Challenge 5 – Teachers only
As some of you might know, I am going to present a one hour workshop at an English and Literacy teachers’ conference in Hobart in July. My topic is ‘Blogging safely in the big wide world’. I would like some reaction from you, my teacher readers.
Hopefully, at the conference, teachers will have some hands on time and be able to visit some of the blogs in this year’s challenge and leave comments for students and teachers.
Could you please answer some or all of these questions and allow me to use these responses as part of my workshop?
- Why did you choose the blogging platform you are using?
- What have you found most easy or difficult in blogging with students?
- What have you done to make sure your students are blogging safely?
- What do you think students get out of blogging?
- How do you find ways for students to get their global audience?
- What recommendations would you give to new teachers to blogging?
Please also include any other information you think might be handy for me to give at this conference workshop. Please reply either as a post on your own personal blogs with a link back to this post, as a comment here on this post or email to me at tasteach56atgmaildotcom.
March 29, 2009 @ 10:26 am
Blogging solo is not as effective Or motivating in my experience as builing a community of enquiry, I find works better. Students are interested in friend networks. Things they can use to stengthen existing relationships. In primary, 21classes is DET friendly and easy to use. In high school, ning. But don’t discount things like meetsee, which can be used to live blog around a topic idea and have fun. Or tinychat which makes a great class discussion back channel if use well. Have fun!
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March 29, 2009 @ 11:30 am
I started using Blogger after a colleague taught a mini workshop on it at school. It is incredibly easy to use, I like the security features, and my students have learned it with few mishaps. It also seemed to have fewer requirements and rules than edublogs. It has made frequent writing less intimidating for them, and enables me to make the links between the literature we read and their lives very clear. Safety is first, so they all sign their writing with only their initials and their class section labels. (For instance, my British Literature students have named their classes after ”heroes,” since BritLit’s theme is heroes—so I have a class of “Jokers” and a class of “the Flash.”). I also moderate all comments, so it is seldom that any outsiders post, though it has happened.
It has been two years since I started having my students blog, and now we have a new blog just for the Film Club as well (I am moderator). Tracking their writing carefully over the course of a school year has provided me proof that the regular writing, even the short blog posts, improves their style and critical thinking. For some reason, blogging is less tiresome than in class essays for them, and they feel as if they have more control over when and how they write. I also make frequent changes to all the peripheral material on the page, depending on the classes’ makeup and interests, so that promotes visits to the blog as well. Does it motivate them? Those that are unmotivated stay unmotivated, but there are some who have just added blogging to their list of computer activities such as facebook and myspace.
When we started, there was much gnashing of teeth over the process, which came from their fear that they would screw up. Well, some of them did screw up and the world did not end—and yes, they sure did get to see me screw up more than once! This year, I added a litwiki, and have focused on senior classes building wiki pages while the juniors have concentrated on the blog. The wiki necessitates more decision-making, and offers many more opportunities to make mistakes. Since my seniors are higher level (this changes every year though), it seemed like a good match up. Could it be more interactive? Yes, but I had to start somewhere! They are now using a course management tool (Studywiz Spark), a gradebook (Powerschool), a blog (Healigan’s Home), and a wiki (healigan.wikispaces.). We have made much progress, and I am excited about new projects for next year!
For those just starting a blog or wiki, have a plan before you start. Decide what you want to achieve and which teaching units lend themselves to tech. Don’t consider tech as “only” a tool—it can serve the same purpose as many of your traditional lessons, and it will engage some who would not otherwise even consider your lesson as worthy of their attention. It can be simple. A blog is easiest—you still have major control, and not too much can go wrong. Good Luck!
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March 29, 2009 @ 9:35 pm
* I only started blogging this year after a teaching partner of mine brought with her a wealth of experience and knowledge on blogging. After getting a “tour” of her blog, I was hooked, apprehensive and interested. I immediately thought blogging would be a new way for my class to communicate with our buddy class in New Zealand. It has certainly opened up the rest of the world to me and my class!
