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I chose to explore the use of the blog in our class to supplement “13 Reasons Why”. In addition to blogging being a tool that supports a “less-paper” course and you, as 21st-century learners, I wanted to use a medium that would both engage and support your reading comprehension and discussion of the book’s themes that was not “basic-recall” questions.
As well, I did not want to only use the blog to support our reading and tried to incorporate other elements to our reading of the novel: video (My-so-called-life, Stand by Me and The Last Lecture), writing (beyond the blog – “13 inspirations” composition), representation projects (t-shirt and web at back wall), discussions (i.e. fishbowl), drama (still-images) and questioning/opinion responses.
Having said that, Ms. O-Quinn and I would like some feedback on your blogging experience. Consider the following questions in your response:
- Before this blog, had you published anything on the internet?
- Did you prefer writing on the blog or writing on paper?
- What did you like/not like about blogging?
- How can a blogging project be used to teach 21st century skills, such as creativity, communication skills, and technology literacy?
- Did you learn anything new about computers / technology? Do you think this knowledge could be useful for you in the future?
- What did you like/not like about writing, reading and responding to blogs?
- How does/doesn’t blogging support your learning? Understanding of themes from the novel?
- Should blogs be used in the classroom? With novel study?
- What aspects of blogging you have struggled with or not struggled with?
- What other blog activities would students engage with?
- Do you believe that writing on a blog can improve your English?
- Would you prefer to choose your own topics or would you rather be given specific tasks?
- Do you think it is better to have one class blog (as we had), or would it be better for everyone to have their own blog?
Before this blog, had you published anything on the internet?
ReplyDeleteYes. I have what I call my "film blog". I write stuff that happens that get me closer and closer to my dream of being in the film industry.
It currently has a home on Tumblr under the URL
thetardiszombies.tumblr.com
Did you prefer writing on the blog or writing on paper?
I definitely prefer writing on the blog. I love the fact that you can get feedback from your peers and improve on your writing, as apposed to, just handing it in.
What did you like/not like about blogging?
I love the fact that you get feedback from others, as well, I really like that if I can't finish it, or I'm sick at home that day, it's easily accessed at home because it's on the web.
Would you prefer to choose your own topics or would you rather be given specific tasks?
A little of both. Sometimes I feel really creative and can write pages and pages of words. Somedays, I need a little kick and a given topic can give a good structure to get me going.
Do you think it is better to have one class blog (as we had), or would it be better for everyone to have their own blog?
The one blog is the most effective. Having a bunch of seperate blogs can just get confusing. When we have one big one, it's more connected and it's easier for others to see everyone's work all at once.
I think the one blog was ok except for the fact that it was super disorganized. If it was somehow more organized which is probably very hard to do. I wish you could comment on someone’s statement without it going all the way to the bottom of the page. Although I know that it’s almost impossible. However I do think that everyone having his or her own blog would be too hard to keep track of.
ReplyDeleteafter do..i meant to add 'it would be alright.'
ReplyDeleteFeed Back Feed Back ohh!
ReplyDeleteI think the blogging idea is a really great thing because we dont have to use alot of paper. Also i like the idea of being able to see what other students have written and getting their oppinion on what i've written about. I really enjoy this different way of learning.
Danielle D
My feedback on a, “less paper course.”
ReplyDeleteOverall I think it’s a great idea because now we are not bringing loads of paper with us having them being thrown away at the end of a semester. What I like about blogging is that it’s accessible pretty much all the time on the Internet. A blogging project can be used to teach the 21st century by allowing students to access the Internet for useful information, to look up a definition or even using an online thesaurus. I think blogs should be used in classrooms that are doing novel studies because students can read each other’s thoughts about the topic and can support or disagree with them. I think it is better to have one class blog rather than each having our own because all our thoughts are one page than having them all in a huge mess.
In response to Jen:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on having seperate blogs would make things too hard to keep track of. I also understanmd what you were saying about having to go down to the bottom to comment or respond. It wouldn't be that impossible, but you would have to be a computer programer to fix it. I think they have it that way though because most people who use these blogs and comment on others, comment about the blog, not about other entries. So I think it was made for the use it was supposed to have.
Forums are like this too. You comment and have to refer who you were talking to.
Maybe you should make a design and patent it. A "more efficient blog layout" ;D
I have published on twitter and facebook, and done some blogging on tumblr just personal thoughts. I prefer writing down my thoughts on paper, but then collaborating it onto the computer, and then the blog. I think it would be best having one class blog, instead of everyone having there own, just for simplicity. What I liked about writing reading and responding to blog posts is that you can get inspiration from your peers, and get constructive critism on your blog posts. As well, I like getting specific things to write about, not just choosing your own topics.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Danielle:
ReplyDeleteJeny Jackson reference... very nice ;) LOL (I really hope that's who sings that song, if not, then I'm really embarassed).
Either way, I definitely agree with you. I have learned a lot this year off of feedback from other people in the class.
JANET I MEANT JANET!!!
ReplyDeleteEmma-Lynn- I like what you said about being able to work on it at home! I completely forgot about that but that is deffinitiely one of my favourite parts.
