I think blogs could be an effective and fun way to engage students over the summer prior to them entering your class, although past students would always be welcome to interact as well.
The link can be given to students in the end of the year letter from their new teacher. The blog can begin as an ice breaker activity. This could be especially useful for students new to the district. In my school if a student enrolls over the summer they are given the teacher's supply list where the link could be included. Instead of walking in the first day not knowing anyone, the student may be able to connect names based on conversations they had on the blog. I would have students answer questions such as: What do you want to do during your summer vacation? What is your favorite/least favorite subject? What do you hope to learn in 3rd grade? Introduce yourself to me and tell me one interesting fact about you. In turn I could share some activities that 3rd graders get to participate in to build their excitement for the following year.
As the summer moves on the teacher can start discussions based on their own book recommendations or summer reading requirements. Students can even make their own recommendations of stories they have enjoyed reading. The blog posts can be an informal way for the teacher to begin to get a feel for students' abilities. In our class text, Dr. Richardson discusses the ability of blogs to allow students to collaborate with each other. In third grade we provide many opportunties for group work, through the use of blogs students can begin learning skills needed to be a successful group member. Blogs can help students learn to "listen" to others ideas and respect them and respond thoughtfully.
In our DVD Dr. Thornburg states that technology fosters communication with a wide variety of people through use of different devices. As a special education teacher, I find by third grade many students have begun to realize that they struggle more than their peers and therefore are hesistant to participate in class from the fear of being the "stupid kid." I believe blogs could give them a safe way to participate in class discussions. Spell check can help with spelling and grammer. They can have parents, adults or older siblings, read over their responses before posting to reassure them. Posting on a blog could be a less threatening way for students to be active participants in their own learning.
I would even try to incorporate math skills into the blog but currently unsure of how to do that. Any suggestions?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think using a blog for a summer assignment is a great idea to get you students involved. It is a great way for your students to get to know each other and a good way for you to get to know them as well. This I would think about is would the blog be a requirement. Is it ok to require stutent to blog just like we would require them to do summer reading? How often would you require postings and responses. I also think that having a survey filled out over the summer would be a good way for a teacher to get a students likes/dislikes. Great idea's that I might share!!!!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of using blogs to encourage participation from special education students. If you had each of your students use a pseudonym that is known by only you and them, you could highlight comments from different pseudonyms when discussing different blog posts. This way you will be encouraging the students and making them feel important while allowing them to keep their anonymity so they could continue to post with confidence.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a pseudonym is a great one! There is always the concern of having the children's information out on the internet and that way there is no link back to them in addition to giving them the freedom to "speak" without fear of ridicule.
ReplyDeleteAs for the requirement piece, at the 3rd grade level, I do not think I would require it. I feel like if it was a requirement then I would be obligated to grade it or have it count towards their grades in some way, which to be completely honest I do not want to deal with over summer vacation. I already have a summer teaching job at a private school and that would be a lot on my plate.
I think that this is a great way to get students to connect before even beginning class together. English classes especially lend themself to blogging because of the reading and writing involved, but I like the way that you expanded the idea beyond the basic subject area into a more personal icebreaker idea. I can imagine this will really help students to hit it off at the beginning of the year!
ReplyDelete