My district has just begun a blogging pilot project. There are about 20 teachers involved ranging from elementary to secondary and across a wide variety of subject areas.
I wanted to get involved for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most important is that I strongly believe blogging is a skill that many of our students will need to use later in life.
The second, more immediate reason, is that I want my students to express in words what they understand and don't understand about the math they are doing. If they can think about what they don't understand, they have a better chance of being able to rectify the situation. I also want them to talk about how they learn best, what study habits they have and how they can improve.
On Thursday my students began writing their first blog post. I wanted to make sure that all of the technical details were taken care of so I booked out a lab and had them write a short post on how they planned to prepare for the upcoming test. Within a minute four of my students had explained that they don't actually study for tests, what should they write.
This blogging process may be more fruitful than I imagined. I never would have guessed that I would learn something about my students before they began writing. I can't wait to learn more.
Monday, November 29, 2010
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Dear Mr. Lanovaz,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to leave my class a palindrome! :-)
I really like what you have written about blogging. Like you said, it will probably be more fruitful than you imagine. Writing helps students clarify their thinking...or helps them realize they're confused. What I've discovered is they start helping one another within the comment sections! It is a beautiful thing.
I also enjoyed your post above about asking for wrong answers and why they are wrong. I've never thought of doing that but will start. My students are only in third grade.
Thanks for a great post!
Mrs. Y♥llis
California