ReplyDeleteBefore this blog I hadn’t really published something else on the Internet. I think writing on the blog is better because you can always change your written things and it’s much easier do discuss with other people. I didn’t learn something new about computers. I guess we deal the book much deeper. And I prefer to work with a class blog like we used this time
ReplyDeleteThe aspect I liked the most about blogging was the paper-less idea. During middle school, my organization wasn't the best, and having all these different little slips off paper didn't help. With blogging, reading responses and other activities seems to take less time. It's interesting to see everyone else's contribution to the topics so accessibly, and it makes responding to them even easier. One thing I didn't like about blogging was the speed of the computer, but really that isn't the blog's fault. All in all, I think it's a positive tool for learning.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the whole experience of writing on a blog as opposed to wriiting on paper. Before this blog I had not published any writing on the internet. I found writing on a blog had an advantage over writing on paper, because I could get feedback from peers. Also that I could finish work from home and hand it in easily. At the begining I had some difficulties with posting but those were easily passed. As for learning anything about use of computers. I did not really advance in any way because I use computers quite often. Someone who doesn't might possible benefit from this whole experience. I found the process of responding to a topic was concise. I don't really feel that it improves my writing skills because those aren't really being critiqued by my peers. Only my thought process and connections I make are being under-fire. I think the way that it is composed is an effective way to run a "paper-less" course. Good-day to you, sir.
ReplyDelete-Devon
In response to Emma-Lynn.....DID YOU REALLY MEAN JANET EMMA! DID YOU REALLY MEAN JANET?! JANET!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf you ask me, I really like using the blog. With most kids these days used to using computers, it's faster than writing on paper, which gets messy and if you have bad writing, it can be hard to decipher messy letters. It's really fun and it helps us easily respond to another student without swapping papers that you might not even relate to. It's true, technology is really taking over, but if it means less paper I have no issue with it and I enjoy not having sore joints in my fingers from pencils after writing paragraph over paragraph. We've been doing it with a variety of subjects, my favourite posts are the ones that we have to write about something in our life or our perspective on things. Expressing opinions is an important thing, and seeing the opinions of others around me is really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never actually posted anything on the internet, aside from facebook. But I really like being able to post a blog. To be able to read what everyone else thinks is pretty cool. It really helps me think in a way that I normally wouldn’t. For example, if there was a 2-sided debate, hearing other peoples thought can help change my mind. Responding to other people posts were difficult, I didn’t really know what to say or respond on. I liked using the blog and it would be cool to use it in other classes.
ReplyDelete~Becca
I think that it is best to have one big class blog so as everyone can gain ideas, inspiration and support from the rest of the class. If we all had our own blog, then it would be much more difficult for us to see what others are doing, and for the teacher to correct everyone’s work. Think of how long it would take to go to 25+ different blogs. It would probably double the time that it takes for the teacher to mark everything. One disadvantage is that some people are not comfortable with everyone being able to read what they wrote. Some people are self-conscious, but I think that this blog can help with that. After you post something and people give you positive feedback, you will feel better about yourself and be more confident the next time that you post a blog.
ReplyDeleteDanielle!
ReplyDeleteI agree :P I really like being able to see what others said and commented on mine.
I really enjoy the whole bloging experience.
ReplyDeleteHaving bloging to do every time we come to class makes me think, and I have decided to start my own blog, it’s a way to let out my thoughts and opinions somewhat anonymously.
It also gives you a way to see what other people think about your thoughts.
If you use a novel study with blogging I benefit from reading my classmates thoughts and ideas on that book and helps me think more deeply into the story that we might be reading, even thinking out side of the box.
I didn’t really like having to think of something right on the spot more on one curtain subject, it wasn’t to appalling, im just not very creative that way, I cant always think of something im better at writing when im in a mood or have been inspired.
Overall I enjoyed using blog posts.
---Coourtneybone
We liked how we blogged this because it was a change to what we normally do in our other classes, and it keeps it new and exciting. We think it was a little confusing sometimes to reflect on what other people were saying and reply to their comments. we've never blogged before and this was a good new change. We think blogging improves our learning by us being able to see other people points and comment on them. We like not having to choose our topics, it is easyer that was because we have some guidelines to follow to create a good blog and we all have the same topic that were writting about.
ReplyDeleteAmy & KIARA.
Emma-Lynn :What did you like/not like about blogging?
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you get feedback from others, as well, I really like that if I can't finish it, or I'm sick at home that day, it's easily accessed at home because it's on the web.
I fully agree with you im fond of the process of reading your peers blogs and both recieving and giving out feedback.
Its also cool that if you need to finish some homework that you missed your able to acces it at home.
---Coourtneybone
I like the blogging idea a lot more than writing or doing an assingment on paper because, as I type, I am communicating from home but I can also still connect and give feedback on other peoples posts.
ReplyDeleteI've published lots on the internet before, which is probably why the blog idea was right up my alley. The only thing I've struggled with the blog is keeping caught up on posting... but that's where my usual lazy classroom habits come in to play.
The idea of us each having our own blogs is a neat one, but I think all of us sharing a classroom blog is a lot better. It's easier for us to all stay connected on one topic when we're all writing in the same place.
I like the blog not only because not using paper is more green, but also because I'm very disorganised. I hated trying to find my homework in my binder because there are so many pockets, dividers, and pieces of paper that I lose stuff really easily. I don't have to worry about that anymore.
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