Incorporating blogging at the Elementary level seems like the most challenging of the age groups, in my opinion. However, after viewing some of the suggested sites and reflecting, I've come up with some applications I think would be beneficial in the classroom. The most important thing to consider, in my opinion, is that blogging is an interactive activity in it's very nature. A person is putting their personal thoughts out into the world for others to see. With that being said, I feel the best way to incorporate it at the Elementary level is to make it just that - interactive.
By posting assignments and other reminders on a class blog, teachers can communicate with students AND parents. Much like the school in the "welcome activity," teachers can strive to create an environment where parents, students, and teachers can interact in a relaxed forum.
Teachers can utilize a class blog as a portfolio of work by displaying class projects, assignments, and other noteworthy items. When I was younger, we worked on class projects that were put on display during parent nights. Now, with the use of a blog, class work can be published more than once or twice a year.
Another assignment that incorporates interactivity and participation for this age group would be to assign something like a person, animal, place, or thing to each student. Students would need to find out several facts about their person/place/thing/animal and make a blog post with a picture of it. Then, to complete the activity, each student would help the teacher present some of their findings to the class to help them learn about it. The teacher would ask the student a few questions to help steer the student in the right direction and help teach their peers at the same time. This activity would help provide an online catalog of all the students work and allow the students to play a role in teaching each other information they just learned.
There are a multitude of applications at each age/grade level. The tough part is shaping your use of the blog to fit the appropriate subject matter. Sometimes easier said than done, I'm sure!
Your use of blogging at the elementary grades is well taken --- focus around the interactive possibilities. It's also important to understand the that teacher can control the level of privacy ...
ReplyDeleteYour suggested activity of role-playing with animals has proved very successful, and addresses many of the ed tech standards at the state and national level.