In my current class, Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work and Society, we have read about the usage of blogs for educational purposes this week. As I have just recently created my own blog for personal reflection, I got to thinking about how I could use a blog as an effective tool in my classroom for my students and their parents. My first thought was that it would be almost impossible to allow first graders to blog when it is hard enough for them to write sentences on paper. This week's readings may have changed my mind.
In the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will
Richardson offers some great suggestions for the use of blogs in the classroom. One of his suggestions is to use a blog to post class related messages, homework, events, and information. As I teach younger children who would probably find blogging difficult, this is a way they could participate in a blog with parental help. I currently have a website that I use for parent communication containing the information Richardson discusses. The website is a great tool for both parents and students to find out what is coming up and for class reminders. The only problem with the website is that parents and students cannot post to it. If I were to relay the same information in the form of a blog, parents and students would be able to communicate not only with me but with each other, thus saving everyone a couple of e-mails in the long run.
Richardson offers some great suggestions for the use of blogs in the classroom. One of his suggestions is to use a blog to post class related messages, homework, events, and information. As I teach younger children who would probably find blogging difficult, this is a way they could participate in a blog with parental help. I currently have a website that I use for parent communication containing the information Richardson discusses. The website is a great tool for both parents and students to find out what is coming up and for class reminders. The only problem with the website is that parents and students cannot post to it. If I were to relay the same information in the form of a blog, parents and students would be able to communicate not only with me but with each other, thus saving everyone a couple of e-mails in the long run.
Richardson also suggests using a blog to showcase student work or photos of the class engaging in various classroom activities. Showcasing work and activities is a way that my students, young as they are, to become familiar with blogging. After receiving parent permission, students and parents alike could view the work of the class and have the ability to leave positive feedback. Essentially the blog would be an online and interactive version of my “Super Star Work” bulletin board. In discussing appropriate comments and how to post in class, and working with the blog at home with a parent, these six and seven year olds would learn quite a bit about not only technology, but how to interact with each other in a respectful manner.
I know that in my classroom whenever I get out the computer or projector my students get really excited at the thought of using technology. I can imagine that the more interactive the technology gets, the more excited they will become! After reading these ideas this week I will absolutely try to incorporate something dealing with blogging to my first graders.
References
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
I like your idea of sharing all the exemplar work with the rest of the classroom, parents and all. The only challenge I see happening with this idea would be the issues that come along with the parents. The issues I am referring to are the initial consent of the parents, and then the isssues of jealousy and other parental issues that seem to pop up with certain parents. One way to overcome this challenge would be to come up with a set of black and white guidelines, outlining exactly the criteria for student work, as well as a guarantee that all students will be featured equally.
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that parental consent would probably be my biggest challenge. At this point, I am not sure if parents would consent to have their child's work posted on the internet. As far as everyone having equal opportunity, I would treat the internet work the same way I treat my "Super Star" bulletin board. Each child has a spot on the board for work. Though the students may not all have the same assignment up at the same time, they all have something featured. I do like your idea of black and white guidelines. This would alleviate any kind of parent complaints or arguments about student work.
Elizabth, I absolutely love your ideas for the use in the classroom. I guess depending on the parents, but most parents I have would be very proud to have their students work showcased on a web blog.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, your "Super Star" bulletin board is very encouraging! I might take that back to my classroom. Although my students are older, I always try to rotate which work gets displayed so that everyone's work is displayed at one time or another. Students that meet the standard's work is displayed as exemplar pieces for other students to use as a model. However, something about your "Super Star" bulletin board sounds very motivating.
Thanks for sharing.
After your reading you post I really like the idea of posting class-related announcements and homework to your blog. In my district, we are fortunate to have these materials available to students and parents through our online grade-book (progress book). Unfortunately, many of our students and parents do not utilize this information through this resource. That being said, I wonder how effective these announcements would be if posted through our blogs. While I feel this may appeal to our students as blogs become trendier in younger generations, I am not sure if this same effect would take hold with the parents of our students. Additionally, your of idea of posting exemplar student work will be a great way to motivate students and parents to view your blog.
ReplyDeleteExcellent ideas, thanks for sharing!