Hi, Ben. I watched your video about the blogs. I think that this could be a great way to better communicate with our students. For example, when we roll out a new project, it would be great that the students could share questions that everyone else could benefit from in order to alleviate the unnecessary stress on both sides of the desk.
I see the value in communicating electronically with students but it would need to be a start of the new year implementation for me. Most of the students in my school are well practiced in communicating through Schoology or Google products. I guess blogging is another tool in the arsenal of platforms out there for this type of interaction with students and peers.
Hi Jim, I could see waiting until next year, but if you do it as a "bonus" activity this year, you could work some bugs out, before you started next year. When I switched from Moodle to Blogger it took me 2 years to get where I have it now, and it still isn't exactly what I want. I started using it as a discussion about current events, now it is that with a daily blog of what happened in class. But I have people who don't always post on time and I have a hard time figuring out how to make that happen.
I agree with Josh. Having a blog would allow students a forum to discuss issues with a project. I could easily offer a blog to my AP Chemistry students as I believe they already study using electronic means. Having a blog would allow them a place to offer up their questions or concerns and weigh in to help others. They would know that I would monitor their posts and offer my clarifications. I can see the value in this tool for them immediately. AP students do a good deal of prep and study at home at odd hours in working towards their AP exam. I can see they would benefit from this and I would have a better gauge of where they have confusion.
Agreed. For my AP classes I can see this working...However, for my larger,general level classes I like the structure of individual discussion questions that Schoology offers.
I would like to be able to use a blog to communicate with students and to have them post comments about discussion topics. In my district school supported email addresses do not start until 8th grade. Being a 6th grade teacher that plus not having computer access at all times would pose some issues. They come to me with little or no experience beyond the basics. That being said if I could get around the address issue I would first implement with my gifted classes and then roll it out with the other levels at a later date. It definitely would be an asset to their learning.
Karen - I feel your frustration about not having technology readily available all the time. It does create a headache. Typically tech time gets "snapped up" quickly and there is not room for flexibility. Plus throw in a bunch of snow days and any plans you may have thought you were going to do are now no longer an option. I cannot imagine trying to come up with creative tech uses for middle grades and lower (without email addresses)
Karen - I understand your "issues" too. One of my big concerns is rolling this out with my "applied" classes - those students either do not have access to the technology outside of school or would in no way be appropriate in their posting...a frustration I'm not sure how to address yet.
Karen - this is a problem in many districts. One way to handle this, is for schools to use GAFE which allows for student emails that meet COPPA and other online standards. We have to continue to advocate for our students.
Daphne, I think that you are right with what you said. You make a post to start a new idea within a topic and then someone posts a comment, or a reply like we are doing here to Erin.
I think blogging could be a great asset with my more advanced/smaller classes; however, I am convinced that my lower level students would either not use it or would not be appropriate with it. I'm not sure how to overcome those issues. I can monitor what students post, but I can't monitor 24 hours a day...any suggestions?
I like the 10 commandments also. It would be hard to monitor on a daily basis. You would definitely have to put in place consequences etc.I would start with those advanced/smaller classes until you are more comfortable and can work out all of the "bugs".
I like the 10 commandments also. It would be hard to monitor on a daily basis. You would definitely have to put in place consequences etc.I would start with those advanced/smaller classes until you are more comfortable and can work out all of the "bugs".
Has anyone else attempted to use the Blog with students? I thought I invited my AP chemistry students via the settings shown in the video. I asked one student if they had gotten an invite from me recently in their school email. She opened her school email and there is not an invite in her inbox nor is it in spam. (I invited another adult science teacher from my district who did get the invite) So, we tried to search for my blog using the url. She got the message that the blog is only for those invited (which is how I had it set up). I am out of ideas on how to get my students into my blog. I would really like to keep the blog private, invitation only. I am wondering if perhaps my district settings prevent students from getting the invite....Anyone have thoughts that will help?
I'm glad that you ask this because I'm having the same issue with Google Classroom. I set up a Google Classroom for my envirothon team and felt that it would be a great opportunity to explore Google Classroom in an informal setting with my team members. I was not able to invite my students to join the Google Classroom, but sucessfully invited colleagues who were able to see my "classroom." I guess I will need to contact my IT department to explore this further because it does sound like it may be an issue with our district settings rather than us.
I am not sure that Blogs are a tool that I am ready to use in my classroom. At this point, there are discussion tools in Google and Schoology that appear to serve similar roles that I am am fairly comfortable with. Maybe with time, blogging will have a greater use in my classroom but for now I plan to continue using the communication software that I have been using for student to student and teacher to student communications.
