As summer break begins rapidly approaching, I am trying to begin preparing for next year. My goal this time last summer was to set up a Google Site for my classroom, which I was successful in doing and will continue to improve this year. Now, I would like to set up a system for student blogging that will hopefully be beneficial to both the students and our overall classroom discussion.
In thinking about blogging, I decided to come up with some pros and cons of blogging to be sure that this was a worthwhile goal.
For me, the pros of blogging include:
1) Paperless.
2) Students who are shy can reflect and express themselves fully to the entire class.
3) Students can comment and discuss in a way that can get the whole class involved.
Cons:
1) There will be a long process of setting up the student blogs at the beginning of the year.
2) Privacy may be an issue as some students may only want to share their work with the teacher.
3) Students will need to be taught proper blog and commenting etiquette throughout the blog process.
In my opinion, the pros heavily outweigh the cons, as the nuts and bolts of the blogs can be figured out during the summer, and the fact that students will be taught proper blog and commenting etiquette will serve them well in future classes or even in the workplace. Overall, I believe my students would benefit greatly from keeping a consistent blog throughout their 9th Grade U.S. History experience.
I was inspired by this classroom blog:
https://sites.google.com/a/woodward.edu/mr-sorrow-s-us-history-class/student-blogs/2013/3rd2013
In addition, I also checked out these two sites to see what others were saying about the ease of setting up a student blog.
http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/blogging-with-students/
http://kidblog.org/home/
Bobby,
ReplyDeleteI think that if you have the time to set up an environment where students can participate in blogs you should. I agree that the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to learning. Coming from a school that has many students living without computers, my biggest concern is that not every student will get equal access to blog assignments. Have you thought of any ways to provide alternative assignments?
Brian
Bobby-
ReplyDeleteI think you will have a great experience with this blog in your classroom. They need to learn proper Internet etiquette, and what better way than in a school blog?!
I found this high school English blog that I thought was good: http://millersenglish10.blogspot.com/. Teachers posted an assignment and students gave thoughtful responses. It also served as an update source parents could use.
It sounds like you are a great teacher!
~Kaelyn
Bobby,
ReplyDeleteI think it sounds like you have really thought through this project! I think you will be very happy with it - you have anticipated challenges that should not be a surprise to you. You mentioned privacy as an issue. I think that privacy can be a concern for students in terms of what they want to share. Blogging offers them a chance to see the reactions to their work and hopefully build confidence. Another privacy issue to consider is the 3rd party site you choose to use with your class. Parents might be concerned about the safety of the site. Looking at the privacy policy, one key piece of information to consider is the PII (Personally Identifiable Information). You might want to check your schools policy on 3rd party websites. Make sure the sites adhere to COPPA guidlines (http://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule). You can also look for the TRUSTe seal to know if a site is safe (http://www.truste.com). There are so many sites available for students to use, we as teachers need to teach our students how to find safe sites. Our school has a list of safe sites that we use. This list is always changing and growing. (http://brynmawrschool.org/page.aspx?pid=964) Maybe your school has a list too.