Stacy's Blog

I am so happy with the final product of my class website! I shared it with my colleagues at our staff meeting this Monday and have already set up some times to teach them how to create their own and expand on the ideas for their own classes!

Throughout the process, I struggled with which blogging site would be best to use. I went back and forth between Google Sites and Edublogs and am now very happy that I stuck with Edublogs, just for the pure basis of the site. Edublogs was created for educators and my Principal loves it!

I learned how beneficial creating a class site could be. It took a lot of time and organization to set it up but now that I’ve done it, I feel more put together and prepared for the new school year to start! I’m hoping my students will take FULL advantage of it!

I will know this site is helping the users reach the objectives I’ve defined by observing their contributions and seeing how it effects their overall organization. Within the first month, contributing and using the website as a resource should become habit. As their discussions go deeper in the blog posts, I’ll see that the objectives are being met. For all of their posts, I’ll have basic guidelines that they must follow such as format or sentence length that they will be graded on. Each student will receive a weekly participation based on the length and depth of their contributions to the class weekly discussion as well as a grade for their turn to write in the class summary.

Development (Part 1)-

I plan to use Edublogs to create the class website and allow students to submit their summaries to me for approval before they are posted by the end of the day. I will upload class documents and add to the assignments page as needed and hopefully start sharing some of this responsibility with certain trustworthy,  tech savvy students throughout the year. I will post a weekly class discussion question for each class.

I will add a calendar to the assignments page to highlight due dates and announcements and create individual class period blog pages to keep the classes separate so that each student feels comfortable posting with their peers.

Design-

When users visit this website I want them to read through the summary of the day’s lesson, look for important announcements and contribute to the online class discussion for the week. This would be a great tool for students who were absent and needed to catch up or parents who would like to discuss their child’s school day in more depth at home. Both students and parents will also access the website to gather important information such as assignments, due dates, and class documents.

Students will be able to collaborate by taking turns contributing their class summary to the blog as well as adding to the weekly class discussion questions and responding to one or two of their peers posts in the discussion as well. Students can add to their peers posts or pose questions to take the discussions even further.

Analysis-

I have chosen to work on creating a class website where my students can take turns posting the daily happenings in class as well as respond to weekly class discussion posts directly related to their class period. In addition to this communication tool between students and teacher, there will also be a section for students and parents to get information on assignments and due dates as well as a place to download class documents. The users of this website will be two fold. The primarily users will be the 7th and 8th grade Language Arts students in my class, however their parents will be the secondary users of the website, using it as an information tool to help guide their children through their studies and communicate more effectively at home. The students will be able to take turns articulating the important lessons learned each day in class as well as any important announcements they feel need to be communicated as a reminder for both the students in our class and their parents at home. Students will be able to respond to weekly class discussion board questions for their class period as well as keep up to date on assignments and download any documents they may have lost or will need for future classes.

The concept of a class website or blog is nothing new. Many teachers have seen the direct benefits of using the internet to communicate with parents and students about important happenings in the classroom. Edublogs has recently awarded many class websites formatted with very similar goals as my own, so I know this type of communication device has been successful.

The one problem I foresee my students having with a blog like this is motivation to contribute or access the website. In Middle School it’s tough enough getting students to write their homework in their daily planners much less accessing a website everyday. I’d like to make the website as beneficial to the student as possible so they can clearly see the benefit and want to participate, rather than simply doing it for a grade. I feel the more the website is used  and referred to in class the more the students will see it as a constant in their daily activities and use it more often. Another problem may be the environment. I can supply students with computers and Internet access in my classroom, however I cannot guarantee that they will have access when they’re at home, which would also limit their parents from accessing the site. If students are only able to access the website from home this will also hurt their motivation to participate on the website in class.

Objectives:

• After participating in the class’ daily lesson, the student will be able to write a blog post summarizing the lesson and providing important announcements and due dates as assigned by the teacher.
• After participating in the class’ weekly lessons, the student will be able to respond to a question posted by the teacher relating their responses to what they’ve learned throughout the week.
• Students and parents will be able to access the blog and read daily posts about class and important announcements
• Students and parents will be able to access assignments and their due dates
• Students and parents will be able to download class documents

All three of my ideas would be set up to take place in my 7th and 8th grade English classes. 

Option 1: Class Communication Website-

This would essentially be a class webpage that provided both parents and students with information about daily classes, a place to download assignments and check due dates as well as a blog for each class period in which I would post weekly questions relating to class and solicit their individual responses. I would also be providing my own blog of daily activities on this website so parents and students alike feel completely “in the loop” with what is going on in class. If at anytime parents or students have questions, they can simply comment on one of the daily posts and receive a response from me.

Option 2: Weekly  Student Journals-

In this option each students would create their own private blogging journal in which they respond to our class’ weekly journal prompts. Many of the prompts will be structured, however there will also be an opportunity for students to write on topics of their own. For the class topics, students will be required to make their posts public so other student can comment and continue the conversation. In addition to writing 3-5 weekly posts of about 5-7 sentences each, students will also comment on at least 2 other student journals to create a classroom community of learners.

Option 3: Independent Reading Response Blogs-

In this option each student creates their own private reading blog in which they decorate the theme of the book they are currently reading independently. Students will be required to post 3-5 times per week responding to the book they are reading. Responses can be one of the following and must be at least 10-15 sentences long.

1. React. Why do you love/hate this book? Why should someone else read it? What would make it better? What would you have done in the same situations?
2. Question. What confuses you? Ask the author or main character 10 questions.
3. Evaluate. How does this book compare with other books you’ve read? What is the author’s point?
4. Predict. What will happen next? What makes you think so? What “should” happen next? Write a new ending.
5. Quote or Point Out. Quote an interesting or important part of the book. Why is this important? Why is it cool? What’s the point?
6. Characterize. After students finish the book, they can post one final entry in the voice and point of view of the main character saying their final “goodbye.”

My name is Stacy Moore. I’m in my 4th year of teaching 7th and 8th grade Language Arts. This year I will also be teaching a drama elective!

1. I hate running, but have always wished I didn’t.
2. I’m related to Johnny Cash.
3. I have never traveled out of the country.

Here I am on my first trip to the Grand Canyon!