I've just listened to an excellent podcast on the topic of classroom blogging. It's a recording of a presentation done by Bob Sprankle at the ACTEM (Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine) Annual Conference held last fall. He has wonderful examples of how and why to use blogging with students. He also has links to a myriad of classroom blogging resources. You will find the links below.
He mentions an issue with using Blogger with students which is that of the blue bar at the top that links to other, random blogs. If you would like to begin blogging with your students, but this is a concern you have with using Blogger in the classroom, please email me and I can fill you in on some options for addressing that.
Bit by Bit Episode 32 - Classroom Blogging Podcast
Workshop Links from this Podcast
Blog Tool Options Wiki by Wesley Fryer
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
47 comments:
I think the key word that Bob uses as he talks about his successes with classroom blogging is 'authentic.' It provides students with an authentic learning experience that reaches out to an authentic audience. It seems that this would be a great way to pull in those students, even at 2nd and 3rd grade, who are not easily motivated to respond to a reading or share a writing piece. During the podcast, Bob addressed one of my concerns, which is how to include those students who have a lot to say but have limited typing skills. He mentioned that for the younger learners, he will type for them and they still seem to experience the authenticity of it. Recently, I created my own personal blogspot for the purpose of communicating with friends and family. It provides another social outlet for my husband and I and I can imagine that this would be a great way to increase social skills for students as well (just as Bob mentions because of the popularity of myspace). I have registered for the course offered here in Hilton on blogging next week, and I am so excited to create a classroom blogspot! If anyone here in Hilton has created and used a blogspot with their students, I would love to hear any suggestions you might have!
I listened to Bob Sprangles Pod cast about blogging with his students and how simple or complex you can get with it. Blogging is a great way to get students excited about writing. It can showcase their work and they can get feedback from people all over the globe. He has even used his blog as sort of a web page to correspond with parents about homework assignments, newsletters and what's happening in the classroom. One of the things that he mentioned that he does or you can do is to post notes (for example a math lesson) for kids that are absent. I'd like to see students get more of an opportunity to not just post 1 comment on a blog, but to be able to continually use one for communtion.
I agree blogging is a great idea but how does one have time to monitor such an activity in light of all the other responsibilities teaching presents. I am wondering if this might be an ideal way to use parent volunteers beyond the usual making photo copies...cutting out things...hanging things in the hall. There are so many great opportunities to use technology to improve student learning and communication but how to make time for it, keep it authentic, monitor and evaluate the appropriate use are concerns I have. Am I too worried???
That's a good point, Linda and an iteresting idea to have parent volunteers help monitor blogging activities. It might be more interesting for them too, as opposed to making copies and hanging bulletin boards. Something to think about.
I loved Bob Sprangles pod cast about blogging with his students. I think blogging is a great way to have students report out what they are doing in the classroom. I like the idea that they can show off their work and get immediate feedback from people all over the world. Bob’s major point about blogging is that it is purposeful and there is an interaction happening. This is a great way to motivate students while having real world purposes. I took the blogging class with Lori and I am trying to get a classroom blog started with my students. The main purpose of my blog is to show our school to our pen pals in Texas. My students are highly motivated because they are taking pictures of our school and writing captions to describe what our day is like at Village. I cannot wait to get this started and encourage them to add different topics, as we become more efficient using and posting blogs.
As I was looking through the links from Bob Sprangles website, I found another pod cast with Leah Tondreau and Dave Fournier. It’s about 52 minutes long. It is about Leah’s pod cast with her K-2 classrooms. Leah shared her experience with learning to pod cast with primary kids. Leah stated that she made her 2nd graders responsible for many of the elements of the pod cast. She even color-coded the wires so that the students could hook up the computer to prepare for recording the pod cast. The students used many of their own ideas and wrote about the topics in Writer’s Workshop. Once the items are approved, the students then record their information. Leah took time to add music. I like the aspect that pod casting makes student work purposeful. The only thing I disliked about this pod cast is that it was difficult to hear the students’ examples and their actual pod cast. I then tried to go to her website and I was unable to open them up. The other problem I personally have with pod casts is that I am a visual learner!
