Why+Blog+with+students



Why some teachers use blogs. From Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Blogging nor any technology will ever be the savior of education. Excellent teachers in safe school environments with supportive parents make the ideal environment. I'm now convinced more than ever that blogging is essential for all students to do.
 * 1) **Blogging is a different form of writing than the essay.**There are so many nuances to blogging. You can write in first person, second person or third person. In fact, when I go through an article and take out the "I's" and put in third person my engagement levels go DOWN with the post.
 * 2) **Blogging encourages student voice.**First person writing lets the students share who they are.
 * 3) **Blogging creates a stronger connection with the teacher.**I'm a better teacher when I know my students better. When they blog, I learn a lot about them and am able to design lessons that interest them. (This is an important part of differentiated instruction.)
 * 4) **Blogging gets students writing.**The student who sent me flowers was literally unleashed. He had three required assignments, he wrote ten and counting. He ranted, he pontificated, he shared his thoughts -- but he WROTE. And as he wrote, something magical happened. This student who didn't really like essays loved blogging and sharing his hobbies and others responded.
 * 5) **Blogging engages students in conversation.**Talking with students outside your school lets you see who you are. I was picked on in school and until I got out and went to conferences, I didn't see that the other kids were WRONG about who I was. I wasn't unpalatably ugly and awful - I was someone else. Linking with other students takes students on a "road trip" without leaving your classroom.
 * 6) **Blogging Helps Eradicate IM Speak from their Professional Writing.**Ask online professors and they will tell you that IM speak and lack of punctuation are some of the banes of their existence online. Most students don't understand the lines between personal, informal writing and professional writing. They are professional students. I heavily penalize for "i" - taking 10 points off for the first occurrence and then just 1 point off for all of those afterwards. I do whatever it takes to teach them to write and THEN EDIT before publishing. Write in stream of consciousness but then EDIT.
 * 7) **Blogging Teaches Digital Citizenship**You can talk all day about digital citizenship. Blogging is DOING it. In-situ real-life learning happens when you blog.
 * 8) **Blogging Can Teach the Nature of the Internet**In our group blogs, we delve into site statistics, keywords, and the deep things of managing a blog. The students come away with a powerful technical knowledge, particularly when their work gets picked up by a major news outlet like the [|Digiteen Dream Team] 's [|protest of the Google Lively Shut Down.]
 * 9) **Blogging is a Real Life Skill**Few of our students will be hired for their essay writing ability, but many companies are hiring in-house content creators. If they can blog and create video for a [|Youtube channel] or podcast, or understand photography composition - the more the better.
 * 10) **Blogging Can Make Life Easier for the Teacher**The teacher is no longer the sole purveyor of feedback. Peer review is powerful, some would argue more powerful than teacher feedback. While AT FIRST when you get students started, it is definitely tough on the teacher, but once you've established community guidelines and reinforced any problems with action, students take over and sometimes the work can become a bit viral.
 * 11) **Blogging Can Engage Interpersonal and** [|**Intrapersonal**] **Learning Styles**Many students learn socially. Blogging can be very social. It can also be something that the intrapersonal learner enjoys.
 * 12) **Blogging Can Help Students Find Themselves.**When students blog with other students not from their school (like on Digiteen) they can often find themselves. When only among their peers in the face to face environment, they can be kept in a box or label of the choosing of that group. Out of the box, they are unleashed to be themselves. This is one reason Walled Garden Blogging isn't enough.

