By Jamie Guillaume
When I initially began studying blogging for students, the intention was to find a tool that could be used for what our district refers to as a Reader’s Response Journal. Research shows that talking and writing about what is read improves comprehension and for that matter, the same can be said for all subject matters. Then I learned about Kidblog (www.kidblog.org), which is a fantastic and free web tool that gives students an authentic audience in a safe blogging environment.
Kidblog is a safe blogging platform because the teacher has control over the audience as well as what is posted and not posted. Under the control panel, the teacher can access the privacy settings, allowing teacher control over the broadness of the audience. For example student writing can be viewed just within the classroom, shared with other classrooms, viewed by parents with an access code, or even opened up publicly. The teacher has complete control of this through the settings. The teacher also sets student usernames and passwords; however the students are able to change these.
Another benefit of Kidblog is that students get to comment on one another’s posts, allowing students to reflect on the writing and thoughts of their peers. However along with modeling how the blog should be set up, commenting also takes modeling for students to master. Otherwise you will end up with, “That was great!” or “I liked it!” versus constructed comments that complement, give feedback and ask questions.
As mentioned, I first thought that Kidblog should be used in Language Arts classes for students to reflect on their reading and although this is a great use, it can also be used in a cross-curricular format. Students could record findings in science, give an explanation of a standard in math or even post their history papers!
The bottom line is students will have a stronger, vested interest in their writing if they have an authentic audience that consists of more readers than just their teacher. Kidblog gives a safe platform for students to reflect on their learning to an authentic audience.
How do you think you could use student blogging in your classroom?
The bottom line is students will have a stronger, vested interest in their writing if they have an authentic audience that consists of more readers than just their teacher. Kidblog gives a safe platform for students to reflect on their learning to an authentic audience.
How do you think you could use student blogging in your classroom?
