Blogs for the Elementary Classroom

I teach in a county that is finally undergoing a one-to-one technology initiative. This means that by next school year all elementary, middle, and high schools will have a piece of technology for each student's daily use. In my own classroom, it is projected that I will be teaching third grade with the assistance of laptop computers. This is going to completely change the way that I have ever taught before and how the students have received classroom instruction. Instead of textbooks and notebook paper, my students will access and submit their work completely online. All resources will be readily available to students and remain organized for the remainder of the school year, which means no more misplaced papers or books!

Furthermore, I can dive in deeper to the aspects of digital literacy as it pertains to the elementary classroom. Students will be able to communicate with their entire class about their assignments in a quick and easy format. Already this year, I have tried to use a classroom blog through Edmodo so that students could communicate and share ideas with their classmates. This is a wonderful tool for the classroom, but it is difficult to use with little technological access. Next year, I will be able to do so much more with blogging in the elementary classroom.

Blogs give students the chance to express themselves through writing. This process helps students to think critically about the content they are studying and to actively engage in an ongoing discussion about the topic. Topics can range from any of the content areas and serve as an informal or formal assessment to check for student understanding. One way that I would use a blog in my classroom is to have students discuss their weekly reading story. We may choose to analyze cause and effect relationships, inferences, fact and opinion, etc. With an ongoing thread students are encouraged to add something new to the conversation while making comments on peers' posts. Another way I would like to use blogs is with social studies content. I would like to extend the discussion from merely my classroom to students in another state or country to allow my students to learn from others' first hand accounts.

In my experience, children love to use technology as a means of communication. I have found that more students are willing to participate in an online discussion versus a whole group, face-to-face discussion. Students also will produce some of their best writing when they know that it will be immediately viewed and provided with a response. Blogs are easy yet powerful tools in any classroom, and many sites have been created to provide a safe place for communication between students. I am a believer in using 21st century methods to 21st century students!

Some sites for classroom blogging include:

-Edublogs
-Kidblog
-Weebly
-Classchatter