C. Cole - What I liked about blogging, was reading everyone posts. Just like the Discussion Forum or a Chat Room, blogging gives you the opportunity to communicate and exchange ideas - questions, etc. As I have stated before, I use a blog for my classes. It is a place where students, parents and school personnel can view what my classroom objectives/goals are, homework assignments, current events, etc. How students, parents, and school personnel were able to contact me, ask questions, etc. was through Outlook. This year I am going to make my blog interactive. I am going to have my students post a comment, questions, etc. I am also going to create a blog so that the students in NY can post a comment, questions, be able to have a open dialog with the students in my class.
I like the blog site for this class better than the dicussion format because you can read the comments without so much clicking back and forth. However, I felt doing both was often duplicating the reading because the subjects were so similiar. It is my understanding that the discussion has a way for the instructor to check our comments easier so it can't be eliminated. I think blogs are a place where students who don't like to talk in class can make comments and ask questions more freely. I hope to initiate a blog in my class for students to discuss projects.
I liked using the blog during our course. It was good to be able to share thoughts about the sessions with other members of the class. It introduced me to a technology that I had not used before and made me more comfortable with it. Blogs can definitely improve our students and our own reading, writing, and communication processes. I like the idea of using a blog as a class web page. It would be a great place to share information about our class activities, post assignments, etc. It would be good to share our classroom news with other classes who may be involved in the same types of projects and get their feedback and comments. It would also be a good place for parents to visit so that they could stay informed about our classroom activities.
I have to agree with Marsha, it has been difficult to keep up with two discussion sites and after expressing yourself on one, it seemed redundant to repeat it again. I am taking another course, so it is really three! I want to start a blog or wiki for my students. I think this would be a great place for students, parents and teacher to merge. I do have one question to ask of anyone who has done this before. How hard is it to keep up with the posting? Approximately how much time do you spend on the blog/wiki page and how many postings are you responding to in any given day? My greatest fear would be that I would be adding even more on a plate that is already overflowing. Does this process make it easier and give you more time, or is it taking more time away from you? I would appreciate any information you can share and any ideas or suggestions BEFORE I get into this and can't keep up!
I really enjoyed using the blog tool for this course. It is going to become a major portion of my English class this fall. I am considering requiring one or two posts per week per student. It is a novel way to share ideas, influences, perceptions, etc. Anytime we can get our students to write--is an opportunity for success.
Using a blog was new to me. I liked learning about the technology and uses. I agree with the others that it is a great way for students to review class expectations and ask questions. I know many students who will not ask a question in class but would be willing to do so on a blog. I don't see a lot of differences between the blog and the discussion boards. Are there sites that make setting up a class blog 'easy' and time efficient? Does anyone who uses a class blog routinely recommend it and for what 'best' purpose?
I've known about blogs for a while. I've read various blogs regarding my own research on everything from instructional goals, recipes, to baby names. If you can GOOGLE it, there is a blog for it somewhere. I've never responded to a blog until this class. I've just enjoyed reading others opinions of a variety of subject matter. It is yet another means of communication and integration of technology. I think the students would enjoy the use of a blog. I feel it would be easier then even email as students would not have to open individual accounts.
I really like blogs. They are a great way to communicate. I agree with previous comments that using both the discussion board and blog felt redundant to me and the discussion boards almost seem non 21st Century to me because the amount of clicking that is necessary. I think the use of blogs to get parental involvement would be very interesting.
Just like Tina, I, too, had never responded to a blog before this class. Since the onset of this course, I have added a blog page (right now, it is a simple “What are you reading?” blog) to my media center website, since our SchoolCenter software makes it infinitely easy for us to do so. SchoolCenter even allows us to limit blog entries to students who attend our school, as well as to preview potential blog entries before we allow them to be posted. I am very pleased that this class required me to examine “blogging” and participate in it, because I am now secretly planning all types of blogging escapades to spring on my teachers! Hah!
I’m hoping that the English teachers at our school, who routinely require journals, will appreciate the beauty of this “green,” paperless activity.
Blogging is the perfect venue for asking questions for all to weigh in on. It is casual, less-structured, and, I’m thinking, less stressful? Is that true, anyone who has required blogging as a class activity? It appears to me to be perfectly suited to providing the means by which a student can describe, step by step, how he/she approached a lesson, or took steps to solve a math problem, or to describe an event in history, or to communicate feelings that resulted from reading a book, or to relate how to play a game in P.E. The choices for combining blogging and learning activities are endless.
