The assignments this week involved blogging. I read about blogging, I compared blog hosting sites, and now it is time for me to blog about blogging. I am a very long winded person in real life, and I have been known to ramble. This is the first blog that I have ever written, and I really have no desire for others to read about the thoughts which spin through my head. I do write in a journal, to clear my head, and get thoughts down on paper, but, I would never share those writings with anyone. So, the idea of blogging in my classroom forces me to rethink purposes of blogging, as well as the different forms it could take on.
A teacher who I taught with for five years at the middle school has her students keep a blog about what is happening in their orchestra class. She has a small group of them update the blog, and then parents can read about what is happening in the class. I have thought about having my students keep a blog, so that we can keep their parents updated as to what is going on in class. Now that I am teaching high school, my students rarely talk to their parents any more. And, the parents want information! So, a student blog, moderated by me, would be a great way to give them ownership of something in the room, and not give me too much more work!
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What a neat application of a blog. Thanks for the link, I shared it with a couple of colleagues. I think the idea of a reflective blog in your HS class is a great idea. Parents will indeed eat it up (I've recently been on both the parent and the teacher end.) It will also be nice for other students, who may not be as motivated or positive about the course, to see what others are writing.
ReplyDeleteWith all of the talk about classroom blogging, it didn't occur to me to use it for the high schoolers parents. (DUH - and thank you!). I kept skimming over the sections that mentioned it as I was thinking that application was geared more towards the elementary grades, but what a great idea. We even used blogging to communicate with parents when I took students to the Bahamas for a marine biology trip. It was set up by the organization that we worked with but the teachers and students were responsible for blogging the days events (OK so it was more like journaling because we weren't looking for comments and responses very often) so that parents could be kept informed and up to date.
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