student blogging – Page 3

blogging, kidblog, student blogging, writing

6 Steps to Better Student Blogging

September 24, 2012 Pernille Ripp

When I started blogging with my students, I had no idea what I was doing. I knew I wanted them to write, I knew I wanted them to connect, and I knew I wanted them to reflect openly on many issues and not just blog their writing assignments. Sometimes their blogs blew me away and other times I wanted to encourage them to hit delete rather than publish. Over the years as I have seen our blogging reach a wider audience, we have fine-tuned what it means to blog and it is something that I continue to work on with every batch of new students. So how can you take your blogging from just writing to actual global collaboration and reflection, well, these tips may help.

Be a blogger yourself! I show this blog to my students and we discuss what I do to keep an ongoing dialogue going. We discuss what my writing looks like and who I am writing for. The students notice the care I take with my posts and also that I (usually) comment back. Because I am dedicated to my own blog, I know how much work it is and also how fulfilling it is. Why would you ever ask students to bare their souls if you haven’t bared your own?
Make it authentic. Yes, I have students write about curriculum once in a while, but rarely is just a typed up version of something they already wrote. So if you want them to blog about an in-class topic such as science, how about making them keep a science inquiry diary where they discuss and reflect on their discoveries and answer questions from others?
Discuss the difference. We tend to assume that students know the difference between blogging and writing but they usually don’t. So make a chart, a list, a poster, something and use the students’ own language to discuss the similarities and differences. Post it and bring it up again, particularly if you see students’ writing not developing the way it should.
Create expectations. Again, ask the students; what should a great blog post look like? Then hold them to it. I have certain requirements the students have to follow and they also add their own to them, after all, this is being published to the world. While I would not have my students write a rough draft and then type that up, I believe we can hold them to a certain standard when it comes to their blogging. It should be punctuated correctly, spelled mostly correctly, and it should be a blog post, not just a couple of lines.
Make the time for it. And keep it! I have an urge to blog most days and I do wait until inspiration strikes, however, that takes training in a sense. I love to blog and I love the conversations that follow blog posts, but this is something I have grown accustomed to. I didn’t start out that way and neither do most of my students. So dedicate class time to blog, discuss their blogs, and celebrate the comments the students get. Make it a big deal because it is! When we grow complacent about our student blogs, they lose their deeper meaning and students can take the global connections aspect for granted. The blog then becomes just another forced writing assignment. So make them a big deal and keep them that way.
Prepare, Discuss, and Reflect. Before you start blogging, do all of the necessary preparation. Then while you blog discuss how it is going, fine-tune the expectations, and maintain a blogging presence in the classroom. Reflect once in a while; how is the blogging going? Should we take a break? Have students run the discussion, it is there hearts and minds on the line, not yours.

If you need more help, please visit my blogging resource page. I even have a letter for parents on blogs that you can get here. But in the end, if you do student blogging right, it may just turn into one of the most rewarding experiences for the students and for you. And even if you don’t do it right, it is never too late to fix it. Happy blogging!

guest blog, student blogging, technology

Tangled in the Web 2.0

August 17, 2012 Pernille Ripp

With the arrival of our twins, I asked for guest bloggers and was excited to share this post with all of you by Melanie Samson-Cormier…

Though I teach in a French first language school, the fact that we are such a tiny minority in our area means that most of our students actually learn French as a second language and speak English most of the time. Because of this, I am always searching for authentic situations where students can express themselves in French. I’d been hearing so much about student blogging and Twitter in the classroom that I decided to give it a shot, figuring it could be an excellent way to have students reach out and make contact with other French-speaking students their own age.

This past year, I worked as a support teacher for students who are having difficulty with the language. I had three students at the junior high level and I decided to start tweeting with them. I wanted to start small. I created a collective Twitter account (@elevesNL) for them and I coached them on how to use it. I also scoped out some student blogs for them to read and discuss.

Unfortunately, my students were not invested in the project. They didn’t seek out new blogs or Twitter accounts. They had little or no interest in reading or commenting, composing their tweets and comments only out of obligation. Finding little use in the project, I was preparing to wrap it up when I had a Eureka moment. While cruising the Twitter feed with a student, I asked if there were any tweets that piqued his interest, hoping to get him to @reply. He answered “Unless someone is talking about Pokémon, then no.” AHA! Most of my students have a learning disability or are considered at-risk. Yet the majority of the student blogs and Twitter accounts I had found discussed what was going on in their classroom, projects they were working on and general school-related activities. School is not easy for my students. Why did I think that reading blogs and tweets about school would interest them? Taking my student’s comments to heart, I helped him search for Pokémon blogs in French. He found one and immediately started reading (reading!), with great interest (wow!) He seemed to know the subject matter so well that I asked if he’d be interested in writing his own Pokémon blog. He responded with a resounding “YES!” and I was finally able to see firsthand what social media and blogging can accomplish in the classroom. My student who used to pout when I arrived began to stop me in the hallway to ask me if we have a session.

The moral of the story: As always, technology in the classroom only engages students if it’s used for meaningful communication that takes students’ interests into account. It’s not what you use, but how you use it.

