Use of blogging in the classroom

I just read a fantastic article about the use of blogging in the classroom. The article was titled "In the Classroom Web Logs Are the New Bulletin Boards," and was featured in the New York Times on August 19, 2004. This was a more dated article than I would have liked to read, however, I felt the information to be very helpful in further swaying me to use educational blogging in my classroom. Let me share with you a bit about the article.

A second grade teacher from MD wrote about how she uses educational blogging to help facilitate discussion with her students. An example of this is how she had her students sign on to their classroom web log, following a field trip, instead of holding a class discussion. Students wrote about their learning experiences on the trip. They were also given the opportunity to more quickly respond and interact with their peers, than a journal writing experience would provide. This teacher commented that her quiet students in class were usually the ones who truly came alive while working online.

Other teachers featured in the article remarked that because of web blogs, class discussions do not need to end when the bell rings. Follow-up questions can be posed by teachers, and students are able to get feedback more quickly and frequently from their teachers, as well as their peers. The article also mentions that thought grammar will not always be perfect on a web blog, students seem to take more care in what they are writing, knowing that their families and others are able to read what they post. Some teachers worry, however, that by allowing their students to write on the web, they encourage bad habits such as e-mail abbreviations.

A goal of web blogging in the classrooms is to get students to write more often. Blogging is a different form of writing, which may or may not prove to be successful in your own classroom. The fact of the matter is that web blogging is becoming more and more popular among teachers. Most teachers find it easy to set up a classroom blog, and see the reward as being that kids are excited about learning. What are your thoughts on the information I just shared with you?

What is your favorite part about fall?

I am interested in everyone's favorite part about fall? I know it is tough for me to just think of 1 reason why I love fall, so include up to 3 reasons why this is a season you enjoy.

First day of class

So, I am back in my 2nd year of masters degree work at City U. I'm sitting next to my two great friends, Kindra and Mike. It is fun for all of us to be back together, sitting in a row and counting the minutes till we may get ourselves acquainted with the Pumphouse again. I am ready for this year, and to increase my knowledge with the many technological features I am currently not using. I'm quickly realizing how much is out there, which will help to make my life easier and more organized. I think I may also blow my students away with some of the things I'll be able to teach and show them. I could only imagine that by allowing my 4th graders to add to a blog at home, however, their parents would become a bit upset. Knowing my students, the girls would probably bully each other on the blog. So, my new job would be checking security of the blog, and ensuring that my students are correctly using the chat feature of the blog.