Blogs

toc

//What is a blog?//
Blogs in Plain English by Lee Lefever

media type="custom" key="4021143" [|BrainPop] - What is a blog?

The basics
 * blog - AKA weblog
 * Online journal entry
 * Displayed in a reverse chronological order
 * Combines text, images, and links
 * Allows for online conversation
 * Invites reader comments

//What's the difference? Blog vs. Wiki. . .//
[|Angela Maiers site] [|David Warlick's post] - When Do I Blog?


 * Blog - presenter and audience
 * Wiki - group of people contribute to the collection of knowlege

//Terminology//
Web 2.0 - Want to learn more? Join the social network for [|Classroom 2.0]

//Educational benefits//

 * Increases students' interest in writing their work is published online and subject to reader comments
 * Increases communication among students
 * Motivates students who might not participate
 * Provides opportunities for students to read and write
 * Allows students to ask meaningful questions and stimulates new questions
 * Promotes interaction

//Purposes of blogs//

 * Learning
 * Interacting
 * Reflecting


 * Allows students to share information
 * Creates a classroom community
 * Fosters collaboration
 * Inspires self-reflection
 * Increases comprehesion and adds to conversation

//Types of blogs//
> Classroom community - the new "class web site" > Question and answer board
 * Class blog
 * Portfolio
 * Showcases student
 * Communicate with parents
 * Updates about class happenings

//Ideas for Blogging with Math//

 * Writing/journaling about problem solving
 * Writing math autobiographies - sharing past math experiences
 * Summarizing daily lessons
 * Providing images that explore math concepts
 * Math writing prompts
 * Share practice problems and examples with students

//Ideas for promoting literacy//

 * Storytelling and journaling
 * Reading responses for reading groups
 * Questions to promote conversation among students
 * Class writing projects
 * Creating a class newsletter
 * Creating an online-book club
 * Debating - teacher posts comment and students can share pro's/con's based on their research

//Blogging ideas for classroom blog//
Seven Activities to do with Your Class Blog: (Tom Daccord) a. Each student writes a one-paragraph response. b. Read a few before class to see what your students think about the reading. c. You can require students to respond not only to the reading, but to each other’s responses as well. a. Pose a question and require that students post at least three contributions to a discus- sion over the course of a week, or more contributions over the course of a unit. a. If you know the author of a book you are reading, have students write feed- back and have the author respond. b. Have students or tteachers from another school comment on your students’ work. a. This is great when you know you won’t have time to plan. b. If you know that you’ve flubbed a class and students are confused, have them post questions about things they don’t understand. a. Assign one student per day to be the scribe for the class. This is great for discussion-based classes where you want students to focus on the discussion and not have to worry about taking notes. a. Students can post their work to the blog so that others can see what they are doing. They can also comment on each other’s work. b. If faculty are trying to work as a team or core group, use a blog to communi- cate with each other about lessons, etc. a. Have students post an outline of their week’s work before meeting.
 * 1. Post a homework question**
 * 2. Start a discussion**
 * 3. Invite outsiders to comment on student work**
 * 4. Have students post discussion questions for tomorrow’s class**
 * 5. Have students post their notes for the day**
 * 6. Post progress reports on team projects**
 * 7. Have students create their own blogs for any independent study**

[|Blogging as Assignments]- Forum post from Classroom 2.0

//Blogging do's and don'ts//
media type="custom" key="4021387" Do's
 * Provide students with directions, guidelines, and expectations
 * Keep student safety in mind - establish rules for blogging
 * Provide time to practice blogging
 * Be clear bout the learning outcomes
 * Provide proper feedback at relevant times
 * Have clear assessment guidelines
 * Ensure adequate amounts of time for blogging
 * Provide proper conduct, uploading what makes a good post
 * Keep the focus on academic collaboration - guiding students to create thought provoking questions
 * Set the blogs up for the students - as a group or individual
 * __ Monitor and provide feedback __

Dont's
 * Be afraid to blog yourself
 * Leave blogging to the students
 * Just dive in

[|Blogging letter] [|Blogging policy] [|Blogging rules]

//Free blogging software//

 * [|Blogger]
 * [|Blogmeister]
 * [|Edublogs] - We'll be using edublogs! Here's the [|Help Manual].
 * [|Wordpress]

//Resources//
Professional Blogs
 * [|Learning in Hand - Tony Vincent]
 * [|Arizona K-12 Center Blog - Tony Vincent]
 * [|Cool Cat Teacher Blog] - Scroll down to see Vicki's blogroll for other great blogs
 * [|David Warlick's 2 cents worth]
 * [|The Shifted Librarian]
 * [|Bud the Teacher]
 * [|Keyboarding Reserach and Resources]
 * [|BlogWalker]
 * [|Educational Technology Blogs]

Classroom samples [|Calvert's Wiki]- List of classroom samples [|Ejourney with Technokids] [|School Library Blog] - Lists classroom samples [|Exemplary K-12 Classroom Blogs] [|Edublogs Awards 2008] [|A Really Different Place]

Blogging Examples in Education Oct 08 media type="custom" key="4028187"

Other resources [|50 Useful Blogging Tools for Teachers & Teaching Tips] [|Technorati] [|Classroom 2.0] [|Educational Standards for Students] - NETS Creating Avatars - [|Shrink Pictures] [|Icon Archive]

Subscribing to blogs [|Google Reader]

//Scoring Blogs//

 * [|Higher Education Rubric] - Ken Smith/Indiana University
 * [|Blog Reflection Rubric]-
 * [|Learning in Hand Blog Evaluation]
 * [|Scoring Sheet] - Dr. Helen Mongan-Rallis
 * [|Book Blog Rubric]
 * [|Blog Rubric]
 * [|Blogging Your Way Through Literature Rubric]
 * *[|Blog Evaluation] - Switch Beginning and Developing on the rubric
 * [|Blogging Assessment Rubric] - University of Regina
 * [|Blogging Checklist]
 * Blog Comment Rubric - Reading Workshop
 * *[|Humanities Blogging Rubric]- Click on the rubric link at the top of the page
 * *[|Rubric] - Ryan Bretag