Slaughter's Tech Moment
Blogging
Blogging
Why do we need to get students to blog?
1. Reflection: By having students to blog, they will learn to make connections between themselves and the content they are learning. Blogging allows students to build meta-cognition skills that are needed to bring about deeper learning.
2. Learn to use different mediums to present knowledge: Allowing students to incorporate video, pictures, quotes, and more can make writing the blog more enjoyable and allows students the freedom to express themselves.
3. Develop their voice in a positive way: Teaching students to share their ideas can give them the reassurance needed that they are significant in this world. Teachers can instruct students on a positive digital footprint and how blogs and social media can be used to create a portfolio and learning log.
It is hard at first. They will most likely hate it and complain, but the more they do it, the better they will get and the more they will come to enjoy it. Starting students out at a younger age and\or with topics they enjoy will help make the process more enjoyable. Let them put their spin on it!
Class Blog vs Student Blogs
Class Blogs-
If you want to implement blogging, and you want more control over the topics and discussion; class blogging may be the way to proceed.
How it works:
Teachers can create a post and have students comment on the post. The teacher can set the parameters for the task. Students may have to create a comment and then comment on two other comments.
or
Teachers can assign a person, group, etc. to make a post (rotate this task among the class members) and then require others to comment. Again, the requirements for comments should be addressed and made clear before beginning.
Student Blogs-
Teachers may want students to develop their own blog. A student blog provides a sense of ownership, and all of their posts are grouped in one area for parent viewing.
How it works:
You can give each student a blog of their own and set up expectations for commenting and tasks for others to complete in viewing the other student's blogs.
There are so many options for how to incorporate both student and class blogs. As always, start small, think about what you are comfortable with, adjust as you go to fit your class, and make sure you set expectations. The most important thing is for the teacher to comment and post to make themselves known and to bring a sense of validity to their tasks.
Resources:
Student and Class Blogs 7 and 8 English- student blogs are to the side
Bringing Genius Hour and Blogging Together
Post a Prompt or Choose a Challenge
Some of the platforms like Edublog have challenges of their own and even awards for blogs.
Reading Response Blog
Once students have the hand of that, you can begin branching out, allowing them to create their posts concentrating on getting them to comment and add a discussion to other student's blogs. Teach students how you can build a community online.
Take it a step further with stories. Have students post a question, comment, picture, or article that relates to the story and have students comment on the post. Set expectations (should they choose a side, agree or disagree). Teachers should make their presence known to keep discussion moving in the right direction.
Here is a great example of how a high school teacher and an elementary teacher has set up her expectations for a reading response blog.
Check out this book battle idea from Katharine Hale. It is a excellentway to include opinion and persuasive writing with blogs.