Blogging with History
The
purpose and usage of blogging in my classroom will help students reflect on
their current level of mastery in my US History class. Each week, I assess
students on essential questions that encompass their learning of the week’s
objectives. I have decided to implement Blogger where I will have students
utilize the site to reflect on their week’s progress towards mastery of the
given essential question. In this space, students will have free-range to give
their personal opinion on what they struggle with or areas they feel they
excelled in. In addition, at the end of each unit students will have an
opportunity to look back at their blogs and give a summary reflection on their
growth and progress and may set goals for future units. Granting students an
opportunity to reflect on their growth will in return offer a reflective space
where students can analyze their growth as a student of history as well as
develop 21st-Century skills such as blogging. In addition, I would like to have
students use Blogger as their personal reflective space while completing their
eighth-grade research project. My reason behind using their blogs while
completing their research project is to allow for a collaborative workspace for
students to work together in sharing ideas or resources.
Currently,
I teach eighth-grade United States History to some of the greatest kids in
Watts, California. Teaching in the community for six years of my career, I have
seen the growth of technology in our school setting and have experienced how
this has empowered students to become more active in their learning. Leveraging
my students’ technology skills by having them type their reflections through
blogging is a great way to have students find their voice. As I monitor students’
reflections through Blogger, I am able to learn about my students’ internal
thoughts which grant me insight into how my students are academically feeling
in class. This will better my approach to further becoming a lifelong learner
of becoming a better teacher for my students. As students post their blogs, I
am able to reply and give feedback as to how I can further help them in my
classroom setting. The greater the interactions teachers have with their
students through online conversations the more likely students will succeed in
class (Harper, 2018). In addition to having an on-going conversation with my
students through blogging, it allows a space for students to become proficient
in many areas needed in a technology-driven workforce. The more students are
actively engaged in blogging with their peers through academic discourse I
believe the more involved students will become on greater social topics because
they have created a space where their opinion matters and is respected.
At the
culmination of each school year, our eighth-graders do a community-wide
research project on what changes they believe should take place and how to
bring awareness to problems in Watts such as poverty, immigration,
unemployment, and gang violence. Having my students blog their process
throughout the project will give them the opportunity to have their voices
heard far beyond the classroom walls. In addition, students will be allowed to
blog their process and give other students an opportunity to share ideas or
feedback before their final presentation. I believe the most powerful use of
blogging and other technologies is that it provides a different educational
environment that grants the teacher bandwidth to converse with students outside
the classroom environment (Harper, 2018). Keeping the learning environment
active at all times will give students the extra support they deserve knowing
that I cannot reach and support thirty-three students within a given class
period.
To implement blogging into a classroom setting is as
important as setting norms and expectations students should adhere to. As for
educators, it is our sole responsibility to explain the type of usage you
expect from your students. The International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE) develops standards for educators and teachers to abide by
while integrating technology into the classroom. One standard I believe
teachers should use in the beginning stages of integrating blogging falls under
the Citizen category. Under this category, teachers are expected to mentor
students in safe, legal, and moral actions while using technology which
includes social interactions (International Society for Technology in
Education, 2019). This standard is pinnacle to integrating blogging and other
Web 2.0 Tools into the classroom because of the expectations of students to
collaboratively share ideas and information in class. If norms and expectations
are not taught correctly, students are therefore not set up for success and
educators are now inhibiting that student’s potential at the growth of skills
that Richardson (2010) argues they need to continue to be productive members of
a working society. Secondly, I believe teachers should create experiences for
students that require them to display positive and socially responsible actions
online that foster a positive relationship and community (ISTE, 2019). Granting
my students space to collaboratively involve themselves in a positive
environment enables students to take chances of extending their thoughts or
opinions knowing they are going to be respected in the learning environment.
Furthermore, this will display specific expectations society has created and
will give students an upper-hand at being proficient in 21st-Century
skills.
As students begin to blog in my class this year, I must
hold them accountable for specific expectations. Just as teachers must mentor
students on how positive behavior should be display, I believe students should
adhere to the same standard. As a digital citizen, students will be held accountable
for engaging in positive and ethical behavior when technology is used,
including social interactions online (ISTE, 2019). Due to my students
interacting with one another to give support and feedback on their final
research project, I must make sure students are respecting the learning
environment. What this standard allows is for our students to take chances of
formulating opinions that may challenge another’s thoughts. Most of the time,
our students are timid to speak openly in class but are more inclined to
express themselves behind the keyboard and I believe they should be entitled to
a respectable environment. Secondly, I feel as students begin to utilize
blogging to their advantage, they should learn how to become global
collaborators by learning how to use technology in a collaborative environment
that includes their peers and other members of society in order to analyze
issues and dilemmas from other points of view (ISTE, 2019). Creating an
environment where students are actively collaborating with one another will
give students the access and skills they will need once they become part of the
working class. Collaboration and positive communication is the key to great
relationships in and out of the workforce and I believe teaching students collaborative
skills will only play to their advantage later in life.
References
Harper, B. (2018). Technology and teacher-student
interactions: A review of empirical research. Journal of Reseach on Technology
in Education. (50)3, 214-225.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts,
and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin.
International Society for Technology in Education
(2019). ISTE standards for educators. Retrieved from
https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators.
International Societ for Technology in Education
(2019). ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from
https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students.
