Blogging

Blogging is a wonderful tool for everyone. I especially think blogging would be a great tool to use in the classroom. It makes me sad that our school does not allow this type of communication in the school. I understand why they block this ability, but also have a hard time understanding why there can not be certain restrictions put on some of the sites they choose to block us from. After reading articles about blogging I understand that they are trying very hard to make it more secure for use in the classroom and hope that they are able to do this soon. Blogging could be a fantastic tool for journaling about a certain subject or activity that we did, to let children have a voice that are scared to speak up in the classroom, or as a tool to get to know one another better.

Susan Saunders' Blog

I have never blogged before but do see many advantages for students to blog at school. I could see using blogging effectively as a teaching tool. Students could contribute information and also links. I could also see using blogging for interactive writing across curriculums. Students would see writing as fun and even challenging especially those students who view writing as a painful act. It would also encourage reading. Students could follow blogs on subjects that interest them. Students would definitely need a course in Blogging Etiquette since many students believe everything posted on a blog. I've even had students use information from blogs that was incorrect. Our district has most blogging sites blocked so it might be futile to attempt class blogging even though there are many advantages to having students blogging.

Blogging on Blogging

I think that blogs are great for recreational use but obviously they can get out of hand. There is a clear distinction between factual information and blogging. Unfortunately, students have a very difficult time distinguishing between the two. What is even scarier, most adults do not understand the concept of blogging and the dangers of accepting bloggers as credible sources. I am sure they work great as online diaries, just not sure why you would necessarily want the world to read it!!!

Sandra Nissen's Blog

Blogging could be another great way to facilitate the writing process, but many of the districts currently block this type of internet activity. Of course, online safety is extremely important! After reading the article, Blogging? It's Elementary, My Dear Watson, I see that many districts are searching for class blog sites that are safe and secure. Using closed Web tools like KidzBlog would allow students a chance to express themselves with blogging. The technical service corrdinators need to be aware that these options exist!

Blaaaaahhging! Dena Kerr

I should really be checking my Baker email more often. I would save myself so much grief! Well, helping me figure out how to contribute an original post to this blog has been a "class project" for my summer school kids, so I can truthfully say I'm using it in my classroom! I was surprised that I'm working on this at school and no alarms have gone off, and no tech people have come charging into my classroom ready to haul me away in handcuffs. All that aside, I really can see myself using a classroom blog. When I asked my summer school students, "OK, are any of you familiar with blogging?" every kid jumped up out of his/her seat and waved at me with huge smiles on their faces. We would be fools not to tap into that enthusiasm, no matter what hurdles our districts, our techies, or our own trepidations may throw out in front of us! Kids need to feel ownership in their own educational process... to be contributors, not just receptacles.

Nancy's Blogging

Well, this is a new experience for me. It took a little bit for me to figure out how to add a new post to this blog. I have read blogs before but never had one of my own. I think that this would be useful in my classroom. I would use it to post weekly homework assignments, newsletters, pictures and classroom comments. It would be a great tool to keep up to date with parents about what is going on it the classroom. That being said, blogs are blocked at my school. I would have to just about beg to have a blog open for students, parents and other teachers to see and use. I would be willing to do that because it is yet another great technology resource that our students need to understand.

Blogging

I have had some friends who have done blogs and I have read apparently a lot of blogs. While I don't think that there is anything interesting in my journals that people would want to read, I still don't think I would blog.
I think that a lot of people need a place to vent their thoughts and ideas. The danger comes when we take their opinion for truth. Even worse they copy that person's original thoughts as their own. When you put your thoughts and ideas out there you open your self up for criticism and scrutiny that the school tries to prevent.
Using blogs in the classroom would require clear communication with parents about what is going on. Also, the students would need to be taught how to blog in a school appropriate way. Thirdly, students would need to learn how to give and take criticism in a helpful and healthy way.
I am thinking about trying a class blog and having my students posting to it weekly about something they got out of class for the week. Not sure yet. I want to hear what they (my students) think and yet I am wary of heading down this road.

Blogging- Jennifer Lanfranca

Hello Again!

I just figured out that I had to accept the invitation to this blog before I could post as an author. So here I am again. I think Blogging is a great way for teachers to get their students involved in the writing process with one another. They can do it at school and at home and get immediate feedback from their teacher and peers. I think that having a private blog is a way to keep confidentiality within the class. I know that I would not like for my child or myself for that matter, posting things on a blog that are public for everyone on the internet to see. Especially after reading the book The Blue Nowhere I am even more cautious now to what things are on the internet. That being said having a private blog like the one we are on right now is a great way to communicate and connect with friends and family!

