I am a 6th grade teacher in an elementary school in Newburgh, NY. I am responsible for teaching all of the main content strands, Math, Science, Social Studies, English-Language Arts, and on occasion social skills and manners.
I believe a blog would be a great place for students to interact with content. The blog could be used for such things as literature circles where students can post their ideas and thoughts about a specific book and have their classmates respond to them. The students can interact back and forth about the book.
Another great way to use a blog is to showcase the students work. I think the students would get a great appreciation of their accomplishments when it is presented on the internet. Back when I was student, I always wanted my work to be presented in the hallway bulletin board. A blog is the new hallway bulletin board; students want their work up there so the whole world can admire their accomplishments.
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You could also add an author study to the blog. The students could create a scavenger hunt or "guess who I am". They could leave clues for the other students to find which author they are.
ReplyDeleteI also teach sixth grade, although only science and two sections. The literature circles sounds like a great way to have students interact with a blog. They will be able to share and extend knowledge from other students. This could work most efficiently by having students interacting with this technology from school such as technology lab. Students do love to see their work showcased. I am unsure how you are going to do this on the blog. Student confidentiality is a huge issue in our district. As a teacher I am unable to post student pictures or work on the internet. I am wondering if I could circumvent this rule by having students posting the work themselves.
ReplyDeleteI Agree with you that the students would enjoy having their work published on the web. It could serve as a great source of motivation for them.
ReplyDeleteI read the idea earlier of the author study and I think it's fabulous. I think you could also have it as a place where students could recommend books to read. For example, when a student reads a book and thinks others would like it as well, it could be posted in the blog with the title, author, genre, and brief description - include any personal comments as well.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment about the internet being the new bulletin board. How are you going to monitor proper usage? Will the students approve the comments or will you? It seems like evaluating responses is a valuable thinking strategy, but presents the issue of improper usage. As we advance our technology usage to encompass blogs, there seems to be a need to a school wide policy outlining proper usage. I would hate for a child to use it incorrectly, a parent complains and then it calls onto the teacher. Trailblazing tends to have its headaches. How will your administration support this?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of doing a literture circle through a blog. I know in my experience students tend to lose their packets when working on something for an extended period of time. Putting all of the assignments and discussions on the web deletes the excuses of I didn't know or I can't find it. It might also get more students to participate in a more active way. For many people who don't like to talk in groups this is the perfect solution. My question is how much in class time will be given to this assignment because some students do not have access to the internet at home.
ReplyDeleteI like the literature circle where students can share ideas and I believe you could also add a writer's circle where students could write a story or poem together and show it the showcase section after you edit it, of course.
ReplyDeleteThe bulletin board is also a wonderful idea.
I believe if you give time when students first enter the room to contribute to the blog it would work provided there are enough computers in the room. I am sure you have computer time in the lab and maybe you could work this into that time.