Blogging
We have tried blogging in my class a few times now. I want to know how it is working for you. What do you think about blogging in class? What are good things about it? Are there any problems? How can we encourage thoughtful discussion?
We came up with some guidelines for commenting on blogs. Here are our ideas:
Blogging Guidelines
1. Be polite!
2. Make sure other people can understand your comment!
Be specific and clear about what you are saying.
If you are answering a question, copy and paste it into your comment so people know what it is.
You can also copy and paste part of someone elses comment into yours if you are talking about it.
If you use someone else’s words, let us know!
3. Don’t repeat other people
4. Stay on topic.
5. If you are giving an opinion (“it’s cool”, etc.), tell why you think that.
6. Ask questions that make people think.
7. Say things that make people think!
March 15th, 2006 at 11:37 am
I like bloging in class. It really gets me and other thinking, and it is really helpful to hear what other people have to say because it allows me to think about thing that I would have never thought about before. The only big problems are that people are using other people’s name, but I think that with the rules that it will not happen anymore.
March 15th, 2006 at 11:39 am
I like blogging because we get to see what other people say and we are able to see what other people are saying about the certain topic. What I don’t like is when people get completely off topic and then we are reading their comment and it doesn’t make any sense.
March 15th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Mr. Light. I really like being able to use blogging. By using it, we don’t have to wait our turn. We can just say what we want (as long as its on topic) when we want to. I wish there was some way to make it so that people couldn’t use other people’s names though. But I know that there is probably no way for you to fix that. Other than that, I like blogging, and can’t wait to do more.
March 15th, 2006 at 11:48 am
Mr. light I think the blogging is interesting and it should be. I think that we should use blogging more often to do work because it is easier than writing every thing. I think you should keep all the new rules the same.
March 16th, 2006 at 8:00 am
i like the blogging and i think we should continure to blog. Because its a good way to share with other people what we have learned and tell about it and ask questions and have other people answer them. I think its better to blog than have class discussions about topics like this that way we can all blog at once, but we cant all talk at once.
March 16th, 2006 at 8:00 am
I really like the blogging! its pretty cool!!!
March 16th, 2006 at 8:01 am
I think these ground rules are good! I think they will help in our blogging!
March 16th, 2006 at 8:02 am
I really like blogging because it is easier than writing everything out with hand, its fun, and cool to hear EVERYONE’S opinion, not just my class’. I think we should continue on blogging!
March 16th, 2006 at 8:04 am
Blogging is a fun and interesting way to share ideas in the classroom, and, nobody can interupt each other. It also gives quiet people a chance to post their opinion before the class, I think we should use blogging as much as possible!
March 16th, 2006 at 8:10 am
saying things that make people think is a good rule because it will teach you and make you wonder so much that you will find the answer- for example Jed left a good comment that really taugt me something and made me think- this is definately a good rule and it will come in handy!
March 16th, 2006 at 8:11 am
I think that the blogs are helpful and educational … and i hope that we can still do them in class….. it is cool to be able to hear whar everybody thinks.. and to voice ur opinion and not be loud… lol
March 16th, 2006 at 8:13 am
I think these rules will help with blogging like the one when you say cool, ect. to tell what is cool or how it is cool.
March 16th, 2006 at 8:14 am
I like blogging because it it interesting! i like seeing what other people have to say about what we are learning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oo hhh and i agree with ashlee, it is easier insted of writing!
March 16th, 2006 at 11:22 am
I think that the bloging idea is a good way to have a class dicusion and not get Loud and in diaray.
March 16th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
this whole blogging thing is pretty cool….. it is easier then writing and it is a quiet way to have a conversation in class about what we are learning about. i think we should use this blogging thinger more often in class… and also.. it passes time in class faster.
March 16th, 2006 at 5:40 pm
Dude. Great blog. I especially like that this is a blog about blogging. I’m having a metacognitive experience. I may leave my own body……I’m back. I may create my own blog about your blog on blogging.
March 16th, 2006 at 5:41 pm
I really like blogging because it gives me a chance to organize my thoughts and get them out in a logical way. It keeps me on track with my ideas so I don’t get too excited or off topic.
I wish I never had to speak again.
March 16th, 2006 at 5:43 pm
I’m really interested in getting my kids to blog about Where the Red Fern Grows. It sounds like 8th graders really enjoy posting information in this way.
Do any of you have suggestions about how I might go about keeping students from giving away info we haven’t all read about yet? Please let me know in person.
March 16th, 2006 at 5:43 pm
Sharon,
Good point. I don’t know why this particular blog isn’t organized to comment on comments. The kids DO comment on each other’s comments.
March 17th, 2006 at 8:21 am
Blogging is cool. It lets people talk and anwser quetions without causing major mayham. It gets every one involed.
March 17th, 2006 at 8:21 am
i think blogging is really kool because u can see what other people is thinking and on top of that u can learn a lot on this because of what people are saying.
March 17th, 2006 at 9:58 am
Mr.Light,
I think that blogging is a lot of fun. It is cool that we can talk to eachother and share our questions. Hearing what other people think is a good way to make us think and ask more questions about science. But I don’t like the comments that are completey off subject. They don’t help us at all, and they get us thinking about something other than science.
Mandy
March 17th, 2006 at 10:11 am
I think that bloging is a good way to have a class conversation as long as people stay on topic and respect other peoples names by not using them for fun.
March 17th, 2006 at 10:15 am
I don’t think people should use others name….
March 17th, 2006 at 10:17 am
I think that blolgging was helpful because it lets us communicate without having to raise our hand or shout over other people. I also like the fact that it makes me think of things that i wouldn’t have thought of on my own, and it is fun to answer other people’s questions, in detail. What I don’t like about it is that other people can use your name, without perrmission.
March 19th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
I think blogging is wicked fun. I like how we can all have a discussion and everyone in the whole 8th grade is included in one, not two seperate ones. Also I think it’s nice to see the kids that barely talk in class talking on the blogs. I think the rules will help out alot too.
March 20th, 2006 at 7:52 am
I like blogging because it……….uh involves computers and I like computers.
March 25th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
I like blogging because the whole class can have a class disscusion with out worrying about wrong answers or looking dumb in the rest of the class. I also like blogging because we are all learning from each other.
March 29th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
[...] Mr. Light’s blog starts with very clear guidelines for what is expected of blogging students and their commenting. He then asks his students what they think of blogging and we can read their evaluative and overwhelmingly postive views on the medium. [...]