Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Blog Idea
I work with a variety of educators at multiple grade levels so I was thinking of ways that blogs could conceivably be utilized with all of them. I would like to see teachers establish class blogs and a suggestion as a way to start would be to use them for weekly student reflections on what they have learned during the week. I think regular student reflection on what they are doing and learning in school is often lacking in classrooms. Teachers could provide writing prompts such as “describe something you did this week that you enjoyed,” or “describe something you found difficult this week.” While giving the opportunity for students to reflect, this blog would also provide valuable information to the teacher about student perceptions. Often what educators think they are teaching is not actually what the students are learning. As part of the blog, students would be required to provide feedback to a certain number of their classmates.
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Utilizing blogs as a form of student reflection is a great idea. I agree that reflection is very valuable to the learning process and would benefit the students. Also, this actvity could help teachers determine which concepts students are grasping and what areas may need revisited.
ReplyDeleteThe use of prompts may be especially important depending on the age of students. Many students might have a difficult time with this if they are not given a very directive prompt. It would be beneficial for the prompt to build on the lesson and require the students to think creatively about the real-world implications of the lesson.
One of my greatest struggles in determining how I could utilize blogs successfully is finding the time to get into a computer lab. This is something that any of us without a lab in our classroom is likely to face. This can probably be overcome by being creative with our lessons to allow our students more computer access. I liked your idea.
Jenny Nabb
I think that is a great idea and will provide much feedback for the teacher. Any time you can have kids put what they have learned into their own writing is a wonderful opportunity for the teacher. How much time does it take to read each blog and how quickly will you have to provide feedback to each student? Great idea.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason it has Ntrichler and the above post was written by ATrichler.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of having students respond to prompts but I especially like your idea of having them reflect on what they learned, liked, disliked or struggle with. I think by responding in this manner the students will be more honest than if they are asked directly. My students tend to tell me they understand when they really don't. I was wondering how you would find time in the day or week to allow students to participate and how will you manage or monitor student behavior while using the computer?
ReplyDeleteG Fisher,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was teaching elementary school, I often did learning centers on Friday. I think having a 'blog' station would be a way to fit this activity into a routine. At the middle and high school levels, it might be something that students could do during their Seminar time or even at home. I would probably choose to monitor posts before they were actually posted, especially at first to make sure that students did not share personal contact information or inappropriate comments.