Edmodo!

Blogging has many pros to being used in the classroom. However, after attending a recent training for a new technology tool, I realized that there could be an even more engaging and safer tool to use with my students. The technology resource teacher (TRT) who was running the training discussed how even though some of the sites we use with students say that they are private, they may not truly be, for example kidblog.org which is a site I often use with my students. However, a great site that is private and very engaging is Edmodo!

During the training I kept thinking to myself, sure this site is great but really is it that different from blogging? I realized after exploring all aspects of it, that it really is. I was at first very concerned that I did not approve each students posting before it was put on the site for the entire class to see. However, as our TRT pointed out, it is better for students to learn the lesson now that what they post on the internet is out there for all to see, rather than them learning the lesson later in life and possibly losing their job due to something they posted online. With that said, when I use Edmodo next week with my students they will be signing a contract outlining the expectations for posting.

So what is Edmodo? It is a site, similar to Facebook for schools. On this site students can post comments and teachers can post assignments, including worksheets or readings. Using this site, a teacher could go paperless. It also has a feature where parents can log on and only see their child’s work and where the parents may find additional information about the class. I am very excited to try and use this with my students!

Maintaining the Blog

So after a good start to week one's post I realized that it is much more difficult to maintain a blog than I thought. After having run into multiple technology glitches this week among other life glitches I am finally able to post again.

My technology issues this week reminded me of the importance of communicating in an online community to look for help. Through the web we as teachers have the ability to contact teachers from all of the world for ideas for lessons in the classroom as well as solutions to problems we all face. I feel that even though the use of technology in the classroom can sometimes seem daunting (especially if there is a glitch in the midst of a lesson) overall our students and ourselves are able to access so much more through it.

For example, my students recently took a trip back in time to gain background knowledge by taking an "online field trip" through a hot quilts presentation I created. A hot quilt is a PowerPoint that has a "quilt" board on it that contains images/phrases related to a particular topic on it. Students then use the quilt to explore different sites on the internet/videos and other articles to gain information about the topic. My students filled out a graphic organizer while they did this that they then used to help them better understand the stories being read in class.

Even though I feel that PowerPoints can sometimes be overdone, this particular presentation was very interactive and overall,my students enjoyed it.

Blogging in the classroom

Blogs in the classroom

Two years ago I was approached by my school’s technology resource teacher (TRT) to pilot blogging with students in the middle school. I was very excited, as I follow a few bloggers and was always thinking of ways to utilize them in the classroom. Due to the age of my students I was unsure whether this would be a good idea or not. My TRT and I reviewed several blogging sites before settling on KidBlogs.org. This site we mainly choose due to being able to screen each students post before it was posted for the whole class to see as well as the privacy features.


The first assignment had to do with the students posting as a famous person that they had researched that was involved in some way with dispelling intolerance. This particular assignment worked on point of view and went better than expected. Students very quickly realized that I would not approve their post to be published on the blog if there were any errors. I found that even my students who hated to write, were now taking the time to do a better job because they wanted their classmates to read and comment on their post.

Since this piloting lesson I have done other lessons, although not with last year’s students as there were too many students without computer access from home. This year I am trying to think of new and creative ways to use blogging in the classroom since the majority of my students this year have access to computers at home.

I think that I may replace the study guides that I do with novels with blogging topics. For example, if the particular chapters are going to be dealing with characterization, I may create several topics about this and have the students respond via the blog. In this manner I hope to get more thoughtful responses as well as all students responding as students who are normally afraid to speak out in class due to shyness or worry about being wrong, could post their ideas on the blog without having to worry about the fear of speaking out in front of their peers, something very common in middle school.