I currently
use Blogger to upload digital picture books for a Spanish class, although I
would like to see what students could do with a blog. Since I was an English
teacher, it is always easiest to think of English classes first. I will look at
English II first, since I am currently assisting a new teacher with her
curriculum for To Kill a
Mockingbird. I could see her assigning a blog for her student to do
a variety of things. She could assign each student group a topic like character
analysis, then the students create the blog and the rest of the class would
comment, ask questions, and critique the blog. I would love to see a class do
something like this and see how it would work.
I take most
of what I am using from a progressivist viewpoint. I see a more student centered classroom and
learning environment. My belief has
always been whoever is talking and doing is the one learning.
I can see blogs being used in many different classrooms to
encourage writing across the curriculum, color and design, abstract symbols,
and much more.
The biggest obstacle I see is that you need a computer to
create this. On our campus, we have
limited computers, and it is sometimes difficult to implement a project as
this.
I love To Kill a Mockingbird! Maybe the students can role play, and blog as if they were one of the characters from the book!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the amount of computers available for student use would hinder a teacher’s ability to utilize blogging in her classroom. I was spoiled with technology for the past three years because all of the 5th and 6th graders in the district were given a personal laptop to use at school and at home. But I know this is not the case in most places! I have seen COWS, Computers On Wheels. This consists of a case of laptops typically stored in the library that can be rolled to any classroom for student use. Using the COWS would definitely be easier than taking an entire class to a computer lab.
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