I listened to Bob Sprankle's "Seedlings" podcast. I liked the "Geek of the Week" section where each member of the podcast gave a comment on things they had read/explored. They mentioned some websites and articles to explore which I found intriguing. I also liked the comments they made regarding how one teacher venturing into a "project" sparked another to try a technology project. They encouraged each other along the way. I think sharing ideas with peers is often one of the strongest motivators. Working with a peer who will help you out when you feel as if you're in over head can be very reassuring without being intimidating. A simple "if you need me to show you, just ask" or a further explanation of what you need to do is all that's necessary to take the fear out of approaching some projects. Some of us who are less than computer savvy really appreciate this kind of support.
I was very impressed by the discussion that took place during and after the pod cast by the Maine teachers in attendance. They had a lot of the same concerns I had when hearing Bob's presentation. I was also impressed by Bob's preparation and willingness to share all his hard work finding blogging options that are appropriate for elementary age students. Lori...can we use some of the sites he suggested even if they require browser space or would we need to purchase space on our own like Bob does?
Linda asked, "Lori...can we use some of the sites he suggested even if they require browser space or would we need to purchase space on our own like Bob does?"
I'll have to listen again to the podcast to make sure I'm remembering the sites Bob mentioned, but in general we're pretty well set for uploading podcasts. Those with a classroom website here in the district can upload podcasts easily there and can also set up the subscription option as well as submiting their podcast to iTunes directly through their SchoolCenter site. In the event that the podcast is too large a file to upload, I have some things I can do to help reduce the size or to get it uploaded a different way. We are luckier than many people in other districts because we do have free options for teachers.
After listening to Bob Sprankles's podcast, I have learned that podcasts where the speaker is using visuals are a tease!!!! haha. I love how he made it so simple to publish kids work on the blog - doing it right on the spot. When I think of everything my students and I have to do in order to publish a hard copy, it certainly makes blogging sound enticing. I also thinks it adds a positive reason for a teacher to have a laptop. I would much prefer having a laptop with me when I am conferencing with students than have a long line at my desk.
Thanks to Wendy for noting the podcast for K-2 teachers, I will definitely listen to it.
When I checked out the website links, I especially liked the Super Student Blog. What a great way for kids to share what's going on in their classroom. I am already thinking how I can have my kindergarterners do a scaled down version next year.
My final thought was about having a parent blog. I had parent meeting once a month this year to dive in and discuss curriculum - a blog would be a neat additon to that once a month discussion. I also think since we have a parent group setting up a parent room in our building we should make sure there is a computer in it to open up some other possibilities for linking parents to technology.
I enjoyed listening to Bob Sprankles Bit by Bit Pod cast about blogging. I took the intermediate units of writing workshop with Amy VanDerwater and one of the main things she stressed was about giving the students purpose and an audience for their writing. Blogging would be the perfect opportunity for them to hear comments from numerous people from around the globe. I know many of my intermediate students would be motivated to write more if they were given this type of feedback. My only concern was the fact that he mentioned that at first he monitors what goes on the blog by typing for the students. This seems like it would be very time consuming. I know that when I type book reviews into my classroom website, it takes several hours, and I'm pretty fast at keyboarding. I am anxious to try it and find out. I was looking to enter many of our six grade poems into a contest, but this would be even a better idea!
Bob Sprangles bit by bit podcast was interesting and he addresses an issue I was concerned about, such as students using blogs appropriately. He recommended setting up a classroom blog rather than having students use blue bar to go to any blog.
As teachers we are always looking for ways to encourage our students to write for a purpose and to consider the audience. It seems that blogging definitely provides an authentic audience and would encourage editing as Bob proclaims.
Bob also mentioned and I believe that Linda Davis reinforced the idea that the students would be able to get feedback about their writing from others, not just the teacher.
Terri suggested having a laptop with her when she conferences with students. What a great idea. I would say that we both - teacher and student - have a laptop. The students could make corrections on the spot and it seems the conferencing would be more valuable to the writer.
I don't know enough about podcasts yet but I am taking the class that Lori Burch is offering and there were times when the podcast was scratchy, at times difficult to hear the entire message. As we go through this course, hopefully that will be a topic that will be addressed in terms of how to improve the quality of podcasts.
I was leary about blogging with my class but after visiting some of the links that I could open, I am looking forward to setting up my own classroom blogspot for the fall.
