Different Ways of Using Blogs in the Classroom

After creating this blog, I started exploring different ways teachers can use blogs, and I found two I really enjoyed. The first one was created by Mr. Ferraris and his fifth grade students from New Jersey. Mr. Ferraris uses this blog to post podcasts the students make about various topics such as the science of laughter, college football predictions, the book Because of Winn-Dixie, and High School Musical 3. He also made a list of categories on the side of the page to make finding a specific podcast easier. One post I really liked involved two students doing a radio broadcast called N.E.A.T. TV. On this radio station, they talked about various endangered species and interviewed other students who were pretending to be from places like Australia. Listening to the radio broadcast of the students was a fun way to learn more about endangered species all over the world. In making this blog, Mr. Ferraris created a unique learning environment where students can research something they are interested in and find an inventive way of sharing their information through podcasts. This allows students to take learning into their own hands and have fun with it.

The second blog I really enjoyed is called 2M Gems which is run by Mrs. M. and her second grade class from Brisbane, California. This blog has links to each students' individual blog and shows class schedules, homework assignments, spelling words for each week, and several other class events. The most recent post shows a quilt of pictures students drew for Remembrance Day and a description of the project. Also, each student wrote a sentence or two about what they thought peace was. These descriptions can be seen by clicking on the quilt. My favorite blog entry was made by some students who attended a seminar and learned how to use a software called Crazy Talk. The software allowed the students to make an endangered species video where a koala bear talks about the issue from its perspective. Another entry I liked was a video where the students watched in amazement as their pet praying mantis shed its skin in order to become an adult. This blog is interesting because it shows what the students are learning in class and also allows them to be creative by involving technology. I also like the idea of each student having their own blog, because it makes them partially responsible for their learning. The blog is a good place for parents to see the progress of their students and helps them stay informed on what is happening in the classroom.

Because I want to be a lower elementary teacher, the second blog best captures how I would use a blog in my classroom. Because it can be hard to keep parents informed of what their child is doing in school, I think using a blog is an excellent thing to have. It helps parents track their child's learning and also shows them important upcoming events and homework their child needs to do. Unlike Mrs. M., I would post more of the children's work on the blog and have videos, audio recordings, or written captions where the children describe what their piece of work is about. For example, if the students learned about what happens inside the egg as a chicken develops, I would have the students draw a picture of what is happening each day and talk about it. This would help with literacy, because it gives the students the opportunity to practice writing or speaking with the purpose of informing others. I would make my class' blog all about the work of the students.