Thursday, July 12, 2007

Techno-Klutz Meets the Blog

Techno-Klutz Meets the Blog
Ronda Y. Foust, Library Media Connection, January 2007


This bare bones commentary touches on the basic premises of blogging including the good, the bad, and how we can use them in schools. Most valuable was the list of blogs the author found interesting and the bibliography.

I enjoyed this as I felt the same way that Ronda did: curious but slightly ignorant. Luckily, there are several free sites (www.blogger.com, www.blogeasy.com and www.blogspot.com) that make creating a blog as easily as reading email.

What did I learn?
Ways to incorporate blogging into the curriculum are only as endless as your imagination. Don’t be afraid to be creative and take chances. Some ideas offered in the article include: students blogging book reviews – the best review receives a prize (i.e. $20 gift certificate); creative writing practice; dialogue catalysts; online note passing; outreach opportunities; and promoting literacy – custom to fit your community.

Check out these blogs for ideas:
http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/
http://younghoosier.blogspot.com
http://planetesme.blogspot.com/
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/620000062.html

Remember- hunting for good blogs can be time consuming. Check LM_Net for idea.

2 comments:

Jane said...

Hi there. I am a third year education student who is studying Early Childhood Education (pre-k to grade 3) at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan. I am currently taking an Educational Computers class online and one of the components of the class is to read many other blogs and reflect on our learning through our own blogs. I read many of your blogs and found them interesting. I am trying to complile my own "thesis" as to how blogging can be connected to literacy and the classroom. Do you have any opinions to offer?
Thanks and I look forward to talking with you!

Mrs. Van Treeck said...

Wow! I am so excited to read your comment. I am new to blogging but love it. I am in my first year of my masters at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

I am developing a lesson where I will be using pbWiki for an author study on Gary Paulsen. I just began creating the wiki that links to the author, a definition of short stories, and a story web for the kids to work from. The final project will have the kids post their own short stories. I plan to link it with 3 other teachers and hopefully we will be sharing stories across the state this fall. I think a blog could be used just as well. Their properties seem to be similar.