How could blogging change the classroom?

For a while, I had thought about blogging as being more like an online journal - full of highly personal emotions and opinions - and something that I wasn't necessarily interested in. However, when I started getting interested in educational technology a couple of years ago, I started a blog to review some of the teaching resources and websites on the internet that I found useful. Of course, it was the summer, and I had loads of free time and high hopes for my educational technology blog. I always have grand plans for the summer! I made three posts in that first week, but alas - the summer snuck away from me and so did my blog! I had totally abandoned it and really hadn't thought about it until taking this course.

After reading some of the articles and examples from the Week 2 module of this course, I came to the realization that my class webpage (which is a new mandate for all teachers in our district), seems to be a blog, in a way. Its a place where we post information for parents (related arts schedules, spelling lists, important dates), and give a little snippet of what we will be working on in class this week, in the various subject areas. One thing that seems to be missing, if we are to call it a "blog", is the archiving of past posts underneath newer ones. The web-based software we are using doesn't support that format, so each page looks new from week to week. Its really too bad, because one of the key features of a blog is that you can follow it over time, and see the progression of thoughts from the writer. Without this, each page exists on its own, without reference to previous posts.

I could definitely see blogging as a way for teachers to more fully communicate the "goings on" of a classroom with parents and administrators. Teachers can provide a window into their classrooms, by showcasing student work, giving access to notes and homework, providing website suggestions, and letting parents know what their children are learning in school! Parents would probably really like this part, since when you ask most kids what they did or learned in school, they often reply, "Nothing." :-) Our administrators hope that, our current "weekly update" webpages in the elementary school, will be helpful and informative to the parents.  But if it was set up in more of a blog format, and giving others the opportunity to post comments, it might have a bit of a different feel. I chuckled when John said that using technologies, such as blogs, in our classrooms required "intestinal fortitude." In addition to the responsibility of teaching kids to use it appropriately and effectively, I'm not sure how the teachers in my building would react to opening up their website to comments from parents! To participate in the blogging world, you have to be open to feedback from others - regardless of whether it is positive or negative!

Now, I certainly hadn't thought about blogging as being something my 4th grade students would participate in. However, after reading the ISTE NETS and Common Core Standards, it is clear that students are going to be expected to use technology, which may include blogs, to collaborate with others and publish writing pieces, even at the elementary level.

This makes me think about the reading and writing notebooks that my students keep as part of our balanced literacy "workshop" model. So many of their reading notebook entries would make perfect blog posts.  My fourth graders are learning how to write thoughtful responses to their reading, noting their questions, predictions, thoughts, and feelings about text they have read. One of the lessons I taught this week was how our notebooks are the perfect place to respond to issues in our world -including the news. These types of  reading and writing response entries could certainly make their way into a student blog. Additionally, I do a "book clubs" unit every year where students meet in groups to discuss a book, and learn how to respond to other students' ideas, rather than just laying out their own. This type of "discussion" around literature also seems like it would lend itself well to a blog. Finally, and probably the easiest way of using a blog, would be to publish student writing pieces. In this way, students could give feedback to each other and parents could see their children's work in a new way.

Now, logistically, if I were to try these things, I would probably want to keep it as something that would stay within our class, and not something out for public view, until I got the hang of it.  It seems like a bit of a "scary" step to take - and one that would make your classroom very "transparent."  Now transparency isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if things aren't perfect, and mistakes are made, its much more obvious and glaring when it is public view. It's a big step to take, but I have a feeling that we will all be asked to take it, eventually!