Incorporating Blogs in the Classroom

As stated in my previous post, I am trying to plan how I will incorporate Blogs into my high school (grades 9 – 12) ELL classroom during the upcoming school year. I believe that blogging can always be beneficial in the classroom, but it will be especially so for me during this specific school year because I am going to be on maternity leave during a portion of the first semester. Having my students create Blogs will enable me to continue to be involved without actually being present in the classroom. I can check on their posts whenever is convenient for me and provide the necessary feedback to help them continue to grow.

My first step of this project will be to get parent approval. According to Will Richardson (2010) in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, the best way to do this is to send a letter home that includes “a description of the technology, how it will be used, what security measures have been put in place, what [my] expectations are for [my] students, and what the curricular goals are for its use” that parents must sign. I will also discuss the proper use of Blogs, my expectations, and internet safety with my students. From there, we will begin our blogging journey. My idea right now is to utilize the Blogs to have my students answer specific questions or respond to prompts. They will need to log into my Blog where I will post questions and/or prompts either related to whatever topic is being covered in class or general topics that will enable them to work on their writing abilities. I will post a rubric or detailed explanation of the requirements and deadlines for their responses as well. After students respond, I will then read each response and provide feedback. I have not decided whether or not I would like the students to comment on each other’s posts in the beginning. I may simply have them get used to sharing information online and being comfortable stating their opinions and responses at first. ELL students may be shy and nervous about their ideas being visible to other people, and feedback from peers may not be beneficial in the initial stages. Once they become more confident, I would like to have them begin writing comments on classmates’ Blogs. We will discuss proper methods of doing this before it is actually required, and students will know that I have no tolerance for inappropriate posts and/or comments of any kind. I am not exactly sure how often I will have students post. I will probably begin with one post a week and make adjustments from there.

The general purpose for the Blogs will be to enhance writing abilities in regard to content, organization, and language usage. It will also be beneficial for preparing students for discussions we will have in class. In my ELL classroom, I try to create an environment where students are participating and talking as much as possible. We do a lot of oral questions and discussion appropriate for the language abilities of the students. Having students organize their thoughts prior to a discussion is an excellent tool. It helps students to feel confident and able to contribute. Another benefit of the Blogs is that the questions and prompts that I post will force students to think deeper about the topics being covered. They will be able to work on skills such as stating opinions with rationale, relating text to real life, answering questions with support from resources, and more. They will also practice writing academically on a computer rather than with slang and abbreviations. Kathy Martin, a 6^th grade teacher who utilizes Blogs in her classroom, found that her students really did not understand how to appropriately answer a question on a Blog that was visible to everyone (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). It is important that students are able to do this. These skills will help my ELL students to be more successful in all their classes and in their futures beyond high school. Many of my learning goals could be achieved through simply answering questions on paper, but incorporating Blogs ties more into the interests, language, and skills needed for the future of high school students.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Spotlight on technology: Blogging in the classroom [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2819318_1%26url%3D

 
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.