Exploring the Interwebs for Weblogs and the Classroom

So, as I was looking at different blogs, there was such a variety of blogs. Even among educators. I do notice that even some that have good content, I have a hard time staying focused on what they are saying if there is too much text without something breaking it up. Like a picture.

I think this observation will help with my students. Helping them to choose a picture to illustrate their ideas in some way. Maybe it is a picture of the book they are reading. Or a humorous picture of the topic. Or something completely random. But also making sure they are focusing first on the content, whatever it may be. Otherwise they may get distracted. :-)

There are many uses that I can think of for them. I think that when students have an audience of someone besides their teachers or parents, they may be more careful about how they are saying things (or for some, the opposite). They will be able to share a project or thought or an opinion in a different forum than paper and pencil.

I am not likely to use Blogger or Wordpress for my students because the ability to monitor is not as strong with these and since I will be teaching 3rd graders next year, I don't necessarily think they need a completely open, global audience. I want to protect some of their innocence while I can. I think privacy is an important component for school districts, and for me as a parent.

I have used KidBlog in the past and it has a great teacher dashboard that allows to connect with other classes or globally if you like. (It is $54/yr) I noticed that Seesaw has a blog option. It is free.

If I could pick one possibility to get my kids started, it could be the book review. The book review can easily hit several reading standards for fiction or nonfiction, depending on the prompt. In addition, it is a way to present student's ideas, collaborate with others, connect with those that may agree and share their thoughts and reasons with those who may disagree. Students could add videos and other graphics as part of the process. Depending on the purpose or level of the student.

There are several ISTE standards that can be reached with a blog, some of which is reached by the comments above. Using the book review, students can be Empowered Learners, Digital Citizens, Creative Communicators and Global Collaborators.

The more I type about how this could be used, the more I want to use it in the classroom. What about you? Can you see yourself using this in the classroom? Let me know in the comments.

Derrick