There are a variety of ways I can use blogs in my
classroom. One way I have used in the
past and I could continue to do is current events. Blogs can be a good way to share an article
and I can discuss the article with my students.
The students can then post their thoughts on the article and even link
one of their own. Each student would
have an opportunity for their voices to be heard and hear what others have to
say.
In my government class, we could look at current issues in
the city or the state. It would provide
a great idea for students to sound off their opinion on a proposed law. This can give me an opportunity to see if the
students are understanding the material based on their opinions and
comments. The blog could also be used as
a forum for a different student to take charge each week and post an article
for the class to discuss.
I think I could use the blog in the IB Geography class as
part of my warm-up activity. It could
contain a poll or a graph that the students can comment on. I think the use of graphics can be beneficial
to the blog. While I could do this in a variety of formats,
I think the blog would be fun because the students could be required to do it
outside of school and we could discuss the comments the following class.
I have had kids come in my room right as a period is about to begin and ask me to print out an article for them for a current event assignment. It's pretty obnoxious that they don't print them out ahead of time, but usually they know where the article is exactly (so I at least have proof that they did try to read an article on their own). Being able to just link to their chosen article would save a lot of paper and still give the teacher evidence that they did their assignment. I would think, however, that using a Wiki, where each student could edit a post and link their article would be better than each student writing a comment with a link to their article. I just think it would look "cleaner". Though having students comment on a current event article that you posted seems to be a good idea.
ReplyDeleteSetting up a blog for current events would also allow you to keep track of the class' social, cultural and political interests over the year. The yearbook staff might love you! The students could learn how to insert links and other cool stuff into their posts. Many on lline news papers have cheap subscriptions for schools.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea for collecting various articles on current events. Students are able to access all of the articles and read/respond to them in one location. It is also a great way to branch off on the topic of evaluating online resources. I'm sure that some students will find articles that are not from reliable sources and you could have students evaluate those.
ReplyDeleteAny ideas on using a blog for Language Arts for 6th graders. I want to incorporate something using the new Macbook Airs we just received. Allowing students to use them is like giving them candy....you can hear a pin drop in my classroom when I bring these out.
ReplyDelete