I teach high school mathematics-
Algebra II and Calculus I & II to be specific. By starting this blog with virtually no experience, it’s
difficult for me to think of ways to use blogs in my classroom. As a teacher, I am always looking for
new ideas out in the blogging world, but I’ve never really thought about using blogs with my students. That being said, I had a lot of fun
brainstorming different ways to use blogs in a ‘perfect-world’ classroom
(enough devices for everyone to access the internet, and no misuse of blogging).
In my calculus classes, I could set up an online blogging forum where students could discuss their struggles and their triumphs. We could have a blog focused on a problem of the week and the first student/students to post the correct answer would be the ones to post (on their own blog) a new problem of the week. Our annual roller coaster problem could happen entirely online and have the student use their blog as the posting site. Then other students could access each roller coaster and vote/grade them completely online.
Algebra II could use a blog to create projects and share information with the class. With younger students, I would want to create one blog for the class to use as a whole and acclimate them to that before I have them create individual blogs. In that case, the blog could also be private and only allow students in the class to post on a blog topic and discuss. I could post hints for homework questions and example tests/quizzes for the students to access before the actual test or quiz.
In a perfect world, I could use a blogging site to really help incorporate technology into my lessons. It’s sometimes tough to see other schools being showered with technology and iPads/computers for every student when I work in such a small, struggling district. I’m looking into different grants to see if I can get a few extra things for my classroom. The benefits are endless… now we just have to get there.
-K
Hi Kate
ReplyDeleteThese ideas are great! I usually read a lot of articles from Edudemic and I found this interesting one that is quite applicable to you:
Math and Blogging: http://tinyurl.com/n5td5rz
Semonique
Thanks Semonique! I'll check it out!
DeleteHi -K, I really like the ideas you expressed in your post, especially the roller coaster problem since it allows students to access their classmate’s coasters. This is essentially a paper free project! Additionally, I like the idea where students could discuss struggles and triumphs. I know when I took these classes in high school (esp. Calculus) forming a community with your classmates is extremely helpful.
ReplyDeleteI noticed a potential challenge for the “problem of the week” blog where the first student(s) to post the correct answer would be the ones to post a new problem of the week. There may be a few students in the class who are always able to answer the question first every week, where others in the class may never have the opportunity to be first (because the others are so fast).
Perhaps once any student has posted the correct answer and then a new problem of the week, the next week they must wait till a certain time on the first day (say 6:00 PM on Monday) before they can answer the question. This would allow other students to complete the problem who may take more time to answer. At the same time, it would not discourage these faster students from answering. Just a thought – and I hope it makes sense!!
Didn't even think of that... thanks! I like your fix too. Giving them a time constraint would make it a little more even for everyone. Thanks for your thoughts!
DeleteHi Kate,
ReplyDeleteI completely understand how it is a struggle to incorporate technology when you work in a technologically poor district. The school district that I worked for previously was rich with technology so it was a huge transition to my new school where there is little technology. I think it is important to inform students of the technology available to them in society so that they are at least aware of what is out there.
Jodi