Wednesday, March 11, 2009
How Should I Use a Blog in My Classroom
I have been thinking about how I could use a blog in one of my history classes. I figured that I would use the blog to go over a topic we just learned in class. I then would have to sign out the computer lab. I then would have to come up with questions that I could use to give some sort of structure to the blogging. I then began to wonder if there was a way that I could make the blog private to just the students in my class. I then began to wonder of how I was going to walk around and make sure my students were on task. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could have a successful blogging session in my classes?
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Hello Maple11,
ReplyDeleteI have not had the opportunity to do any type of blog with students yet. I found out that the program that runs my school wide website has a place where teachers could do a blog. I believe that there is a sign in process available that can be set up for students to view what is on the blog so it cannot be viewed by everyone on the net. Do you have a program that your school uses for running a web site that might have a similar feature? Having the opportunity to preview what is going to be posted on your blog, I feel, is an advantage if it is going to be viewed by anyone.
I find that most of my students are on task anytime we go to the computer lab and especially if they are doing something new and the students that understand how to the use the programs faster seem to be willing to help others. I think that is a great opportunity for students to be able to teach each other and reinforce their own knowledge. I usually have a few things students can be working on if they are waiting for me to check their work.
Postrander, thanks for the input. I will have to check with our technology department to see how I can do this and use blogging in my class.
ReplyDeleteYes, our school also has a blog site available that the teacher is administrator of.
ReplyDeleteWith your review idea, I am concerned how much direction the students will be given. Your post didn't give the details I would need to critique it. I do have one suggestion. What if you gave the students an assignment before the blogging, of finding Internet based content on the topic you are studying. Students could brainstorm beforehand to arrive at a list of terms that could be used for searching. Each student would select a term.
For their blogging assignment, they would provide a link to an Internet resource that provides information on their specific term. Students responding to the blog would be told to surf to the website and evaluate the content given relating to the term. This would require some preparation prior to the trip to the computer lab.
In terms of monitoring them at the lab and being sure they are on task, you could simply tell them they are to only be at one of three websites (the blog site, and the two links at each of the blogs they are responding to. Are there any other teachers at your school currently using blogging. Perhaps you can get ideas from them, and even observe their class blogging.
With history, I would think that the ideas would be endless on what to have them comment on. An assignment that our history teachers give that I think is wonderful is that the students have to comment on what they think it would be like to be a slave or a slave owner.
ReplyDeleteAs far as keeping the students on task, most computer labs are set up with programs like SynchEyes, NetOps, or iTalc. You log onto the teacher computer and open this program or one similar. On your screen will be all of the computers in the lab. You can see exactly what each student is doing at any given moment. Most only have a few second delay. If you see a student off track, you can post a comment directly to that computer. I use this type of monitoring when I teach web site development. Usually the idea that they are being monitored is enough to keep them on track.
For their blogging assignment, they would provide a link to an Internet resource that provides information on their specific term.isabel marant bobby low-top sneaker(dsf2012.4.11)
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