* The easiest aspect of blogging with my class has been the fact that they want to give everything a try and once we started getting a few comments from overseas, their interest grew. They are mad-keen on increasing our blog roll. Having an interactive white board has made blogging with my whole class easier than if we didn’t have an IWB.
* To ensure student-safe blogging, my students, at this stage, can only post comments under the class blog log in. All comments go to my email first so that I can moderate them first. Once I get more confident with the blog, I will give my students a “licence” to their own blogs.
* Through blogging, students get to communicate with the rest of the
world; they get to share their achievements and thoughts with a new group of people outside of their own school community; students are challenged to try many different activities that we find on other blog sites; the students are given a more casual method of using written communication.
* By our class checking our blog each day and then asking students in my class to “tour” other blogs, we find and communicate with a global audience.
* As a relatively new blogger myself, I would recommend to all others to simply have a go. Speak to someone on your staff or even one of your students who has some background in blogging and experiment. Read other people’s blogs. Have fun with it!
Mr Mac
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March 29, 2009 @ 10:18 pm
Why did you choose the blogging platform you are using?
I choose blogger mainly because no one else in the district was blogging so there wasn’t a set blogging platform and I wanted something fast and easy to set up and use. Blogger fit my time frame needs. Many more teachers are interested in blogging with students and the district has now decided that we will use edublogs going forward next year. I will keep our blogger account until then.
What have you found most easy or difficult in blogging with students?
I teach fourth graders so the most difficult process in blogging has been getting them to preview their work for mistakes. The easiest has been how quickly they have learned to log in and make comments.
What have you done to make sure your students are blogging safely?
Before we started blogging I made up blogging and internet safety rules (found online) and we discussed each of the 10 points. Students then had to sign it saying that they understood and would follow the rules. I reiterate safety rules as we go along with posts.
What do you think students get out of blogging?
Typing practice
Learning how to respond to posts in full sentences (not IM language)
How to leave a constructive comment (not hateful)
A better understanding of internet safety
A chance to stay in touch even though they may have left (we have a student that moved away but still checks our blog and posts comments)
A chance to share their work with their parents and family
A better understanding of world geography (we have a site map they check daily)
Excitement that their work is being read by others outside the school (we have had posts by missionaries in Africa)
How do you find ways for students to get their global audience?
As the teacher I post to other blogs world wide and invite others to come back and post to our blogs.
I have a list of blogs on the side of our blog that students are encouraged to post comments to.
I activitely promote it on every email I send out.
I ask parents to post and send on to their extended family/friends.
I try to find questions that people might be inclined to answer (what did you do for Earth Hour? What Moon Phase are you looking at?)
What recommendations would you give to new teachers to blogging?
- Always talk to students about safety (not once but many times – repetition makes it stick).
- Always moderate comments
- Sign up to your own blog in an RSS feed and any other blogs you have your students make. That way you can keep track of updates.
- Make blogging apart of your weekly planning. Even if it is a question of the week (student who are done their work early post to that question).
- Create links to your blog from your school web page and train students/parents to go through your main webpage and not directly to the blog (this will come in handy for me when we switch to edublogs).
- Join classroom20.com there are alot of great links to blogs and blogging questions.
- Add your blog to your email signature and newsletter home.
- Sign your blog up with sitemeter (that way you can track statistics and where people are coming from).
- Embed a world visitor map on your blog.
- Add pictures to your blog (it makes it much more interesting to read)
- Add other class blogs to your “follow” list and encourage students to post responses with their state/country (it means so much more to the student reading that comment to know their post was read in Beaufort, South Carolina then not know at all).
I think that is about it from me. Hope that helps!
Mrs. Heaton
Mossy Oaks Elementary School
Beaufort, SC
http://www.mrsheatonsclass.com
http://www.mrsheatonsclass1.blogspot.com
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March 30, 2009 @ 10:03 pm
[...] participants in the Blogging Challenge ‘09 have been asked by Sue Wyatt to answer several questions to assist teachers on their path to [...]
March 31, 2009 @ 12:25 am
I switched from Blogger to Edublogs the end of December for two main reasons: I was looking for a more polished site with features that would allow my students to assume different roles as well as have their own blog, and I wanted a site that would offer global exposure for students and teachers. In three months time we have had over 5,000 visitors to our site, which is pretty amazing.
