Blogging to Learn

Susan Davis

Participants: Amulya, Carl, Molly, Liz, Jeremy H. (Craig, Amanda)

OVERVIEW

Why blog?

How to begin…

Using links, images, and videos.

Commenting.

Readers everywhere? (clustrmaps, twitter, facebook, etc.)

Sample student and teacher blogs in your subject area

Good citizenship in the Blogosphere

How to review and assess blogs

What does this cartoon tell us about reading and writing in the

21st century?

Daryl Cagle, "Joe Heller," Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoon Index, msnbc. Reprinted from Green Bay Press Gazette on 25 August 2009. Used with permission.

What’s different about blogging?

Shorter, more focused writing

Part of a process rather than the end product

Incorporates media

Interactive nature changes relationship to audience

Extended conversation over time

What do you want your blog (or your students’

blogs) to do? Share

Express

Document/record

Evaluate

Collaborate

Question

Interact

TEACH!

Getting started…

Open an account at blogger (google interface) or another blogging host (wordpress, typepad, edublogger, etc.)

Branding: Naming your blog and choosing a url

Posting

Adding tags, links, video, pictures, widgets

Inviting comments from readers

10 Ways to Start a Blog Post…

1. Make a list

2. Tell a story

3. Ask a question

4. Respond to something you’ve read or seen

5. Insert a picture or embed a video and respond to it

6. Notice a trend

7. Invite a friend to guest blog

8. Observe and reflect

9. Share a passion

10. Connect to other blogs

Authentic Learning: Readers Everywhere

ClustrMap on July 7, 2010. ClustrMap added in May after blog was INACTIVE!

Recommended Blogs by Teachers

Math: dy/dan by Dan Meyer, http://blog.mrmeyer.com/

Social Studies: copy/paste by Peter Pappas, http://peterpappas.blogs.com/copy_paste

English: “huffenglish.com” by Dana Huff, http://www.huffenglish.com

Science: “Think Thank Thunk” by Mr. Cornally, http://101studiostreet.com/wordpress/

Samples of Student/Classroom

Blogs Christian Long, The Alice Project: A 10th-

Grade Honors English Tour of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, http://aliceproject.wordpress.com/

Gende, Dolores, “Physics Honors,” https://sites.google.com/a/parishepiscopal.org/physics-honors/blogging/hp-blogs

Norwalk City Schools. “AP Calculus AB Blog,” http://www2.norwalk-city.k12.oh.us/wordpress/apcalc0910/

Blogging Etiquette, or Good Citizenship in the

Blogosphere“5 Blogging Tips for Beginning Bloggers,”

http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2009/08/1639/

“Blogging Etiquette for Bloggers and Readers,” http://www.suite101.com/content/blogging-etiquette-a22222

“Blogging Etiquette – The Unwritten Rules,”http://bloggingwithoutablog.com/blogging-etiquette-the-unwritten-rules/

Assessing Blogs

To grade or not to grade?

Rubric

“Holistic” grading (what the blog does well, what the comment adds to the discussion)

Completion grade

Contribution over time

Resource: “How Do I Know if It Works?”, ELI Discovery Tool: Guide to Blogging, http://www.educause.edu/eli/GuideToBlogging

Sample Rubric (ELI)

More Resources Blake-Plock, Shelly, “Why I Want

Students to Blog,” TeachPaperless, 14 June 2010, http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-i-want-students-to-blog.html

Utrecht, Jeff, “Blogs as Web-Based Portfolios,” The Thinking Stick, 4 June 2010, http://www.thethinkingstick.com/blogs-as-web-based-portfolios-pdf

Chamberlain, William, Comments4Kids, http://comments4kids.blogspot.com/

More Resources McCulloch, Jess. “20 Reasons

Why Students Should Blog,” On an E-journey with Generation Y, http://murcha.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/20-reasons-why-students-should-blog/

Edublogger.com. “Join the Student Blogging Challenge.” http://theedublogger.com/2010/08/30/join-the-student-blogging-challenge-now-starts-mid-september/

Wetzel, David R. “Science Blogs is Middle and High School Classes.” Suite 101.com, http://www.suite101.com/content/science-blogs-in-high-and-middle-school-classes-a66647