What did you blog in school today?
Wouldn’t it be something if the above question replaced the age old question “What did you learn in school today?” I can picture it now. Throw out one hours worth of our lecturing, teacher talk, or whatever you want to call it. Replace it with one hours worth of blogging. Students could blog about…..
- what they are learning
- connections to that learning.
- possible solutions to world problems that relate to the content they are learning
- what they understand and don’t understand in subject areas
- compelling posts that their fellow students or others are making about the curriculum they are studying
- questions they have
- opinions they have formed
- applying what they have learned to something in their lives
- math, science, social studies or any content area
- how they are making what they learn part of themselves
- something they have learned that they are curious about and want to understand more
- ideas they have about the classes they are taking
- suggestions for learning the prescribed curriculum
- thoughts on using technology in school
- ways they believe education can be made more engaging and relevant
Now that list could go on and on but just keep the focus on the curriculum. The teacher orchestates the process and sets the stage. The teacher sets aside some time to have them comment on each others’ blogs. Time would be spent in the beginning on blog ethics, responsibilities, topics that are appropriate and notappropriate, etc. I like leaving the topics wide open but you could request focus on specific topics that are relevant to your school. There can be a short time at the beginning of the hour to address issues, and help the students. The teacher blogs later and summarizes the students’ ideas. Highlight good ideas and recognize the students thoughts.The teacher walks around the class and is active in engaging in discussions to help the process along. The teacher would be available if the student desired input or feedback on ideas. The teacher would have suggestions ready for those that request it.
Then celebrate when student ideas are actually used or may be used. Make the students a part of the team. If some ideas are impossible, discuss why. Blog about it on the teacher blog. Invite comment. Discuss this at faculty meetings. Talk about it with parents. Heck, include the parents in the process. As long as we have the overriding guideline being sticking to the curriculum, I think we could really learn. Listen to the students! Really listen and value their ideas. In the process the teacher is guiding the student on effective ways to get people to listen to their opinions, how to back up opinions with facts, have solutions for suggestions, and learning to write to persuade. Wouldn’t this be great info for parents and us?. Simple guidelines could be set up to guide this project. It is just the kind of data we need to make learning relevant. Start here, see where it goes and everyone can be a part of deciding where it continues to go.
Just think, in the process they will become better writers (because we will be giving them an hour a day to write) and they are thinking and connecting to what they are learning. Now if not the whole school why don’t you have your class do this? If you don’t have a class (like me), go find one. Find a small group. Find one or two students. Build on a small start. Get students blogging about what they are learning, how they would like to learn, and what would make education better. You guide them in learning how to use technology as a tool for change. What better way to start than blogging? Teachers are very willing to share time with students, especially if you are sticking to the curriculum.
We blog about all the neat tools and use them ourselves but we need to provide some good models with students. Let our students do the talking. Walk the talk, or should I say “walk the blog.” What teacher doesn’t get excited when she sees her students writing better and thinking at a higher level? I can picture it now - students using blogs to be change agents, wow! We can teach them to be very responsible on blogs. They will rise to the occasion. We need to provide those models.