Well, this week I started using it with kids and they are SUPER excited about it. I decided to start by showing it to them in the class on the BrightLink and had an introductory post waiting for them. The next day we went into the computer lab and I let them explore and taught them how to leave comments. Next, I had them create "All About Me" blogs to start and get used to the website.
At this point, I'm not quite sure what my next steps are going to be and we go back to the computer lab tomorrow. All my kids are talking about are their blogs and I'm over here like "uhhhhh?" I have some ideas about having them post about books we read, but other than that I feel a little uncertain and lacking creativity. Ironically, my first issue of "The Reading Teacher" came in the mail this week and I decided to open it up after class tonight. I just joined the ILA and subscribed to this journal so this is the first one I've received and I wasn't 100% sure what to expect from it. While flipping through, I found an article titled "Formative Assessment in the Digital Age: Blogging with Third Graders" in the index. Of course I immediately flipped to the page it started on and began reading. I was so excited when the blog it recommended for teachers to get started with was---wait for it---KIDBLOG! (I didn't mention this earlier, but when I was researching blogging for second graders I came across several options. I narrowed my search to three different blogging sites I thought looked good for my students and somehow picked one (I'm super indecisive so a huge part of me wanted all three sites!) I'm so ecstatic that the one I ended up picking was the only one mentioned in the article! It's gotta be good if an article mentions it, right?!) The next thing that made me feel better about my new journey with Kidblog was that the article said to first demonstrate the website and then engage the students with an initial blogging activity like---wait for it---an "All About Me" post! I did both of those things! I must be headed in the right direction.
At this point though, I'm still stuck with what to have them post about next, but the article gave some websites to check out about blogging in the classroom. So while I go check out those websites, I'd love some feedback from you!
- Do you use blogs with your elementary students?
- What topics and ideas do they blog about?
- Any tips to make this process as successful as possible?
- Any other feedback welcome!
