Sunday, September 12, 2010

Thing #3: Ways To Use A Blog In The Classroom

First off, let me say that I am now beginning to like this blogging thing a little bit better. This change of heart is due to the fact that I just gained some valuable new information and ideas by reading Anne Davis' EduBlog Insights. I think that she offered some very good ways to use blogs in the classroom. I like the idea of having students use a blog to respond to literature assignments, to write their reactions to thought-provoking questions, and to keep journals. I just picked standards related to English and writing for my 3040 project. Many of the suggestions that Ms. Davis made directly address the standards which I selected.
I think that anything that one can do to get children interested in reading and writing is a good idea. Many children that might not be the least bit interested in reading or writing are interested in working on computers, and blogging might just be the way to motivate them to write and to read. (Sneaky... Kind of like putting vegetables into junk food...Carrots in carrot cake...).
I do have a couple of reservations to several of the suggestions that Ms. Davis made. She suggested using a blog to communicate with parents if you are teaching elementary school students. I think that is an excellent idea; however, a teacher needs to always make sure that she communicates pertinent information to all of the parents in her classroom. There are families that do not have access to computers, and these families should never be left out of the information loop. I think it is important to remember that and to be sensitive to the needs of all of your students and parents.
While using a blog to showcase student art, poetry, and creative stories is a good idea, and makes it available for many outside the school to see (like grandparents far away or soldiers deployed overseas), nothing takes the place of displaying examples of student work in the classroom and in the hallways. Students puff out their chests with pride when they see their work displayed. They receive recognition and accolades from other students, and it makes them feel good.
Providing online readings for your students to read and react to is a suggestion that just doesn't excite me. I would rather get young students excited about books. I have a personal bias, because I have never curled up in a chair with a good computer that I just couldn't put down. I've never kept a good computer by the side of my bed to read before dropping off to sleep. I've never bookmarked a computer site and gone back to read it over and over, just because I loved the way it sounded.

1 comment:

  1. I really like the analogy you used with using blogs as a way to sneak in the vegetables:) Great concept!!! I can easily see a student taking a higher interest in reading and writing using the blog to get kid's to eat their veggies idea. That was something I had overlooked... thanks for making that great point.

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