I definitely like the idea of rolling out a Blog for my AP Physics class. As of now I have been using Schoology discussions to get student input and have set them up in lesson folders, unit folders, lab folders and they are specific to a particular topic. I can imagine that a student with a quick question would avoid navigating through a labyrinth of folder to find the relevant place to post. It would also be neat to try this to see the class's "stream of consciousness" over the year.
I do like the idea of blogging but have a few reservations about it since what students say is "out there" and there is a liability. Our electronic footprint can be damaging and this is a great lesson for students, but I struggle with the lack of control I would have with a learing opportunity like blogging. I think it would be a great tool for sharing about labs and working through some concepts. It would also be great for studying for tests and completing projects. There are definitely several great applications! I am using blogging currently within Moodle, so I like that this is a "class based" way of blogging and sharing ideas. Its especially fun when students are taking on the position of someone and commenting back and forth. I had my bio 2 kids writing editorials right as various stakeholders within the chespeake bay and commenting back and forth. It's fun to see them take on another real world prospective. There are definitely many applications for blogging and it's great to get the students writing!
Blogging has many values in the classroom. One value that I've found seem to hold more ground than the rest is that it gives an equal voice to ALL students. Those who are shy or more reserved now have a different way to speak and share their thoughts. It also opens up the ability to communicate with peers outside of the classroom or to other classrooms, which was unheard of 15 years ago.
Blogging has many values in the classroom. One value that I've found seem to hold more ground than the rest is that it gives an equal voice to ALL students. Those who are shy or more reserved now have a different way to speak and share their thoughts. It also opens up the ability to communicate with peers outside of the classroom or to other classrooms, which was unheard of 15 years ago.
I also really like the idea that blogs can provide an equal voice for students. There are definitely students who shy away from the spotlight within the classroom, but blogging is a way to make sure that these students are getting their voice out.
The communication outside of the classroom is the most important aspect of blogging for me. As a teacher this is something that we should always strive for. The more students are having meaningful communication about content, the more learning that they are going to do. If we can get this communication to occur within the classroom and outside of the classroom walls, learning will definitely increase!
I think Blogging can be great for students to discuss ideas that are new to them or ideas that they want to expand upon. Blogging allows students to have a discussion that may not necessarily happen face to face in a classroom. Often students contribute more when they can be heard and share their ideas without the fear of others talking over them or shutting down their thoughts. Blogs allow students to discuss and ask questions.
I like the idea of continuing class discussions in a blog. Hopefully students who don't have internet access could use classroom discussions, but for those who have trouble speaking up in class could find a voice online. I see the greatest potential for this when we start studying environmental problems and their solutions. This is a big gray area and students could benefit from each others ideas, before we researched them more specifically.
I have not used blogs in my classroom, but after looking over the pre- readings, I can definitely see where they can be a valuable tool for students. Blogs can be a great way for students to continue their communication about the class outside of the classroom. This is always something that teachers should want! I also like the idea of using the blogs as a place where students can showcase their progress. The third pre-reading definitely had some valid points on this!
Hey Ryan, Showcasing definitely sums up what blogging can definitely be utilized for. As I mentioned before, students who are shy or withdrawn have that ability, like you mentioned, to showcase their abilities.
Never mind that I don't have the technology support. At what age should students start blogging? I work with entirely 7th grade students and I can say that most are just savvy enough to get into trouble on the internet and plenty don't have access outside of school. I have no gifted or AP class of more responsible students to "roll out" blogging with so whenever I start it would be 140+ 12-13 year olds that I would be monitoring. Any thoughts on age or how to get started in this scenario?
Hi Chris, Any thoughts about a class Blog for each class you teach? This way you can have individuals or groups of students be responsible for posts and you can always "screen" them before posting. This way students could still interact with other students either in your class or others in the school. Just a thought!
I was not given access as contributor. So, my comments will just have to do. I do like the idea of Evernote being used as journaling. I can see significant uses for that...and, honestly, I am still VERY new to Evernote (just like what I see). Bill M. made a good point in that Moodle's journaling / blogging would allow him to see a students posts and comments all at one shot rather than going piecemeal through all the postings. Hmm... Moodle 1 : Blogger 0.
Hi, Ben. I watched your video about the blogs. I think that this could be a great way to better communicate with our students. For example, when we roll out a new project, it would be great that the students could share questions that everyone else could benefit from in order to alleviate the unnecessary stress on both sides of the desk.
