Well, here it is - the end of the blogging assignment for EDTC625. Throughout the past few weeks, I've learned a lot about how blogging can be used as a tool within the classroom. Through discussions with my classmates, as well as through exploring different websites, I discovered just how effective and useful blogging can be.
So, as I write this final post, I want to begin thinking of how I am actually going to use a blog within my classroom. I've mentioned some ways that blogs can be used in a previous post, but now it's time to really apply what I've learned to my own teaching.
As I have already mentioned, my class is currently participating in a pen pal project with students from Turkey. When discussing how blogs can be used to connect students around the world, I stated that I would love to incorporate blogs into this project. Well, that's exactly what I think I'm going to do! According to Lisa, the author of the article "15 Awesome Ways To Use Blogs in Your Classrooms", pen pals can now be changed to "blog pals". Students can create blog posts and respond to the blog posts of others. I am definitely going to suggest this to the teacher in Turkey. If they have the appropriate technology within their school, I would love to see "blog pals" come to life!
Furthermore, another step I plan to take is using blogs as a method of readers response. Students can currently use our online private message board thread to post their thoughts about our book of the month. However, now that I know how effective blogs can be for posting responses to books, I would love to replace this message board with a blog. In fact, blogs can be used as "Five Minute Reading Response" tools according to this article. More specifically, Scholastic suggests using Kidblog as a way to create and manage student blogs. This is definitely a website that I would like to check out and use in the near future.
Overall, I've really enjoyed this assignment! It was great being able to explore Blogger, read and respond to my classmates' posts, and maintain a blog of my own. This experience definitely opened my eyes to how blogs can be used within the classroom!
References
G Connell. (2013, Feb 14). Five minute reading responses [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/02/five-minute-reading-responses
Kidblog. (2014). Retrieved from http://kidblog.org/home/
Lisa (2012, Mar 12). 15 awesome ways to use blogs in your classrooms [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://blog.simplek12.com/education/15-awesome-ways-to-use-blogs-in-your-classrooms/
Great conclusion Rachel. This is also my first blog and I agree that it is a useful tool. I like your determination to implement it in your classroom. I am still very apprehensive because my students this year are 6th and 7th graders. If I have any high school classes next year then I might be more inclined to use it. My concern is the trouble of getting parent approval. We currently use Edmodo and the parents can monitor their children but blogging would be different and I do not want to add any more work to the parent's already hectic schedule. I hope I am not discouraging but I think that is the best choice right now. I definitely could still use it to reflect on my teaching/ lessons.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post!
DeleteI can understand the concern with parent approval. Obtaining parental permission may definitely be time-extensive, but perhaps it is worth it...
Blog Pals what a great idea! I think students would love that activity and it makes me jealous I didn't have these type of activities when I was in school. I think its great you are going to start using blogs in your classroom and yes with Parental approval I think it will be a big success! I really like your conclusion! Its been fun Blogging together!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post! I've enjoyed blogging with you as well!
DeleteOhhh, I like the idea of "blog pals" but as lab partners (I taught Chemistry). Two (or more) students doing the same experiment in different environments and compare/compile data. Could work, great idea!
ReplyDeleteBecky
This is a great idea!
DeleteAlso, my blog list is finally showing the title of your blog post. Woohooo! :)
It just now clicked that I forgot to title my first post. That must be why it didn't show up!
DeleteHAHAHAHA! The mystery is solved!!!!
Delete