With
all of the dynamic tools available these days on even a basic blog, it seems
like there could be an uncountable number of ways to use them as both a
teaching and learning device. With so
much available it isn’t hard to see how these tools could be used to meet the
New York State ESL standards. A blog could be used in an interactive way to address
many different learning needs.
One New
Your State performance indicator for ESL students in 12th grade is, “Students
use a variety of print, oral, and electronic forms for social communicating and
for writing to or for self, applying the conventions of social writing.” This seems like the perfect way to integrate
a blog into the classroom. By having the students start a blog of their own
where they can talk about either their personal life or classroom topics, one could
easily gauge their ability to communicate with the written word.
Another
way that one could incorporate a learning standard would be by using a blog to
start an online book club. The
performance indicator that says, “Students describe, read about, participate in
or recommend a favorite activity, book, song, or other interest to various
audiences.” With the online book club student could discuss and recommend and
describe books or possibly even other media with not only other students but
the whole world. By starting the discussion online students would feel more comfortable
expressing their opinions and have the time to express them well.
That’s
just a couple ways that blogs could be easily incorporated into the classroom.
It’s incredible to think of all the different possibilities that we already
have with blogs and I’m sure there are tons more that we haven’t even thought
of yet.
What a peaceful background to look at whilst reading your site! I can imagine students really enjoying to blog about their books in a book club.
ReplyDeleteHi Christopher! I really enjoyed your idea of using a blog to start an online book club. It's a unique idea because you could have a classroom book club, a book club for an entire grade level or school, or have it open to the entire online community. The ideas, thoughts, and perspectives shared increases when you increase the number of minds communicating! It's great because students would get to interact with the students of other homeroom teachers that they might not ordinarily be able to interact with in an educational setting. This type of blogging environment also allows you to easily gauge a student's ability to communicate via writing and could easily be turned into a participation grade for the students.
ReplyDeleteHi Chrits,
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I feel your ideas of blogging is very special. Finally, I think it is because you regard blogging as a social media. For me, I just think my blogs are tools for my students to study and give feedback. And my blogs are just for my students. However, your idea is using a blog to start an online book club, which enables students to share their opinions of the books with not only classmates but also people from all over the world. It looks like a Facebook which people can comment on at any time and at any place. It is really cool. Thank you for sharing.
I love the tranquility of your background. As an avid reader myself, I love your idea for a book club.
ReplyDelete