Using a blog like this in my 4th grade classroom would be a great way to communicate with parents and students. Currently, I use a Google website, but the blog format allows for so much more. Parents and students would be able to interact with me and the rest of the members of the class by commenting on my posts. I could also use the tabs at the top for the different subject areas. I could link assignments and homework. Parents and students would be able to access the blog on their mobile devices and computers which would be convenient.
I'm worried about the restrictions on blog use because my students are younger than age 13. It would be highly engaging for students to create their own blog, but I'm not sure if this is possible. Students could keep a journal on their own blog page. Peers would be able to read their posts and comment. I think that students would become better, more confident writers using the blog format I'm interested in coming up with other ways to use the blog to create learning opportunities in the classroom.
A blog does offer a lot of flexibility and creates a much easier way to keep both parents and students up to date on a daily basis. With just 5 or so minutes a day you could add a post about the activities that were done that day for parents to see. You could also include links to any websites or a link to Google Classroom for assignments that use classroom.
ReplyDeleteFor students under 13 you need to use a blog like kid blog if you want students to create their own blog. Kid blog allows you to have more control over student blogs and nobody outside of your classroom can access what the students post. There are also options for doing this with a Google Site. You could create a page for each of your students that they could post to and you could set it up so they could comment on the other student pages. If you want to try this, I can help you set it up this fall.