Classroom Blogs

Classroom blogs are an interesting concept and one I have honestly never even thought of doing! I was not sure how to make them work, but after reading a variety of classroom blogs over the last few weeks, I feel that it might be something that I would really like to try. Most class blogs are not only for the teachers to post and keep the family up to date, but are also an amazing way to engage the students. The blogs that I have read have student contributions of videos, blog posts and student led updates. They also have links to STUDENT blogs, where they can post some of their assignments. This is an fantastic idea because it allows students the ability to participate in digital citizenship instead of just observing an adult share the information.  Kids love to show off their work and this is a great way to get them (and their families!) more involved in their learning.

These blogs were all found through Edublog’s Best Classroom Blogs for 2013. There were so many more than the three that I am highlighting in this blog, so be sure to go to EduBlog’s website to see the 2013 list, as well as more recent lists for classroom, educator and even student blogs!

Mrs. Yollis’ Classroom Blog

The first classroom blog that I happened to look at was called, Mrs. Yollis’ Classroom Blog. Can I just say, wow!? Mrs. Yollis is a 3rd grade teacher who uses her blog to share information with her students and their parents. It is a very clean and easy to read blog with a ton of information for the parents to access. I love that she focuses so much on blogging in the classroom. She has a wiki that includes links to everything she does with her students, as well as why blogging in the classroom is so important! She got her families involved by having a Family Blogging Month where students invite their family members to read their blog posts and to be active through commenting. Every month is a different theme and there are posts from student’s families all over the world! How many times do you ask your child what they did at school that day and get a “nothing” thrown back at you? Blogging is such a fantastic way to get parents more involved in their learning! This would be a fantastic activity to bring to any school and I believe media is just the place to do it!

From the pictures and posts on her blog and website, it is apparent that she is wonderful at keeping her students engaged. Mrs.Yollis’ class became a BYOD classroom (in 3^rd grade!) several years ago and she did fun lesson using Minecraft. During a geometry unit, Mrs. Yollis had her students use Minecraft to learn about 3D shapes and volume. This is a topic that many students struggle with and dread learning about. This lesson makes me want to learn geography again!

Baldock and Ivanov Class Blog 2016

Another great classroom blog is Mr. Baldock’s Class Blog. The first thing I noticed about his blog was his blogging guidelines. If you are going to utilize a classroom blog, the very first thing the kids need to know is their boundaries and the importance of Internet safety. Parents also need to know that their children are not at risk. As I am sitting here writing this I am thinking about our conversations in class about teaching kids Internet safety. Blogging would be a fantastic way to allow them hands on experience!

There is a section on this blog that is called “What’s happening in Mr. B’s class?” In this section, Mr. Baldock and his students create blog posts and comments to tell about their daily lessons. Just like I mentioned with Mrs. Yollis (above), this is a great tool to get the real answers behind your child’s typical response of “nothing,” when they get asked what they did that day in school. A parent can go look at the daily post with their child, which in turn will open up a discussion about that day. What a fantastic way to encourage parent involvement, as well as encourage a child’s involvement in their learning!

Mr. Baldock includes many great links for his parents, pictures and even videos of other subjects. He makes it easy for students and parents to find and access various apps and websites. Overall a fun and wonderful resource for any school to have!

Mr. Geiman’s Language Arts Class 

The final blog that I chose to look at is Mr. Geiman’s 4^th grade Language Arts class. This is such a fun blog! Mr. Geiman blogs frequently about is happening in the classroom and he also includes videos for instruction. He even uses his posts to pose thought provoking questions to this class.

The first thing I looked for were his blogging guidelines. His expectations just as concise and clear cut as Mr. Baldock’s (above). This is such an important link to include for his students and his parents! On the very bottom right hand side he has a Friends and Links section with language arts games and links to other classroom blogs. He also includes link to his student’s blogs right above this.

One activity that I looked at was called, Collaborative Writing. In Mr. Geiman’s classroom one group collaboratively writes one story. They use Google Docs and he assigns colors (stealing this idea!) to each student, so he can keep track of who has contributed and allows him a “visual” of how the team has worked together. This is a great idea for any classroom teacher or media specialist to use when a writing project is being done.

Another activity that I really enjoyed looking at and which once again gave me some great ideas for my media center, is entitled, MLK: I Have a Dream… Mr. Geiman posts a video and poses some very thought provoking questions to his students. They are to respond to this post on their own blogs. I did not see any of his student’s with this response just yet, but I will be checking back frequently to see when they do appear.

This classroom and blog is an example of integrating technology at the highest level! He is using higher level questioning, technology and collaboration in almost all of his lessons. It is so inspiring to see!