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I teach both ninth and tenth grade students in Language Arts and blog would be a great tool for my class. Often times when we read a novel my class runs out of time for discussion. I could post a weakly question on the blog for students to respond to. Students can comment on my question or post questions or post thoughts and respond to each other’s posts. This way, every student has participated in the discussion rather than two or three students. All must participate and all will have a voice.
The blog would help add some depth to the lesson as students realize technology has practical uses beyond MySpace and Facebook. Also, with their work posted students might be more careful with structuring their sentences and double checking their spelling. In our course material for this week Kathy Martin discussed how bloging has begun to make students more aware of how they present themselves on the internet.
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Hi Shawn,
ReplyDeleteYour idea for using the blog to generate further discussion about literature you are reading should open up some great possibilities. How many of your students do you anticipate have internet access at home? If they do not, obviously some may not be able to join in on the discussion. Perhaps for these students you could require them to complete an exit/entrance slip to contribute to the discussion. Do they have a time during the day when they would have access to a computer lab? Any other ideas?
Hi Shawn,
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas for using the blog as a discussion platform with your class. My concern would be that several of my students do not have access to a computer at home and because of their schedule, have no time to go to the lab or library. I like Jeff's idea about an exit/entrance slip to contribute. Do you have any ideas about motivational strategies?
Kathy
Shawn,
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow English teacher, I can relate to your post. Yes, having a class Weblog would allow you to continue a discussion you simply have run out of time for in the class. Have you noticed that some classes enjoy discussions a lot more than others? A few challenges that you may have with this excellent idea are the following: How would you grade this? (participation only or by incorporating a writing and discussion rubric?) And, would you use classroom time for this or is it homework? If it is homework, how are you going to address a situation where the student does not have Internet access?
Finally, your idea certainly does give your class a deeper dimension. You are fostering analytical thinking skills with your class discussion. Keep up the excellent work!
Russell