Thursday

Replace Student Journals with a Class Blog


I teach at a 1:1 Mac school. This year marked our third year with laptops at the high school and I knew I wanted to do something differently with student journals. Last year I had students typing them in a Pages document (Pages is an iWork word processing application). And though journals are personal reflection, I wanted to take it a step further and venture into blogging.

I had students write journals online in the past. But that involved reserving the computer lab and hoping the internet worked and all the computers were working properly. They wrote posts on our old school website and every entry had to be approved. It was tedious and students rarely had the opportunity to read their classmates' entries.

So this year we started a group blog on Blogger. I urged students to remember this was for public viewing and they should write in complete sentences, use complete words rather than texting lingo/abbreviations, and always spell check. Well, it didn't quite start the way I would have liked. This post, for example. And this one. And this. No matter how much I urged my students to write more, write better, they didn't really seem to care.

Though I do think their writing online is improving, I have to remind them this isn't a Facebook status update. I think it's important to allow them to practice responsible online writing. In addition, many will be taking early college courses that require blogging. I was shocked that even though my students had their laptops for three years, only a couple of them had ever blogged before. Now, many of them have started their own in addition to our class blog. Learning this skill is another way to prepare them for a digital future.

You can check out their most recent posts for Teacher Appreciation Week. They wrote thank-you notes to a teacher they have had in the past. I'm pretty proud of their letters and we shared them with the rest of the district. Many teachers from their past were touched by their heart-felt sentiments: EHS English II

If you are on the fence about blogging, I suggest giving it a try. On Blogger you can have up to 100 authors for one blog. It's pretty easy to set up and add authors (you'll need their email address to invite them). If it doesn't work out, you can always delete it. But you'll never know unless you try.



Pin It

14 comments:

  1. I have been wondering how students might do with blogging. Saying hello from the giveaway at A Teacher's Treasure.

    ~April @ ideabackpack.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this idea. We do not have computers for every class, let alone every student but I was still thinking of doing collaborative blogging at times in middle school science next year. I popped over from A Teacher's Treasure giveaway but I will be back for sure.
    Pamela
    pfulk@cox.net
    First Class Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi! I'm a new follower! Stopping by from A Teacher's Treasure!

    Allie
    the-gypsy-teacher.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you all for stopping by & following! :) And good luck in the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tamil Nadu SSLC Class 10th Previous Years Question Papers.ns Paper Download TN Education Board Tamil Nadu tenth Class new Model Paper download with Answer 2021, So TN SSLC Exam Prepaid Candidates is to be had in Tamil Nadu SSLC TNDGE 10th Question Paper 2021 and Tamil and English and Maths and Science and Social Science and Study Materials Download, Mathematics Question Papers. Science Question Papers. Download Social Science Answer Download Sslc – March 2021 Question Papers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tips for successful essay. What should you do to make your piece of writing outstanding and remarkable? We can give several recommendations. First, don't rely on your own skills only. Second, Write My Essay

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am reading your management in the classroom but you will have to increase your controle over the students otherwise the students will not pay their fully attention to the lesson during your lecture. dissertation writing service

    ReplyDelete
  9. The KSEEB will soon publish the Karnataka SSLC Exam Question Paper 2022 for High School, as well as the Karnataka SSLC Hindi English Medium Question Paper 2022 for High School. The KSEEB released the Karnataka SSLC Hindi English Medium Question Paper 2022 for High School a year ago in January. Kar SSLC Question Paper 2022 The Kar SSLC assessment consistently attracts a large number of pupils. It is expected that a similar trend will emerge with some variation this year. According to previous years' results, the board will release the Karnataka SSLC Hindi English Medium Question Paper 2022 for High School in January.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have read it completely and got really impressed. Love to read more about similar types of articles Like Dissertation Writing Services . Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is a great idea, students can surely be benefitted from blogging. It will also improve their writing skills and also help them to write their assignments and essays on their own. Usually, students take assignment help from online portals like Unifolks.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Maha Board 10th Last year Exam Question Paper 2023 of will help you to Understand the Paper Pattern and types of Questions asked in the Final Exam. Maha Board 10th Exam Question Paper 2023 are usually Prepared Using the Textbooks Prescribed by the MSBSHSE, Students can Download the Latest Maha Board 10th Sample Paper 2023 for All the Subject Such as English, Hindi, Marathi Medium, Maharashtra 10th Question Paper 2023 Experts Teacher Prepared by MSBSHSE 10th Question Paper 2023 will help Students gain Confidence and make Them ready to face their Higher Secondary Examination.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good blog. I appreciate you sharing with us. Such fascinating details. Costo del divorcio de mutuo acuerdo en Virginia

    ReplyDelete

Similar Posts

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Total Pageviews