- I am jealous my school is not at this level: I tried blogging with the students in my classroom and was not very successful at it. No other teacher in my school has probably considered blogging with their students. Yet here is this school, the entire school, blogging about life in the classroom and what happens during their school day. HOW COOL! I wish I could get a blog going in my classroom, let alone in my entire school!
- Student involvement and engagement: each class in this school has their own blog, which means that every kids in the school has the opportunity to participate in blogging. Right there, kids are getting experience with a 21st century skill and are becoming comfortable publishing their writing, as well as posting it online.
- Parent involvement and communication: Involvement and communication with parents seems as though it would be outstanding. Parents can go to one place and see what is happening in every room in the school. They can get posts about what their kids did that day or view a reminder about an upcoming event. Parents could comment on posts and interact with their kids if they chose.
- Ownership: Although posts by kids are riddled with spelling errors, as they grow older, they will take ownership of their writing and want it to be error free because they know the world can view it. This will help with intrinsic motivation to learn spelling, grammar and organization of writing. Kids are learning so many skills through this process.
Overall, I think what this school has accomplished is amazing and I think that other schools look to as an example. I think there are some negatives or concerns with blogging, some of which are put on display here, but that is an entirely new topic. For now, I say this school has done a fantastic job!
Katelyn I completely agree with #1. I think we all could learn a lesson or two from this school. I try to do something similar but come up short. Just looking at RS, it encourages me to spend more time on something like this, as it creates an environment that we all can be proud of!
ReplyDeleteI like your idea about the students taking ownership of their work. They certainly want to create a polished product if they are posting a picture of it on the internet. However, I am stumped about how to help students see the difference between professional/academic writing and casual/texting language. I can encourage my students not to use abbreviations when they turn in their worksheets to me, but I still get them. I imagine the temptation to be informal is greater on a blog in that electronic format where they naturally slip into an emailing or texting mindset.
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