Blog Reflection Post - C

There are a plethora of ways that a blog can be used in the classroom. Students can be given the chance to respond or reflect on a question or topic. For example, in order to jump start a conversation about writing, a language arts teacher might ask students to respond to the question "What are qualities of good writing?" The class can take these ideas to expand on during the next class session. Teachers can also use blog as a tool for organizing resources for students to use when using the internet. While talking with a classmate on Wednesday, she commented that she teaches second grade and can't just send her students out to find information. She has to organize the sites into a user-friendly way for the students to access. By having students visit one site, this streamlines the process and allows for more productive work time.

Outside of the classroom, there are so many great blogs for entertainment purposes. Personally, I regularly visit two blogs - the personal blog of a friend of mine and Cake Wrecks, a website devoted to professional cakes gone wrong. I think that blogs offer a place for people to share aspects of their lives with their friends, share stories in order to help others in similar situations, or provide readers with sheer entertainment.

Teachers and students each have specific roles when blogging in the classroom. Depending on the type of blog being used, the teacher or student may be responsible for the creation and upkeep of the blog. However, if a student is responsible for the upkeep of an academic blog, the teacher has a responsibility of monitoring the blog for appropriate content and relevance of the blogs.

Examples of ways that blogs can be used in the classroom:

• I helped create and pilot a single-gender math program in my county. Many people ask questions, looking for answers to questions related to its implementation, processes, and success. A blog could be created to document the year, also giving students the chance to offer their own views through writing blog posts for the site.
• As an extension to a unit on persuasive writing, students could use a class blog to share examples of persuasive writing and persuasive media. Students could post their own persuasive writing - essays, editorials, reviews, etc. They could also use it to review examples of persuasive media or other persuasive writings, while linking the media/document to their blog. After students have posted their ideas or writings, they could comment on other student's posts, and the teacher could use these to propel classroom discussion.
• In order to have students think about vocabulary and the new words that they see in their daily reading, students could be required to post one word they they've come across, including definition and sentence, to the blog each week.
• Similarly, students often aren't sure when or where they'll be using math in their lives. In order to get them thinking about math in the world, they could be required to post bi-weekly the ways that they see math in the world. Other students would have to post their own responses to these posts.