To answer these questions myself, I reflected on this week's resources for my graduate course and I also conducted searches online.
Some of the ways I could use blogging in my math classroom are:
- to provide links to videos, lessons, or supporting websites
- hoodmath
- to provide links to games that allow students to practice and strengthen their mathematical thining
- to provide class notes, study guides, or assignments
- to provide collaboration with classmates or students in other math classes (My math classes are leveled, so having an opportunity to interact with students at various levels provides students with a number of different perspectives on mathematical approaches. It also allows students to ask for clarification/assistance from other students if they are stuck on a topic. This collaboration also allows students to offer help to others who need it, causing them to think about the topics in a different way.
- to keep the class updated on schedule changes, due dates, field trips, and other class events
- to ensure all students have the same access to information and that they won't miss out on an update or piece of news due to being absent
- to keep parents updated on class assignments and activities
- to allow students to create math problems to challenge their peers
- to post a weekly math challenge or math problem for students to respond to
- Timed Tests
- Links to virtual manipulatives
- Homework help
Some of the great ideas I found at http://eport.education.illinois.edu/view/view.php?id=267
- Math Journaling
- Today I got stuck on......
- How would you use ____________ in the real world?
- What I liked most about today's lesson was_________________.
- Explain to a student in the third grade what you learned about __________________ in class today.
- Give a Problem to Solve
- Have students solve a problem using numbers and symbols and then explain the reasoning in words.
- Math Autobiographies
- Allow students to write about their experiences with math (personal struggles and successes). Autobiographies help students see that they are part of the learning process
- Resources
- Students find resources on topics
- videos, games, lessons, worksheets, manipulatives
- Students explain why they selected their posted resources.
The schools I visited used Edmodo which is a social networking site for the classroom. Schools can get a personal domain to increase the safety/security of this site.
I found other great features of this site listed at: http://stanford.edu/group/pace/EVENTS/edmodo.pdf
- Class Calendar
- Post reminders
- Due dates and assignments are posted
- Teachers can see who has turned in each assignment and when (it has an easy feature that says "Turned in....18"
- Teachers can assign discussion topics and assignments to multiple classrooms
- Quizes-these can be automatically graded
I would love to learn about other ways teachers have used blogging effectively in their elementary math classrooms. If you have any suggestions, please post them here.
Mindy--you did an amazing job of identifying uses for your blog! My question for you is one I ask of myself as well while working with the blogs...would you plan to use all of your ideas at one time or use specific ones at specific times. My biggest concern as I design my blog is making it too "busy". I have been on some that are so overwhelmed with activities and information, it is hard to navigate. I was just wondering if you had any ideas on that?
ReplyDeleteGreat point! I would definitely start small. The teachers I observed really stressed taking classroom time to model appropriate use and simply HOW to use the online resource. I'm sure this will take a great deal of patience because the kids will be so eager just to dive in! My first lesson would basically teach them how to use the site and allow them to share a favorite math game or a link to a math game. We would have to discuss appropriate ways to respond and that the blog was for classroom use, not just a social page.
ReplyDeleteIdeally I think I would like to have a page to keep the kids updated on special events in the classroom and a separate page for their assignments. I would try to ease into blogging by only having a single assignment the first week, and maybe keep that pace for awhile. I've also considered the idea of starting to post as groups in the beginning and then gradually scaffold to independent blogging. Or maybe it would be better to assign a particular group instead of the whole class initially.....I'm really not sure.
Thank you for posting your comment. I hope others will offer suggestions based on what has worked in their classrooms.
One of my main concerns is also how to grade blog work. I know some just grade the assignments that are submitted, others also include their blog participation as a grade. Does anyone have tips to assess this work? What has worked in your class?
Great ideas Mindy! I am impressed with your thoughts on starting with the basics of using the blog, then working as a group to begin with before breaking off into independent bloggers. I think this will be a great way to develop confidence in using the technology for those students who may not feel as confident as others. They will definately be able to help each other and learn from each other throughout the process. Have you thought about assigning roles within the groups as they begin. This is one thing our principal is really stressing for us to do within our classroom groups. I think this would be a great way to develop leaders within the groups as well as a good management tool so the blogging time doesn't get side tracked! LOL! I don't know of any teachers right now using blogs as graded work, but I think I would offer a grade for participation! Every little bit helps sometimes! Thanks so much for your ideas! I love them! :)
DeleteMindy,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I love the idea of collaboration. A lot of what you described (calendar, announcements, ect) can be found on my class website. Do you have one? I actually use a wiki for my classroom website.