It appears to me that the use of blogging in a team activity would be a very useful option that would virtually extend class time and access homework time (providing students have home Internet connections). Students who are unable to finish planning their team actions in class could pick up where they left off at home, even if just to a certain extent. In our school, we could easily fill 1 ½ - 2 more computer labs every week—we do need computer access for these web 2.0 tools!
I agree with Linda and Marsha about keeping up both the discussion and the blog. This was the first time that I have taken part in a blog. I would like to start one with my students this coming school year. .
Bolg was neat to learn ow to do. I'm new to it. Kids could present their ideas to the class as it comes to them. They may be at home and come up with an idea. They can blog. As far as blogging for this class, the discussion posts with the blogging was overkill.
The blog for this course was effective in getting ideas and opinions across to one another. All the while we were learning ourselves...the blogging basics. I think this is one of the easiest methods to introduce into a classroom at the high school level. I may begin requiring students to log on and post a blog once a week or something...on a health topic. In this way the students could find time at school or at home to respond to these.
I have enjoyed using the blog for this course. While I have used blogs for several other situations, I find it most useful for these sorts of situations. I plan on creating a blog for my teachers in order to open some communication. Most all of my teams within the school have their own site/blog...so this will help me communicate with all of them.
I have used blogs on other websites before, and I like their format, whereas this one was necessarily a contrived one...the real blog is a place where people can discuss and comment and exchange ideas and opinions. This one has been instructive only to those who've never done it before and they should know that a real blog is much more interactive. I would like to set up a safe blog site for my students, and I like the idea that Mary mentioned--to put a prompt on the blog so people would have a purpose for writing.
I really enjoyed using this blog. I have to admit that this is the first time I have ever blogged like some others. I found it to be very educational. I enjoyed being able to read everyone's thoughts and feelings. It made me feel like I was not alone. Coming into this class, I felt as though I was alone or I was too embarassed to ask about some of these things. It is nice knowing that I am not the only one and that there are people out there that can help and that are willing to. I am really looking forward to introducing some of my fellow teachers some of the things that I have learned during this session and this blogging experience. Thanks everyone!
I can honestly say that I liked and disliked different parts of the blogging. I like that it was easier to navigate then the discussion board, but I thought it was harder to follow a conversation with so many people blogging. I feel blogging would be better if you had a smaller group of people communicating. Discussion boards work better with a larger class. In the past I have used blogs to give students a summary of a lesson and not so much of a discussion tool.
I really enjoyed using a blog for this class. I had never participated in a blog before before this class, but found it to be a very easy way to communicate with others. I like it better than the discussion board because you can easily read what everyone has written without clicking so many times. I could use a blog in my class by having parents and students submit any questions they may have on the math homework they were doing that night and I could review the questions in class the next day and also explain to parents any part of the assignment they may not have understood either. It is also a great way to communicate with parents any upcoming assignments and test their child with be having in the next week.
The blog in this course has shown me how people from all areas can share ideas effectively. I had never actually blogged before this class. I would use this in my classroom to post questions and have students in my classes as well as students from other schools, states, or countries post responses to this blog.
I am not sure I liked to blog in the class. It is a good way to share ideas, however I feel that by blogging and posting to the discussion page is double work and kind of wastful. I liked the discussion page, but again I feel that we doubled the work and had little advantage for it. In a classroom with teachers who are not willing to change adding extra stuff is not a good idea. I would highly recommend picking one over the other.
In the school I am at next year, I hope to use blogging as an essay like question for the students to be able to complete at anytime and the teacher be able to see it.
I've really enjoyed using a blog. Like Kim, using a blog was new to me also. I did find it very effective for class communication. I agreed with Linda, Marsha, and Kathy about the difficulty of keeping up with both the blog and the discussion board.
I hope to incorporate a blog in my class for dicussions of class content/projects. I also like the idea of posting homework assignments and events for student and parents.
I definately want to do a blog in my classroom this year. I would like to blog about different content we are learning as well as maybe have a blog for parents, and students...to offer a place for us to communicate about projects, homework, and or concerns. I believe blogging can be an effective tool to exchange ideas, read others postings, and learn from them. Children learn well from each other, and as well step into the collaborative learning environment full force how could you not include web 2.0 tools? I am excited to see how my students react and how responsible they will be by making their required post each week.
I think the blog was a great way for us to express what we felt without reserve of what the others might think since it isnt face to face. It was also great to see that everyone else is usually have the same problems too. I think this will be a great resource in my classroom!!!