You need to keep the students intrigued and motivated to write. I teach 12/13 year old seventh grade English students. I am constantly changing the content on our site weekly to include videos, images, links to outside sources that inspire and get my kids thinking. Since my students’ writings go toward a trimester writing grade, my blog prompts usually have something to do with what’s going on in the classroom. It might be taking a virtual trip to Shakespeare’s London via Project Explorer as we begin to explore A Midsummer Night’s Dream, or learning about the sixties through music videos, as when we did The Outsiders unit. Anything that is interactive is a huge hit.
My students begin blogging the first week of school. Before they post their first responses, we talk about Digital Citizenship and what that means. My students are given a “Blogging contract” which we discuss, and which they must follow. I tell them that posting on our site is a privilege that has its responsibilities, and that can easily be taken away. I have never had any issues.
The more students blog the more they read and write, and that is a good thing. They collaborate, they learn respect, and they learn that not everyone shares the same opinion and that it’s okay to disagree. They make connections, and they forge relationships with others across the globe.
To encourage global viewership, I make sure that whatever appeals to my students, others will find interesting as well. I have sub pages linked to the home page that contain videos, images, things that are happening in the classroom; and this is changed up frequently. I put up world news that lets international visitors understand what is happening in the U.S.
My advice for a new teacher new to blogging is to find a site that fits your needs and get started. It is what you make of it. I admit that I spend a good chunk of time, not just creating content, etc., but I also read every one of my students’ posts and reply and that takes time. I actually enjoy doing all of this, and I see the fruits of my labors in my students’ writing. Their comments evolve from quick, shallow replies, to ones that show depth and clarity of thought. All this writing that they do transfers over to the formal writing they do in their essays. Many of their comments are essays. I see a difference, they see a difference, and their parents see a difference. That’s huge.
http://writeoutloud.edublogs.org
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March 31, 2009 @ 3:29 am
I think I’ve done the same presentation!
My students have done over 12,000 blog posts or comments since we started.
Why? They write more, edit more, and read their classmates work.
Safety? We talk about, and follow protocol(no email, etcc..) but they know what to do.
Why blogmeister? Cheap and easy.
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March 31, 2009 @ 3:57 am
A comment was just posted on my website asking about the Blog Challenge 09. Here is the link to the comment page for Primary 5 L/W Class Blog.
http://carronshore.edublogs.org/2009/03/19/goanimate/#comment-1046
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March 31, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
I choose edublogs as my platform because of its ease of use and variety of designs and widgets available. Blogging with students has been the easy part. They are always excited by the possibility of sharing their work and thoughts with an audience. What has been a little bit difficult though is explaining to parents how blogs can be used as learning tool. There still tends to be some apprehension about younger students using the internet and the blog being available for public viewing. I dearly would like to share photos and videos of the students and their work but our school does not allow this. I ran a workshop for parents recently to talk about the purpose of blogging and its value in education but not many parents attended. Those that did were amazed at what we had achieved since starting our blog last year.
For safety we ensure that students only use their first name and of course no photos, videos or text revealing the schools location. Blogging has done wonders for students who are shy and don’t often share their learning in the classroom. Finding a global audience has been difficult but I have emailed authors and some have responded and written to the children. I have also worked with a teacher and his class who moved to London and we have shared our learning with each other through our blog.
I would recommend teachers start small. Start with a class blog and perhaps use it as a reflective journal of learning. We started with one page but now we have several pages with links to podcasts made by students, stories online etc. http://www.bookwrap.edublogs.org/
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April 1, 2009 @ 6:44 pm
1. I chose Blogger as a platform for unlimited space for videos. Also there are no charges associated with it.
2. Most difficult with students is probably getting them in an online frame of mind, they have tended to think within the square a lot. At the two schools that I have blogged with extensively both sets of students have been multi-cultural inner city students.
3. To make sure the students have blogger safely I have restricted the interaction so that every comment, every email comes through me. If there’s anything that Im not even the slightly bit happy with I dont publish it.
