As I learn more about blogs, I have been mulling over in my mind the need to take them one step further and how to implement a blog in my own classroom. My students love to use the computer and need the appropriate place to practice writing and thinking critically about other's thoughts and ideas. I think I have found a place where a blog would be appropriate and would allow my students to safely share their ideas with our class.
Each morning, we have about twenty-five minutes where the students are slowing trickling in as the busses shuffle through their first drop-off. My students are usually met with a warm-up for the day while they are getting ready for the day. I would love to have the computer lab across the hall open for them to stop in and respond to a 'blog question of the day'. Much like other writing prompts that I have used for my class, they could be responding to everything from what we have learned in class to a fictional story starter.
As the moderator, I would be able to see the students responses to the question, as well as their responses to each other. At first I would like to start with the requirement to respond one of the questions for the week and then move toward the students needing to respond to the question and to each other. Experiment week here I come, first though comes the search for a site to host the blog. If you have suggestions to a great site to start out a classroom blog, please let me know.
-Melissa
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I don't have any suggestions for a site to host the blog but I do like your idea of giving your students the opportunity to respond to questions or prompts at the beginning of the day,rather than having to try to plan for it during the day when it is so competed for. How many students will be allowed to use the computer lab at a time? Will you be able to use the lab everyday do you have to sign up to use it when you have something planned? Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteI found a site called Blogmeister: http://classblogmeister.com/
It is designed specifically to create class blogs. It looks interesting but you need a pass code. I just emailed the author asking about how to get one.
It seems to me that making sure every student has the time to access and contribute to the blog might be a challenge. What do you do for the last students to arrive? Will they have time to do the blog without the early students having too much time?
It sounds like a great idea. Good luck.
-Shannon L.
The computer lab that I work with is a mobile lab that has been set up in an empty classroom (Thank you budget cuts)right across the hall from my room. It is available by sign-up and is generally not used during our 'warm-up' time in the morning. I would be able to have 32 students on the computers at a time and would have to work around those students who have breakfast at school as they arrive late. Working out the logisitics of late arriving students is the major roadblock I am having right now. Maybe I will have to not require the blogging, but encourage it with the students who are there early. Thanks for you comments and questions!!
ReplyDelete-Melissa