"I think this is a really good idea...one of the many wonders weblogs have provided us with...working with children interactively miles and miles away." What a great lead Kristine gave me. Kristine is one of a group of terrific students from Mr. Richardson's high school journalism class in New Jersey.
Mr. Richardson pointed his journalism students to our weblogs. Then his students posted responses giving their thoughts as to how they saw this collaboration working and any other ideas they might have. I am really impressed with their thoughts and ideas. I'm going to share their responses with you:
Emily....
I was quite impressed with these kids' writings. I think that they are doing really well for their age and comprehension of the topic. I do think that they may be acting more like readers than journalists may. I am not sure how much I can help them, but after reporting from a story, I think I could let them know some information on the topic. I saw that Emily has questions she wants to ask.
Alexa....
I think that these kids have awesome weblogs for their ages. Some of them even have pictures, I havenªt even posted pictures yet and I am older than them! However I do feel that some of them are just using their weblogs for personal things and not really for journalism, but maybe thatªs what their teacher asked them to do. I think that collaborating with this class and trying to improve their writing is a really cute idea. Maybe they could try and write a story or make up a news story and we could help them edit it and give suggestions on it. Or we could each be assigned a person and just comment every week on how they are doing on their weblogs and writing in general.
Amanda....
I am absolutely amazed by these kids! I decided to chose two random WebLogs. They were Brianna's and Dane's. These kids have a lot of views on the world, and understand what is going on. Brianna's first article was about taxonomy, I just learned about that this year! I think that we could really give them a new insight on their work. We can give them comments on how they are doing, and also teach them how to ask questions to their sources. I think that if we do that, in the long run we could teach them how to write an actual article. I would like to see them write some sample pieces just to see how much they know and understand about journalism. That could give us a better insight on them.
James L....
I looked at a few but not all of the studentªs blogs. I was particularly impressed with Jennifer's, and I posted a response to her. She seemed to understand what the point of her blog was where as some other students did incorporate more 'reading' type work rather then journalism. I think all the students though have awesome web-logs with pictures and just about everything we have. It would be interesting to help them and teach them a little more about journalism. It also would be very neat to see if any of their writing styles changed after we corresponded with them. I also liked Alexa's idea to comment on a students work every week. They most likely will appreciate it and grow as writers.
Vanessa B....
These kids are so cute! (sorry, just had to say it) Their weblogs are very nice too, I think that this is a great idea, collaberating with them is going to be fun. (After our stories today, I'd wonder if we should really be trusted...just kidding, really) We could go post responses in the kids' blogs and stuff, maybe everyone in the class could be assigned someone specific to mentor. They seemed very advanced for their ages, if I was their teacher I'd be very proud.
Christina K....
As I looked at their weblogs, I was surprised that they were talking about some of the same things we were, such as the war on terrorism. By looking at what they have done so far, I think that they are pretty mature for their age. I think it is a really good idea to collaborate with them because as they are learning about journalism, so are we. We can share with them what we learn, and maybe they can even teach us a thing or two! I also like Vanessa's idea about us each being assigned a student and "mentoring" them in their writing. I think that they would probably really like having an older student look at their work and respond to it. I am actually going to go into some of their weblogs and write some posts. And as far as Alexa said, I haven't put any pictures into my weblog either, except under the pictures link! I haven't figured out how to do it! I think that after writing our stories, we could help them with knowing what types of questions typically generate helpful responses, and in some way teach them about nut graphs and the set up that we learned. I think this collaboration is a really good and interesting idea.
Kelley F....
The weblogs from the kids in Georgia were pretty good! I definately don't think I could be able to make all that stuff at that age. They seem to be doing a pretty good job and making good points in their posts. I think the main thing we could help them with is teach them how to ask even better questions and go into more detail in their stories. Otherwise, I think they seem to be doing very well for their age. It will be a lot of fun to get this started and once they start asking us questions, I think we could help them a lot.
Kristine....
The first thing I thought of when I read some of these students web logs was "How old are these kids?" I definitly would not have been able to do half as good as some of them did at their age. I agree with Alexa's idea about pairing each of us up with a student "buddy" type thing. That way they will have a one-on-one helping hand. I think this a really good idea...one of the many wonders weblogs have provided us with...working with children interactively miles and miles away.
Jess A....
I am really impressed with these kids weblogs. I can barely just grasp the whole concept of blogging and these 5th graders can post pictures. I think that what we should try to focus on teaching them about is just how to put a story together. Lead, nutgraph, source, etc. Also, I think it would be really benefcial to the kids to ask ur their specific questions about things they are having trouble with or are wondering about. I think that as long as we don't try to smother them with information they don't really need, it will be a really good experience for all involved.
Jennifer L....
I was so impressed with these kids. Some of their weblogs were so interesting, and you can tell that some of them really spend a lot of time on them. I didn't know how to do half the stuff they can do with weblogs (like pictures and posting and stuff) when I was in 5th grade! I am really looking forward to working with these kids. I think they are definitely on the right track to becoming very good journalists. (not saying I am but ya know). I don't even have a picture in my weblog, and they have 2 or three for some of them. They are really cute kids, and I like how they have the sketch of themselves in there. Tomorrow, I am hoping I can respond to soem of them even more, and I am hoping we can do Vanessa's idea and be their mentors. I think that would be a lot of fun to do. Who knows, maybe they could teach us somethin we dont know yet too. Its possible. I think this will be fun though.
Jenna....
I thought these children are really making progress with their weblogs. It's just fun to look at sometimes how jumbled together they are, and some of the things that they chose to write about and the questions they would ask reporters. I was also impressed how they had posted pictures on their's, and I really did like those caricatures they had posted. They also seem really creative with the different fonts and colors they use, and they really seem like they're going to be a really fun class to teach and also learn from in a way, since they have those creative minds of children. I can't wait to teach them and really see how their minds work and what way they think about the news.
Wow! This is going to be a good project for all of us. Now, J.H. House students, put your thinking caps on because we have lots to do this Thursday. Be sure to have all your papers for your research projects and make sure your three news reports are well-written. Your audience is expanding...be worthy!