From Murcha.wordpress.com Anne Murchin This is surely powerful learning!!
 * Why Blog**
 * 1) It is FUN! Fun!….. I hear your sceptical exclamation!! However, it is wonderful when students think they are having so much fun, they forget that they are actually learning. A favourite comment on one of my blog posts is: //It’s great when kids get so caught up in things they forget they’re even learning…// by jodhiay
 * 2) authentic audience – no longer working for a teacher who checks and evalutes work but a potential global audience.
 * 3) Suits all learning styles – [|special ed] (this student attends special school 3days per weeek, our school 2 days per week, [|gifted ed], [|visual students] , multi-literacies plus ‘ [|normal] ‘ students.
 * 4) Increased motivation for writing – all students are happy to write and complete aspects of the post topic. Many will add to it in their own time.
 * 5) Increased motivation for reading – my students will happily spend a lot of time browsing through fellow student posts and their global counterparts. Many have linked their friends onto their blogroll for quick access. Many make comments, albeit often in their own sms language.
 * 6) Improved confidence levels – a lot of this comes through comments and global dots on their cluster maps. Students can share their strengths and upload areas of interest or units of work eg personal digital photography, their pets, hobbies etc Staff are given an often rare insight into what some students are good at. We find talents that were otherwise unknown and it allows us to work on those strengths. It allows staff to often gain insight to how students are feeling and thinking.
 * 7) Pride in their work – My experience is that students want their blogs to look good in both terms of presentation and content. (Sample of a [|year 10 boy’s] work)
 * 8) Blogs allow text, multimedia, widgets, audio and images – all items that digital natives want to use
 * 9) Increased proofreading and validation skills
 * 10) Improved awareness of possible dangers that may confront them in the real world, whilst in a sheltered classroom environment
 * 11) Ability to share – part of the conceptual revolution that we are entering. They can share with each other, staff, their parents, the community, and the globe.
 * 12) Mutual learning between students and staff and students.
 * 13) Parents with internet access can view their child’s work and writings – an important element in the parent partnership with the classroom. Grandparents from England have made comments on student posts. Parents have ‘adopted’ students who do not have internet access and ensured they have comments.
 * 14) Blogs may be used for digital portfolios and all the benefits this entails
 * 15) Work is permanently stored, easily accessed and valuable comparisons can be made over time for assessment and evaluation purposes
 * 16) Students are digital natives - blogging is a natural element of this.
 * 17) Gives students a chance to show responsibility and trustworthiness and engenders independence.
 * 18) Prepares students for digital citizenship as they learn cybersafety and netiquette
 * 19) Fosters peer to peer mentoring. Students are happy to share, learn from and teach their peers (and this, often not their usual social groups)
 * 20) Allows student led professional development and one more……
 * 21) Students set the topics for posts – leads to deeper thinking activities

Some suggestions on how blogs can be used.... yes I know some of these are American, but they are just suggestions.:)


 * From Web2.0 in the classroom.blogspot.com**


 * [|33 Ways to use blogs in your classroom and in the educational setting] **


 * Drawing a blank on how you might use a blog in your own classroom? Here's a list to jump start your creativity. By no means is this list exhaustive; there are as many ways to use blogs in education as there are to use paper. :) **
 * // Remember, blogs are a medium, not a genre //**** . **
 * Some of these ideas are for the classroom in general, some are for younger students, some are for older students. Some could become group or classroom blogs, others are suited for individual student blogs. **
 * // Next, //****// determine to what degree do you want to have "conversations" with others. If you want global participation, ask "in what ways can I have students from another part of the world participate in this with us?". Ask also,"in what ways can we get experts involved with our blogs?" //**
 * The sky's the limit! :) **

Create a blog to communicate class/school information with parents. Post field trip information, field trip forms, parent helper calendars, general classroom guidelines and more.

Create a blog with daily lessons listed for students who are sick or gone. Each day, try to designate a classroom "scribe" who is responsible for posting lessons/materials covered.For really young students - perhaps students just learning to write - use a blog to showcase individual art projects throughout the year. Use a digital camera and scanner to put creative endeavors up for display around each holiday.

Create a blog which provides additional, age-appropriate material on thematic units you study throughout the year. Link to supplemental videos, podcasts and websites to encourage extended learning.

Create a blog where students record narrations of their favorite stories (use the free software [|Audacity] to create sound files). Students can read published work or their own work. Accompany it with scanned illustrations they have drawn.

