My son found the blog to be a useful tool for him to share what he wanted to share. As his mother, there were and are things in his blog that I don't really like to read but it's his blog and not mine. He shared more than he should have at times but has removed some of the content that his teacher or I found to be too revealing. Most of his followers are his friends or family and he generally gets encouraging comments. I had hoped he would continue with his blog after graduation but as of yet, he has not. But, he has not taken it down and I fully expect him to use it again in the near future.
Although many of you will think I'm crazy for sharing it, click here to see his blog.
This is what an unmotivated, railing against the system, student can produce when given the freedom to write what they want to write about. Take a look at Big Sky, Feb 1 post and many of the others and keep in mind that not one of these entries was a class assignment. He just wrote when he wanted to and got credit for writing by his English teacher.
I'm so thankful to her for giving him this outlet.
Enjoy.
As a person who has never kept a journal and loathes writing in general I think that the class/student blog is a great idea. I have noticed in my internship class there are several unmotivated students who also loathe writing. I have found it very hard to motivate the students or even begin to get the students intrinsically motivated to write. Do you think in your future classroom you will use a blog to motivate students to write? If you think you will, will you let it be free form or will the students have guidelines? I know there is a big difference between a 5th grader and a high school student so I am wondering how you would go about setting up a blog in the elementary classroom. Nice post by the way!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your take on blogs as a substitute for a hard-copy writing assignment. When there's freedom in writing, creative outlets can be explored freely. I've noticed in my own 3rd grade class that students write more when they are allowed to free-write, but seem to be stumped when they're given a topic.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if blogs can be used for all grade levels, but for your son's teacher to understand the need to differentiate writing for the various learners in her class is a great aspect to consider when going into our own classrooms next year. Accommodating for our students when it comes to writing (and other subjects for that matter) can steer students towards a subject rather than away.