This week I am away on an offline vacation. Rather than let the blog be dormant or rerunning old posts I decided to give some other people a chance to share their experiences and ideas with you. I hope you enjoy the posts.


I
was introduced to educational blogging in 2008. A twenty minute
tutorial by a Department of Education staff member was enough to ignite
my interest and, four years on, blogging is something that really works in my classroom.

Initially,
I saw blogging as a bit of fun. I thought it would be a good way to
communicate with parents and archive classroom information. I didn’t
realise that there are countless
other benefits that blogging can bring when it is working effectively in a classroom.  

When I look back at how I first approached blogging, there are few similarities to how my blogging program operates today.

I used to think blogging was an add-on. I didn’t realise that it can be seamlessly integrated into the classroom
literacy program. I used to feel guilty about taking time away from my
reading and writing curriculum. It was a light bulb moment for me when I
realised that blogging is
literacy; and an authentic and important style of literacy too. Now a
day without blogging as part of my literacy block would be hard to
imagine.

I used to think it was about the posts. Back
in 2008, I had students writing posts from day one. There was no
education or standard. Few comments were written and those we did
receive were often limited to “I like your blog!!!” or “Our class is cool!!!”. The students’ writing just wasn’t developing. Working with teachers such as Linda Yollis made me realise the comments are the place to start. This is where everyone can get involved, collaborate, learn and practise their skills.


From the beginning of each school year, I now put the emphasis on writing quality comments.
This requires explicit teaching, modelling, practice and feedback. I
write the posts until the students develop the skills they need to write
an effective post. From there the students can earn their
own blog. It is a sequential process which has led to incredible gains
in the students’ literacy skills, confidence and 21st century
proficiencies.

I used to think participation would just….happen. Unlike
traditional websites, the dynamic nature of blogs means people can be
having conversations, interacting and learning from each other every
day. My blog used to be a fairly dead space. It received a handful of
daily visits and maybe one comment per post at best.

Over
time I realised that participation cannot be left to chance. If you
want parents to get involved you need to educate and encourage them.
Parent handouts, videos, e-newsletters, Family Blogging Afternoons, posts for parents and Family Blogging Month
competitions have all led to greater family involvement in our blog.
Most teachers are well aware of the link between parent participation in
schooling and improved student outcomes. Blogs provide a bridge between
home and school, however, many families need to be shown the way … just
like the students.

I used to think our class blog was just for our class. Little
did I realise that an important aspect of blogging is getting involved
in the online community. When I first began, I didn’t know any other
blogging classes. Now we connect with blogging classes from all corners
of the globe on a daily basis.

Blogging
partnerships have allowed my students to learn about geography,
cultures, time zones, seasons, language, internet safety and more in an
authentic way. Global collaboration has led my students to learn
alongside their peers and achieve amazing outcomes such as raising $20,000 for a Ugandan school. Our classroom program is much richer because of our blogging buddies.

This
is the fifth year that my class has been involved in blogging. I am
constantly learning and tweaking ideas. Implementing a blogging program
has certainly been a rewarding journey for both my students and myself.

Through
integrating blogging into the curriculum, setting high standards,
educating families, and being active in the blogging community, my
students now reap the rewards that blogging offers. Yours can too! Not
sure where to start? I have written a five step guide to getting started with blogging and many other posts on all aspects of educational blogging. Happy blogging!

Kathleen Morris is a grade four teacher in Victoria, Australia. This year, she team teaches 52 students with Kelly Jordan.
Kathleen enjoys integrating blogging, global collaboration and a range
of technologies into her classroom program. She began teaching in 2004
and has taught grades one to four in that time. 


Blog: Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/
Class Blog: 4KM and 4KJ @ Leopold Primary School http://4kmand4kj.global2.vic.edu.au/
eNewsletter: Tech Tools for Teachers http://www.teachgennow.com.au/
Twitter: @kathleen_morris https://twitter.com/kathleen_morris
Diigo: http://www.diigo.com/user/Kathleenmcgeady