I have been thinking about how to use this blog as part of my curriculum. As you can see, I have enjoyed posting little things about me, and I think that my students would like to do so as well. I really wanted this page to be about reflections; a place where students and parents can respond to a prompt. It may be curriculum based or not. As I was going through the first two courses, I really walked away thinking about getting to know my students better. There is not really enough time to do that inside of the classroom, so maybe if they can write about a topic, they may open up and we can all benefit from the extra information.
However, I also wanted to form a "homework hotline" where students can help each other with the night's work. Any ideas out there? I teach high school math, Algebra II, and I realize that this may be difficult to do via computer. Has anyone done this successfully?? I would really like to promote the concept of peer tutoring - and having them do so on-line will allow others to see the same questions and answers. It will also give me a chance to see where the problems are, what students are struggling, and what students are stepping up to assist. Please send in any comments about this idea.
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Kim, I love your idea of using the blog as a homework helpline. In order to make sure that students are using the blog for this purpose it may take a lot of organization from your end. Maybe those students who you know have grasped the concept can be in charge of answering questions that students post about the topic on the blog.
ReplyDeleteI also like the idea of using your blog to get to know your students better. The one thing you will have to keep a close eye on is how much information your students are sharing. This is a public viewing; therefore, anyone can see every thing. Very strict guidelines will have to be put into place if this is what you wish to do with your blog.
Please keep us posted as to how this works for a homework hotline. I am very curious and would like to learn more about how to possibly implement it in my classroom.
Yes, I was thinking that maybe I would have set times, such as 6:30 - 7:30 at night, and set up two students each time to be responsible to "check" the blog for those who ask for help. What do you think? Anyone?
ReplyDeleteThis would be, either part of an assignment and include all students, or have a small group of students be responsible for extra credit or community service hours.
I really like your idea of having the blog as a tool to get to know your students better. I have noticed that students in elementary are always looking for ways to discuss their interest and share with others. Do you find that with your age group?
ReplyDeleteThe hotline was also another great idea. I remember when I was a student it was always frustrating if I got home and couldn't understand something. As far as the assigned times at night, what do would you do if students had to work or did not have internet at home? Just a consideration!
Kim, I really like the idea of having the blog be a "homework hotline" for your students. This would benefit them greatly and allow those students who are too shy to ask questions during class have a voice where they do not feel so nervous in front of a large group.
ReplyDeleteSome problems you may run into though would having the means to quickly respond to your students. You may have to constantly always be on the computer to make sure you are up to speed with your students needs. Also, there may be some issues with cheating or students simply copying answers straight from the website. All of these things would make it difficult, but I really love the idea and hope to have something like it for my students this upcoming year as well.
I don't grade homework so I am not as worried about the cheating, and I am pretty sure that they all have computers at home, but I do agree with you that having to be on the computer all of the time may be something that I may have to think about. Maybe we can both try it and talk to each other as we go through it!
ReplyDeleteKim,
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas to have your students blog outside of your classroom. However I have one concern. I worry that you might have a few students might not have access to a computer and/or the internet at home. I worry that you might notice that a student is not participating and grade them poorly when they might just not be able to use a computer outside of school. One way to fix this would be to survey your students at the beginning of the year and see if you have any students who don't have computer/internet access at home. This way you can make arrangements (allow class time) so that all students can participate in the blog.
Kim, I really love the idea of incorperating a homework hotline with your students. It would be great to do this throug a blog. It would also be a good way to put up practice test questions for students to review. If your students can help each other with homework online their grades may improve.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem, would be to make sure your students are checking the homework hotline for help and of course organization. Other than that this could be excellent.
Your page looks great.
We use a website that posts homework for students and I am able to include attachments for students to access at home. So far that works pretty well but I do think it would be helpful if students could also access the information and chat with students if they have questions. In the county I live in students can log into a live homework help "chat" session that is funded by the local library the only cost required is a library card. The chat center is staffed by teachers and college students and I know that our math students have used it frequently in the past. Therefore I think you have a great way to incorporate the technology in your classroom.
ReplyDeleteRobin - thanks for the response! Do you have a link to this "chat" site through the library that I can check out? I would love to see how it works.
ReplyDeleteAnd Katie - I love your idea of a questionaire at the beginning of the year. I am pretty sure that all of my students have computers (the one benefit of working for a private school), but they also have access to computers at the local libraries and/or the school computer labs. I hope that this ideas works as well as I envision.
Thanks to all of you for your input.
Kim,
ReplyDeleteI would also assume that being in a private school that at least most of your students would have computers or at least access to one. However, if you eventually teach at a public school, perhaps in a rural environment, keep the idea of the questionnaire in mind.
Kim,
ReplyDeleteI think that Algebra II might be difficult on a blog. However, I think that this can be used as a place where student can post if they are having difficulty and seek assistance from students. Also this can be a great place for students to post when they have had success, especially struggling students.
Kim,
ReplyDeleteI have seen it work! I have used optional blogging in my classroom to try and promote peer interaction and they were my most popular blogs. I did one on reading, which I wrote about, and one on music. The music blog was amazing. It had nothing to do with school, but it allowed students and, to my surprise, teacher’s blog about similarities and differences in their musical tastes. I am a huge advocate for educational blogging and think that it helps students immensely, but it wasn’t until I started posting “get to know each other” blogs that I realized what a great supplemental tool it was for classroom culture. I would highly recommend culture building blogs, but also let students know that whatever they write is under surveillance by you and the administration.