Blogging, I have just learned, is a really cool tool! I am excited to practice blogging so that I can use it in my own classroom in the future.
The top 3 ways to use a blog (according to me):
1. Create a class blog for an ongoing discussion outside the classroom on current events. Current events is a major part of the social studies classroom. Students and the teacher can post, comment or provide links and images to the class blog to start a discussion online that will be continued in the classroom. Some students may be more comfortable "speaking up" online via a blog. Beginning the conversation outside of class may spur discussion from those students less likely to talk inside the classroom.
2. Ask and encourage students to comment on the class blog. They will be encouraged to ask questions, answer those questions, react to an assignment or post ideas for projects or class discussion. I will post examples of the type of work I am looking for on a particular assignment. I might also use this as a "homework helpline." Students can get help from me or peers. Students may also create their own course blog.
3. A personal blog could be used for reflection and correspondence with other teachers. Collaboration is an excellent way to ensure that your lesson plans are the best they can be. Other teachers help you think about new ways of teaching familiar material. Reflection is a large component of teaching. Even a simple post to the blog will help a teacher track his or her progress and record the strengths and weaknesses of that day or lesson.
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I'm right with you on your first 2 uses, but #3 is something I never thought of. I was so focused in on MY classroom that I didn't think about linking it to other classrooms, heck maybe even other schools around the world if you're good at linking up with people. It'd be cool to collaborate with teachers that way and maybe have your class collaborate with another class somehow as well.
ReplyDeleteI all in for collaboration!
ReplyDeleteAlso, we apparently have the same initials, AEM. I realized this as I was goign to post the link to my blog as Anne's blog, but that was ambiguous, so I thought Anne M's, but that you be you also! We could really confuse some people with this!
Anne,
ReplyDeleteBlogs seem to lend themselves so well to social studies, both for posting about current events and for comparing perspectives on issues. The sky is the limit for creative uses!
Dr. Burgos