I teach 4th grade reading, writing, and social studies.
I plan to use my blog as a place to showcase and store student work. My students are continually going above and beyond on assignments. I want to remember and be able to use student work as an example in future years. Storing student work online will eliminate the need to keep hard copy sample. I have found that I work better when I do not have a lot of paper work to keep up with. In years past, I have kept student work to use as an example but I forget to pull it back out. I believe by storing student work online that it will be easier for me to locate when I want to provide an example of student work. I would also like to display student work to receive feedback from other educators.
I would also like for my blog to be a place where educators can share ideas about the classroom from integrating technology to classroom management. I have learned in my few years of teaching that some of the best ideas are developed when teachers work together. I would like to continue to work with other teachers to create lessons and assessments.
I plan to also use my blog as a place for students to interact about writing assignments. I want for my students to blog with each other by providing suggestions for improvement or positive comments. I hope my students will be able to learn from each other by interacting online about writing. I think my blog could be used best during the editing and revising stages of the writing process.
Posts
Students as Creators: Modernizing Mentor Texts
19 hours ago
I think your ideas are great, Ashley. I posted similar ideas. I do have one thought/question. Do you think your 4th grade students will be capable to give each other thoughtful suggestions and feedback? I do not have any experience in any grade higher than 3rd, but maybe it would be an idea to have each student meet with you after they read a classmates paper. Good editing skills could be modeled through you then eventually the students could begin editing and commenting on their own. This is just food for thought...
ReplyDeleteGreat Ideas!
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI really like the ideas you have for your blog. When students can see their work displayed, especially online, they will continue to produce good work and want to make it even better.
I teach 6th grade, and just yesterday, we peer edited essays. I found that my students do not know HOW to give positive and negative feedback. I then had to back up and teach them things to look for and we learned how to follow a rubric, etc. I think it would be great to encourage peer editing in 4th grade. I think that if they do this online, a great deal of training would be necessary and they would have to start small, but what awesome results would come of it. Great idea!
Hello Ashley. I really like your idea of showcasing student work on your blog. I think that this is a great way for students to feel that they are a valubale part of the classroom. My only concern would be how you would go about showcasing their work. Would you scan in what they have done or do they turn in some work electronically so that you could copy and paste it? Also, would you use class time to do the peer revising and editing. I personally do not have many student computers in my class. Do you have students computers in your classroom or would you be using a computer lab for these assignments?
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI think you have some brilliant ideas of how you will be using blog for the your 4th grade class. You stated that,you want your students to blog each other with suggestions for improvemnt and postive comments. This could pose a challenge i that some of your students at that level may not give constructive comments which might discourage others to try.Some might not mean any, arm but really do not know how to express what they have to say kindly.(Richard,2009) states that comments are a powerful motivator to students writing in blogs.
I would suggest that you provide an evalution checklist for the students to use along with examples or leading comments and responses they could use base on the results of the checklist or evalution sheet.
Thank you for all of your feedback and suggestions.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Winner, I understand your concerns for students providing thoughtful feedback. I plan to model for my students how to comment on the writing assignments. I believe that it will take some time for the students to provide meaningful comments. I like your suggestion of working with the students before they make comments. I think that will also help guide the students’ thoughts.
Learning As I Go, I agree that students struggle with providing positive and negative feedback. I hope that my blog will be a place where my students can be open and honest with each other. I also agree that I will need to do a lot of modeling before the students will be able to comment on their peers’ writing assignments independently.
Sally, I have been thinking about the very question that you posed. In my classroom, my students use a computer to complete some assignments. These assignments would be easier to post than a hardcopy assignment. However, assignments that are not typed on the computer I have planned on taking a picture of the work and uploading the picture. I may use a scanner, but I would rather upload a photograph. I only have a personal computer in my classroom. I do not have any student computers. I plan to use computer lab time to complete these assignments.
Perform with a purpose, I agree that some students will not provide constructive comments. I plan to model constructive feedback in the classroom. I hope that through modeling the students will provide meaningful comments to encourage their peers. I think your suggestion of using an evaluation checklist would be very successful with my 4th grade students.
Ashley, Won't it be nice when we have access to computers for all students in all classrooms all the time! I look forward to that day!
ReplyDeleteSally, I agree it would be a wonderful thing to have computers for all of my students in the classroom. I hope that day comes soon!
ReplyDeleteAwesome job! Podcasting sounds exciting for kids. I wonder though when do you squeeze in the time to add this to your already full curriculum. Writing, as you know, is a timely subject anyway, not only would you need to spent the time to help with editing, but you would need to check to be sure the students are writing appropriating. I am sure with 3rd graders it is not much of an issue, but I know I would be very leery of allowing my 6th graders to write for the public without supervision. Good luck with your projects! I will keep checking the site for some updates.
ReplyDeleteLinda