4. Related to point 2 I think they most get a world wide view, understanding what the world is about and be able to interact with classrooms all around the world.
5. I think the uniqueness of the students is a big selling point whether its New Zealand, Australian or when-ever. If the students are keen and passionate about what they do then people will be interested. At my old site the tutorial videos produced have just last week gone #1 in the world for Cook Island Dancing according to Google searches. That’s incredibly powerful for the students.
6. I would think that blogging for new teachers has so much potential and can be such a powerful tool to motivate, to extend and its second to none as a publishing tool. It’s a motivating force when you say to students that if your work gets published it can go on the blog and the world can read it.
Mr Webb and Room 8, Melville Intermediate, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand. Melvilleroom8.blogspot.com
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April 3, 2009 @ 2:17 pm
I am new to blogging this year. I teach Yr 5 in New Zealand.
I started blogging to share with parents what was happening in my classroom, that has been great, and of course parents like to see their children celebrated.
It has been time consuming for me at the beginning as I had no one at school who had gone before me, so it took me sometimes a long time to solve issues I was having, but now am pretty much up and running. So if you are starting having support is helpful, if you don’t my advice is get in there and just start.
The blogging challenge 09 has been most helpful in giving me ideas, and providing connections to other people blogging. Thanks for the fantastic opportunity.
The connections to other blogs have given me ideas in curriculum, and ways of involving students in the blog. My students can go and read other blogs and get ideas, read other students’ work, most of which is just great. I think on one blog in US, Mr Tofts and one blog here from NZ, Fab 4’s blog.
My students have begun to get comments from others beside myself, and I rather enjoy giving comments to students around the world, suddenly I feel like the classroom has opened up, and that at the moment is just a sliver. It’s exciting.
I chose edubloggers as I didn’t know a lot about the various sites, and one or two blogs I looked at were from there and I just wanted to get going. I like it because I can have all the students on it with their own log on and have them classified as author. That means they can work from home or school. I get to help them proof it and only I can publish. They get to have a wide audience and that motivates. One boy student who is receiving literacy support at present is really keen to get writing and was at my elbow today jogging me and persuading me into proofing his work so it could be published. While I had something else planned, his intent pushed me to put it aside and go with his plan!
Edublogger does cost, about $80 NZ. I paid but my school has refunded me due to my enthusiasm!
Students are relatively safe because I monitor all incoming comments, have them all on one gmail email that only comes to me, and I know that if they leave comments somewhere inappropriate, a teacher will be moderating them, and hopefully would let me know as well.
I find it helpful to have started a blogroll of websites they can go to without coming to ask, and that helps too.
My recommendation is get in and do it, learn as you go, start small and its okay not to be where others are. Also as it gets up and running you will have to do less and the students will be doing more.
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April 14, 2009 @ 7:15 am
* What have you found most easy or difficult in blogging with students?
My third grade students (age 8/9) use our classroom blog to share what they are learning. They decide what stories to cover and work in groups or individually. Enthusiasm is high, and they will sometimes stay in at recess to finish typing a post on their wireless AlphaSmart computer.
What’s difficult for me is that sometimes when they report about a story, they get the facts wrong. Usually this is because they are in a rush to get to the exciting part about blogging…publishing. For example, one student said he was ready to publish, but I noticed he had confused the word country and county in his post. He was certain he had it right. I want my students to understand that what we publish is important and must be correct. I wanted them to take ownership of the blog’s credibility and not just rely on me to check everything.
To make sure our posts are factual, we now use “Fact Checkers”. They are students who volunteer to work with a writer to verify the facts. We rotate the job among the volunteers, and they take the job seriously! (I love it.)
* What have you done to make sure your students are blogging safely?
I have taught several lessons about limiting personal information. Having the ClustrMap on our blog demonstrates to my students that the web is worldwide. I allow my students access to a digital camera for them to set-up shots to enhance their writing. They know how to crop photos to eliminate close-up pictures of classmates.
A few parents were worried about using names, even though we never use last names. To remedy this, some students are using fake first names, even in the comment section.
• What do you think students get out of blogging?
