Teachers could develop a classroom blog to..........
- post short current events articles to invite students thoughts, reactions, and possible solutions
- create a literature circle
- post photos and ask students to create captions
- foster book discussions in the form of an online book club
- encourage student writing to demonstrate learning
- direct students to curriculum web sites and have them read and make responses
- communicate with another classroom
- react to teacher entries about what they are learning and make connections to how this learning is relevant for them
- post quotes and have students write their interpretation and apply it to something in their life
- invite one student a day to post a summary of and their reflections on the day's learning
- observe the growth of plants or animals or keep records of science experiments
- spot and record student kindnesses or good deeds
- develop new vocabulary by writing about the new word and having students create sentences or a brief paragraph using new vocabulary
- enable students to post their ideas for the classroom or school
- let student write short reviews of books they are enjoying reading
Teachers could create an informational class blog to ......
- post a daily/weekly synopsis of the curriculum taught
- homework assignments
- a birdseye view of the class for parents
- honor and celebrate class achievements
- list class-related information such as calendars, events, homework assignments and other relevant class information
- examples of good student work and the teacher's response to it
- provide a day-by-day description of a specific teaching unit
- a moment in time out of the classroom day to share with family and friends
Teachers could create a reflective, journal type blog to..........
- share ideas for teaching activities to use in the classroom
- share classroom technology management techniques
- make reflections on each teaching day
- explore important teaching and learning issues
- tips for beginning teachers
- gems of wisdom from the students in their classroom on any number of ideas
- how-to's on using specific technology programs in the curriculum
- a record of a new teaching project with what worked and what didn't
You can have your students create their own weblogs to..........
- complete class writing assignments
- create an ongoing portfolio of samples of their writing
- express their opinions on topics you are studying in class
- write comments, opinions, or questions on daily news items or issues of interest
- discuss activities they did in class and tell what they think about them
- write about class curriculum topics, newly-learned vocabulary words and idioms
- showcase their best writing pieces
You can also ask your class to create a shared weblog to...
- complete project work in small groups, assigning each group a different task
- showcase products of project-based learning
- complete a webquest