Nancy+Bosch

As I'd slogged through the class blogs out there I saw them being used for a lot of different purposes, some good-- some mis-purposed. (is that a word?) I've seen posting of projects, personal kid sites (listing neighborhood schools, grades, last names, yikes!), lists of links, home school communication, etc. I hope blogs are not being used as "catch-alls". Blogs are not websites and shouldn't be used as such. Blogs and wikis are so much easier to post to than websites; teachers may latch on to that. Blogs are for communicating, blogs are for writing, thinking, and reflecting, blogs are for debating, discussing and affirming. Blogs give teachers the opportunity to get in there and really talk to kids. I hope they (blogs) don't get watered down...OK not my job to be the the "blog-police". Some ideas I've thought of that would be appropriate used for blogs: Along with seeing things I didn’t like I saw things I wanted to include in our site, all the while thinking "what are they going to write about?" I envisioned that I would post a topic once a week or so and they would respond. Each student has their own blog but I have administrative rights and can delete or edit all of their entries. I started by explaining the rules, http://areallydifferentplace.org/node/30. We then discussed commenting and I used Vicki Davis' [|How to Comment Like a King or Queen] I stressing that blogging is a "formal" writing experience and students must meet certain criteria in their writing; i.e. no IM and chat lingo, no personal drivel, correct grammar, punctuation, capitalization, citation, links, etc. In my opinion the beauty of blogging is the idea of writing for an authentic audience and being able to write discerning and insightful comments. I told them they were participating in a written "conversation" and I would delete any comments like "Cool" or "Neat"!! BUT, the most important job of the teacher is to join in the discussion, not be a “grader”. It’s hard, I only point out the most egregious errors—mostly I just converse. My co-teacher and I posted our first several blog entries and included a link to some creative writing prompts in the links section of the site. I also dug up appropriate RSS feed (a challenge) http://anotsodifferentplace.blogspot.com/search/label/RSS%20feeds and included a Word of the Day node. The rest is history, they jumped in with both feet. I give them time in class (I only have them one day a week) and told them to blog 2-3 days a week in their regular classrooms or at home. We’ve had several thousand posting over the 10 months—that A LOT of writing and thinking. All in all I'm really pleased. The quality of the writing for the most part is very good considering our youngest bloggers are 9 years old. Some of the bloggers are exceptional writers. We have had blog entries on black holes...global warming...and the theory of relativity. We've also had entries on "50 Things I Would Not Be Caught Dead Wearing"..."Firedrills"..."Talent Shows" and opinions about the Katie Holmes and Tom Crusie nuptials!! Here are sample student posts http://anotsodifferentplace.blogspot.com/2007/08/favorite-student-posts.html Some of our "writers" wanted a place to write books and comment on each others book writing so we included a "Book" section to remove creative writing from the blog posts. We do have several poets who post poems on their blogs. The only disappointment is that some of my best bloggers (mostly boys) don't take the time outside of class to participate, but they'll come around!! Several parents and teachers have joined in and that has been a great add-on. __**Our Best Student Projects EVER?**__ http://connections.smsd.org/veterans, http://connections.smsd.org/csi
 * __Name__:** Nancy Bosch
 * __Website__:** I have a website __[|http://adifferentplace.org]__, and three blogs: __[|http://areallydifferentplace.org]__ student blog; __[|http://anotsodifferentplace.blogspot.com]__ gifted issues; __[|http://averyoldplace.blogspot.com]__ primary sources
 * __Educational Institution__:** Shawnee Mission School District Shawnee Mission, Kansas
 * __Teaching Environment__:** Gifted K-6
 * __Web 2.0 Focus__:** Blogging
 * __Description__:** My 4th, 5th and 6th graders started blogging at a site called __[|A Really Different Place][|http://areallydifferentplace.org]__ in November 2006. Luckily, I had a student's dad offer to set up the blog site using Drupal, he also offered to serve it. My main objectives were safe and responsible social networking, understanding of copyright and intellectual property issues, and of course writing real and relevant content for a real audience. I looked at dozens of student blogs, mostly high school student sites. (Aside, I had to have the CIPA representative in our district unblock about 100 blog sites that I was trying to look at!)
 * book/movie discussions
 * student/parent book discussions
 * book reviews
 * current events (we use RSS feed)
 * student opinions
 * reflecting on visual images
 * reflecting on primary source documents
 * debates
 * student poetry and reflection
 * posting student artwork for critiquing
 * posting student books for critiquing
 * podcasts
 * vidcasts
 * __Teaching and Learning__:** The beauty of blogging is that it gives the student a voice. Students can post their thoughts or opinions and get meaningful feedback. A dialog emerges between parent and child, teacher and child, older child and younger child.We even had an author join one of our book discussions. It also gives students the opportunity to write, and writing improves the more they post.
 * __Preferred Applications__:** Personal Blogs-- Blogger. Student Blog-- privately served. Student Blog Projects—Blogger.
 * __Mentor(s) and Hero(es)__:** I have no mentor; I taught myself everything I know about Web 2.0. I presented at NECC for 5 years. Suffering from technology burnout I put my computer down for a few years and missed the Web 2.0 phenomena altogether. When I started researching new applications and tools, I was amazed. I now read or scan 30-40 blogs, and participate in group such as class20.ning.com and giftededucation.ning.com
 * __Favorite Web 2.0 Applications Right Now__:** Right now I’m happy with what my kids can do with blogs and wikis. We use some of the fluff tools for fun but I feel strongly that a rich, real and relevant curriculum is most important and the tools only enhance that. I could mention some “good” tools if you need suggestions. I’m also using blogs or blog-like formats for book discussions __[|http://starcatcherbook.blogspot.com]__