First, let me mention how much I am enjoying being in the classroom. Over the last few months I have been learning about so many new things that I cannot wait to try. One of the first things I wanted to try as soon as I could was blogging with my students. About 4 weeks ago, I decided the time was ready to give it a try. Kidblog was recommended and I gave it a try.
We are now four weeks into blogging as a class, have posted over 160 posts, have received over 390 comments, and we are beyond hooked! The students are major excited and I am super pleased to see what content areas it has them getting extensive practice in.
One, they are writing all the time. That’s never bad! Weekly, they have challenges plus are encouraged to free write. By doing both, they are getting directed writing experiences and journaling type experiences.
Two, they are reading. This I didn’t quite expect, but it’s happening. The students immediately started reading each others blogs, as well as blogs from other classes around the world, and have started commenting. What a critical skill! Not only are they reading, but they are freely engaging in thinking about what they are reading so they can comment intelligently. I have been blown away by this!
What are some other benefits?
- They are working with technology
- They are practicing digital literacy
- They are engaging in digital citizenship
- They are enhancing a global world view seeing that their world is much bigger than Alabama, but also expands to California, Australia, and Canada just to name a few. I named those because we have been interacting with classes from those places in our blogging and commenting.
Why Kidblog and not another blogging platform?
- Kidblog has some great security settings. Currently, every blog and every comment gets moderated by me before it posts. This helps me protect my class.
- Second, it allows each student to have their own username and password so they can interact with the site individually at school or home.They also don’t have to have an email to be a user which further protects their identity.
- The backend (dashboard) of the site is very easy to use and navigate.
- The landing page (front page) of the blog allows each student to be easily found and shows a good list of student posts so readers can find posts they want to read without having to scroll though pages of posts. Visitors can also change the default list view from 25 posts on the front page to 10, 25, 50, or 100 posts.
If you are not actively blogging with you class, I encourage you to start now. Please keep in mind that you may have to follow your school’s or school system’s security guidelines. Also, teach your students about appropriate digital behavior.
So true Stephen
As the teacher of one of your class kid blog buddy classes (in Australia), we are experiencing the same benefits and excitement.
Thanks for your enthusiasm
Celia
http://kidblog.org/Year52010/
http://kidblog.org/Year42010/
Comment by Celia Coffa — February 19, 2011 @ 10:00 pm |
Thank you as well. I am so grateful for the opportunity to connect with another class from a different part of the world. My class is experiencing something they never have before!
Comment by mrstephenwolfe — February 24, 2011 @ 10:22 pm |
In our class you are Mr. Wolfe, and you and your students are mentioned EVERY day! Thank you so much for being so committed to commenting on our kidblog cite. Yesterday I used many of your comments as examples of good commenting. I’m very excited to be following you on Twitter and to have found your personal blog. I haven’t been tweeting for very long and so am more of a lurker than a tweeter. I have a classroom blog for my parents and have been trying to talk myself into beginning a personal blog about all my reflections, just haven’t committed to it yet–maybe you will inspire me.
My classroom blog: mrssurridge.wordpress.com.
Comment by mrssurridge — February 24, 2011 @ 8:19 pm |
Your class is mentioned daily too. My kids honestly considers your class as friends and can call many of your students by name talking about what they talk about. It’s quite humorous, but I love the excitement. I know I have told you before, but we owe your class a bog thanks as well. Y’all were our first outsider guests and have been a major source of motivation to them.
Comment by mrstephenwolfe — February 24, 2011 @ 10:21 pm |
Dear Wolf Pack,
What a wonderful class blog you’ve begun. My third graders also enjoy commenting. We’ve learned many things: start each comment with a compliment and try to use letter format. We also learned to read the previous comments and try to add to the conversation. As a teacher, I’ve realized that our blog is the perfect place to showcase our Web 2.0 skills, like Blabberize.
What is your favorite part of blogging?
Mrs. Kistler, a 49′er
Comment by Mrs. Kistler, a 49'er — February 26, 2011 @ 3:24 pm |
Mrs. Kistler,
On my own teacher blog, I enjoy this because it gives me a place to share my thoughts about what I am learning and hopefully get some feedback as well. For my class blog, my favorite part has been my students being able to meet and collaborate with students from around the world!
Comment by mrstephenwolfe — March 5, 2011 @ 6:18 pm |
awesome, Do you think we could do any more blog challenges and then see how many people do them?
Comment by morgan raggio — November 23, 2011 @ 2:10 pm |
Morgan, I still do them some with my class this year too. You are more than welcome to do them too. I hope you are doing well. I sure do miss you all this year!
Mr. Wolfe
Comment by mrstephenwolfe — November 23, 2011 @ 2:40 pm |