I have been thinking about Linda Davis' post from 3/14. I am thinking that blogging might be a neat way to introduce and teach some ELA elements, such as poetry or book talks. I do not see it as taking extra time, rather it is a different way to present topics we want our students to engage in. It could be done if everyone has access to computers.
About parent volunteers, would they have to go through some kind of training on blogging and what our expectations are? It seems that this will take much time. We as teachers would have to prepare a handout stating the task and what we consider to be appropriate blogs. Maybe I am too worried!
I was also amazed by Bob Sprangles Pod Cast about blogging. What a great way to use technology to increase motivation in writing and awareness of the writing process. I share the concerns with other teachers on the time requirement, especially when it comes to monitoring and updating the blogs . . .
I thought Bob Spankle's point was a good one regarding how students' writing seemed to significantly improve when blogging because they knew they had a real audience reading their words. The authenticity of the blog-writing experience makes using blogs even more effective as instructional tools.
Whenever I investigate a new technology that could be used in the classroom, I check it out from the perspective of how it can be applied to the lab work my students are required to do. I can see blogging as a way for students to organized their thoughts about their data and to come to a deeper understanding of the data's implications. I'll bet that my high school students are already familiar with blogging, I'll just need to focus their conversations.
Bob's presentation was interesting. I like the excitement that the blogs introduced to his classroom and that the whole blogging process didn't take Bob too long each time he used it. "Time" is always the major constraint with anything, whether it be technology or not, that often dictates if I will give some thing a try and continue to use it. I would love for kids to be excited about school through blogs if it doesn't take too much time out of the day.
I enjoyed this podcast on blogging. This podcast actually answered many questions that I have about blogging. I am interested in how this tool can be used with all types of learners. I think it would be great for all subject areas-especially writing. Bob shared a lot of important information. I look forwad to learning more about this.
I think blogging will be a great tool for L2 students to use in order to develop their social and academic writing skills. It will be a marvelous opportunity for L2 students to write about what they are learning, share their perspectives and receive feedback from peers and others.
I am so excited about using blogging with primary kids. We try to make writing such an exciting thing in K and to be able to give kids the opportunity to blog what they have written is even more exciting! At that age they love to listen to themselves talk and their friends like it even more. I agree with what Lori and ldavis mentioned, having parents possibly help monitor and organize the blog. I think parents would love that! Terri's commnets were great in regards to having a laptop with you to conference with kids and have them blog right on the spot. That way the kids could listen to it and not forget what they wrote, which so often happens in K!
As someone completely new to blogging I found it to be a very interesting and creative outlet for students. I am also very interested in exploring the implications and applications that it could have for non teaching staff. As a school psychologists, I could see using blogging in many of the different arenas that encompass my job working with struggling learners and students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Bob talked about using blogging as a tool to motivate students to write, which is a problem I see constantly, especially in students with disabilities. For some reason writing is one of the most difficult academic areas for these students. On the other hand, positive feed back especially from people outside of their classroom has such an immense impact on these students. Blogging could be a great way for our students with disabilities to gain the reinforcement they want, while doing the writing that we want from them. Outside the realm of writing, blogging could be a great way for some of the students that I work with to demonstrate the social skills they are working on and interact with people outside of their sometimes very limited worlds.
I like the idea with Blogging I guess I am in the same boat as a lot of other commenters - I am worried that high schoolers would be inappropriate with some of their comments. I also am unsure how to assess a blog - would you simply make it a participation grade or base it on the quality of their comment?
Blogging is an authentic communication tool that students will be excited to use. Many colleges are already using blogs as participation grades in some courses. This is an excellent tool to prepare them for that.
I teach Participation in Government and I already plan on using blogging as a forum to discuss the 2008 presidential election and various public policy issues. Some students are shy and self-conscious; blogging will allow these students to participate in the debate without fear. Blogging encourages students to communicate and interact with one another. They can respond to each other’s opinions. This will help to instill a sense of understanding for other’s position on political issues. I am concerned with students posting inappropriate comments on the blog. Another idea that I have for the use of blogs is to have each student take turns in leading the class in the discussion of an article about a various public policy. In my Government class each student researches a different pubic policy topic. Each week a different student will be the blog discussion leader. They will find an article about their pubic policy topic and post it on the blog along with some introductory questions for discussion. The students in the class will respond to the questions and/or ask their own questions.
