Thing 4 Reflections on blogs

As I read some of the blogs in this assignment it struck me that blogging reminds me in some respects of reading the editorial page in the AJC. This writing gives a blogger a chance to express opinions that are important to him/her just as does the paper. The biggest differences are that the blogger controls the publication and editing. Also there is a much wider audience available.  There is  the instant ability of receiving feedback to your opinions and thoughts as well. With just a few keystrokes someone can comment and voila! feedback. Perhaps even lots of it. With this freedom comes risk. You must monitor what you write and also be able to accept the comments of others pro or con.  I enjoyed reading a blog on the merits of assigning homework. I don’t necessarily agree with this blogger as I feel that homework serves several valuable purposes but his article was interesting and raised some good questions.

In a completely different vein there was a wonderful blog written by second graders on the disappearance of a duck that had appeared on the grounds of their school. They asked what might have happened to this duck. The many comments they received were cute and  creative. Reading this blog inspired me to try blogging with my own second graders. I can’t wait to see their response to the blogging experience.

For me blogging will most likely become a tool I use with my students in order to stimulate their learning and offer a different way to learn and respond to the learning experience. I also wonder if we might be able to use blogging as a way to get the students on our main  and the north campus more involved with each other.  It certainly would be an excellent tool for the teachers on both campuses to work together on projects that are common to both campuses or to create new ideas for learning. Perhaps this is already being done and I just don’t know it!!!

It’s now a few days later and I’m on my way with my own kids. They are blogging by making comments to questions I pose on the novels we are now reading in class.

The children in my class are excited and love this blogging experience. Another second grade teacher and I are working together to plan a variety of activities using blogging. We are just excited as the kids. Let you know how it goes. I would love to hear from other primary teachers on ways they have used blogging with their kids.