On Blogging in Middle School

Hi,

Here is my take on the experience.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Caroline Cerveny on January 17, 2011 at 9:07am

Aisha, Thank you for sharing this article with us. I write a blog at ACyberPilgrim. I would like to include a good portion of your article in my blog. Would that we agreeable to you? I would also like to include several of the quotes by the students. I would only note their first names and letter of their last name.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Permalink Reply by Aisha Ertugrul on January 17, 2011 at 10:07am

Dear Caroline,

Feel free to use as you wish.

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Permalink Reply by David Wu on January 31, 2011 at 6:04pm

Hi Aisha,

I enjoyed reading about your blogging experience. It shows me that there are a lot of opportunities for blogs to be used in the classroom! Would you be interested in discussing the potentials of microblogging in the classroom? I think microblogs can also be a great way for students to share their thoughts and collaborate with each other. Collaborative blogging and microblogging could have the potential to facilitate:

discussions
sharing of project research information
sharing thoughts, ideas
development of team work skills
communication with other students (on projects, answering each other's questions, etc)

Some math teachers have found a use for microblogs in the classrooms. From back-channel discussions to students posting questions they have while working on homework assignments, microblogs present an interesting way to connect the teacher with students. Posting questions via microblogging is a great alternative to emailing the teacher. By using a microblog it makes it easier for students to ask questions and also creates new learning opportunities. Before, the questions would be locked away in the email inbox where only one student can see the teacher's response, but now with the transparency of an open microblog every students can learn when the teacher responds to one student's question. It also reduces the need for the teacher to answer the same question emailed by multiple students.

For math teachers, the difficulty lies in how to effectively communicate the answers to the students. It's very hard to type out the answers, so this teacher Mr. Samulak from Ann Arbor Huron High School found a creative way to teach students by using a free screen recording tool called Jing. You can see it in action here:

http://www.screencast.com/t/L13HIxeaQa

http://www.screencast.com/t/2p96cQpS9

I am a recent college graduate and some friends and I have developed a simple online microblogging platform. We have been pilot testing with some teachers in Ann Arbor, MI and found that microblogs really helps to connect students and teachers. When used properly it helps to augment the teacher's teaching effectiveness. And because it's so easy for students to connect with the teachers, the main concern now is how that can sometimes cut into the teacher's own personal time off away from school.

If you would be interested in finding out more about what we are doing, please feel free to connect with me! We are always looking for more educators to help us test-drive our site and work with us to improve it.