In the past, I was never interested in blogging. I thought of blogging as a tool to criticize others. I now view it as an online learning community after reading the definition of blogging given by Solomon and Schrum (2014, p. 25). , “Blogs give people a voice, platform, and audience to express ideas and opinions (Solomon and Schrum, 2014, p.26).” Blogs allows educators to connect to a network of people with similar interests and learn from each other. Blogging can also be beneficial for students, even at the elementary level. My first thoughts was there’s no way kindergarteners can blog. Researching the websites and viewing the videos on how other educators make blogging work for students of all ages was enlightening.
I have always enjoyed using the Internet for everything, but never connected the Internet to Web 2.0 tools. As I continue to learn more about the tools available on the Internet, I discover the wide range of promising programs to increase learning in the 21st Century. Read and Write for Google Chrome is one Web 2.0 tool that is accessible to support student with diverse learning needs. The software is an extension offered through Google Apps and it has the capabilities of changing speech-to-text and text-to-speech for students with reading and writing weaknesses.
As blogging is fairly new to me, I was zealous to find out more about elementary students blogging. Some websites I viewed were Kids Like Blogs and Langwitches Blog. Both websites provided steps for implementing blogs with early elementary students. I was very impressed with the students’ ability to explain what they were learning from other students around the world. After viewing the websites, I am really to venture into blogging with my students. I went to school the next day and told my students we are going to start sharing what we learn with others on the Internet.
The students from Mrs. Carroll’s Classroom Blog shared a great way to evaluate student blog posts, comments, and responses with a one point, two point system. The students give it one point if the comment does not add to the post or conversation and two points if the comment does add something to the comment/ conversation. I will evaluate quality of their writing and content as well as the netiquette used by the students. Their post should have as much originality as possible. I want to ensure the students are leaving respectful and thoughtful comments.
References
Langwitches, S. (2011). Stepping it up- Learning about blogs for your students. Retrieved January 27, 2016, from http://langwitches.org/blog/2-11/10/23/coming-soon-stepping-it-up-learning-about=blogs-for-your-students/.
Schwartz, J. (n.d.). Students blogs teach technology in elementary education. Retrieved January 27, 2016, from http://kidlikeblogs.org/students_kids_like_blogs.html.
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2014). Web 2.0 how-to for educators (2nd ed.).
Sue Waters Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2016, from http://suewaters.com/2013/02/11/getting-more-out-of-student-blogging/