Blogging and Language Arts

Living in the world that we live in today requires students to be literate in technology. It has become the role of the school and teachers to incorporate different technologies into classroom activities.

One way that schools and teachers can incorporate technology into their lesson plans is by allowing students and teachers to use web blogs, commonly called blogs, within their Language Arts classes.

Of course anytime internet activities are used with children certain precautions must be taken to make sure that the children are safe and not sharing information that could allow internet predators to access them.

After establishing ground rules students and teachers can use blogs to express their opinions about books being read within the classroom. This allows students who may not be vocal within the classroom to contribute to the discussions. It also provides an alternative to using paper and pen journaling, saving paper and money.

By: Hollie Dick

How can blogging be incorporated into Language Arts classrooms?

• A Space for “Writing without Writing” Blogs in the Language Arts Class room

• “That’s Online Writing not Boring School Writing”: Writing With Blogs and the Talkback Project

• Avoiding the Digital Abyss: Getting Started in the Classroom with YouTube, Digital Stories, and Blogs

•Why Should We Use This?

•Works Cited

A Space for “Writing without Writing” Blogs in the Language Arts Classroom

Teacher Emily Van Noy’s 7th grade English and Language Arts classroom has changed since she first started teaching. Originally Van Noy used paper journals and collected them weekly. After seeing how time consuming this was Van Noy decided to try a different method using blogs. Van Noy created accounts for her students on Blogger.com using her school e-mail address. She gave each student a pseudonym to write under and established this a “private” place for her students to write in. In their blogs students wrote about their ideas sparked by their literary discussions and reflections on their readings.

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What Van Noy learned

Van Noy found that her students generally enjoyed using blogger.com. It was pretty user friendly and the students didn’t run into too many problems

The main problems that can affect the students use of blogger.com deal with the availability of internet access. Students who didn’t have internet access would have to use the school’s computers which could be done during class time.

Another problem that faced the students use of blogger.com dealt with parent permission. Before this project was even started Van Noy had to make sure each student had parental permission to use the internet. If the students didn’t have permission they were allowed to use word processor and show the document to Van Noy.

What did I learn?

What I learned

The quote that stuck out the most for me in this article was as follows:

“As Eric wrote, ‘ using a blog is more fun, and I think it doesn’t cause a writer’s block’.” (Kajder, Bull, Van Noy, 2004)

In the article the authors talked about how often times students find blank pieces of paper intimidating. They don’t know what to write leaving them feeling frustrated with a case of writer’s block. I loved that introducing blogs, which a lot of students are familiar with, can make writing less intimidating. I think that as teachers our major goal is to provide students with tools that can aid them in learning. If a student isn’t comfortable with writing, as a teacher, I want to try to put writing into terms that make sense to them. In a technological world students may be feel more comfortable writing on a screen where they know they can delete words more easily. Students may also not be able to write fast. If students are allowed to type up their thoughts, they may be more inclined to write because they can express themselves quickly.

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“That’s Online Writing Not Boring School Writing”: Writing With Blogs and the Talkback

Project

Shelbie Witte is a writing teacher in a middle school and found certain students did not like writing in journals. When she asked one student’s parents about their child not liking to write they were surprised because their daughter wrote all the time on her blog. Witte took that information and realized that she needed to use blogging within her classroom to engage her students. Through a blog that she entitled the “Talkback Project Blog” Witte connected her middle school students with preservice teachers to discuss novels read in literature circles. Witte gave her students pseudonyms to write under and the project began. After a semester of use Witte realized that the program needed to be revamped because of the reaction from her students and the preservice teachers. Her students felt that the preservice teachers were talking down to them, and Witte noticed the preservice teachers used the blog as a chat space. After the revamp Witte required the preservice teachers to develop better questions, set up classroom visit by the preservice teachers, and required her students to make videos.

What Happened to the Project?

What Happened to the Talkback Project Blog?

The students and preservice teachers enjoyed the Talkback Project blog because it really challenged both parties to read carefully and come up with thoughtful insights to share on the blog. The project was so successful that a father stationed in Iraq even began participating in the project.

Although Witte went through the proper channels and got permission from the parents of her students and the administration of her school, the Talkback Project blog hit a road bump. After a student posted information a member of the administration thought revealed too much about the student’s location, the blog was shut down in November 2005. Witte was forced to go back to using paper and shuttling journals to the preservice teachers once a week. The students and preservice teachers were frustrated, and Witte suggested that they write letters. After the overwhelming number of letters expressing disappointed the administration decided to reinstate the program. The administration required that the blog be hosted on their school’s site.

