EduBlog Insights

I want to write about voice in weblogs. I remember reading years ago about the importance of voice in Donald Graves “Writing: Teachers and Children at Work.” It made an impression on me then but I don’t think I truly realized the power of voice for students until I started using weblogs. Weblogs take us outside the classroom walls. Student voices can be heard and respnded to by an audience that can be random or pre-selected. When students get a response from someone outside the classroom, generally their first reaction is one of awe and pleasure. They cannot believe someone cares about what they wrote. This begins the process of having their writing validated. It’s a good feeling. Students start to see a purpose for reading and writing. This usually motivates them to write more and they begin to care about improving their writing. The reason is that their voice has been heard. I think there is something very empowering to students about getting this recognition from others outside of the classroom. It is special. They enjoy being taken seriously. The anticipation of opening that weblog and hoping to have a response is exciting. Writing is fun! All of this is the beginning of understanding the give-and-take between writers and readers.

This month’s Educational Leadership Journal from ASCD is devoted entirely to writing and it is outstanding. It is packed full of articles that are relevant and timely for our work with weblogs. Tom Romano’s article, The Power of Voice, says “To become accomplished writers, students must do more than master grammar, spelling, and puncutation. They must develop a presence on the page. He breaks teaching the qualities of voice down into:

• information
• narrative
• perception
• surprise
• humor

He talks about teachers who write and how we can free students to write boldly. It is a great article and provides some good “food for thought” for educators using/or thinking about using weblogs in their classrooms.

I don’t seem to find time to play Jeopardy much anymore but I always liked that show. I even used it in my classrooms with Inspiration software. I just read where Jeopardy featured a “Blogs” category recently on one of the Tournament of Champions. Check Thousand Robots for some screen shots.

Let’s get enough kids blogging and they can play jeopardy and answer questions based on each other’s blogs. I like it!

There is a timely article, Class and the Classroom,  in the cover story of this month’s American School Board Journal. It ties right in with my post in response to Nancy’s post about testing. The author, Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and a visiting professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. The author examines the ways social class affects learning and the achievement gap. He believes that even the best schools can’t close the race achievement gap. He says our confusion stems from failing to examine the concrete ways that social class actually affects learning. He states that the achievement gap can be substantially narrowed only when school improvement is combined with social and economic reform.  

He points out the inability of schools to overcome the disadvantage of less-literate homes is not a peculiar American failing but a universal reality. The number of books in students’ homes, for example, consistently predicts their test scores in almost every country.

He made an interesting point about how urging less-educated parents to read to children can’t fully compensate for differences in school readiness. Children who see their parents read to solve their own problems or for entertainment are more likely to read themselves. Also, how parents read to their children figures in with this. More educated parents read aloud differently. Working-class parents are more likely to tell children to pay attention without interruptions. They are more likely to ask factual questions. Parents who are more literate are more likely to ask questions that are creative, interpretive, or connective.

He talks about the conversation gap, the role model gap and the health and housing gaps.

Richard Rothstein says that narrowing the gaps is what is crucial here and since the gap is already huge at age 3; the most important new investment should be in early childhood programs.

I like the author’s closing:

“Calling attention to this link is not to make excuses for poor school performance. It is only to be honest about the social support schools require if they are to fulfill the public’s expectation that the achievement gap will disappear.”

You might like to create a reflective, journal type blog to…

• reflect on your teaching experiences.  

• keep a log of teacher-training experiences.

• write a description of a specific teaching unit.

• describe what worked for you in the classroom or what didn’t work. 

• provide some teaching tips for other teachers.

• write about something you learned from another teacher.

• explain teaching insights you gain from what happens in your classes.

• share ideas for teaching activities or language games to use in the classroom. 

• provide some how-to’s on using specific technology in the class, describing how you used this technology in your own class.

• explore important teaching and learning issues.
  

You might like to start a class blog to…

• post class-related information such as calendars, events, homework assignments and other pertinent class information.

• post assignments based on literature readings and have students respond on their own weblogs, creating a kind of portfolio of their work.

• communicate with parents if you are teaching elementary school students.

• post prompts for writing.

• provide examples of classwork, vocabulary activities, or grammar games.

• provide online readings for your students to read and react to.

• gather and organize Internet resources for a specific course, providing links to appropriate sites and annotating the links as to what is relevant about them.

• post photos and comment on class activities.

• invite student comments or postings on issues in order to give them a writing voice.

• publish examples of good student writing done in class.

• show case student art, poetry, and creative stories.

