In ELA we cover so much material and not all of it is coherent and lends itself to easy access. Having students organize a blog to keep notes could be beneficial. For example, on one page or using hashtags, students could write their grammar notes, even keeping punctuation separate from things such as there/their/they're for easy access when studying for a test. They could write about books and summarize chapters or sections as they go to search their blog for where in the book a particular section might be if they can't readily find it.
Another section could be free writes to help students type to discover their thoughts and beliefs on a topic and even opens the door for peers to ask questions and encourage more in-depth thinking.
I saw a teacher one time create a class blog and he had a class of at risk students who hated writing. He set it up like a news paper and each student or pair of students had to write a portion, but it could be about what they wanted within reason. He was encouraging students to learn about their community, interview shop owners, grandparents, etc. and report on a wide variety of topics that you'd see in a newspaper. I thought that was a really awesome idea to get kids to discover their surroundings, but the assignment isn't as daunting as a 5 page paper. The students workshopped their papers, took photographs and posted their articles throughout the year to generate traffic on the class blog. If I remember correctly, the teacher even found a way to make some money off the blog to put back into the school.
I also like the option to have a portion of the blog dedicated to the parents to keep them updated on upcoming projects and to post rubrics for students, etc. It could be used as an excellent communication tool between parents, students and the teacher. The only downside is if the teacher requires students to use a blog and the student doesn't have access to a computer or internet at home and can't stay after, special accommodations may need to be made; this is true of the demographics that I will be likely working with.
The newspaper idea is an excellent way to re-engage students into the learning process, and maybe would work for Will Smith;s character? I hope you get to use this idea in class. Good post!
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts Angela. It can be so challenging to keep a student's motivation up. Finding something that would be meaningful, like the newspaper, is a great idea. Students need to know that what they are doing is important to them as individuals. This is no small task, but it is necessary to be a great teacher.
ReplyDeleteWhat stands out to me in your post is the idea for a class blog that teachers have access to. This semester I was able to sit through parent teacher conferences and I quickly realized how important it is to maintain relationships with students' parents. I am in a seventh grade classroom and I have a feeling students are not going home and reporting details about what happened at class and what homework is due coming up. If there was a way for parents to get a quick update from something like a class blog, I think that would be great! I have many students and parents who speak Spanish at home and you could even assign a student to translate the blog or use a google translate to accommodate the needs of different families. Great thoughts! This might just be something I try to do with my own class sometime.