This blog was set up for a few different reasons. The first reason was to increase the number of students included into different discussions that we have throughout the year. Since we are unable to meet in one central location, using the internet is a great way to increase input and diversity to our discussions.
The second was to use technology in daily lessons that would benefit the students. A blog is great way to develop writing skills and learn some basic typing skills. We have also found that hand writing is not the top choice for some of our students but typing is a way for some students not to dread a writing assignment but enjoy it. When writing is enjoyed, much better work is produced.
The blog is pretty easy to use and safe for your students. We have the students come up with code names to post on the blog. If you want to know what your student is posting you can certainly ask them and I am sure they will tell you their code name and they will also be excited to show you what they have done.
We use the blog a few different ways. The original plan was to use it in our reading class. We use Junior Great Books for our reading portion of TAG and the main push is Shared Inquiry. We focus on understanding what we read beyond facts, background information, and vocabulary. We want our students to speculate, evaluate and interpret what is going on and support their original thought with evidence from the book.
We also plan to use it to post math word problems to try to stump other students or discussion a recent project we have completed like the Card Board Challenge.
There are many possibilities to this blog but above all I hope it enriches our students learning!
