Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Using Blogs in the Classroom?

Using blogs with 4th or 6th grade students can be very beneficial. Due to these two age groups I would use blogs in different ways.
With my fourth grade students I would incorporate the blog to give access to various resources, activities, and games for students to gain at home or even in the classroom. In the fourth grade students are learning about states, regions, their home state, and so forth. Having a blog with resources that will allow students to have access to these topics would help them review the information we learned in school. I would also like to use it to communicate with the students and parents. For example, having students and their parents be able to post questions or concerns about certain topics. Ask for explanations or give feedback on what links and resources are posted on the blog might also be very helpful.

With my sixth grade students I would have them complete writing activities and communicate with each other by posting in their classmates blogs. Recently I watched a video in my Walden University course titled "Spotlight on Technology: Blogging in the Classroom" the teacher featured in this video had offered suggestions and gave a great example of using blogs with her middle school students. She allowed students to answer prompts on the blogs and then had students respond to each other's writing on that blog. I thought this was a fantastic idea and if my school district allows the use of blogs I am going to try to do this with my sixth grade students next school year.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions on how I could use blogs in different ways I would appreciate your ideas!

3 comments:

  1. Hi Aneta,
    I think the idea of using a blog to share resources is a great idea for any grade level. Additionally, it would be great if parents had access to it so they could ask for clarification or just know what their children are doing in school. I am sure they would appreciate it.
    I think blogs could be a good way to showcase student work. You talk about your 6th graders writing and commenting on each others work. It would also be great if they posted various completed pieces of work onto their blog. This would allow them to keep an online portfolio of their work to share with their family, or to see how they have improved over time.
    Thanks,
    Ben

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Ben,

    I like your idea of setting up a portfolio. I was going to have my students comment on each other's work, but the idea of keeping an online portfolio that they can share and even improve over time is great. Thanks for your suggestion!

    Aneta

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aneta,
    I will be teaching fourth grade next year and I love your idea of creating a blog for students and parents to access for extra practice on the topic learned at school as well as any questions or concerns. The blog would eliminate the need for parents to write paper notes to you and the possibility of those notes getting "lost" on their way to school. Does your school allow access to blogs? Unfortunately my district does not. Through this class that we are taking I am hoping to come up with enough positive evidence from blogging that I could maybe approach the superintendent and technology committee with good reasons for why blogging should be allowed.

    ReplyDelete