Melanie Gray’s Blog

Throughout my blogging project I realized how much I like to learn and how excited I get about learning new things.  That excitement level increases significantly when I can apply the newly gained knowledge immediately to my classroom.  One of the down sides to this is that I sometimes put the cart before the horse so to speak.  I need to make sure that the appropriate ground work is laid before I can start the scaffolding process.

What I thought would be a hinderance for me was not having a classroom this summer to test my project out on.  This however, turned into a positive.  Not having a classroom forced me to really think my project through rather than putting it together haphazardly.  I was able to get geeked about one part but then I had the time to look at it from all angels.  One of the first things I did this with was the security of the student blogs.  At first I just had it wide open so that everyone could see it, but then as I thought about it more I realized that was not the best choice.  My students are nine and ten years old, having the site wide open wouldn’t be the safest choice for them.  The nice thing about using Classroom Blogmeister is that I do have the capability to keep it as secure as needed.

Overall I do not think I would use a different approach for a similar project.  The planning steps are crucial when developing a new project.  Those steps do two things.  The first is it gives the project a structure to follow and gives the teacher time to think about each step of implementation.  The second thing it does is it allows for the project to deviate or for new ideas to blossom from it.  Prior to starting the student blogging project I hadn’t thought of using a blog as a way to keep my parents and students up to date on classroom events and projects.  However, I now have a classroom blog separate from the student blogging site that will take the place of a classroom newsletter and calendar.

One of the lessons I  learned through this project was to take my time.  Rushing into a project just to say it is completed doesn’t make sense.  To me it is the same as simply using technology simply  for the sake of using it.  Each project needs to be pedagogically sound and align with curricular standards.  Initially I had hoped to implement my project at the beginning of the school year.  However, now I will be pushing that back probably until December in order to make sure my students are ready both academically and socially to handle blogging and the responsibilities that come with.

Flexibility is also another key when implementing any new project. One must be able to change things up or ditch a plan completely if needed.  And with any project it is always important to reflect and revise if necessary.

The biggest change that I would make when taking on a project like this is to have a test group of students, parents, teachers and administrators.  Having the “buy in” from these groups would be incredibly beneficial.  Also, by being able to have meaningful conversations with each of these groups it would be easier to tailor the project and make sure that all needs and concerns are addressed from the get go.

I am really excited about what this next year will bring and how the implementation of my blogging project goes.

Click on the link below for my podcast.

projectimplementation

Since starting my master courses at Michigan State University I have had an interest in blogging, especially with incorporating blogging for my students.  So in the seven months of taking classes at MSU I have found a variety of sources and interesting reads.  So my first stop in researching was actually my own bookmarked files both in my browser and also in my del.ic.ious account.  In my browser I became reacquainted with http://www.classroomblogging.com/blogging-for-beginners.  This is a fabulous blog that not only gives great information for the beginning blogger it also talks about internet safety, tutorials, as well as fabulous ideas from other educators.  Another fabulous blogging source I found was Kim Cofino’s blog called Always Learning. In a blog post titled, “Blogging is Elementary” she shares her experiences and lesson plans in setting up student blogs at her school.  After exploring these two sites and getting excited about blogging I felt inspired to see what else was out there on blogs.  After a quick google search on “blogging in the elementary classroom” I found a whole slue of information on blogging.  There was a great slide share presentation called Weblogs: Blogging in the Elementary Classroom that gave some step by step instructions for setting up blogs in the classroom.  This presentation led me to Classroom Blogmeister, a blogging site designed specifically for the classroom use.

After exploring my options with google, I decided to try google scholar.  I found some great journal articles about blogging to enhance student writing.  “Blogging in Language Arts” by Beverly Crane discussed the benefits of using blogging as a component of your language arts.  Some of the benefits she listed were instant feedback in the form of comments and that blogs encouraged reading as well.

I felt like I needed more than just personal experience with classroom blogging.  If I was going to sell my administrator on the benefits of blogging, then I would need to find some research.  So I headed to the MSU library to see what I could find.  Using ProQuest I was able to find some more amazing resources.   One of the sources I found,  Wikis and Blogs: Your Keys to Student Collaboration & Engagement discussed the benefits of blogging.

Throughout time time I was researching I kept changing my search words.  I began with blogging in the elementary classroom and kept altering it little by little.  Some of the terms I used to search were:  weblogs, classroom, elementary classroom, blogging to enhance curriculum, blogging to enhance writing.  I was impressed to see what resources were available to me with just a few clicks of the keyboard!  One of the things I will definitely do next time when researching is to remember to tag the items I found in my delicious account.  Tagging them would make it much easier to find them again!

