HOT Blogging – Reflection
This article caught my attention from the start. The first sentence talks about preparing elementary students for the new literacies of the internet. Before reading this article, I didn’t think a blog would be considered literacy, because it isn’t necessarily a research based articles. I can see that literacy can include all things with writing and reading.
I really enjoyed reading the different sections within this article. It was amazing that an elementary classroom would be able to form a blog. As I sat down to work on my blog, I was at the frustrational level. This is my first time ever using a blog and setting one up. It took me many times of writing and exploring with the system to figure out how it works. In the article, it explained that teachers need to have instructional time on blogging. Some students may get the idea of blogging from playing and exploring, but others may not. Teachers can’t assume that students who know about blogging has effective and efficient use. I find it very important to have the instructional time so all students are at the same level in their blogging abilities before letting them work independently.
I find it very surprising when I read that blogging can help students to think on a higher level of thinking. Once a class is involved with a blog, they have the opportunity to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate other peer’s post or post about class readings. I believe this is a great way for students to start analyzing credible sources. A teacher may test the students with different levels of thinking by making them give evidence for their reasoning.
Lastly, I enjoyed getting to know more about Classroom News Blogs and Showcase Blogs. Both of these blogs encourage the students to do their best work so it can be showcased for peers, parents, and other family members. I believe students want to do better work if they have a greater audience then the teacher. Also, these blogs help students and parents stay informed with things that are going on in the school and classroom. I found this article extremely informative, since I have never had experience with blogging.
Notebook Know-How pages 1-15
I really enjoyed reading these first few pages. My eyes were opened to a new idea of using notebooks everyday in the classroom. Throughout these pages, I was able to think back to when I was in elementary school. I remember having to write, because I was given a prompt. There were only a few times that I remember writing for fun. When I wrote for fun, it was challenging for me to come up with a topic. It normally was about how I was feeling or what I did the day before. My experience with writing was very similar to Chance in the book. He saw writing as a chore rather an enrichment opportunity. I have never been a strong writer, and I have never cared about writing.
On page three of the reading, it explains how notebooks help students. It helps students use the world around them, including their own lives and thoughts, as a way of forming writing ideas. Also, writing helps students to practice what they know with spelling and grammar. I don’t like spelling and grammar, and I have never been great at it. I feel like my graduating class missed a lot of the grammar learning, because the standards were changed to different grade levels. Using a notebook could have been a tool for my teachers to reach out to me.
I really liked the quote on page four, “You won’t know what you have to say until you write. Writing comes from paying attention.” I write in a personal journey about five times a week. This journal is used for me to write down prayers to the Lord, or write down things that the Lord has been revealing to me. By actually writing down things, I am able to think through things and pay attention to my thoughts. I am a person who has to get my thoughts on paper, or I can’t make sense of them. This quote stood out to me, because I believe writing things down helps you know what you are trying to say.
Overall, I think doing notebook writing everyday in the classroom is wonderful. This allows students to grow in their writing and grammar skills. Also, this allows students to connect to their environment and understand their thoughts. Even if students have ten to fifteen minutes a day in a class, I believe this will help them with their writing skills.
Betsy Sigmon's Blog 