Blogger: Improve Student Writing
Published on Nov 23, 2015
Take your students’ writing to the next dimension through blogging! Blogging improves students’ writing skills and builds their confidence as writers. In this hands on session we’ll learn the basics of blogging using the Blogger platform, how to setup blogs, manage them, and how to use blogs with students in any subject and grade level.
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
What is blogging?
Pernille Ripp (http://pernillesripp.com/) was one of the first bloggers that I followed. She inspired me to start blogging professionally. I was encouraged by the blogging activities she did with her students and constantly use her and her student's blogs as examples.
Photo by TheCreativePenn
A blog is short for web log or a web page that was used as an online log, journal or diary. At its beginnings, a blog was a place where people could write about their every day activities or interests - similar to a journal or diary. Some of these individuals gained followers and the concept of blogging was born.
Photo by JoelMontes
Why blog with students?
There are lots of reasons why your students should blog. The boring reasons are because the standards say you should.
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ISTE: Creativity and Innovation
- Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
ISTE Standards•Students
Creativity and innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
Creativity and innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography
ISTE: Communication and collaboration
- Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
ISTE Standards•Students
Communication and collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
Communication and collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
ISTE: Communication and collaboration
- Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
ISTE Standards•Students
Communication and collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
Communication and collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
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NVACS Writing 6
- With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others;
In other content areas, are their standards where students have to write or explain their reasoning?
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authentic audience
In school students are often given assignments with a specific topic. They then must turn that assignment in to the teacher who grades it and returns it back to the student. If the student is lucky, the assignment might be posted on a class or hall bulletin board where others can see it as well. Blogging, on the other hand, provides an authentic audience. No longer is the teacher the only audience. There is potential for a larger audience to hear what a student has to say or share.
Depending on how a blog is set up, students may even have the opportunity to have a literal world wide audience. How motivating is it for a student to share their thoughts and learning with a reader or readers who live across the state or nation? This also has the additional benefit of increasing their knowledge about the world in which they live.
Depending on how a blog is set up, students may even have the opportunity to have a literal world wide audience. How motivating is it for a student to share their thoughts and learning with a reader or readers who live across the state or nation? This also has the additional benefit of increasing their knowledge about the world in which they live.
Photo by Marco Gomes
student voice
Blogging gives students a voice. It's easy for class discussions to be dominated by those students who are more motivated and vocal. Occasionally there may be a student who is shy or simply reluctant to speak up in class. Blogging gives every student a platform for speaking, writing and sharing.
Everyone has a story to tell, experiences to share, thoughts and opinions to vocalize. Blogging gives students that opportunity to share.
Everyone has a story to tell, experiences to share, thoughts and opinions to vocalize. Blogging gives students that opportunity to share.
goo.gl/NOm5SO
Edublogs Awards
Edublogs.org presents the annual Edublogs Awards to promote and demonstrate the educational values of these social media. A complete list of winners is listed at this website.
Photo by dirkb86
Let's Blog!
Let's learn how to use Kidblog to create class/student blogs. Here is a tutorial you can use:
http://suprtektalk.blogspot.com/2015/10/blogging-with-blogger.html
http://suprtektalk.blogspot.com/2015/10/blogging-with-blogger.html
Photo by nickwallen
MANAGE THE BLOGTOPUS
- BlogrollRSS Reader (Feedly)
- RSS Reader (Feedly)
- Blog authors
Blogger does not have any classroom management tools. It's up to the teacher to track the student blogs and monitor them. There are suggested ways of doing that.
Blogroll (http://suprtektalk.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-overload-keeping-up-with-stude...) Add a blogroll widget to the teacher blog and follow all the student blogs
Feedly
(http://suprtektalk.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-overload-use-feedly-to-manage....) Use an RSS reader such as Feedly to follow the blogs. This has the advantage of letting teachers organize the blogs by class.
Blog Authors (http://suprtektalk.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-overload-students-as-blog-auth...) Add the students as blog authors. If teachers add a Label widget and Contributor widget, they can then click on the student name to see all their posts.
Blogroll (http://suprtektalk.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-overload-keeping-up-with-stude...) Add a blogroll widget to the teacher blog and follow all the student blogs
Feedly
(http://suprtektalk.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-overload-use-feedly-to-manage....) Use an RSS reader such as Feedly to follow the blogs. This has the advantage of letting teachers organize the blogs by class.
Blog Authors (http://suprtektalk.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-overload-students-as-blog-auth...) Add the students as blog authors. If teachers add a Label widget and Contributor widget, they can then click on the student name to see all their posts.
Photo by hermitsmoores
