Blogging has become such a wonderful way to supplement what goes on in the classroom. I have never been one to stand up and lecture - usually because I don’t really know what I’m talking about :) so blogs have allowed all of us to learn with each other and individually. For example, I could have spent time discussing the idea of why good people sometimes do terrible things in our reading of Macbeth. But, rather than open up a class discussion or use precious time during a Socratic Seminar, I had the students find examples of this idea and relate them to Macbeth. In a short amount of time, every single student is involved with the topic at hand and is researching and synthesizing individual information. The students have become self-dependent for their own education (an idea difficult to teach). What I LOVE is that now, even the quiet students are engaging in the conversation at hand and are sharing an opinion. Macbeth has become a contemporary work for them, and the class is moving forward at a strong pace. Check out what a few of my students had to say about this topic… 1, 2, 3.
A few students have even written more than what was asked of them to do. As an English teacher, when I see students writing for their own enjoyment, well… game over, I have connected English to their lives in a way that has brought them meaning. So, when this student discusses Car Racing in detail through a number of posts, I am in no way going to ask him to stop even though the blog’s original purpose was to post on our texts.
After reading through some blogging issues though, I definitely need to create a modern blog policy for my students and their parents to sign. My administration has been extremely supportive of the use of blogs, and I hope to keep their support with me. Would it be worth the fight against an unsupportive administration? Much of that depends upon tenure status :)
Plus, how else could I tell my students that the best ending to a baseball movie is the ending to Major League and then have that scene immediately available for them? Enjoy...
2 comments:
Students really do become engaged when blogging. I was wondering if there was some significance of the two photos on your blog. :-)
Your idea of the role of the teacher with the use of technology is inspirational. I wish that all the teachers in my district would think this way. You mention weather it would be worth fighting against an unsupportive administration. As a supportive administrator in my school district I would say *yes* it is. That is the only way we are going to be able to effect change is if we help change along. The optimal thing to do would be able to find one administrator to become important and then let the belief spread. I know in my district that even though I am supportive of technology I often have to argue with the Board of Education members, school principals and others to allocate money to technology and give the teachers enough time to learn new skills. Sometimes all it takes is one!
The links you provided for your students work is great. You should be very proud. This is a good example for me of what could happen in my district. Now I need to get my Board of Ed to change their policy so that we are allowed to use blogspot or similar services. :-)
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