In my high school I TAM teach with Marine Biology teachers for Juniors and Seniors. One of my teachers I work with actually used blogging at the beginning of the year! He used edublogs. Each class had their own section to respond to. He would post an initial post, and have the students respond for practice. Once they were familiar with this process, each student did their own assignment. Each student was assigned a section from the chapter to do research on. They had to give facts about their section, include pictures, and answer the section review questions. Once they were completed we used our projector to show everyone their postings! It was a really neat project.
Now that I am in charge of a blogging project, I was thinking of having my students pick a marine animal and do research on the animal. There will be a set of instructions for the research, but they will be able to include any type of additional facts and pictures of their choice! This will be a good 'end of the year' project to give them the option to pick their favorite animal we previously studied, or to teach us about one we did not!
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I think having students do a blogging project in high school would be very beneficial. I like how you will give them the choice to reteach an animal they have already studied or introduce a new one. This shows that this is not strictly a review project and many students will want to continue their own learning by researching something new. I would definately include a rubric especially since this would be a new type of project for students to complete. A challenge would be if you have the resources within the classroom to allow students work time. How much of the assignment would be required to be completed out of school? Do you have a plan for students who do not have internet access or enough blogging skills to complete the project?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response! When doing a large 'technology' project in class, we always make sure we have library time for the students to have computer access. In our library we have about 50 computers and 50 laptops.
ReplyDeleteIf I decide to do an on-going blogging project I would check with the students and see who does not have internet access at home. I would give the assignment, but then on certain days I would leave the last ten-fifteen minutes for students to work on their homework, or work on the two student computers we have in class.
For those that do not have the skills, I would be available for assistance!
Thanks Again!
Have a great weekend!
I am not familiar with TAM teaching. Does that just mean there is you and another teacher in the class?
ReplyDeleteBlogging is very beneficial with high school students. I teach 5th grade and there is not a whole lot of responsibility on their parts. At least in high school, they are well aware of expectations, as well as preparing their minds for college. It sounds like a wonderful idea and it is probably going to be very engaging.
I think blogging is a wonderful and beneficial experience for high school students. Most of them are at the age that they can effectively use a blog and navigate one too. It is great learning experience because many of will use or learn to use a blog in the near future. I teach 6th graders and I am not sure how well they can utilize they internet let alone a blog. I am completely new to blogging and have had a difficult time myself. Although, I do plan on trying it with my students soon and think it would be interesting to find out how many log-in to the blog and actually do the assignment. This will be a test for them and for myself.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments Matthew and Mirdita! TAM teaching is basically 'Team' teaching. Yes, there are two teachers in the room. With inclusion, you need to be sure there are highly qualified teachers for each student and the subject. I am highly qualified for special education and my TAM is highly qualified in High School Biology.
ReplyDeleteI think with your 5th and 6th graders they would love the opportunity to work on blogs! If you tell them they do this in high school and college they will feel 'like the big kids'.
Best of luck with your new teaching ideas!!