Blogging & Me

I have read many blogs but have never posted on one. I am surprised at how common blogs are. When searching for an answer to a question on google, a lot of pages that come up are blog pages. So I have read more blogs than I thought! Just like any searching on the internet, you have to consider the source when reading blogs for information. Reading blogs about silly stuff, news, or entertainment news can be quite entertaining! Blogging is a great way for anyone to say how they feel or what they think.
As far as using them in my classroom, I think having a classroom blog would be a great tool. It would be another great communication piece for the parents. I would worry about negative or inappropriate comments made on the blog, but hopefully that wouldn't ruin it. I would also worry about keeping up with it. Keeping up with parent daily phone calls and emails can be time consuming -- I'm guessing a blog could be too.
I don't think my students (1st graders) could individually blog but it would be fun and a good introduction to technology to share the classroom blog to the entire class during a morning meeting time. Perhaps one student, like the helper of the day could write and post a sentence for parents to read and comment on, and then we could read any comments as a class the next day. Parents could enjoy interacting with the class, without having to come to the classroom! As many articles and other class members have said, I would want to inform the parents of the blog and get their permission for their child to use it. But since it's a class blog, we could just use the name of "1st grader." Just an idea for early elementary use!
~Adler~

My thoughts on Blogging

I had never really explored the idea of blogging to much until this class. I have read some families blogs that were on missions across the world, which was very cool to read and see all the cool things they were doing. Having blogs is a great way to share information with others in a informal format. This is like a journal entry where you can share what is happening with friends and family. I have also seen people use a blog to share their month by month progress as they were expecting a baby.

As far as using a blog in my classroom it would again just be for information sharing. I am required to do a weekly newsletter and could see me just posting the same information on the blog. As long as parents reply with important information or questions, I don't see it as being a problem. It is when you get that excess nonsense that I think it could become a headache. Needless to say, I'm interested in blogs, just not sure if I could adapt it completely into my classroom.

~Abbey Hussey

I figured it out! I figured it out! My computer wouldn't let me go to the web page from the link that was on our e-mail, so once again the library computers have saved me! I think blogs would be a fantastic, and environmentally friendly, way to keep parents updated on what was happening in the classroom. Also parents could communicate questions to teachers and to other parents through the comments section on the blogs. I could see where this might be a problem if you had a disgruntled parent who decided to express their opinion to all of the parents without talking to the teacher first, but in general I don't think most parents would act that inappropriately. At this point I know that most schools do not allow or encourage this type of communication with parents, but I think the more teachers who push for this to become acceptable, and the more expensive copy paper becomes, the more likely schools will be to change their current policy.

I can also see using blogs in place of traditional written journals. (Again this would be the environmentally friendly and economical way to go. Blogs would definitely be cheaper.) I think students might feed of each other's ideas. A lot of students seem stumped when it comes time to getting started with their journal, but you always have those one or two students who know exactly what they want to say. If the other students had these posts to encourage them, they would write more. HKM

My Thoughts on Blogging

Blogging gives you a chance to create diary-type entries of commentary. I don't blog but I do read some. I find some to be interesting, entertaining, and some to be a complete waste of time. Blogging gives people a voice. No one forces you to read blogs and they are a great outlet for the frustrated, the bored, the comedians, the gamers, the pessimists, the optimists, etc.
When it comes to incorporating blogging into my classroom, I am unsure. I tend to stay away from putting any of my students on the internet. I think you could run into some trouble and I would rather be safe than sorry. I do however think blogging would be a great way to communicate with your classroom parents daily or weekly. During the school year I create a newsletter to send home weekly with my students. The newsletters inform the parents on what has been going on in the classroom and what to look forward to. I think I could blog that info for my parents to read. -Just an idea-

My Blogging Experience

I have never blogged, read, or followed blogs until now. This is a brand new experience to me. I can definitely see the benefits of using blogs in the classroom. As I read the ideas posted on blackboard I realized that this could be a fun way to get students journal ling again and be fired up about it because it involves technology. This might be a fun way to have students reflect back on discussions held earlier in the day as a homework piece. I think that I will find myself being equalling surprised, just as the teachers from the blackboard reading, to how deep children's responses will get to the blog discussions.

I was glad to read about how we can keep our students safe blogging on-line. I appreciated the suggestions the last reading provided. I think that it is very important for students to be educated on what information is acceptable to post and that personal information should remain personal. I also like the idea of getting parental permission before beginning blogs in the classroom. Although I may be excited to use this piece of technology to get my students up to date with current technological trends parents may have a different feeling about it. It is always important to communicate well with parents before starting something new with students.
Rachael S. signing out of my first blog!

Our class blog

Hi everyone,

I have added all of you as blog authors, so you should be able to add original posts, not just comment. Please post your thoughts about the issues and ethics of blogging, and respond to at least 2 of your fellow students' posts.
Please let me know if you have any questions or run into any problems!

Thanks!
Amber