...it seems to be my enemy more often than it is my partner! I find that I get wrapped up in reading blogs and lose so much time that I should be using to do other things! I began my travels in blogging by reading a couple of mormon housewife blogs and became so engrossed in their lives that I found myself reading more about mormonism just so I could better understand their lives! Then I decided one summer to try it out for myself, but wasn't sure what to write about. Blogging has to have passion and you have to love what you write about, so that brought me to my Cooking For The Love Of It (http://cookingfortheloveofit1.blogspot.com/) blog.
ReplyDeleteWhat I learned from creating my own blog was that not only is it time consuming to begin reading blogs, but it is equally as time consuming to write them! I applaud those bloggers who faithfully blog every single day!
Our school website actually has a place where you can blog within the site. I did try to start a bit of a library blog, but soon found that your blog has to be in a site that is easily accessible for the reader. Our website blog address was so long that I couldn't even remember it, let alone high school students who probably aren't that interested in a library blog anyway! That was before you could get shortened web addresses, so maybe I will try it out again in the future.
RhonnaBrianna-
DeleteI cannot find your real name. Help!
Blogging takes A LOT of time. I know many educators who blog daily, but most only blog when they have something meaningful to share. Others I know (myself included) write lots of posts that are never published. It is a form of therapy. Whenever I visit with new bloggers I tell them they need to remember that they are blogging for themselves. If others happen to chime in and interact, great. It isn't necessary to blog on a schedule. Write when the mood strikes.
I tend to prefer platforms such as Blogger, Edublogs, and others that are not tied to a school website. Many times school websites are "walled gardens" meaning that outsiders cannot comment on what has been written. The purpose of a blog is to share!
Sorry, my name is Allison McBride. I must have logged into something and it ended up keeping me logged in!
DeleteI would agree with you that school websites are many times very constrained, but for some teachers, that is exactly what they need to get them started because that is where they feel comfortable. If they know that only the students in their class are able to share with each other, it gives them that comfort level to jump in and start. I have found that once they see the limitations of the school website, and you can talk to them about the advantages of other less constraining blog venues, then they are ready to branch out.
I think there are places for blogging in the classroom that can be very useful.
ReplyDeleteThis past year I helped with a class that used a blog for each student to be able to post their projects to the blog to share with each other, their families, their other teachers, and our school administrators. It was great to be able to have them work on their stuff at the Discovery Lab at the Harms Center, and be able to show it off back at SHS.
Allison,
ReplyDeleteI'm going to provide a little bit of pushback. It is not meant to imply you are wrong, but to simply provide another viewpoint. You said that sometimes teachers need to start in a place where they feel comfortable. My initial reaction is to say that teaching is not about what is comfortable for a teacher, but what is right for their students. Great teachers push their students outside of their comfort zones every day. Who is pushing teachers to explore outside of their comfort zones on a regular basis? Some teachers are lucky enough to work with supportive colleagues and administrators who encourage them to stretch and learn new things, but unfortunately many do not which is why I understand where you are coming from. Teachers are people just like everyone else and many times it is our fear of failure that keeps us inside our box. My hope is that during the boot camp we can begin to form a support network for each other.
I have known about the blogging hype for a while and started to experiment a little, but kind of lost interest. The reason for the loss of interest was the time it took to keep up the maintenance of the blog. Since I’m the school’s website coordinator it seemed all of my time was generated towards the school website. I used my blog mostly for homework assignments and other interesting web links, not really as a writing tool. I use Moodle now for these tasks since I teach Distance Learning and my blog has been neglected, needing revamping. I have been enlightened, discovering blogging can help increase writing skills and expression of creativity for students. They maybe apt to check their blogs everyday to see the comments from others. In this sense I can see how blogging can be an awesome collaboration tool for the students and teachers.
ReplyDeleteOur students are the Y-generation and blogging is part of their vocabulary and skills. By accessing the multi-media tools today students can amplify the content or express themselves more easily. As a history teacher I can use a blog as a virtual fieldtrip to show the students certain aspects of history.
http://lipskaclassroom.blogspot.com/
Glen,
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to lie, blogging is very time consuming. I maintain a professional blog, Nebraska Change Agent as well as a classroom blog. This is going to be the year when I have my students blog all of the time. I teach social studies and I am very fortunate to be able to teach pretty much anything I want as long as I'm following the Nebraska social studies standards. My plan for the first 9 weeks is to teach a Global Cultural and Physical Geography class. Students will work in small groups of 3-4 to create profiles of different countries. They will collect all sorts of information, but instead of getting this information from the internet they will get it from students and teachers who live in that particular country. Second marking period we will do much the same thing, but the focus will be on systems of government from around the world.
I hope you get your students blogging. Once you get to the Twitter unit you will see how your Twitter network can provide an audience.
In case you or others are interested, here is my class blog: http://www.valtsteacher.blogspot.com/
I appreciate all of your comments on blogging, and I totally agree with them. Yet, in teaching Spanish I do have students keep journals in notebooks, which are kept in the classroom (or I will never see some of them again!)and often they are used for WDIL - "What did I learn today about ___?" Without a computer for each student, I cannot replace the paper notebook for this debriefing at the close of class. Other days the journal is a way to introduce a topic, letting the students write everything they know about, say, the Independence of Mexico. These uses of the journal cannot be replaced by technology, not in my current classroom setting.
ReplyDeleteThe other drawback is that most of these internet tools do not recognize the special characters needed in Spanish - except when the students write first in Microsoft Word, then copy and paste to the tool. This is cumbersome and frustrating for many students. Yet, the accents are part of the spelling and often, if omitted, change the entire meaning of the word.
However, blogging as Beth just described her plan is a splendid idea - to gather information. Teams of students might contact different countries in order to compare different dates and celebrations for their independence days, for example. We could learn all sorts of things - history, government, geographical details, customs, holidays, typical foods, typical dress, differences in school systems....
I've been to Bolivia, Spain, and Mexico and have contacts there with whom we could start. Now I would welcome ideas how to contact students and teachers from other Spanish-speaking countries.
I have managed to set up my first blog. I have yet to post anything but the basic set-up is there.Baby steps. I can't wait to play around with it and see what I can do with it. I'm not sure how I will use it in my classroom but plan to do so, which is why I set it up using Mrs. Mueller's class. As I said with my introduction many students today become more involved with learning when it is based on technology so with the words of Sarah - May the Adventure Begin
ReplyDeletehttp://mrsmuellersclass.blogspot.com/
Still learning how to blog.
DeleteBlogging is an interesting way of communicating. I’m not completely convinced it is for me. Previously, my perception was that it was a way for a writer with nothing better to do to entertain himself and that readers of those blogs needed to go get a life. I now understand that CaringBridge is basically a blog and a good way to keep friends and family informed. There are many good educational blogs to follow, as well, that cover a wide range of topics.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking that using a blog can be a good way to keep students and parents informed of the daily happenings in the classroom. Although using Twitter might be just as useful and have more readership. I haven’t decide which way I would prefer to use to communicate with parents. Because I hate to write and I know my life is very boring to most people I will not be pursuing a personal blog. Reading blogs doesn’t spike an interest to me either. As a business teacher, I have a hard time reading anything for enjoyment; typos and grammar errors stand out taking away the fun of reading.
http://jhsummer2012.blogspot.com/