My students are getting a lot out of this blog. First of all, they are learning how to present information in a logical manner. They’re also learning the importance of enhancing a story with illustrations and images. Selecting useful hyperlinks is another skill they have learned.
Understanding how to participate in a blog using the comment section has been a fun part of the blog for all of us. Students and parents are very good at following up with comments and questions for the writer(s) of the post. Not only does this help them process their learning, but gives students practice with a third grade standard, letter writing form. I will definitely be doing a classroom blog in the future!
* What recommendations would you give to new teachers to blogging?
I was originally going to have individual blogs for my third grade students, but some parents were hesitant about their child being on the Internet, so I decided to do a class blog instead. I’m glad I did a class one, as the posting and comment monitoring is manageable for me. I use a Blogger account and moderate all comments.
Teaching students (and parents) how to comment is important, too. I’ve created worksheets with fake comments. As a group, we evaluate whether a child’s comment should be published or rejected because of too many capitalization, punctuation, or spelling errors. We are not as strict with our visitors’ comments!
I’ve tried to get parents to get our blog through our RSS feed. However, few use it. Consequently, I send out a mass email whenever we post. In it, I make suggestions to parents about how they could participate. For example, in a post we did for multiplication called “Hip Hip Array”, I recommended that parents look around their house with their child and post a comment about an array they found. It helps keep the comments coming in.
I hope my comments help!
http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/
Linda
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May 11, 2009 @ 6:02 pm
[...] This challenge is found at technology in the classroom. In response to challenge nr. 5 – for the topic ‘Blogging safely in the big wide world’ I will try to answer the following [...]
May 11, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
Answer is on my blog. Hope you have time to read some of my students’ blogs too! http://annmic.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/challange-5-teachers-only/
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May 30, 2009 @ 2:16 pm
I know I am a little lat answering your questions but if its ok with you I will give it a shot.
Our class blog is http://www.theskinny.edublogs.org
I am use edublogs because the host I had decided it didn’t want to host any longer. Bit of a bummer. All our work is going to disappear this summer. I went with Ed because our entire county bought into educampus for next year so it will be free and I’ll get some support from them.
So far its working out better than I thought it would
The part I find most difficult about blogging is stopping. Sometimes I just have to get up and walk away from the keyboard. Its addicting. I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of all the things I want to do together with the kids.
Some of the more difficult things form we would be, that lots of places I want to visit are blocked by our district filter. there’s not enough free computer time in the lab for everyone, and fellow staff who don’t quit get it.
One thing I thought would be hard but turned our quite easy was turning the blog over to the kids. its no longer mr. alvaro’s blog, it is really our blog. i have sever kids who write daily and weekly columns. The skinny has taken on a life of its own. its really cool.
Concerning the safety issue, once every few weeks I go over the group rules with the keys. I share the consequences of looking or doing inappropriate things, and i tell them someone is always watching and they need to be seeing the right stuff. I also give them a list of what they are to do that session in the lab and expect they for follow it. I also do a lot of physical monitor. i get up and watch what everyones doing most of the time.
My students love their blog. they like to read there work, they love to comment on their friends work. they like the questions, polls, games and activities i can put together for them. I also try hard to tie our post into what we are teaching and doing in class. over the summer i post games and activities all summer long.
i think my students get a lot out of blogging. most of them now have gotten comments from people from around the world who have read their stuff and love it. read people is reading their stuff. and they write a ton more than they ever did before. and their writings have improved across the board. i too have many stories about kids who couldn’t but two stories together in the fall and are writing fantastic stores by june
i find ways to share by going on line and meeting other teachers and reading there posts. its that simple. i leave them comments and sometimes they write me back. If somebody has a great idea i borrow it, and change it to fit my class.
my advice to new teachers is to just do it. getting it started and see where it will take you. i am sure it will take you to place you never dream.
I am always looking for blog buddies. if you are interesting please give me a call.
theskinny.edublogs.org
jim
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October 28, 2009 @ 6:08 am
[...] post actually is leading up to the week 5 challenge to teachers.Ms. Wyatt is presenting at a conference in July, Blogging Safely in the Big Wide World”. She [...]