C. Cole - What I liked about blogging, was reading everyone posts. Just like the Discussion Forum or a Chat Room, blogging gives you the opportunity to communicate and exchange ideas - questions, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs I have stated before, I use a blog for my classes. It is a place where students, parents and school personnel can view what my classroom objectives/goals are, homework assignments, current events, etc. How students, parents, and school personnel were able to contact me, ask questions, etc. was through Outlook. This year I am going to make my blog interactive. I am going to have my students post a comment, questions, etc. I am also going to create a blog so that the students in NY can post a comment, questions, be able to have a open dialog with the students in my class.
I like the blog site for this class better than the dicussion format because you can read the comments without so much clicking back and forth. However, I felt doing both was often duplicating the reading because the subjects were so similiar. It is my understanding that the discussion has a way for the instructor to check our comments easier so it can't be eliminated. I think blogs are a place where students who don't like to talk in class can make comments and ask questions more freely. I hope to initiate a blog in my class for students to discuss projects.
ReplyDeleteI liked using the blog during our course. It was good to be able to share thoughts about the sessions with other members of the class. It introduced me to a technology that I had not used before and made me more comfortable with it. Blogs can definitely improve our students and our own reading, writing, and communication processes. I like the idea of using a blog as a class web page. It would be a great place to share information about our class activities, post assignments, etc. It would be good to share our classroom news with other classes who may be involved in the same types of projects and get their feedback and comments. It would also be a good place for parents to visit so that they could stay informed about our classroom activities.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Marsha, it has been difficult to keep up with two discussion sites and after expressing yourself on one, it seemed redundant to repeat it again. I am taking another course, so it is really three! I want to start a blog or wiki for my students. I think this would be a great place for students, parents and teacher to merge. I do have one question to ask of anyone who has done this before. How hard is it to keep up with the posting? Approximately how much time do you spend on the blog/wiki page and how many postings are you responding to in any given day? My greatest fear would be that I would be adding even more on a plate that is already overflowing. Does this process make it easier and give you more time, or is it taking more time away from you? I would appreciate any information you can share and any ideas or suggestions BEFORE I get into this and can't keep up!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed using the blog tool for this course. It is going to become a major portion of my English class this fall. I am considering requiring one or two posts per week per student. It is a novel way to share ideas, influences, perceptions, etc. Anytime we can get our students to write--is an opportunity for success.
ReplyDeleteUsing a blog was new to me. I liked learning about the technology and uses. I agree with the others that it is a great way for students to review class expectations and ask questions. I know many students who will not ask a question in class but would be willing to do so on a blog. I don't see a lot of differences between the blog and the discussion boards. Are there sites that make setting up a class blog 'easy' and time efficient? Does anyone who uses a class blog routinely recommend it and for what 'best' purpose?
ReplyDeleteI've known about blogs for a while. I've read various blogs regarding my own research on everything from instructional goals, recipes, to baby names. If you can GOOGLE it, there is a blog for it somewhere. I've never responded to a blog until this class. I've just enjoyed reading others opinions of a variety of subject matter. It is yet another means of communication and integration of technology. I think the students would enjoy the use of a blog. I feel it would be easier then even email as students would not have to open individual accounts.
ReplyDeleteI really like blogs. They are a great way to communicate. I agree with previous comments that using both the discussion board and blog felt redundant to me and the discussion boards almost seem non 21st Century to me because the amount of clicking that is necessary. I think the use of blogs to get parental involvement would be very interesting.
ReplyDeleteJust like Tina, I, too, had never responded to a blog before this class. Since the onset of this course, I have added a blog page (right now, it is a simple “What are you reading?” blog) to my media center website, since our SchoolCenter software makes it infinitely easy for us to do so. SchoolCenter even allows us to limit blog entries to students who attend our school, as well as to preview potential blog entries before we allow them to be posted. I am very pleased that this class required me to examine “blogging” and participate in it, because I am now secretly planning all types of blogging escapades to spring on my teachers! Hah!
ReplyDeleteI’m hoping that the English teachers at our school, who routinely require journals, will appreciate the beauty of this “green,” paperless activity.
Blogging is the perfect venue for asking questions for all to weigh in on. It is casual, less-structured, and, I’m thinking, less stressful? Is that true, anyone who has required blogging as a class activity? It appears to me to be perfectly suited to providing the means by which a student can describe, step by step, how he/she approached a lesson, or took steps to solve a math problem, or to describe an event in history, or to communicate feelings that resulted from reading a book, or to relate how to play a game in P.E. The choices for combining blogging and learning activities are endless.