I have only used Edmodo once in a training but I believe there is a way you can take a test from ExamView, put it into Edmodo, and it will grade it for you. Do you use ExamView by chance? Speaking of - have you seen Deborah's blog about Edmodo yet?
Hi Danielle!
ReplyDeleteI do have a class website, however it is very basic and doesn't have many editing or customizing features. I use my website to post class schedules, announcements, but mainly for listing math games by topic. I've been somewhat slow to develop my webpage this year as the technology department keeps switching companies and our webpages get wiped out! This class is teaching me some great new things and I'm really thinking about using a blog or maybe a wiki (I've never created one of these before) as my webpage in the future. That way I'll have more control over the information and when things get wiped out. On my school's webpage I can simply link to my blog/wiki I've created on my own. :)
I do not use ExamView. I know our Social Studies book came with a cd that said ExamView but I could never figure it out. Is ExamView an online assessment tool or do you have to have the software/cd?
I don't think I've read Deborah's blog yet. Although, I currently feel like I'm somewhat in information overload....I'll go check it out right now. Thanks for the heads up!!
Mindy,
DeleteExamView is a lifesaver! It is a program that you can make tests/quizzes/assessments in. I also imagine that it has your testbanks on the cd as well. Testbanks are already made questions for each chapter/section. The great thing is that there are multiple choice questions, short answer, essay, vocab, and true/false questions to pick from. If the question is multiple choice and you want to make it a short answer you can 'toggle' it, which means get rid of the multiple choice answers but keep the quesion. You can also type in your own questions as well and save them for later use on the exam or on another test.
When you print the test you can choose multiple forms - which take on a life of their own. You can choose the same test but only mix the multiple choice answers around, change the questions around so the students think they have different tests, or it can pull different questions all together. For math we ask it to give the same type of math question, but just change the numbers (calculate new algorithms).
It seems like a lot, but it is just like any other technology - once you work with it you will enjoy it and think how did I write tests before?
-Danielle
Wow! I'm amazed by all the resources and ideas you listed! I aplogize that I was not that specific in mine. I'm going to look into linking my classroom website(blog) to this new one I just created: thirdgradetech.wordpress.com... I basically use my class blog as a webpage, not the way blogs were truly meant to be used. Parents usually contact me via e-mail, not through the blog - so comments are few. When I start having students post - it's just going to take off, though!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, there are some links I have on my classroom site that my students use regularly from school and home, if anyone is interested in them. :)
Mindy,
ReplyDeleteYou definitely have a clear vision for your blog, and it sounds like it will be a wonderful tool for your classroom! I think it is great to have a place where your students and parents can go for resources and classroom information. The layout of your blog is user-friendly and interactive, and I think that students will be drawn to the fun design. Math is a subject that, unfortunately, many students want to complain about - how many times did I hear "This is boring!" or "Why do we have to learn this?"... or even the dreaded "I hate math!", when I taught 8th grade Intervention Math a few years ago. I would have loved to have a blog like this for my students to go to! Like some of our fellow Walden classmates, I also have a classroom website, but since it is linked through our educational consortium, there is only so much I can modify it. With a blog, the possibilities seem endless. I know you mentioned "scaffolding" the blog discussion for your students at first, so as not to overwhelm them. I think that is a good idea. But honestly, students pick up on technology so fast, you might not even have to! Also, I think that maybe you could start with the blog posts being optional for students, then move towards having assignments be actual blog posts. I haven't had experience with this myself, so I am excited to see how you execute this. Also, how do you plan on getting parent involvement with your blog? Do you see yourself having parents email you with comments/concerns, or would you like for them to be able to post comments directly to the blog? You could almost do a separate blog for parents only, if you wanted to. Like I said before, the possibilities truly are endless, and with the ease of setting up a blog, I am ready to create them for use in other areas of my life. Best of luck, and I am excited to see how the blog works for you in the classroom!
I have really enjoyed your blog thus far! The number of resources and ideas you have listed is impressive.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rachel, that at your level, the scaffolding for the blog will probably quickly become unneeded because students catch on to technology so quickly once they have the basics down (an usually even when they don't). I also like Rachel's idea for using a separate blog for parents only. That would allow you to have that kid-friendly appeal, but also have the more adult side, which makes both groups more comfortable with the use of the blog.
It sounds like several of the people in the group have learned quite a bit about Edmodo. I wonder if anyone has used it with students yet? And in what ways have they used it?