Eventually, I could see using the blog as to showcase students' work as a part of their passage portfolios. At the end of the 10th grade, my student must display all of their work from a digital portfolio to a panel to prove that they are prepared to move on to the next step. I could use the blog to give students a comprehensive place to keep the work that have done in my class in one place and add to their digital portfolios. Students could store their cultural blogs, different writing assignments that they complete, and maybe even audio files that they record on Garage Band.
Finally, something that may be a bit ambitious but is hopefully within my reach, I would love to use my blog as a way for students to communicate with students in a Spanish speaking country who are learning English. This would be almost like a modern version of a pen-pal, but students will also be able to share with each other links to some of their favorite popular culture websites, thus making it more interesting as students are sharing things about themselves that they really care about, and the learning experience is quite enhanced. This final idea is really an ultimate goal that I have, and I would really be excited to see something like this take off as a result of my blog!
Hi Jenine,
ReplyDeleteYour idea to develop a plan to introduce your students to blogs and their use in the classroom as learning tools is an important consideration. Any time something new is presented to students, and the use of blogs is a new of enormous magnitude, teachers need to remember to employ good pedagogical practices. Teachers should provide deliberate and thoughtful guidance as students transition from the known to the unknown. We need to strive to motivate our students to acquire new and relevant skills and information, and to enjoy the learning process.
To place materials and resources on the blog so that students are able to practice accessing and using the blog is clever. However, one of the difficulties I have encountered with using blogs for elective or supplementary services is that students may not use it at all, for any of a variety of reasons, shy, reluctant, lack of interest or lack of time. Therefore, I recommend that you make the tasks of introductory blog use a required activity for students. Not only will that ensure that each student engages in the blogging experience, but it will also serve as a form of pre-assessment for you and you can determine subsequent appropriate learning tasks and experiences.
Jenine,
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of using the blog as a way for students to display their work. Your ultimate goal of having students speak with students in Spanish speaking countries seems like it could be very powerful. The big difficulty I see here would be to make the connection with students in a Spanish speaking country. How would you match them up? How would you find the Spanish students who have the access to the internet? It seems like there would be quite a few outside factors that are out of your control. The authenticity would be extremely beneficial, however, it might be more feasible to match students up with other students from another school in state who are learning Spanish. You might be able to match them up with senior level Spanish students who would be able to offer your students encouragement and assistance. Either way, you have some great ideas and they will definitely stretch your students.
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts. One of the great things is that I spent a year in a high school in Spain teaching English, so I have been able to make that connection. They are an amazing faculty and student body that I would love to have my students in contact with, and they do have some computers with Internet access, as they did a similar type of project with different students all around the EU who were learning English. So my thought was that I could hook up with this school, or if they could not make the commitment for some reason, maybe use one of the Spanish speakers that I know here in Buffalo as a contact to find a school in one of their home countries.