Kidblog in the Classroom

Guest Blogging this week are Candi Conner and Casey Gillikin.  In my travels I learned that they had began this year to use blogs in their fifth grade classrooms at Metompkin Elementary School.  I asked if they woiuld be willing to write a Treasure Chest Post about this experience and they promptly produced the piece below.  My comments are added in italics.

     At the beginning of the year we decided that we wanted to use technology in our classrooms in a way that engaged the students and made it easier for us to share information as teachers. We created blogs with the intention of giving resources to students and parents and getting feedback from our students. We also wanted the students to learn how to use technology in an appropriate way. We use our kidblogs to post links to websites we like for different subjects, to give project rubrics, to allow students to write their writing pieces, and for editing in writing. (Teachers can give grades and comments to individual students which only they can view.) Students may ask questions to us or the other students and may upload anything they create. This allows for parents to see the products that their child creates at school and to feel like they have a sense of what is going on in the classroom. With technology being all around us we feel that the blog has made students more accountable for what they say and do which has taught them online etiquette. We approve every comment made on the blog before it is posted. The students simply log in with their name and password and get to work. Throughout the year we have thought of many ways to incorporate the blog for the years to come. The link below is to one of our blogs.
www.kidblog.org/msgillikinsclass

If you click on the link above, rather than reading through their student's postings, you'll learn how secure this site is.  Ms. Conner and Ms. Gillikin have their site set up so that only class members and their parents can view what has been posted.  Their are many security settings a teacher may chose between.

Kid's Reaction: Students love anything technology and anything that they can call their own so the blog increases student engagement immediately. It also is a great way to decrease the student excuse of, "I lost it" because anything can be posted. When students are able to login to their own space of the blog the quality of work that you receive changes. They know that their peers can see what they are working on and they feel more of a responsibility.

 Also, by having a classroom blog you as a teacher will begin to feel more comfortable with technology and branch out to other forms. The blog is great because you can use it as little or as much as you want. It's very easy which is important for the hectic life of a teacher! Students also like easy and if they can have all their materials and expectations in one place they can focus on what really matters.
   
To set up a blog site for your class, simple create an account at kidblog.org.
If you'd like help or suggestions on ways to use a blog, see your friendly neighborhood ITRT