EduBlog Insights

“What would students say?” asks Bud Hunt on his Bud the Teacher

For better or worse, I agree with him. Blogging is a unique set of

terrible if the decisions about blog use in classrooms were all made for students, instead of with them?

I highlighted

their input with us. I look forward to that.

I

Bud has many good posts that I have been thinking about. In particular, his one on mistakes and the one on assessment.

Bud refers to Will’s words about blogging. They are well worth repeating.

So, not only do

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Joyce Hooper is the principal of J.H.House Elementary School. The name of her blog is Principal’s Quest. Her blog opens with this strong statement:

I’m a principal on a quest to learn more about weblogs and how they can be used with the students and teachers in my school.”

What’s really special about this quest is that one of the students in my weblog group last year created the spark that got Mrs. Hooper actually blogging. I had talked to Mrs. Hooper about blogging, encouraged her,and pointed out all the ways it could help students and educators. They could have voices and improve their writing and thinking. I said what a difference a principal could make by blogging. She agreed but never got around to it. It took Angelica’s enthusiasm about weblogs to really get Mrs. Hooper blogging herself. Student voices can bring about lots of good things! Read the empowering story on the principal’s first post ‘On a Quest.‘ Then think about the importance of student voices. Mrs.Hooper continued her thinking on another post, ‘I Think I’m Going to Like Blogging.’

“I think I am going to like blogging. It’s another forum to include students, teachers, parents, our business partners and the public. I want my weblog to be interactive.”

And that brings me to the heart of this post, the comments feature on blogs. The combined voices of student, faculty, staff and others outside the community interwine to make this blog truly interactive. And just think, the blog is meeting curriculum objectives in a way that makes character education come alive, not just a weekly word of the week that’s read over the intercom in the middle of ten other announcements. Character education is getting top billing in a blog and the kids are talking about it. Plus they are finding real life applications to think about and then make comments that they know will be read. They love writing to their principal and they love having a voice.This is getting longer than I meant it to be but I couldn’t close without giving you a sampling of a few of the comments on her blog.:

Martha, a student, responds to a post about consideration…….

Amanda, a girl in my class didn’t have paper and I gave her like 10 pieces.

Martha

Bob, a blogger outside the school community comments……

Keep up the good work. I like the tone of your posts. It’s positive and optimistic. Thank you for taking the time to express those values.

Bob

Mike,a student, wants to be heard and is able to express his frustration ……

Well I am a part of the SLT and the SACS commitee was supposed to come and talk to us but the meeting got canceled. I felt so un important and let down. I felt like I was not important enough to even have an adult conversation with the SACS commitee. I am so mad that just because I am a little kid I have a little mind because I don’t. P.S I am very intelligent.

Mike

(The above post was in reference to an evaluating committee visiting the school and Mike wanted the chance to share his knowledge about his school. He had a place to voice his feelings. I agree with him -he is very intelligent!)

Kerri, a student, applies the meaning of the word perserverence……

Dear Ms. Hooper,
I was thinking about what you said and the teachers have a lot of perserverence. They get up in the morning and come to school and teach us everyday.Kerri

A third grade teacher notes how two character traits can collide…….

Hi

Mrs. Hooper.

Your last 2 posts about initiative and self-control remind me of one of my students. This student has lots of initiative but almost no self-control. They are constantly on the lookout for things they can do without having to be asked but when they find something they jump up and do it immediately whether its the middle of class or the middle of the street. I just had the thought that initiative without self-control can be as much of a hindrance as a help. Great weblog by the way. Mrs. Davis is helping 3rd grade start our own and we’re really excited about it.

Now I haven’t read ‘The Wisdom of Crowds’ that Will posted about here. I plan to but I just have to think that blogs like this in elementary schools could be great building blocks for the beginnings of this wisdom of crowds phenomenon.

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 Imagine this! I had to read on Will’s blog today about J. H. House being selected as Technology and Learning’s School Site  of the month.

I didn’t know it and what’s worse is I think I have that magazine

somewhere around here or at home. It’s on a stack somewhere to read

once I complete numerous “to-do’s”. (I’d rather be blogging!)

Information overload plus work overload has been hot on my trail these

past few weeks.

It’s  a nice write-up about The Write Weblog and other blogs at the school. Susan

Brooks-Young points out how the school is doing such a good job sharing

information. That school is so special. I’m biased, of course, since I

used to teach there but it’s true that all the good things they are

doing may just be one of the best kept secrets in Georgia! J. H. House

has a great staff and truly wonderful students.  I can’t wait to

share this with the kids and the staff!

I’ve done blogging projects there for the past 3 years. This year it

really is getting in other hands. That’s the exciting part. Next year, Hillary Meeler (she also produces House Highlights) 

will be running the blogging projects and I will be moving to another

school.  I’ll probably touch base with the principal once a month

but it is a happy/sad occasion. It reminds me how I used to feel when a

school year ended and we sent our terrific fifth graders on to middle

school.

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Today I’m doing one of my favorite things…teaching about blogs. I am working with Doug, a coordinator of a federally funded project for individuals with deafblindness. (He’s teaching me, too, about his field!)  I’ll let you know how it goes.

My vision for classroom blogging is simple. Use it as a tool in the classroom to ensure that the students and the teacher are talking, reading, and writing frequently about how and what they are learning and thinking. Get them to explore their thinking and the teacher can do the same. Get them to interact with others through comments. Encourage others outside the classroom to join in on the conversations. Value the students’ ideas by making them feel safe to share real thoughts and feelings so discussions can be meaningful. The teacher sets parameters to lead students toward building a community of learners who respect and encourage each other. They can learn to disagree agreeably. They can develop a good standard for learning on the web. They will be writing about the content they are learning. They will be thinking about it. Best of all, they will be writing about it. Writing to learn! You can start on a class blog with students commenting. You can give the students their own blogs or let them be contributing/junior authors on the class blog. I believe students will rise to the occasion, especially if we make them a part of the process of developing it. Take five or ten minutes of each day and have your students blog about what they have learned and what it has made them think about. It won’t be perfect the first time. That’s OK. If you stick with it, you and your students can create a blogging/writing experience that works for your class. You can guide the thinking. If you can’t do it daily, try at least weekly. I think it could be a great way to reassess our teaching and re-examine student learning. It is also a good way to give our students a voice. We can listen and learn from them. And just imagine what other blogging/learning/writing activities may spring forth from these simple beginnings.