It appears to me that the use of blogging in a team activity would be a very useful option that would virtually extend class time and access homework time (providing students have home Internet connections). Students who are unable to finish planning their team actions in class could pick up where they left off at home, even if just to a certain extent. In our school, we could easily fill 1 ½ - 2 more computer labs every week—we do need computer access for these web 2.0 tools!
I agree with Linda and Marsha about keeping up both the discussion and the blog. This was the first time that I have taken part in a blog. I would like to start one with my students this coming school year. .
ReplyDeleteBolg was neat to learn ow to do. I'm new to it. Kids could present their ideas to the class as it comes to them. They may be at home and come up with an idea. They can blog.
ReplyDeleteAs far as blogging for this class, the discussion posts with the blogging was overkill.
The blog for this course was effective in getting ideas and opinions across to one another. All the while we were learning ourselves...the blogging basics. I think this is one of the easiest methods to introduce into a classroom at the high school level. I may begin requiring students to log on and post a blog once a week or something...on a health topic. In this way the students could find time at school or at home to respond to these.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed using the blog for this course. While I have used blogs for several other situations, I find it most useful for these sorts of situations. I plan on creating a blog for my teachers in order to open some communication. Most all of my teams within the school have their own site/blog...so this will help me communicate with all of them.
ReplyDeleteI have used blogs on other websites before, and I like their format, whereas this one was necessarily a contrived one...the real blog is a place where people can discuss and comment and exchange ideas and opinions. This one has been instructive only to those who've never done it before and they should know that a real blog is much more interactive.
ReplyDeleteI would like to set up a safe blog site for my students, and I like the idea that Mary mentioned--to put a prompt on the blog so people would have a purpose for writing.
I really enjoyed using this blog. I have to admit that this is the first time I have ever blogged like some others. I found it to be very educational. I enjoyed being able to read everyone's thoughts and feelings. It made me feel like I was not alone. Coming into this class, I felt as though I was alone or I was too embarassed to ask about some of these things. It is nice knowing that I am not the only one and that there are people out there that can help and that are willing to.
ReplyDeleteI am really looking forward to introducing some of my fellow teachers some of the things that I have learned during this session and this blogging experience. Thanks everyone!
I can honestly say that I liked and disliked different parts of the blogging. I like that it was easier to navigate then the discussion board, but I thought it was harder to follow a conversation with so many people blogging. I feel blogging would be better if you had a smaller group of people communicating. Discussion boards work better with a larger class. In the past I have used blogs to give students a summary of a lesson and not so much of a discussion tool.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed using a blog for this class. I had never participated in a blog before before this class, but found it to be a very easy way to communicate with others. I like it better than the discussion board because you can easily read what everyone has written without clicking so many times. I could use a blog in my class by having parents and students submit any questions they may have on the math homework they were doing that night and I could review the questions in class the next day and also explain to parents any part of the assignment they may not have understood either. It is also a great way to communicate with parents any upcoming assignments and test their child with be having in the next week.
ReplyDeleteThe blog in this course has shown me how people from all areas can share ideas effectively. I had never actually blogged before this class. I would use this in my classroom to post questions and have students in my classes as well as students from other schools, states, or countries post responses to this blog.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I liked to blog in the class. It is a good way to share ideas, however I feel that by blogging and posting to the discussion page is double work and kind of wastful. I liked the discussion page, but again I feel that we doubled the work and had little advantage for it. In a classroom with teachers who are not willing to change adding extra stuff is not a good idea. I would highly recommend picking one over the other.
ReplyDeleteIn the school I am at next year, I hope to use blogging as an essay like question for the students to be able to complete at anytime and the teacher be able to see it.
I've really enjoyed using a blog. Like Kim, using a blog was new to me also. I did find it very effective for class communication. I agreed with Linda, Marsha, and Kathy about the difficulty of keeping up with both the blog and the discussion board.
ReplyDeleteI hope to incorporate a blog in my class for dicussions of class content/projects. I also like the idea of posting homework assignments and events for student and parents.
I definately want to do a blog in my classroom this year. I would like to blog about different content we are learning as well as maybe have a blog for parents, and students...to offer a place for us to communicate about projects, homework, and or concerns. I believe blogging can be an effective tool to exchange ideas, read others postings, and learn from them. Children learn well from each other, and as well step into the collaborative learning environment full force how could you not include web 2.0 tools? I am excited to see how my students react and how responsible they will be by making their required post each week.
ReplyDeleteI think the blog was a great way for us to express what we felt without reserve of what the others might think since it isnt face to face. It was also great to see that everyone else is usually have the same problems too. I think this will be a great resource in my classroom!!!
ReplyDelete