Do teachers review the blogs before they are posted like we do for our classroom websites? I am also concerned with students using web slang in their blog posts. One of my requirements would be the use of proper English spelling and grammar.
I also enjoyed listening to the podcast. I thought Bob had many great ideas and he made me want to jump right in and try some. Students love publishing their work and blogging sounds like the perfect way to get real audiences. Children love to see things in print and in this computer world this is a great way to get younger writers motivated. I have one question is how do you implement at the lower levels....I am sure that is coming.
I also loved the idea of students writing their own school newsletter to parents. What a great authentic way to motivate writers.
Linda, I like what you said about parent volunteers helping....I think parents would welcome the idea of learning about computer tools as well. I agree that we will have to set up limitations about blogging with parents. People may have different views about what is acceptable!!!!
I too enjoyed listening to Bob's podcast. I loved the way he described how the students were very excited about their work. I also liked the fact that he talked about the reluctant writer. Many students don't want to share their work and through the blog the students gained conifdence and a love of writing. I am interested in finding a way to use blogging in my classroom. Being a special area teacher, I feel I could use the podcasts and allow my students the opportunity to provide feedback through the blog. They can also share their work with their parents, family, and other students. I am looking forward to creating a blog of my own!
Laurie H. here.
I had 7th and 8th grade students blog when I taught a course on Internet safety. They loved it! I must admit it was a nightmare to monitor. The blog was set up to be like a social networking website, like "MySpace." Except, it wasn't public and the site was hosted within our school. I wanted the students to explore the pros and pitfalls of social networking sites. It worked. The students had fun posting to their blogs and went completely nuts with the comments feature. They were actually using the comments feature as sort of asynchronous chat. To monitor the blog, I had all posts and comments emailed to me. That part was very time consuming. However, the students had a more authentic experience with Internet safety, and the blog gave me many "teachable" moments.
I think Bob did an excellent job of explaining and enticing the listener into the arena of blogging. It was clear that he used it as a tool to challenge his students learning as well build more ownership for their learning. Based on his presentation I believe that blogging can definitely be a very powerful tool in the field of education.
Bob Sprankle's podcast was interesting. I like the idea of blogging to draw the kids in and get them writing. As technologically advanced as the kids are they probably wouldn't have a problem working with it. Lorie mentioned that there are ways to monitor the posts before they are submitted for everyone to see. Which is a good idea but yes that also creates extra work for the teacher.
A couple things I don't like about the podcasts, like Wrusin, is that I am a visual learner and find that I lose interest quicker with just the audio. I also find it annoying if the audio is poor since that's all we have to learn from.
I am a Reading Recovery teacher and I often work with students who lack interest in writing. Using a blog may help motivate my students as a result of having an authentic audience.
Wow! I loved Bob Sprankles, "Bit by Bit," but like some of you, I hated that I couldn't see what he was talking about! (This really shows what a struggle visual learners have with audtitory information!)Nonetheless, there was so much in the podcast atht it was definitely worth the effort/ struggle!
I love the idea of a co-teaching blog. As a Skills Lab teacher, I'm always trying to connect with an ELA or Sp. Ed. teacher whose work periods don't match mine so this would be blogging would be a great goal for us. "Cheryl's Co_teaching blog was a good start. I think her lesson on "Yes, but" and "Yes, and" would be very introspective for studnets. (Don't you always wait for the "but" after a great intro. to a conversation?)
scaps
Well, this is not specifically a response to someone's blog! I looked at the Cool Cat Teaching Blog and appreciated the "10 Habits of Bloggers that Win" that were given. So many times, I'll read an email etc. with information only to have to search for the site it came from so reminding us to "hyperlink it" will certainly prove useful. The idea of a specific "title" on blogs and emails is also great advice. Otherwise, if I see a lame title, I will often delete it as spam.This site is worth checking out. SallyC (scaps)
I thought the pod cast about blogging was very interesting. I love the idea of blogging with newsletters to get students involved. Blogging sounds like a great way to give students purposeful and authentic writing experiences. What a great way to motivate all students!
I have always heard people talking about blogs and never really knew what they were talking about. Then when I did a recent presentation about internet safety, and had some parents say that they thought that this was a form of chatting I thought I should really look into this. Now after hearing this pod cast I am veryinterested in learning more about blogging. Now that I am moving grade levels this mihgt be a really great time to start something fresh with my students. I am really excited to learn more about them.
