Currently I teach third
grade in a self-contained classroom. I think introducing blogs or any other Web
2.0 technology in an elementary classroom can be a very overwhelming task. However, once that obstacle is faced blogging can be rewarding. Once
students are in junior high or high school, students have already been more
exposed to a form of “blogging”. In middle
or high school, they start experimenting with the social network websites such
as Twitter, Facebook, or Myspace. Students in elementary may have heard of
these sites, but have either been restricted to use them by parents or simply
just never been exposed to them.
However, we are in the 21st Century and we need to start
giving our students an education that is relevant to their daily lives and
future world. Blogs are a tool that will
help students be “engaged readers with ideas and questions and links. They ask
readers to think and to respond. They demand interaction.” (Richardson, 2010, p.
18). I recently found a kid friendly
blog through a blog I subscribe to that I want to add in my classroom this year. It is called Kidblog. I already starting thinking how this blog
could be used to help enhance all my subject areas, reading, writing, science,
social studies, and even math. After
reading chapter 2, I started brainstorming ways that my students can use our
classroom blog through Kidblog. One of
the first things I came across was to first provide a lesson on internet safety where students sign a pledge. It is
also important that when starting a blog with students they understand what is
acceptable blogging “etiquette.” This would
include appropriate language, commenting respectfully, and maintaining school
rules regardless of where the blog was accessed. Once these have been discussed
then successful blogging for the rest of the year can be expected. Some ideas I plan on doing
in my classroom is sharing in depth discussion about characters from the
stories we are reading. Students will blog about important themes
and characters they have read about from their independent reading. Students
will then comment on connections they make from other students characters and
themes.
Not only is restriction from the parents an issue but also the sort of websites you mention at first, are for children 13 or over. There are many web 2.0 tools that are available for kids though, some of those are web sites where they are able to create comic like stories or even email and social networking sites for kids. The Kidsblog that you mention sounds very interesting, thatone I hadn't heard about before. I'm now curious to see what it's all about!
ReplyDeleteAdriana,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the way you stated that weblogs and web tools such as 2.0 technology can be very overwhelming at the third grade level. I totally agree with you on that point I could only imagine the immense organization that it would take to have this age group log on to the internet, and even more create a weblog. I really liked how your idea of a internet safety lesson would be a great way to introduce technology in your classroom. Great idea, I am going to give that idea to the elementary teachers next door to my middle school so that they can utilize that idea to prepare the students for internet use when they get to our campus as 6th graders.
Hello Adriana, It might be overwhelming to include technology in third grade, and definitely it will take more time. I would use kidblog.org with third graders and even lower grades. The program STARS offer a new presentation “Sexting & Cyberbulling” and I agree with you it is an excellent idea to start a technology lesson with safety rules first!
ReplyDeleteHello study buddy,
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you mentioned that one of your first lessons will be to teach your students proper online etiquette. I think it is very important for your students to know the do’s and don’ts of blogging and online safety. There is a lot of cyber-bullying happening and students should know how to handle themselves at all times. Signing a pledge, as you say, can help these students stick to a promise they made and allow them to become better citizens of our modernized technological world.
I agree that older students will feel more at ease when trying to use social media technology such as a blog, than younger students; due to their exposure to similar products. I am impressed however, with the way that even elementary school kids adapt to technology. I am reminded of the fact that my 3 year old daughter knew how to use a computer better than I did, when I started attending UTEP back in 1997. This memory leads me to the conclusion that we sometimes underestimate young children’s ability to absorb new information and forms of communicating, as a matter of fact we may have greater issues trying to teach adults how to benefit from this type of interface, than teaching elementary school kids how to do it.
ReplyDelete