Bio:

Melanie Samson-Cormier has taught in minority francophone schools in rural Newfoundland, Canada for 7 years and is now beginning a new life as a cognitive strategies instructor at the University of Alberta. She blogs in French at www.entrelesbranches.org.

kidblog, student blogging, voice

How to Create Successful Student Blogging – Taking it to A Deeper Level

June 28, 2012 Pernille Ripp

One question that pops up in my conversations with people whenever I highlight the blogging I do with my 5th graders is that of safety and commitment. How to keep them safe while online, how to prevent cyber bullying and also how to get them invested so it is not just another chore on their massive to do lists. While approaches differ, this is what has worked well for me.

Open it up to the world. One huge fear people have when they have their students blog is opening up the blog to the world but those global connections are exactly what make blogging such a phenomenal experience for everyone. If I had a private blog I wouldn’t have to teach the students much, it is the vast possibility of the unknown that forces us to really think about how we present ourselves to the world and how we conduct ourselves.
Stay on as moderator. While this may be an “oh duh” comment just leaving you as moderator of both comments and posts and then doing your job (reading everything) is a huge deterrent to anything. Comments don’t just slip through. Posts have the right tone and students present themselves well. And I have only once in my 2 years of student blogging had to intervene in a post. That’s with more than 1,600 students posts.
Prepare, prepare, prepare. I don’t just set up their blog and let them do it, we prepare through many steps. We learn about safety and we approach it like any other skill; one we must develop in order to fully understand it. But it goes deeper than safety, we have to get to the “why” of blogging, otherwise it will just be another demand from the teacher.
Treat it with reverence. Blogging is not an automatic right in my classroom. It is something the students learn about, build toward and ultimately have to prove that they are mature enough to handle. We discuss how much of a privilege it is throughout the year which means the students get that this is important. They know they represent our school district on our blog and that adds weight.
Have conduct rules. Just like in any other situation we talk about what good commenting, good posting, and good conversational skills are. Students know that their sense of humor can be taken out of context and that they need to represent at all times. So we discuss how to engage in a dialogue without hurting others and we talk about how to offer appropriate feedback as well.
Revisit. I say this all the time, just like in any other big life lessons, how to blog appropriately, safely and well is not a beginning of the year lesson, it is an all the time lesson. And you need to make the time for it.
Build community. Blogging is only really successful if you have the trust of the students. We use our blog to discuss happenings in our classroom, do curriculum, but also to write about big issues that affect the students. If they didn’t trust me and their audience, my kids wouldn’t bare their hearts like they do. Asking a 10 year old to tell them how they really feel about your classroom can be viewed as a trick question, one asked to get them into trouble, so before you get to those big questions, the foundation of honesty, reflection, and trust has to be present in the physical world.
Walk the walk. I blog extensively and I share it with my students. I talk about what my take aways are from blogging and why it is a necessary part of my growth as a teacher. I do not hide what I blog about and I even highlight some posts that revolve around my students. I show how I comment, build relationships and respond appropriately. I am right there with my students, doing the same thing they do, sharing the experience.
Listen. I have students suggest topics, I have them give me feedback, and I let them blog about whatever they want. All of that adds their passion to it and that is why they keep blogging even now when school is out and they are on summer vacation. They still have stories to tell and people to connect with.

By no means a complete list, but hopefully food for thought. Student blogging can be such a powerful learning experience and one that shows students that they have a voice and a place in the world of importance. They are indeed connected within our class, our school, and in the world. What else can you do for free that teaches them that?

kidblog, student blogging, writing

What’s A Student Blogging Challenge?

May 1, 2012 Pernille Ripp

After publishing a list of ideas for student blogging challenges, I was asked to describe them in more detail, so here goes.

What Are They?
The concept is very simple; every week, usually on Friday I post a new challenge for my students to blog about. This can be related to the academics in our classroom or thoughts on various education topics. I use this challenge for feedback, for ideas, and for them to become more involved in our classroom.

Timeline?
The students almost always have 9 days to finish the challenge; Friday to the following Sunday, so challenge postings do overlap active challenges. While this is considered homework or extra work, students are given opportunities to finish them in class and do not have to find the time at home if they do not want to.

What Is the Topic?
I try to keep the challenges short and to the point, such as, “Should education be fun?” and then wait for students to think and respond. We discuss perimeters for the posts at the beginning of the year and the students know to put their best foot forward, i.e. check spelling, capitalization as well as formatting.

Grading?
I never grade their posts, since I do not grade in general, but use their writing to assess their growth as writers and also to figure out goals for them and give them feedback. Comments from me are sometimes private or public depending on the feedback given. Students love to read each others posts and we often end up discussing the week’s challenge in class because it made the students’ think. I also tweet out their posts and use the hashtag #comments4kids to get other classes to comment.

Students’ Reaction
Students love the blogging challenges (mostly) and it keeps me on my toes as far as pushing their thinking. Students also get a chance to offer ideas for blogging challenges which I often use, thus providing another way for them to take ownership of our blogging.

