Thing 2 Student Blogging and Writing

This was of interest to me because I am teaching ELA and Social Studies.  Students really do not like writing and as it is in many places writing is a weakness across the board for students. Student blogging really sounds like a great way to get students excited about writing.  Students always seem more excited to type than write.  I have students do critical analysis of books often in class so they are thinking deeply about text.  A fun activity might be to have students create blogs as book critics and they can review books they read during the year.  If other student read the same text they can easily respond to each other on the blogs.  I looked over the how to start students on blogging resource.  There was a section on etiquette and cyber safety.  This would be so very important to teach students so that they remain safe while blogging.  It would be bad to have to back track and try to fix some of these mistakes afterward.  I also think making sure the parents are informed about their student blogging and how it works and how it is beneficial for students would be a good idea.  Parents I think are sometimes confused with some of the technology activities for students.  Therefore, explaining the benefits to parents ahead of time would help avoid some possible push back.  I have a research project coming up for my students at the end of the year.  It might be really fun for them to create a blog.  This might be a way to get them writing more.  When students see they can respond and ask questions to each other on blogs.  I think this would be a great way for students to be able to write more.  When their peers are asking questions it will help them come up with more information to add to their research projects.  I also took a look at the cooperative critical writing blog.  This was interesting because a group of students could all be working on one google doc simultaneously.  This would be very exciting for students in class I know because they could see what each other is working on in groups.  This would also help promoting better writing in class, and a way to make it exciting.

Thing 1: Getting Started

Hello,
My name is Barbara Stack.  I am teaching 5th grade in Baldwinsville this year.  I have been teaching for almost 10 years.  I spent most of that time teaching 4th grade.  I am taking part in cool tools because I would like to learn about more technology tools that I can use in my classroom with my students.  They love using ipads and chormebooks so I am looking to give them as many opportunities to do so.