• create a dynamic teaching site, posting not only class-related information, but also activities, discussion topics, links to additional information about topics they are studying in class, and readings to inspire learning.

• create a literature circle.

• create an online book club.

• make use of the commenting feature to have students publish messages on topics being used to develop language skills.

• ask students to create their own individual course blogs, where they can post their own ideas, reactions and written work.

• post tasks to carry out project-based learning tasks with students.

• build a class newsletter, using student-written articles and photos they take.

• link your class with another class somewhere else in the world

You can encourage your students (either on your weblog using the comments feature or on their own weblogs) to blog… 

• their reactions to thought-provoking questions.

• their reactions to photos you post.

• journal entries.

• results of surveys they carry out as part of a class unit.

• their ideas and opinions about topics discussed in class.
   

 You can have your students create their own weblogs to…

• learn how to blog

• complete class writing assignments.

• create an ongoing portfolio of samples of their writing.

• express their opinions on topics you are studying in class.

• write comments, opinions, or questions on daily news items or issues of interest.

• discuss activities they did in class and tell what they think about them (You, the teacher, can learn a lot this way!).

• write about class topics, using newly-learned vocabulary words and idioms.

• showcase their best writing pieces.

You can also ask your class to create a shared weblog to…

• complete project work in small groups, assigning each group a different task.

• showcase products of project-based learning.

• complete a WebQuest.

Share ideas you have for using weblogs in education.

I published these weblog “Think-Abouts” a while back in an online class. I think they are worth repeating, especially for those educators who are just beginning to think about creating a weblog.

1. THINK ABOUT what you want to do with your weblog.
   What kind of weblog do you want to create? What purpose will it serve?
   
   Do you want to create a reflective weblog to blog about your personal teaching experiences or discuss your ideas about teaching in general?
   
   Do you want to present a number of your favorite teaching techniques or ideas for using technology in language learning? Do you have clever ways to teach vocabulary or ideas for using poetry that you want to spotlight?
   
   Maybe you want to create a blog with links to useful learning resources for your students?
   
   Will it be a class weblog to use with a class you are teaching right now? What kinds of information and learning tasks will you provided for your students and what will you ask them to do? Will you focus on one particular skill such as reading or writing? How would you like to involve your students?
   
   These are decisions that need to be made before you start your weblog. To help you make these decisions, in my next post I will post a more detailed list of ways that educators and students can use weblogs.
   
   

2. THINK ABOUT what you want to name your weblog. 
   Once you have decided what kind of weblog you want, you w¡ll need to think of a name for it. When you create your weblog, no matter which blogging software you decide to use, you’ll be asked to name your weblog first. You may find it difficult to think of a name on the spot. So, it’s a good idea to come up with a name you like before you start the process.  Strive to choose a clever name that somehow reflects the purpose of your weblog. 
   
   

3. THINK ABOUT specific content.
   What kind of content do you want to post on your weblog? How  much information do you want to include, and how will you organize and present this information. You need to have an overall view and a long term plan on how this weblog will unfold.
   
   There are many aspects to consider. If, for instance, you are using it as a class weblog, how often do you plan to use it with your students? What types of information do you want to include? Will you include assignments, events, announcements, links to resources? Will you assign tasks or publish student writing? How many different types of sections do you want to include, and how will you incorporate use of the weblog into your class schedule?
   
   If you are writing about your teaching experiences in a particular class, do you want to blog daily, or only occasionally? Do you want to focus on everyday activities and how students’ learning evolves over time, or do you want to comment only on special events and activities? Will you focus on student progress, insights you gain while teaching, or on what worked well or not in the classroom?
   
   Will you include photos? Will you invite comments from readers? Will linking to other websites be an important part of your weblog?
   
   

4. THINK ABOUT your potential readers (your audience) and your own writing voice.
   Who will read or use your weblog? Your students? Other teachers? Colleagues in other teaching institutions? Will you seek an international audience? It’s important to keep this audience in mind, both now as you plan your weblog and later when you have it running online. By doing so, you’ll soon become conscious of your own writing voice and writing style.

Hotel Wi-Fi Gets Useful is an article by Mike Masnick on The Feature. I wandered to it via engadget. It talks about Starwood Hotels offering not only WiFi access in rooms, but also local hotel-based blogs for guests. It talks about how you can get local information from other hotel guests from the past and present. I like it. Just think, you can know where the best restaurants are, out of way places that others have discovered, and other tidbits. Future services are planned like streaming music and other online entertainment.