What Else?
Well, these are not the only things my students blog about but it is a main component. They often take to our blogs to create new challenges for others, to share stories, or vacations. They write to express themselves and they challenge me. I love how they take forum of blogging and make it their own, creating those global connections that we all strive to make.

education, student blogging, students

The Purpose of Education According to My Students

April 17, 2012 Pernille Ripp

I know we as educators frequently discuss what we think the purpose of education is. Fancy words and creative sentences abound when this noble philosophy is discussed. We debate, digest and dissect until we feel we have reached some form of conclusion, that is, until someone new sparks a different discussion and we ponder it all over again. Yet how often do we ask our students that question? How often do we ask them what the purpose is of education and then listen to their answer?

Well, last week I unleashed the question on my fabulous 5th graders who took the time to ponder and then blog about it. And they would love to hear your thoughts! However, a couple of things struck me as a trend in their answer, so much so that Wordle even agrees with me.

– There is a purpose to education, it is not just a waste of time.
– Education somehow prepares us for life after school and without we may not be succesful (something I don’t totally agree with)
– Education is related to their life

I loved what Karina wrote;
Why is Education so important to kids and adults? This question made me really think. I have heard kids say ” Why do I have to go to school.” and their parents say ” Because you have too.” It is not the easiest question to answer but if you think about, it is actually easy. My first answer was… This man screwed up his life and does not want it to happen to anybody else. After I thought that for a little bit it came to me. It was that people way way back used writing and reading to escape from people who controlled them and didn’t treat them well. If people were educated to write and read then they had more choices in life. They could work a lot of different jobs. Education gives us choices in life.

Emphasis added by me.

No matter what we decide the noble purpose of education is, I love how my student, David, adds another dimension to the question. He finishes his post with,

“A final and really important reason for going to school is making friends. I mean, it feels good to talk to someone when you are sad, really excited, bored and just to talk! You need to know how to interact with people if your job requires it.”

So perhaps education from the eyes of a 5th grader is just to prepare them for life outside of school, to teach them to read or write, but in the end it is also about developing them as human beings, to maintain them as someone who others want to be friends with. And that is indeed a noble purpose.

internet safety, student blogging, Student-centered

You Teach a Child to Blog…Common Concerns with Student Blogging Answered

February 16, 2012 Pernille Ripp

You teach a child to blog and the whole world opens up to them. And yet, with that whole wide world comes a whole lot of responsibility. Some of the more frequent questions I receive is how I keep my students safe when they blog, how do I prevent cyber bullying, and how do I convince parents that this is worthwhile. While I may not have all of the answers or any quick fix solutions, I do have a lot of passion for this.

First things first; student safety is paramount. I use Kidblog for this reason. It allows me to control who sees our posts, who comments, and also how open I want our account to be. But I don’t just give students their account information…there is a lot of preparation before then:

We talk at length about blogging, why it is important to us, why it is a privilege.
We visit other student blogs and we discuss whether we agree with their posts, with their etiquette and we decide how we want to represent ourselves.
We discuss what constitutes an actual blog post and what we share with the world. We discuss the difference between Edmodo and Kidblog, and there are many.
I show them scary videos of giving out information on the internet to strangers, we discuss how the Internet is like the mall.
We talk, reflect and then have further discussions before we even do our first mouse click. we create a paper blog to get a feel for commenting and I show my own blog to show them the power of blogging.
And this isn’t an only at the beginning of the year conversation, it is an always conversation. We always discuss safety, we always practice it, and we remind each other whenever need be.

Then there is the ugly reality of cyber bullying, and yes we face it head on and battle it. I have never had another child bully a classmate through blogging. They revere it too much. That is not to say that all of my students love each other, they don’t, they are 10 years olds, but they do respect each other. And I think that is the most important ingredient to prevent cyber-bullying; respect. We respect each other, and the differences we may have. We respect the privilege that it is to have a blog, to have a voice to the world. We discuss how this is a big deal and how we would never want to hurt someone purposely or even shine ourselves in that light. There is no anonymity on our blog, I make sure of that, and the students would have to sign their name to any comment that they leave. While they may not always get a long we still have a sense of community that we work hard on achieving and maintaining from the very first moment we are together. I love my students as if they were my own kids and I think they feel that we are a family. That feeling takes us far.

Finally, the apprehension of parents. I have been incredibly lucky with my parent support but I have also worked hard for that. I have been completely transparent with the purpose and scope of our blogging. I have shown them examples and the direction in which I want to take the students. The communication is paramount to the success. I am not trying to exploit the works or thoughts of their children, and I am not bringing them into danger. They know I work hard to keep them safe and I think many of them appreciate the inherent internet safety message that these students embrace. But there is an opt out; blogging is not mandatory, nor is it part of their trimester report card grades. I have never had anyone take the option, they hear about it before they come to my room, and it is highlight for many. Parents understand that and I think they love seeing their child’s thoughts on so many times, their growth as a writer, and how their child is handling the responsibility.

Student blogging has changed the way I view my students and their voice. It is now an essential part of our classroom, our community, and of our curriculum. We revere, we tame it, and we use it properly; sometimes for fun and sometimes for serious study. There is no one solution to everything but there are several ingredients that have to be present if student blogging should be successful; respect, communication, transparency, and expectations. With those in place you will go far.