When I first began reading this article about incorporating blogging in the classroom, I did not realize how many ways it can actually be done. Incorporating blogs within the curriculum can actually be beneficial for many reasons. Some ways in which blogging can be tied into literacy are mentioned in Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy by Diane Penrod. Two reasons in particular that stood out to me were that it encourages fluency and helps emotionally challenged or at-risk students.
Today at school was parent teacher conferences. I had the opportunity to meet with parents of diverse students with different needs. As the ESOL teacher came in to a few conferences, she encouraged parents to have their children work on websites such as Starfall and Tumblebooks as a way for them to enhance their reading and writing. She explained to the parents that this was something fun for them to do because they are using technology. As much as that made sense to me, I realized that blogging too has this same affect. Allowing the students to participate in a fun activity such as creating a blog will certainly be rewarding in a way which will encourage students to keep on going. Penrod mentions that working on a blog is rewarding because of the immediate, tangible feedback that the writers feel after publishing their posts. Penrod also mentions that writers are more likely to write for longer and with more care when they find this act of writing enjoyable and rewarding.
Although I found many of the ways in which blogging can be tied to literacy important and interesting, I particularly found that it can certainly help those who are emotionally challenged or at-risk. Blogging gives the opportunity for students who many times feel lonely or secluded to overcome this by allowing them to display their emotions and their creative sides in an interactive writing environment. Penrod explains that these types of learners typically feel good when they discover material on their own. Blogging helps learners do this by encouraging self-directed inquiry which develops discovery learning. I definitely think that blogging can be a great way for at-risk and emotionally challenged students to overcome their sad feelings and be encouraged to discover ways in which they can learn best. This website would be a great way to have students start their own blog in the classroom. It is kid friendly and allows students to experience language arts in a new way!
I'm glad you found some use for classroom blogs. Me, I'm still having trouble figuring out where I stand on them. I've heard all this great stuff about their use, and you do raise some pretty good points, but I just can't see it. I do understand that they can encourage all kinds of improvements with all kinds of children, but I see a lot of problems in their implimentation.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it's just the school I'm at, a Title 1, Priority 1 school with a very high ESL population, but I have a lot of difficulty just getting the students to write short paragraphes and read. Many of them hate to write and blogging doesn't seem like a good alternative to fix that; even if I was able to get the students access to computers. The school has very little money, which continues to dwindle each year (this year for the first time they had to cancel a field trip they had been going to for many years because of a lack of funds) which makes technology hard to come by.
So while I don't have an oppertunity to try these blog concepts out myself, I'd like to hear how they actually work out. So if you get a chance to try them, you'll have to tell me about it, and how they worked for you and your in need students.
But for now, I wish you luck with it; and I hope it works out for you and your students.
You made a wonderful point that blogging is more self-directed and, therefore, allows for more discovery learning. It does allow the student to feel more proud about their own work. You also made the good point that blogging cn be an outlet to those students, who feel secluded or lonely, to express who they really are and what they can do. In addition, having people comment on their work gives them a sense of accomplishment, and that people out there do want to listen to what they have to say. Great points and great work!
ReplyDelete