Throughout this course I have come to know and appreciate blogging, but does blogging have a role in the classroom? I know some schools are blogging daily as opposed to communicating with parents through student agendas. As it is often a battle completing agendas no matter what students’ age- “do I have to write that, my mom already knows,” or “I’ll tell my parents what we did today, I don’t need to write it,” are there benefits to blogging aside from the trees, time and energy saved writing in agendas each day?
I see blogging about the day- tasks students engaged in, what they found interesting, what they learned, what they are looking forward to- providing parents a window into the classroom. Including students in the writing, so their voice is heard would be important.
Thomas and Brown write “the success of a blog depends on two things, neither of which is in the author’s control: reader comments and external links” (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p. 64). I looked at the class blogs for two Calgary schools. At one school, the blogs were basically a list of normal agenda items. To me, this blog is written for parents. There were no comments or external links included, so according to Thomas and Brown, this would not be considered a successful blog.
The second set of blogs appeared to be written for parents and students. There was some student voice evident as the posts shared snippets of what had gone on throughout the day, as opposed to an agenda list. Often a question was posed to engage either students or parents in the conversation. There were comments for most posts, with some responding to the questions posed and others saying “I read the blog.” There were some links included to games and resources for both students and parents. Based on Thomas and Brown’s description, this would be considered a more successful blog than the other.
I see a classroom blog, inclusive of student voice, as a useful tool to inform parents about what’s happening in the classroom and throughout the school. I like the idea of including questions to engage students in learning through a collective outside the school walls. Having students create their own blogs would allow personal expression and “serve as a means to kick-start a collective around conversations about ideas that spring from the personal (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p. 65). I look forward to continuing on my new culture of learning journey and engaging students in the collective experience of blogging in the fall.
Thomas, D. & Brown, J.s. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Seattle, WA: Create Space.
