Level of Difficulty: The tool I have used is not one from Google, but it is the same idea. The Blog I use in my classroom is through our school's system that can be accessed by going to our home page, www.adirondackcsd.org, then you must click on the high school, then teacher webpages, then my name under English teacher- Heather Banek, once you get to my home page you simply click on my Blog. The way the school system for blogging that I use is this: anyone can submit a post on the blog, however it goes to my school email and will not post on the page until I approve it. This is a safeguard to make sure that no students post anything inappropriate. Clearly, this application is not difficult to use, nor was it difficult to create. I spent one period with our technology coordinator initially setting up the blog. After that, I just post whatever new question I want, which also does not take a lot of time.
Main features and Classroom Application: For my purposes as an English teacher, the Blog is a "modern" way for me to reach my students. It shows them that I value their culture, the internet, cell phones, chats, texting, etc. They can, in fact, use their cell phones to answer the Blog if they have internet access. I also relax my usual grammatical requirements and let them use some abbreviations etc. as long as they are not too excessive. The Blog questions deal with the literature we have read in class, literary elements discussed, and, most importantly, I feel, makes connections between the litertature and issues that students face in their daily lives. The use of the Blog was quite successful. Of course, it was graded, so that is why the students responded. However, I was impressed with the higher level thinking that went into a lot of the posts. I also think the open, more relaxed format, encouraged them to respond with more detail than they do on traditional, in class essays.
Worth it?: Yes! I found my Blog to be beneficial and I intend to continue using it every year with my students to help them develop writing skill, higher level thinking skills, social interaction skills, and social awareness. Next year, I plan to broaden the scope, in that I am also going to require that students extend their responses in that they will also be required to comment on other students' posts.
I think it is great that you are using a blog. When I get my own classroom I am definitely going to set one up as well. As you said, it shows the students you value their culture. It also may help a shy student express their opinions rather than having to talk in front of the class.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using a blog for outside discussion of literature. I hope that in some way it helps students to realize that the kinds of discussions that we have in English class, about books, the world, and life in general, are not discussions that are limited to the four walls of a classroom. Blogs are a way to keep students connected to discussion topics while at home, and I hope it also inspires at least some of them to continue actual conversations with their classmates about class topics outside of class. I am always excited when I hear my kids talking about our class novels in the hallways or at lunch--success!!!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't have the type of blog you have, I use Angel with my classes, which is very similar to the Blackboard system we are using for this course.
It sounds like you use the blog as a kind of compromise between the formal assignments that are typical in school and informal discussions that take place in class. I think loosening up the grammatical rules, etc, is great because it helps relieve the "fear of failure" that we talked about last section. It's also a great tool for kids who may be shy or reluctant to put their hand up in class. It gives these kids a chance to enter in without feeling like they are on the spot.
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