Blogging in my Classroom

In my teaching, I usually use blogs only with my computer classes. Since we use Moodle at my school, I use the blog feature on there. Blogs are usually a place of reflection for my students. Whenever we complete a project, I have them create a blog entry where they critique their work. They write about things they think they did well and ways they would have liked to have done better. I like them to write about the difficulty of the project also. They tell me if it was too easy, too hard, too boring, etc. They also let me know which parts were challenging and/or frustrating for them. This helps me as a teacher reflect and critique my own lessons and improve them.
I also let my students comment on each other’s blogs. They are aware that others may be reading their blogs and therefore don’t write anything they don’t want others to know. The students enjoy reading and commenting on each other’s blogs and I think they learn from each other’s struggles and successes.
The blogs my students write in are not available to parents. I keep these blogs private to just our class. This creates a close environment where students are not worried about adults (other than me) reading their work. I know I would be uncomfortable having parents reading my reflections on my own work.
I have not used blogs in my math classes. This is due mainly to a lack of computer time and the necessity of using class time for the core content. I think I could use blogs for reflection in a similar manner as my computer classes. However, at this point, I don’t think the hassle of moving my kids down to the lab is worth the few minutes of blogging. I can still have students reflect on their work in my classroom the old fashion way. If our school or students ever begin to use laptops, I would definitely use blogging in my math classes.
One big issue I have with student blogs is the atrocious spelling and grammar. For some reason, students think that when they are typing on a computer they can use instant messaging shortcuts. I’m not teaching a spelling or English class, but I do want them to get in the habit of writing correctly. I tell the students to write their posts in good English, but then the comments can be however they want. This seems to be a good compromise and has worked out pretty well.

First official post

This is a sample post to see if this works.