As you may know, I've used Kidblogs, Edublogs, and now Google Blogger (the one you are currently viewing). Set up is easy and students and teachers can begin posting immediately. I like Blogger as it's yet another Google product that is easy to use and allows students (and teachers) to easily access through existing Drive. In Blogger, you can also close the group so it's not searchable on the internet, nor accessible to those without permissions. Pretty slick. It’s a great way to start teaching (or solidify) digital citizenship and internet safety skills in a safe, closed environment.
But that’s the boring part.
The cool reasons:
- You can post your lessons, assignments, project parameters/deadlines and students always have a place to go to find that information.
- You can communicate with students that might not otherwise speak up in class. Example: post a video and grade students based on their discussions/posts/comments.
- Students can use the blog to start their writing process, brainstorming with their classmates.
- Require students to use proper English, punctuation and actual words (‘you’ not ‘U’; ‘for’ not ’4′).
I love this quote from Ms. Yollis (and the rest of her post here):
The inspiration for the blog came from my feelings about Open House. I always love that night because it brings parents and their children together to share about what they are learning. Parents are always so excited and the students so proud to share. Having the classroom blog is like having Open House all year long. Students share what they are learning and then return to comment. Parents have regular opportunities to participate in the learning through commenting.
Her classroom blog: http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/
Please let us know if you have a classroom blog, which site you use, and how students use it!
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