I can't stop thinking about the link that I posted earlier and how the students were allowed to misspell words in their comments. I'm thinking that Mrs. McCullers wants to motivate the students to post comments without having to worry about criticism. I'm not sure. When I start up my class blog, I will model my writing so that students see that I re-read my postings and comments before I publish. I constantly re-read everything that I write and if I find out that I have published something that has an error, I would definitely be embarrassed. By the way, I know I misspelled the word spelling in my title!
If you have or are thinking of starting a class blog, would spelling and grammar count?
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Isn't L2 development similar to L1 development?
A few years ago, a new student from Mexico joined my 3rd grade class. Lucky for me, she was literate in Spanish, which means she could read and write in Spanish at the 3rd grade level. All we had to do was transfer her knowledge to English. I was thankful that I had experience with a Spanish-only student when I taught Kindergarten, who, by the way, was fluent in both languages at the end of the year. Although I had the experience, my third grade classroom looked much different than my Kindergarten room. I labeled as many objects as I could, but I knew she needed to be with younger students. As luck would have it, her younger brother was in Kindergarten, so I sent her to his classroom during Accelerated Reader time. This experience reminded me that learning a second language is very similar to 1st language development.
If I were to create a blog for my 3rd grade class for literacy development, I might follow in the tracks of Mrs. McCullers. However, I would make sure that my students double-check their posts before they publish. This would have been a great thing for my Spanish-only speaker. Here's a link to a short video that explains why we should let our students blog.
Do you have a similar experience?
If I were to create a blog for my 3rd grade class for literacy development, I might follow in the tracks of Mrs. McCullers. However, I would make sure that my students double-check their posts before they publish. This would have been a great thing for my Spanish-only speaker. Here's a link to a short video that explains why we should let our students blog.
Do you have a similar experience?
Ready or not, here we blog!
It still amazes me that children, some as young as Kindergartners, are participating in educational blogs. But kids are participating, and the teachers brave enough to lead the charge are seeing some great interactions, leading to quantity and often quality as well. The article on Education World seems to indicate that this is anecdotal evidence.
Speaking of anecdotal evidence, I asked my partner teacher for her thoughts on recently implementing a blog to inspire her students to be more reflective about the books they are reading - since a written reading log wasn't cutting the mustard. Below are her comments:
"The idea for designing a blog to take the place of my classroom reading log came about after becoming frustrated by the lack of interest by students and their parents when it came to returning them. I have tried to have the students instead blog each day or at least every other day on the book they are reading for AR points. It started out a bit slow but within a few days all students were certainly writing more than they did with the use of traditional reading logs and within a week the quality of writing began to improve."
"The major difference that I have seen is with the lower readers and writers. They are writing much more and are moving through books more quickly and are testing more often on AR (Accelerated Reader). Some of the students show better AR scores. As time goes on I have noticed all students writing more but the girls in particular have taken to the blogs. EL students are doing well though writing quality has not changed as much with this group. My biggest problem at this time is staying up with the reading as some have written quite lengthy blogs. I try to always write a comment about their writing and ask a question to be answered the next time they blog. All and all I am happy with the progress they are making and after I work out a couple of bugs I would suggest everyone from say 3rd and up give it a try with their class."
A few questions for reflection:
1) If you teach, how does your district's Acceptable Use Policy address the use of blogs in the classroom by students? If you don't teach, how do you feel a school district should balance the safety of students with the opportunity of blogging?
2) What age / grade level do you feel is appropriate for children to begin blogging?
Speaking of anecdotal evidence, I asked my partner teacher for her thoughts on recently implementing a blog to inspire her students to be more reflective about the books they are reading - since a written reading log wasn't cutting the mustard. Below are her comments:
"The idea for designing a blog to take the place of my classroom reading log came about after becoming frustrated by the lack of interest by students and their parents when it came to returning them. I have tried to have the students instead blog each day or at least every other day on the book they are reading for AR points. It started out a bit slow but within a few days all students were certainly writing more than they did with the use of traditional reading logs and within a week the quality of writing began to improve."
"The major difference that I have seen is with the lower readers and writers. They are writing much more and are moving through books more quickly and are testing more often on AR (Accelerated Reader). Some of the students show better AR scores. As time goes on I have noticed all students writing more but the girls in particular have taken to the blogs. EL students are doing well though writing quality has not changed as much with this group. My biggest problem at this time is staying up with the reading as some have written quite lengthy blogs. I try to always write a comment about their writing and ask a question to be answered the next time they blog. All and all I am happy with the progress they are making and after I work out a couple of bugs I would suggest everyone from say 3rd and up give it a try with their class."
A few questions for reflection:
1) If you teach, how does your district's Acceptable Use Policy address the use of blogs in the classroom by students? If you don't teach, how do you feel a school district should balance the safety of students with the opportunity of blogging?
2) What age / grade level do you feel is appropriate for children to begin blogging?
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