Blogging Begins at RMS

I’m ready to start kids blogging in class. I’ve chosen TypePad as my Blogger. It costs ($14.95/mo. For unlimited blogs and users) but allows for passwords. I got the go ahead from the Asst. Supt., Mr. Hemingway, and our Principal, Mr. Helliesen.

I would like to start with one class, probably Ms.McCarthy’s reading class on the Jaguar team. We’ve talked about this and she is interested. She’s even come up with a name for her blog, “The Chronicles of Jaguar”. The advice at the blogging workshop I attended said to set the tone well in advance: talk about netiquette, have students devise rules and standards. For the first day the students will look up “netiquette” and “blog” on the internet, define them, give examples and tell us what they think.

I’ve been searching for educational blogs to use in the classroom. Here are a few:

-Blog a sentence with many mechanical errors & have them retype the sentence correctly. (Like D.O.L. Daily Oral Language) The sentence to be corrected will serve another purpose; it will be a journal prompt; - kids being rude, etc.
-Students blog about what they learned in science... some cool facts they are learning.
-Have students explore a website such as Discovery.com. Then have them to blog an interesting fact about something they'd learned. .
- blog lunch/hall/dismissal problems/teasing /bullying
- vacation plans
- status of the class: what's your topic? Fascinating fact? ...
- blog to long-term sick student
- blog to a student who moved away
- Explore news sites - opinions on current events
- story/ book predictions
- Daily Oral Language
- ask questions to check for understanding, monitor progress on a project.
- express opinions using 1st Person Narrative point-of-view
- Debate sides of an argument to make blogging more interactive.
- Lit. Circles
-Word Wizard
- post a new vocabulary word you learned in your book.

-Historical characters….”My Dear Countrymen, it is with a heavy heart that I tell you both good news and bad news. We have signed the Declaration of Independence. THis means we will be going to war. Tell me what you think about this. How will this effect your family? You? Your friends?”
General Washington

-“Yo Colonial Dudes & Dudettes! How do you feel about the way of King George III is taxing the colonists? Are you a Patriot or a Loyalist? I know you guys disagree about the fairness of his taxes. Do you think they're fair? Can you live with them? Will you continue to pay them? How are all of these taxes effecting you & your family? What's the scuttlebut in town?”

Adopt-an-Element

This week Mr. Weeks and his science classes will be coming to the lab to create ads for elements. Each student has been assigned an element and will be creating a one page ad for it. They must include on their WORD document: the element symbol, name, atomic number, atomic mass, slogan, cost and their name. They can also add pictures, autoshapes, wordart, textboxes, etc. At the end of this project we can hang up the student work and create our own GIANT periodic table. For the project description, rubric and example in pdf click here. I found this project on Science Spot (http://sciencespot.net/), an excellent online resource.

Interactive Math Websites

Lots of great java applet websites for mathematics. This one is on factorization. Many on fractions: This one is the equivalent fractions pointer, in which you shade in boxes of equivalent values. The Area Explorer has students determine the area of a shape on a grid. Students practice their knowledge of acute, obtuse and alternate angles. Here are 7 activities that practice knowledge of angles and parallel lines. Learn about factors through building rectangular arrays on a grid.

Lots of Function and Algegra activities also. Students can investigate very simple functions by trying to guess the algebraic form from inputs and outputs.

Try this link to a my mathematics webpage with many, many more interactive activities.

Colony Brochure Project

8th graders on the Mustang team are creating brochures to entice new settlers to their colony in the "New World". They must include 8 items (government, geographical features, natural resources, native americans, founder, religion, date of settlement, and climate). They open a template (available online here)which will be filled in with the information and pictures and formatting. Students are paired on this project: one does the center and the other does the outside. A fun project.

Jaguar Journaling Blog

Ms. McCarthy and I are planning a blog for her to use in History and Reading. She will type a question, comment or prompt and the students (all in the computer lab) will respond in the form of a comment. She can then post another comment that may refer to something a student wrote or promote further thinking. Students and teacher can then read and post comments in a "written discussion" format. The entries of all the students will be read and graded. They can be printed out to file into reading folders or portfolios. Check back to see our "discussion" soon.

New Reading Resources Blog for RMS

The Reading Resources Teacher, Jessica Carloni, and I have talked about creating a blog for Reading. It will include best practices, activities, links, ideas, etc. The blog will make it possible for teachers to comment on an activity. They can add that they tried it, changed it, loved it or liked it but it was too short. Lots of possibilites. She also will use it with her new Reading group for teachers. They will share articles, ideas, and readings. Visit it when it is up!

A Writing Idea

This is the site of a teacher called Awesome Readers and Writers. She uses it to get the kids to respond to her writing prompts. Go to http://mrsd.tblog.com/ and click at the bottom of the comment on view/add to read the student responses.

Ideas for History & L.A.

This is an idea from a history teacher, "In Social Studies, we're learning about the American Revolution. I blogged to them to get their opinions on various historical events they've learned about or reenacted in class. I'd like to get a running dialogue between Patriots & Loyalists & King George III.

I'm going to blog a sentence with many mechanical errors & have them retype the sentence correctly. (Like D.O.L. Daily Oral Language) The sentence to be corrected will serve another purpose; it will be a journal prompt; Students will first type their name, fix the sentence(s), and then respond thoughtfully using good sentence writing skills. In one glance I'll be able to assess all 30 students D.O.L. practice as well as some writing fluency skills.

More ideas from this teacher at: http://jsiporin.motime.com/

Blogging Workshop at NHPTV

I attended a workshop on blogging on 10/5. The possibilities for teachers and students is mind-boggling. I'm not sure where to begin. The first task is to get familiar with creating a blog and posting to it. It's pretty simple but there are a lot of settings, templates, editing options.

One of the concerns when I came was about students posting inappropriate comments. The suggestion here is that if the teacher sets the guidelines, has clear expectations, goals, and objectives and GRADES the postings, then the students will do OK.

A school in Georgia has about 10 different blogs in their classroom. The principal has one (which is why I have invited Wally to be a member of this blog) on which she posts short essays on character, fairness, and issues that come up. The students can comment. The counselors have a blog and several teachers. The URL for that school is : http://jhhweb.rockdale.k12.ga.us .

Welcome to the NEW 8th Grade Technology Blog

This is a beginning for RMS to use blogs in the classrooms in the 8th grade teams. I will be posting ideas to use in the classroom and ideas for students to use blogs for their own reading and writing. Please help by posting ideas that worked for you or suggestions for future activities and projects.