So how do I get techno-nervous teachers at my school to read my blog, write their own blogs and encourage their students to write one too? It seems that in order to ease them into this phenomena of blogs and their promise of expanding ones creativity, writing and collaboration skills, I might need to disguise it as journaling.
Language Arts and Reading specialists will love that! Right? How do I convince them that their students are thirsty for the knowledge they want to share but not the same way that they themselves obtained it? These kids are 21st century students and are adapting to a digital world that they are eager to learn from.
Fortunately for teachers, blogs are surprisingly easy to use. They require minimum technical knowledge and are quickly and easily created and maintained. Unlike many traditional Web sites, they are flexible in design and can be changed relatively easily. Best of all, students and teachers will find them convenient and accessible via any computer or mobile device. Personally, I have found that Google Blogger is so easy to use and works seamlessly with Gmail and other Google apps I use everyday.
As an educational tool, blogs may be integrated in a multi-faceted manner to accommodate all learners. Blogging encourages students to read and write, regardless of the subject matter. Educators are finding that blogs can be an excellent tool to promote literacy and writing skills. Blogging can also increase student involvement because it uses a medium students find engaging and comfortable. In addition, blogs can serve as a classroom management tool, for collaboration among peers, and as part of student portfolios.
If safety is a concern, try KidBlog. Set up your class for free without the need for student email addresses and no pop up ads. Students publish posts and participate in classroom discussions within a secure blogging community. Teachers can maintain complete control over student blogs and user accounts. It’s a great way to introduce blogging to younger students so that they can learn about how to be digital citizens as they get older.
I think the best way to expose our teachers to the latest and greatest collaborative environment of blogging is to show them how blogs can benefit them personally with a hands-on professional development opportunity. I want my fellow educators to see up close and personal that creating a blog and populating it with information to share is as easy as Word processing.
In addition, I think that if I involve one enthusiastic teacher and class in a classroom blog pilot program, I will have substantial evidence to show how fabulous it can work for them and how their students will jump on the idea. Showing them successful teacher blogs online will also encourage them like Kathy Schrocks blog with her amazing ideas on tech infusion in schools and Tammy Worcester with her creativity and genius tech ideas and lessons for all grades. You should also check out the article, 50 Must-See Teacher Blogs Chosen By You in Edudemic to get inspiration from other educators!
Want to learn more? View my blog here.
As a teacher, I too have learned the importance of blogging. We have a 1:1 program in our school and since I starting really blogging this year, I’ve learned how to make better use of student blogs in my classroom.
I decided to have two blogs though. The first is a professional blog which I write for ideas on education, technology and assessment. I’m able to reflect on ideas, new teaching strategies and it’s a great digital portfolio of the work that I’m doing with students. See it at http://teachingaheadofthecurve.blogspot.com/
However, I also found the importance of having a blog for my classroom. This is solely for parents and is on our schools website. The posts are puff pieces of what the students are doing in the classroom, but the aim is to deprivatize what is happening at school so parents and other teachers can see what is being done. I put up about one post of week of things the students are doing and if there is time at the beginning or end of class, direct students to the classroom blog and ask them to share reflections of learning activities we have done. Many parents have left comments there as well. See it here:
http://blog.ssis.edu.vn/gjohnston/
There seems to be a wide range of opinions on blogs, especially how students are using them. A colleague of mine last night said that even though students can publish to the web, much of what they write is not worth reading. I would argue this with professional bloggers as well. It seems like we’ve given them a platform for sharing with the world but have bypassed the traditional structure of writing development by skipping to the final draft and forgoing process of making a piece unique and worth reading. Many professional bloggers (I’m guilty of this too) blog about other bloggers posts simply accentuating their opinion, but not really offering anything new of substance.
Keillor said that in the future, everyone will have a blog with an average of 6 followers-4 of them being family members. I feel that with blogging, we have two choices: having something to say, and having to say something.
Gary Johnston
Great article! I’m a principal of an elementary school. I’ve recently become passionate about blogging and see a multitude of ways and benefits to use blogs! Throw in the connection to the CCSS and there’s really no reason not to blog.
I too want my students and teachers to blog. I’m an administrator committed to “walking her talk.” I subscribe and read MANY great blogs, and share my excitement about the content. The principal’s newsletter is a blog on the school website. I started my own professional blog, “A Principal’s Renaissance” and link to many of the blogs to which I subscribe. Next, I created a weekly school bulletin blog, (The former paper version of the weekly school bulletin is now converted to a weekly blog. ) There, I’m able to further demonstrate the different features of blogging, and model my own learning in “real time.” Blogging is new to me too, and I’m excited to learn and share! (The blog is the only “place” to find the weekly school info.) Next, I teamed with a 4th grade teacher to create lessons to teach her class about blogging, now that teacher has a personal and professional blog. (She is really a life long learner.) The IT Coordinator started a blog, and another teacher who leads weekly lunch time tech PDs started a blog! It’s contagious and, we’re all linked to each other. It’s multiplying class by class. Next year, a school blog, with guest posts from each teacher….I’m a believer!
Excellent article, Hanna.
I’m actually developing a similar article for my own site at http://www.edtech.tv simply to encourage people that you don’t have to be a techie to be involved with EdTech – especially to have a blog. So many teachers seem to get intimidated, thinking that they have to be like Neo from the Matrix, when really all you have to be able to do is click a mouse (…and maybe come up with something worth writing about every once in a while).
Gary also touched on a really interesting part that a lot of teachers like to play a happy game of ignorance around – building your portfolio is absolutely essential to maintaining your career as a teacher. If you don’t have an online presence you might as well raise your hand and say “Please skip me!” when you’re applying for jobs or (God forbid) trying to keep one during financial cuts.