Blogs in the Literacy Classroom
Introduction
Welcome to Blogging in the Literacy Classroom! The world we live in is becoming more and more technological. This means, as educators, we need to become proficient with current technology in order to better reach our students at their comfort level, and motivate them to be active participants in our classroom. For many of us, integrating technology can be a scary thing; fear of the unknown, fear of safety, fear of doing it wrong. This mini-course will focus on one type of current technology that is being used in the classroom: blogs. Through three units, you will learn how to safely integrate blogs in the literacy content area of any classroom or grade level.
Blogs in the Literacy Classroom Discussion Space
Performance Objectives
By reading literature on best practice of blog integration, watching videos, and participating in group discussions, participants will:
- identify potential dangers of using a blog and determine appropriate and relevant safety features for their particular students
- create a classroom literacy blog safety contract to use with student bloggers
- develop a discussion "tool kit"
- demonstrate their understanding of blogs and their basic functions (ex: fonts/images, homepage, title, adding students, creating discussion pages) by developing their own classroom literacy blog.
- demonstrate their understanding of blogs in the literacy classroom by generating two literacy blog discussions targeted for their specific class (ex: student make-up, grade level, literacy focus).
Unit 1: What is a Blog and How Do I Use It in the Literacy Classroom?
Objectives
In this first unit, participants demonstrate an understanding of the benefits of classroom blogging in the literacy content area.
Participants will also develop an initial classroom blog.
Unit 2: Dangers of Blogs and Safeguarding Our Students
Objectives
In this second unit, participants will identify potential dangers of using blog technology.
Participants will determine appropriate and relevant safety features to put in place for their particular students. In addition, participants will develop a blogging safety contract for their students.
Unit 3: Facilitating Discussions and Comments in the Blog Space
Objectives
In this final unit, participants will display an understanding of effective literacy discussions by developing curriculum-based literacy discussion questions to be implemented through blogging technology.
Participants will also demonstrate their understanding of blogs and their basic functions by finalizing and implementing their own classroom literacy blog.