ReplyDeleteI see the value in communicating electronically with students but it would need to be a start of the new year implementation for me. Most of the students in my school are well practiced in communicating through Schoology or Google products. I guess blogging is another tool in the arsenal of platforms out there for this type of interaction with students and peers.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHi Jim,
DeleteI could see waiting until next year, but if you do it as a "bonus" activity this year, you could work some bugs out, before you started next year. When I switched from Moodle to Blogger it took me 2 years to get where I have it now, and it still isn't exactly what I want. I started using it as a discussion about current events, now it is that with a daily blog of what happened in class. But I have people who don't always post on time and I have a hard time figuring out how to make that happen.
I agree with Josh. Having a blog would allow students a forum to discuss issues with a project. I could easily offer a blog to my AP Chemistry students as I believe they already study using electronic means. Having a blog would allow them a place to offer up their questions or concerns and weigh in to help others. They would know that I would monitor their posts and offer my clarifications. I can see the value in this tool for them immediately. AP students do a good deal of prep and study at home at odd hours in working towards their AP exam. I can see they would benefit from this and I would have a better gauge of where they have confusion.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. For my AP classes I can see this working...However, for my larger,general level classes I like the structure of individual discussion questions that Schoology offers.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI would like to be able to use a blog to communicate with students and to have them post comments about discussion topics. In my district school supported email addresses do not start until 8th grade. Being a 6th grade teacher that plus not having computer access at all times would pose some issues. They come to me with little or no experience beyond the basics.
ReplyDeleteThat being said if I could get around the address issue I would first implement with my gifted classes and then roll it out with the other levels at a later date. It definitely would be an asset to their learning.
Karen - I feel your frustration about not having technology readily available all the time. It does create a headache. Typically tech time gets "snapped up" quickly and there is not room for flexibility. Plus throw in a bunch of snow days and any plans you may have thought you were going to do are now no longer an option. I cannot imagine trying to come up with creative tech uses for middle grades and lower (without email addresses)
DeleteKaren - I understand your "issues" too. One of my big concerns is rolling this out with my "applied" classes - those students either do not have access to the technology outside of school or would in no way be appropriate in their posting...a frustration I'm not sure how to address yet.
DeleteKaren - this is a problem in many districts. One way to handle this, is for schools to use GAFE which allows for student emails that meet COPPA and other online standards. We have to continue to advocate for our students.
DeleteHere is my question....I may have missed it somewhere but I am confused between the Post on the Blog and Add a Comment differences.
ReplyDeleteIf I post here by adding a comment....is that the same as making a "post" and if I add a reply to someone else's comment, is that my "comment?"
Can someone lead me to figuring out how to post or have I already done so? Feel free to chime in to help me out. Thank you!
Daphne, I think that you are right with what you said. You make a post to start a new idea within a topic and then someone posts a comment, or a reply like we are doing here to Erin.
DeleteI hope that I have that right... :)
I think blogging could be a great asset with my more advanced/smaller classes; however, I am convinced that my lower level students would either not use it or would not be appropriate with it. I'm not sure how to overcome those issues. I can monitor what students post, but I can't monitor 24 hours a day...any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteI like the 10 commandments also. It would be hard to monitor on a daily basis. You would definitely have to put in place consequences etc.I would start with those advanced/smaller classes until you are more comfortable and can work out all of the "bugs".
DeleteI like the 10 commandments also. It would be hard to monitor on a daily basis. You would definitely have to put in place consequences etc.I would start with those advanced/smaller classes until you are more comfortable and can work out all of the "bugs".
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else attempted to use the Blog with students? I thought I invited my AP chemistry students via the settings shown in the video. I asked one student if they had gotten an invite from me recently in their school email. She opened her school email and there is not an invite in her inbox nor is it in spam. (I invited another adult science teacher from my district who did get the invite) So, we tried to search for my blog using the url. She got the message that the blog is only for those invited (which is how I had it set up). I am out of ideas on how to get my students into my blog. I would really like to keep the blog private, invitation only. I am wondering if perhaps my district settings prevent students from getting the invite....Anyone have thoughts that will help?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you ask this because I'm having the same issue with Google Classroom. I set up a Google Classroom for my envirothon team and felt that it would be a great opportunity to explore Google Classroom in an informal setting with my team members. I was not able to invite my students to join the Google Classroom, but sucessfully invited colleagues who were able to see my "classroom." I guess I will need to contact my IT department to explore this further because it does sound like it may be an issue with our district settings rather than us.
