Now that you have had time to browse and explore at least 10 examples from our menu of “real-world” edublogs, share with us a blog that stood out to you. Please:
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Give us the name and link to the blog.
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Tell us why this blog stood out to you. Why would you consider it exemplary or a “best practice” type of blog?
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Did you get any ideas for how you could use a blog in your classroom or practice from this blog? If so, please share.
Filed under: In-Class Activities | Tagged: blog, edublogging, ideas, inspiration, real world blogs, reflection, tour of blogs
I found a few really good, helpfull blogs.I liked the best Extreme Biology blog because it’s including class news, pictures,videos, questions for discussions, extra credit opportunity. Has a lot of comments, look like blog is working constantly.
This blog has two features. First, writing prompts are posted for students to respond to. These prompts use direct quotes from Shakespeare’s Richard III and paraphrases in informal modern English to pose an issue that students have to take a position on. Second, the prompts are categorized in two ways: by theme (regret, plotting and musings) and by character types (enemies, friends, and royal kin). This blog is especially useful in reinforcing persuasive writing strategies within the context of literature. I’m already thinking of how I could use this type of blog to teach Julius Caesar.
I really liked “The Write Weblog”. It seems as if it’s the school’s website… I enjoy that the students’ responses are “real” and express their thoughts and feelings. Parents, students, teachers and administration all participate!
Great blogs. The one I got stuck on and couldn’t escape from was the Reflective Teacher. It had great organization and useful links. It was very easy to navigate on this blog. The students are very active participants on this site.
Ms. Myrmel’s Classroom Blog was fun to read through! It went through the year with updates to parents about goings-on in the classroom, how the students are using technology (she won a grant from Best Buy too) and tons of student interaction! She obviously knows what she’s doing! : >)
This site was great. It gave book reviews, ratings, and other information about many books. I think this would be a wonderful tool for students and teachers to use. Students can easily find books they might be interested in and quickly see what others have thought about it. Teachers can get a great idea about what books the students enjoy and make suggestions of more books in those categories.
I found some really cool blogs, but I really liked the Language Arts blog. It had some writing and grammar links that students could use for reinforcement. Also, it had a section of student and teacher entries, which is a good way to communicate outside of the class. The tool that was really useful was the Shelfari. It was an interactive bookshelf with books that the students had read and written book reviews on. I thought this was a great way to promote reading. Being a Language Arts teacher, this blog seemed like something I could use with my students. Plus, it was easy to navigate, which was appealing to me!
I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the various blogs available. I am slightly overwhelmed by everything that I saw as I think about how I can incorporate this information in my classroom. Though I found many neat ideas, a couple of the things that stand out in my mind are…
Mr. Wolfe’s Fourth Grade BLOG – An Online Journal (http://mr.wolfe.typepad.com/) – This blog allowed the students to give classroom updates. I think this is a great idea and a timesaver for the teacher. I also enjoyed the photo albums on the blog. I LOVED the idea of “The Night of the Notables” as a culminating activity for a biography unit.
5th Grade Blog (http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=103419) – A couple of features that I liked from this blog were the Online Safety Rules, the Online Responsibility, and the Live Traffic Feed. I also liked how each student had a page. My favorite part of the student pages is where the had a list with pictures of the most recent books they’ve read.
The Write Weblog (http://itc.blogs.com/thewriteweblog/) – I especially liked the PowerPoint presentaion on blogging on this site. The PowerPoint was created by students to give helpful hints to other students on blogging. This would be a great thing to share with my students when introducing them to blogging.
Very Interesting! I could continue looking…
I thought the middlemedia blog from Teasley had some great, student friendly widgets to include on a blog. Also found a possible webquest to use on Blogical Minds Blog. The best classroom blog I viewed was the 5th grade blog in New York. Great Map of comments from around the world!
I really liked Mr. Wolf’s 4th grade blog. I loved that he had 2 kids each week type up the summary of the week and post it. It would be really great for parents, administration, and me to see the week from the kids’ perspective. I did get a little inspiration from Mrs. Gilbert’s blog. Each kid posted under a code name. My them is crayons, so I am thinking I will give each kid a crayon name from the 64 count box as their special name. What a cool way to keep my theme!
A blog isn’t just a blog, but rather a compilation of many different things. Mr. Wolfe covered readers response, classroom activities, and discussions about school. It appears that a blog can be an interactive place for students and teachers to converse about the school world. The possiblilities are endless. I have many ideas swirling around in my mind now!
[...] our lunch break, we moved into the media center lab and spent a good bit of time as individuals looking at blogs. Many thanks to Kristine for her “Tour of the Blogs” activity! While this [...]
[...] our lunch break, we moved into the media center lab and spent a good bit of time as individuals looking at blogs. Many thanks to Kristine for her “Tour of the Blogs” activity! While this [...]
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.