Weblogs

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Hey check it out I am blogging right now!

I gained a lot of insight to not only what you can find on blogs, but also great ways to use weblogs in a classroom.  I like that this chapter pointed out the difference between what was considered a blog and what wasn’t.  For example, it said that journaling was not considered blogging.   Therefore telling your every move of the day is left more for Twitter and Facebook, which fall under social networking, not blogging.  I have heard some people refer to Facebook as a blog, so I like the verification.  I agree that the instant gratification and communication is what makes blogging so unique.  There is a sense of pride in writing when someone writes back to your post with a personal comment or question.  It allows writing and reflection to become purposeful for students.  Both reading and writing is involved in the blogging process, which covers a lot of groups in the literacy world.  The students are reading other blogs and comments, while also analyzing and creating and throwing their own opinion into their blog. -Chapter 2: Weblogs: Pedagogy & Practice 

When it comes to learning how to blog it really depends on the software or program you choose to use.  So far in my blogging experience I have only used blogger.com as a means to blogging, and both instances were for classes here at Lemoyne.  I have not had the opportunity to check out or use EDU blogs, but would like to at some point.  The book explains how to use blogger in depth, and even includes graphics for the beginner blogger. When I used it for the first time I was not really taught how, but instead was left to my own devices to learn.  The way I learn how to use new technology is to play around with all its options.  Last semester my blog took FOREVER to complete because I got carried away with all that I could do and add to my blog.  I added pictures, video clips, sparkling and moving graphics, and an option to feed fish at the bottom.  This semester I hope to add extra things, but hopefully this time it will not take as long because I know exactly what to do.  I really like being able to personalize my blog with the backgrounds and colors, and although this may not be very educational it shows off the personality of a student.  I think that this blog process will be even easier to access and use as the years pass on.

-Chapter 3: Weblogs: Let’s Get Started
 

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                I like that this article pointed out the fact that blogs can become dull and boring for students if they are not used in the correct, most beneficial way.  The teacher in the article decided to ask her students for suggestions on how to use the blog in more thoughtful ways.  By letting students make choices in their own learning they feel like their work is justified, and not just a product of their teacher’s desire.  Just like any “tool” we are given as educators we need to use the tool along with guidance and assessment to make sure the “tool” is helping students to learn. The four blogs to use in an elementary classroom are the classroom news blog, mirror blogs, showcase blogs, and literature response blogs.   I liked this way of categorizing the different ways we can utilize this tool with students, and each one has its own positive qualities.  In my Children’s Literature class we used a literature response log in which we had to find 30 children’s book and summarize and reflect on each one.  It became monotonous, but in the end it will be beneficial to use when selecting worthwhile books for the classroom.  Our goal with blogs is to try to reach a “higher order of thinking.”  Students can be directed towards what to discuss and reflect on to reach this higher level because sometimes students just aren’t at that level yet without some help.  Questioning is a great way to get discussions going to reach the deeper thinking that we all crave from our students.

- HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking     

“One way to enrich a students’ engagement with literature is by developing a depth of knowledge about the author.”  (p. 174) It is a wonderful idea to have students explore an author’s blog of the book they are studying.  I always love knowing about the author because then I could try to figure out why things were written a certain way or what opinions they had on their own story.  A blog gives us the opportunity to find out this information, and that has never been available before.  I remember sitting in class and the teacher saying, “one meaning of the story might be this, or it could be this, but we will never know exactly because we didn’t write it.” It almost gets rid of this “unknown” feeling because we can explore an author’s blog to try to find the answers. 

- Teaching with Authors’ Blogs: Connections, Collaboration, Creativity

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