DeleteI am not sure that Blogs are a tool that I am ready to use in my classroom. At this point, there are discussion tools in Google and Schoology that appear to serve similar roles that I am am fairly comfortable with. Maybe with time, blogging will have a greater use in my classroom but for now I plan to continue using the communication software that I have been using for student to student and teacher to student communications.
ReplyDeleteI definitely like the idea of rolling out a Blog for my AP Physics class. As of now I have been using Schoology discussions to get student input and have set them up in lesson folders, unit folders, lab folders and they are specific to a particular topic. I can imagine that a student with a quick question would avoid navigating through a labyrinth of folder to find the relevant place to post. It would also be neat to try this to see the class's "stream of consciousness" over the year.
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of blogging but have a few reservations about it since what students say is "out there" and there is a liability. Our electronic footprint can be damaging and this is a great lesson for students, but I struggle with the lack of control I would have with a learing opportunity like blogging. I think it would be a great tool for sharing about labs and working through some concepts. It would also be great for studying for tests and completing projects. There are definitely several great applications! I am using blogging currently within Moodle, so I like that this is a "class based" way of blogging and sharing ideas. Its especially fun when students are taking on the position of someone and commenting back and forth. I had my bio 2 kids writing editorials right as various stakeholders within the chespeake bay and commenting back and forth. It's fun to see them take on another real world prospective. There are definitely many applications for blogging and it's great to get the students writing!
ReplyDeleteBlogging has many values in the classroom. One value that I've found seem to hold more ground than the rest is that it gives an equal voice to ALL students. Those who are shy or more reserved now have a different way to speak and share their thoughts. It also opens up the ability to communicate with peers outside of the classroom or to other classrooms, which was unheard of 15 years ago.
ReplyDeleteBlogging has many values in the classroom. One value that I've found seem to hold more ground than the rest is that it gives an equal voice to ALL students. Those who are shy or more reserved now have a different way to speak and share their thoughts. It also opens up the ability to communicate with peers outside of the classroom or to other classrooms, which was unheard of 15 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the idea that blogs can provide an equal voice for students. There are definitely students who shy away from the spotlight within the classroom, but blogging is a way to make sure that these students are getting their voice out.
DeleteThe communication outside of the classroom is the most important aspect of blogging for me. As a teacher this is something that we should always strive for. The more students are having meaningful communication about content, the more learning that they are going to do. If we can get this communication to occur within the classroom and outside of the classroom walls, learning will definitely increase!
I think Blogging can be great for students to discuss ideas that are new to them or ideas that they want to expand upon. Blogging allows students to have a discussion that may not necessarily happen face to face in a classroom. Often students contribute more when they can be heard and share their ideas without the fear of others talking over them or shutting down their thoughts. Blogs allow students to discuss and ask questions.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of continuing class discussions in a blog. Hopefully students who don't have internet access could use classroom discussions, but for those who have trouble speaking up in class could find a voice online. I see the greatest potential for this when we start studying environmental problems and their solutions. This is a big gray area and students could benefit from each others ideas, before we researched them more specifically.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI have not used blogs in my classroom, but after looking over the pre- readings, I can definitely see where they can be a valuable tool for students. Blogs can be a great way for students to continue their communication about the class outside of the classroom. This is always something that teachers should want! I also like the idea of using the blogs as a place where students can showcase their progress. The third pre-reading definitely had some valid points on this!
ReplyDeleteHey Ryan,
DeleteShowcasing definitely sums up what blogging can definitely be utilized for. As I mentioned before, students who are shy or withdrawn have that ability, like you mentioned, to showcase their abilities.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNever mind that I don't have the technology support. At what age should students start blogging? I work with entirely 7th grade students and I can say that most are just savvy enough to get into trouble on the internet and plenty don't have access outside of school. I have no gifted or AP class of more responsible students to "roll out" blogging with so whenever I start it would be 140+ 12-13 year olds that I would be monitoring. Any thoughts on age or how to get started in this scenario?
ReplyDeleteHi Chris,
DeleteAny thoughts about a class Blog for each class you teach? This way you can have individuals or groups of students be responsible for posts and you can always "screen" them before posting. This way students could still interact with other students either in your class or others in the school. Just a thought!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI was not given access as contributor. So, my comments will just have to do.
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of Evernote being used as journaling. I can see significant uses for that...and, honestly, I am still VERY new to Evernote (just like what I see).
Bill M. made a good point in that Moodle's journaling / blogging would allow him to see a students posts and comments all at one shot rather than going piecemeal through all the postings. Hmm... Moodle 1 : Blogger 0.