Problem:

Find a way to increase student achievement and motivation in writing.

During the past few years teachers at my elementary school have been looking at ways to increase student achievement in writing. Teachers have piloted a variety of programs and techniques as well as participated in book studies to specifically find new ways to increase motivation in writing. Unfortunately, they have not produced the results that the staff was hoping for. So what is the next step? The next logical step is to look at the ever-emerging web 2.0 technologies. Today’s fifth grader has never known life without technology, they have never heard of a eight track or even a vinyl record. Marc Prensky coined the term “digital natives” as a term for a person whom digital technology already existed when they were born (Prensky, 2001). These students have always have had new technologies in their hand. In fact, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation one-third of children are using blogs and social networking sites weekly (LeClaire, 2006). Today’s students are more plugged in than they have ever been before and it is important that we tap into student interests to keep them motivated in school.

This technology engages students in a whole new way. Even reluctant writers and communicators become excited and enthusiastic for blogging. In fact in 2007, a BlogMeister survey found that 90% of students surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they enjoyed writing more when they wrote on their blogs. (Warlick, The BlogMeister) When students enjoy writing they will write more and we all now that best way to improve our writing is to write more. According to Jere Brophy, “Practice is one of the most important yet least appreciated aspects of learning in classrooms (Brophy).” With blogging students are excited about the immediate feedback they receive from others that they write more often than they would with a pencil and paper. Teachers have also noticed a difference in their student’s communication skills (Warlick, The Blogmeister).

The Plan:

The 2006 publication The Sate of Writing Instruction in America’s Schools: What Existing Data Tells Us, explains that students who used technology to research, plan, write, and edit their papers had higher levels of writing achievement (Applebee, 2006). With this in mind I plan on creating student blogs to increase student achievement and motivation in writing.

Step 1 – Create a classroom blog site on ClassroomBlogmeister. This site will host student blogs and will allow me to monitor all posts and comments before they are published.

Step 2 – Create powerpoint presentation for parents educating them about classroom blogging and the safeguards that are in place.

Step 3 – Survey students – This information will be used to determine if students can blog/comment from home as well as their computer skills and viewpoints on writing.

Step 4 – Internet safety lesson(s) with students. Lesson topics will include net etiquette, personal information safety, and cyber bullying.

Step 5 – Intro to blogging. Lessons on why we blog and how to blog. Students will be shown different blog posts and have to determine if they are appropriate or not. Blogging rubric will be shared.

Step 6 – Intro to commenting. Lesson on how to comment appropriately on other.

Step 7 – Group students into “houses” and implement blogging. Students will be required to post twice per week to their blogs and then comment on the posts of students in their house.

Step 8 - Continually evaluate and monitor progress of student achievement and motivation in writing using both summative and formative assessments.

Common Places of Education:

The Student – 5th grade students in my classroom will be learning a new web 2.0 technology (blogging) as they write blog posts and comment on other blog posts.

The Teacher – The teacher will be the guide on the side during this project. There will be times though when direct instruction, and modeling occur. The teacher will facilitate learning and evaluating students as they use ClassroomBlogmeister in creative and innovative ways increase writing achievement and communication skills. Teacher will also offer instant feedback by commenting on blog posts as well.

The Curriculum – While the direct application of this project focuses directly on the 5th grade writing curriculum in the state of Michigan. The project will also encompass writing across all areas of the curriculum including science and social studies, as well as technology goals from the Education Technology Standards and Expectations for grades 3-5 in the state of Michigan.

Setting – The setting for this project will be a public school with approximately 30 students. The classroom will have access to a computer lab at least 2 times per week. It is the goal of the project to expand the walls of the classroom and have students’ blogging and commenting from home.

Sources:

Applebee, A. N. (2006). The State of Writing Instruction in America’s Schools: What Existing Data Tells Us. New York State Univeristy, Albany, Center on English Learnging & Achievement. Albany: New York State University, Albany.
Brophy, Jere. “Teaching.” International Academy of Education (2008).
LeClaire, J. (2006, September 6). Kids and Tech: How Much is too Much? Retrieved June 20, 2009, from Tech News World: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/52677.html?wlc=1246412681
Prensky, M. (2001, October). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon , 9 (5).
Warlick, David. Classroom Blogmeister. David Warlick. 30 January 2009 .
—. Just Numbers. 18 December 2008. 31 January 2009 .
—. The Blogmeister. 29 May 2007. 30 January 2009 .