Blogging in my Classroom (269)

I first started a blog while in college. I started a www.Livejournal.com blog my freshman year to keep my family and friends up to date with what activities I was involved in at GVSU. During my senior year, I was looking for a roommate and posted about it on LiveJournal. Jenni Clark--a fellow 629 classmate--responded to my post and we became roommates for our super senior year of college. She is now a fellow coworker of mine here in North Carolina. Blogging was the beginning of our friendship! Presently, I do not keep up with my LiveJournal account--I honestly don't even remember the last time I posted on it. [[just checked: September 2009!]] Once Facebook took off--I didn't feel the need to continue posting on LiveJournal when I could post a status, pictures, notes, etc to people on Facebook. Farewell LiveJournal!

Screenshot of my old school LiveJournal

Recently I have already started to blog a little bit with my students using Edmodo. For those who are not familiar with Edmodo, it is a "Facebook" for schools. Students have a profile, can post on the classroom wall, can access articles, websites, etc. They can participate in online polls I create, and they are able to submit assignments and quizzes all online. Parents also have an account where they can see their students page, see any grades that have been entered, and can see messages from the teacher. The greatest thing about this site is that students are NOT allowed to direct message each other. Therefore bullying and inappropriate behavior is at a minimum.   It has been an awesome experience so far this year (I started using it in March). My students were beyond excited to start using this and their excitement and engagement is still very noticeable. This coming week we are about to take our End of Grade assessments that we've been preparing for all year. It's a huge assessment and it stresses EVERYONE out. So I posted on the wall a discussion question for my students to answer. "What are some strategies you can use to help yourself relax when it comes to testing day?" It is so great to see kids communicating, interacting, collaborating, etc! Edmodo has truly been a breath of fresh air! Check it out: EDMODO!

Screenshot of my Edmodo Teacehr page

Edmodo can serve as a space for my students to blog about anything they want. They can post their blogs right on the classroom page so all of their classmates can read it and respond to it. They can post photos and links as well. Currently my kids are obsessed with posting trivia facts for each other to research. They are so funny! We've also been watching the Decorah Eagles. Three eaglets hatched in late March and we've been making observations about their growth. See Decorah Eagles! You can make groups for students to join--examples--I have a Gifted group set up for those who need the higher differentiation. I post research questions for them to discuss as well as different examples of projects I'd like them to try to complete. Another group type of setting on edmodo would be fabulous for Literature Circles. One of my coworkers is trying to set up a summer book club on edmodo for her super readers.
Edmodo is a great place to network with other educators. You as a teacher can join groups that you are interested in. Some groups I am a member of: Flipping the Classroom, iPad Classrooms, Common Core Conversations, Freebies for Educators, etc. There are also communities that highlight different subject areas (math, science, language arts), as well as Project Based Learning, Computer Technology etc. GREAT for networking and finding classrooms to communicate and collaborate with from other cities, states, and even countries!
Some things I want to do in the future as it pertains to blogging: Photos and Videos. I want to document more of what is going on in my classroom so I can post it for all to see. I also want more parent involvement--but that may come from creating my very own website--since edmodo does not allow them to post anything on the site. I am also very interested in flipping parts of my classroom--allowing more time to help students and differentiate in my classroom.