What did I Learn?

What I learned

When the Talkback Project blog was removed the students wrote letters to the administration. There was one particular quote that stood out to me. A student said, “By Taking away our access to the Talkback Project blog, you have taken away my voice”( Witte,2007)

This quote affected me the most because as someone who wants to teach English/Language Arts words are extremely important. As a teacher I want to provide my students with skills that allow them to have a voice in the world. Students need to know that their words have power if they use them in constructive ways. I think that if I was in the same position of Witte I would have felt disappointed, frustrated, and heartbroken knowing that my students felt that way about a project ending. Obviously the Talkback Project blog allowed the students to express their opinions and made them feel as if they were contributing to their class in a positive way. When the project ended that ability to contributed was limited in their opinion.

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Avoiding the Digital Abyss: Getting started in the Classroom with YouTube, Digital Stories,

and Blogs

Rebecca Mullen is a language arts teacher at a middle school in a rural area. Mullen had access to computer lab and 5 computers in her classroom. To make her class more exciting to students, Mullen decided to introduce different readily available technology within her classroom activities. Mullen used three different types of technology primarily within her classroom : YouTube, Digital Stories, and Blogs.

Mullen found YouTube to be useful in her classroom because of the large quantity of videos that are available on it. Mullen uses YouTube to show different clips to tie into lessons on things like “Nostalgia,” which may be difficult for kids to understand. By looking up videos that showed clips of shows from her students “youth,” Mullen was able to demonstrate what “Nostalgia” was. Mullen also had her kids create videos to explain different ideas that she posted to her private TeacherTube account.

Give me more technologies!

Using Digital Stories and Blogging

Mullen used digital stories to bring her students ideas to life. Digital stories use words, pictures, music, and sound to share ideas or stories with people. Mullen had her students brainstorm ideas, write their piece and then turn it into a digital story. Mullen’s students enjoyed the project because it allowed them to make their piece unique.

Mullen used blogging within her classroom using Blogger.com. Each student was given a pseudonym and could only post on the blog when Mullen was logged in. The students used the blog to write book recommendations, respond to or discuss current events, and comment on other postings. The students enjoyed the blog postings because they could learn about different books their classmates enjoyed and share books that they enjoyed. Not only did the students enjoy the blogging it limited the amount of paper used.

What did I Learn?

What I learned

This article was very helpful in my opinion because it had three different ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. This ties into the quote that to me was the essence of this article.

“Students should be able to use modern technology in the classrooms because that is the world we are growing up in and it is a skill to know how to use the latest technology”- Blain, 8th grader (Mullen, Wedwick, 2008)

Blain is a very smart 8th grader! Technology is every where that we go. Look around your home! There is probably at least one computer or device that allows you to access the internet. Many jobs require employees to be able to use Microsoft Office proficiently. As a teacher it is very important to keep up with technology and now how to use it. Also as a teacher, our job is to provide students with tools to help them succeed. In our modern world, students have to be proficient and able to use technology.

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Why use blogs in the classroom?

After researching this topic, I think it’s very important to be able to incorporate technology into my classroom. As a future English teacher, I’ve learned that it’s important to remember that every child is different. In English classrooms, students have to write but many might feel uncomfortable writing on paper because it’s daunting. Paper doesn’t have spell check or the easy ability to delete what doesn’t need to be there anymore. By allowing students to use blogs, it opens up a world of opportunities for a student. Students feel more comfortable writing and may share opinions that they wouldn’t in class because students feel uncomfortable talking.

One thing to remember about incorporating blogs into a classroom is getting permission. Teachers need to get permission from their administration, and students need permission from their parents. Teachers also need to be conscious to protect the students identity and monitor the posts to make sure the students are remaining safe online.

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Works Cited

Kajder, S., Bull, G., & Van Noy, E. (2004). A Space for "Writing without Writing" Blogs In The Language Arts Classroom. Mining the Internet. Learning and Leading with Technology , 32-35.

Mullen, R., & Wedwick, L. (2008). Avoiding the Digital Abyss: Getting Started in the Classroom with YouTube, Digital Stories, and Blogs. Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies , 66-69.

Witte, S. (2007). Avoiding the Digital Abyss: Getting Started in the Classroom with YouTube, Digital Stories, and Blogs. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy , 92-96.

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