I am new to blogging, but hearing Bob Sprankle's podcast made me very excited about blogging with my primary students! I loved hearing about how his students' writing improved when they posted it on the blog. I think this is a great tool for helping students to take ownership in an authentic way, as well as a valuable resource to help build stronger home-school connections. I can't wait to give it a try!
Blogging would definitely be a great way for our multiple sections of the same class (HS art) to discuss artworks or contemporary issue in art. I like that it opens it up beyond the 20 students that are in your class.
Blogging in the Classroom. A goal of mine is to establish a forum for students to discuss readings, ideology, inspire critical thinking as well as review with control elements for the postings and audience. What blogging products are available to Hilton CSD teachers to use with their students?
Thanks for offering this course. The podcast about room 208 was a nice touch. I am curious to see how this can be useful in a high school math setting. Please share any ideas.
I am always amazed with how fast things are changing in regards to the internet. I think kids are very in tune to what the internet and blogging is, it is the adults who have problems with this technology.
I was talking to a student at St. John Fisher and professors utilize a program that allows them to post updates and notes, and this program allows students to also comment. Wouldn't that be great hear to get parental, students and school all on the same page.
I like the idea of a classroom blog, as well as pod and vod casts, because it has lots of authenticity potential,something not always easy to come by. Also, it taps into kids' natural gravitation to the internet. I'm glad to see that people have had successful discussion via this tool and can't wit to see if it will enhance literary discussion- I find that many 10th graders won't speak. At all. But they might blog . . .
Tric, you bring up a great point of kids who won't speak in class, but may "speak" if given the chance to blog.
I have seen a lot of success with blogging in the middle school, but I am a huge fan of face-to-face discussions. One thing I miss is talking to people about different issues or topics. It seems as though I am always staring at a computer screen. I am sure I will go toward a balance between blogging and class discussions...but being able to see someone's reaction to a comment is worth the face-to-face. Besides, I totally stink at getting sarcasm (my personality) in written form. People read my entries as though I mean every single word I say and it gets me into trouble...I lose a lot of my personality I guess when I am writing on these things. I think kids may run into that as well.
What would have happened if I was asked to blog as a child?
I would have not said anything in class assuming that my participation on the blog would be fine and I would only know how to express my opinions in written form.
well maybe that is extreme, but isn't that something researchers are thinking will happen????
I just heard the Sprangles podcast and it sounds like he has done some great stuff with the students in his school. I have also seen it here Merton Williams with the ELA teachers and their students blogging about the books they are reading. I know students were very enthusiastic when they first started the blogging. I wonder if that enthusiasm lessens over time? I am also curious what blogging would look like in other/my content? Could it be a regular part of the curriculum? If not, where would it fit in best? Is it easy/hard/overwhelming in keeping up the maintance of a blog? I am sure it will be beneficial but, I have to figure out how to use it the best way possible for me, my students, and my content.
I listened to Bob's talk and the big thing I took away from this is changing technology. Blogging a very different way of communicating. A problem that I see that may happen is with confidentiality. An internet blog is pretty public and I am not sure if I want alot of people reading comments from my child's teacher.
I enjoyed the podcast on classroom blogging. I think there are many possibilities to use blogging in my class. I didn't know there were so many different blogging sites out there. I am familiar with blogger but I like some of the features that classblogmeister and learner blog offer. I wonder if anyone in the district has used them.
I think blogging will definitely help bring together students from different sections of the same class, or perhaps connect IB curriculum and give the students a way to discuss and learn from one another. Teachers could post essential questions and use the blogs to get the kids thinking and responding outside of the classroom!
Blogging is certainly very popular today. Many people enjoy sharing their reaction to things in this way. I can also appreciate the enthusiasm this creates in a classroom and how it promotes reading and writing. However, I must agree with Janeen and say that it will never take the place of face-to-face class discussions.
I hope that I can find authentic applications for the facs curriculum. I don't want this to turn into a make work project just for the sake of using cool technology.
Cherie Lohrman
I not only learned about classroom bloggig through Bob's lecture but at the same time I experienced Podcasting. I am very excited to begin using this with my classes and experimenting with this technology in the classroom.
Post a Comment