Create a blog where students list class hypotheses before each class science experiment. When experiment is done, results can be posted and compared to initial hypotheses.Create a blog where students share stories about their favorite holiday, or a blog about special holiday traditions in their family.

Create a blog which lists creative writing prompts or striking visual images. Encourage students to post after self-selecting a prompt/picture. Let this evolve so that students begin writing the prompts for other students.Create a blog that has children reviewing children's books.

Create a blog where every member of the class posts about a favorite vacation. Embed maps, use Google Earth or even create a "collaborative google map" where everyone "pins" their favorite vacations on one map.

Create a blog where you list various statements that are facts and others that are opinion. Students can leave comments explaining why each is either a fact or opinion.

Create a blog where students post most memorable learning moments on a recent field trip. Could also do a Know - Want to Know - Learned (KWL) activity on the blog.

Create a blog where students describe a typical day at school. Invite other same aged students from different global locations to contribute the same type of information on the same blog. Let students ask questions and leave comments to gain cultural awareness. Students can then begin to share/compare thematic units being learned, novels being read, field trips being taken, etc.

Create a professional reflection blog on lessons that you teach. Analyze strategies and techniques that work well or don't work so well. Research and link to alternative ways to approach the lesson next time.

Create a blog that lists science fair projects chosen by each member of the class. Have students journal about their successes, frustrations and learning as projects develop. On day of competition, have students post pictures of completed projects. Let students comment on projects they thought were particularly interesting or fun. Generate "comment awards" for most complex project, most intricate project, most explosive project, etc.

Create a blog where students create a timelines (use online webware such as [|timetoast.com] ) - perhaps for events in a novel or story, or for historical events being studied. Could also be used to predict the future!

a blog where students collect data on science experiments. Use blog to display information gathered from Google spreadsheets. Students can create/embed graphs and charts explaining relationships of data.

Create a blog that archives favorite recipes of each student. To practice math skills, ask students to multiply each recipe so that it would feed the entire class! Post resulting recipes in blog.

Create a blog that displays information and characteristics of various art movements. Post famous art pictures and have students comment on the prominent characteristics of each. Let students find and post examples of various movements and techniques in art they find.

Create a blog where students respond to particular relevant political cartoons. Ask students to evaluate the real meaning behind the cartoon and correlate its importance to current events.

Create a blog which simulates a presidential blog and positions of this candidate on various issues. Encourage students to leave comments and questions on the candidate's policies or ideas.

Create a blog where each student conducts text or multimedia interviews to gain insight to family history and traditions.

Create a blog that showcases student poetry, short stories, etc.

Create a blog which links to real and bogus websites. Students can comment on noted biases and link to online sources to prove/disprove validity/reliability of site.

Create a blog where students find and report on acts of "good" in their community to counter the bombardment of negativity of daily media (thanks, Allison!).

Create a blog where students post about math concepts learned throughout the year. Blog can provide examples and solutions of math problems and concepts being studied.

Create a blog where students digitally record steps to solving various math problems (can use digital camcorder, record from digital whiteboard applications or use screencasts programs to capture procedures/steps).

Create a blog where students examine everyday items and how geometry or mathematical concepts are used in their design.

Create a blog where students must choose a social topic to educate others about. Students use a variety of multimedia to educate and persuade others to take action or become a part of the solution to the problem.

Create a blog where students pick a musical instrument they are considering playing in band. Students research the history of the instrument, link to sound files of the instrument, as well as use pictures and link to videos of how to play the instrument. Purchasing price, as well as other pros and cons can be explored.

As a librarian or library aide, use a blog to disseminate new procedures, events or happenings to staff or other district colleagues.

As a librarian, get a book club started with a blog. Any interested student can join in.Helping with the local PTA? Why not start a blog that records minutes and upcoming events. Send the link of the blog to all parents with email addresses to get them involved and interested.