Our class began a blog last year chronicling our garden
project. The kids brainstormed what should be included, typed and uploaded the
entries, added pictures, and shared it with their parents and relatives.
This year, they will continue the garden blog and add a
second, which will be about our class guinea pig, Mo.
I had a chance to see Will Richardson speak at a conference
last year, and even had the opportunity to walk the streets of Detroit with him
(not stalker style) at the end of the day. What is so striking about his
message is its simplicity: get technology into the hands of students. I like
his statement about tech being the grammar of their lives, and see first hand how kids enjoy being part of what's published out their on the Internet.
It’s so simple to start a class blog. The kids have done all
maintenance and remind me if too much time has gone by between posts. My
favorite part about the blog is seeing how they put into practice all they’ve
learned about writing. We do word study mini-lessons 3-4 times a week, and so
many of these have popped up in their written descriptions of the garden. I’m
looking forward to seeing what a class can do with a blog that starts in the
fall.
I often forget how comfortable students are with technology, even at a young age. They have embraced it and as you quoted Will Richardson, it is the grammar of their lives. We talk often of how technology engages students, and I have plenty of evidence over the last 30 years to support that claim. Most older students already collaborate (socially) nightly on social media so we might as well tap into this tendency for educational reasons, and the blog is a good vehicle for this purpose.
ReplyDeleteBryan
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experiences with the class on using a blog. You sound so enthusiastic about the experience and the best part is you are planning to implement blogging again this year!
Great work and refreshing to read! :-)
That is awesome to hear how much your kids are doing with the blogging. It motivates me that I could do it in my own class. Thanks:0)
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