Will Richardson provides valuable and easy-to-follow suggestions for introducing blogging in the classroom in chapter 3 of his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. He begins by suggesting that teachers who want to start a classroom blog first become familiar with blogging by creating one of their own. This allows them to become better versed in the use of the tool. In addition, it allows them to model the behavior for their students and show them the value of blogging.
Richardson recommends that teachers begin small when they decide to start blogging. They should first read other people’s posts and comment on them. By doing so, they will get a feel for what it is like to publish their own thoughts on the web. After commenting on other people's posts a few times, they can create their own blog and post a link to something they have read and enjoyed along with a few thoughts about it. As they become more comfortable with the idea of blogging, they can begin to write more, draw on their own personal experiences, and reflect furthe on what they have read.
In terms of introducing blogs in the classroom, Richardson again suggests starting small. Teachers should begin by using the blog to post homework assignments and important class links. They should also show students examples of good blogs. For example, elementary level students can visit blogs that are set up by other elementary schools, while students in the upper grades can read blogs created by people that the teacher recommends. Once students have had the opportunity to read blogs created by others, they can begin to respond to posts in the class blog. Richardson provides an example of how to go about doing this. One way is for the teacher to post a question per day and ask students to respond to a certain number of questions each week. After they gain experience commenting on the class blog, they can move on to creating their own posts.
Teachers can assess the Weblogs in several ways. They can count the number of posts a student has published, or they can read each post for such things as form and content. Students can also select the posts they feel represent their best writing, and they can reflect on those posts in an overall evaluation of their blog use.
An important consideration when starting a classroom blog is the safety of the students. It is important for teachers to communicate with students, parents, and administrators about their reasons for wanting to introduce blogging in the classroom and their subsequent expectations for the activity. It is also important that every student has parental permission to participate in the blogging. Richardson suggests making publishing to the web a part of the school’s Acceptable Use Policy that must signed by all parents. Finally, teachers should communicate with parents about the safety precautions that will be in place to protect students’ privacy (ex: using only first names or using pseudonyms).
Richardson closes the chapter by providing several suggestions for blogging sites (ex: KidzBlog and BlogMeister). However, he reminds the reader that the perfect blog site for a teacher to use will be the one that meets his/her unique classroom needs.
Chapter 3 of Richardson's book provided me with a better idea of how to begin blogging with my class, and it brought to light some things I hadn't considered before. First, I must remember to start small and model blogging for students. In other words, I should allow them to become familiar with blogging by reading various blogs so that they understand what they are and how they are set up. Second, I must pay careful attention to online safety. As I begin to plan on making blogging a part of my classroom, I am going to need to make sure that every student has parental permission to participate in the activity and that students, parents, and administrators understand why we are blogging and how student privacy will be protected.
Richardson, W (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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2 comments:
It seems we focused on the same subject today - introducing blogging to the classroom.
I really liked a tip Anne Davis provided - to introduced blogging to your students by modeling it yourself. Not only does it help familiarize ones students with blogging but it forces the educator to become a blogging expert by creating and contributing to a blog themselves.
I agree with the suggestions chapter 3 provided in the text. Any good teaching provides a great deal of modeling and scaffolding to gradually release students to independant practice. I would like to read this book for myself. I too am new at these types of technologies in the classroom. I see the benefits of using these technologies but I am still uncertain of parental support.
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