Blogging for the Classroom
Spiro Bolos
New Trier High School
spirobolos.blogspot.com

What is a blog?

“Blogs in Plain English” | from commoncraft.com

“If you are in the position where you need
to take a white person to lunch for
business or pleasure, saying “I know a
great sandwich shop,” will always bring
out a smile. The white person will then tell
you about the great sandwich shop in the
town where they went to college and how
they had a crush on a waiter, or that there
was some special sandwich that they
always ordered. This will put the person in
a good mood.”

What is Blogging for the Classroom?

Hosting
What is Blogging for the Classroom? online
discussions

Creating
What is Blogging for the Classroom? Class
Publications

What is Blogging for the Classroom?
Sharing your
lesson plans

Organizing
What is Blogging for the Classroom? your
activity/event

Creating a
What is Blogging for the Classroom? functional
website

Rationales

John S. O’Connor

Wheaton, IL

Winnetka, IL

“Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies”

“It's a teachable moment...an
opportunity to address the
differences between formal and
informal writing. They learn to
make the distinction...just as
they learn not to use slang
terms in formal writing.”
— Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at Pew

“The Pedagogy of Weblogs”

“Weblogs are truly a
constructivist tool for learning.”

“Weblogs truly expand the walls
of the classroom.”

“[B]logs archive the learning that
teachers and students do.”

“[T]he Weblog is a democratic
tool that supports different
learning styles.”

“Weblogs can enhance the
development of expertise in a
particular subject.”

“[B]logs can teach students the
new literacies they will need to
function in an ever expanding
information society.”

“There are many skills and concepts that
need to be addressed...to foster these
new literacies. It is not just a matter of
transferring classroom writing into digital
spaces. Teachers need to address...how
to cite and link and why, how to use the
comment tool in pedagogical ways, how
to read web materials more efficiently...”

“Blogging requires us to teach students to
critically engage media....[h]ow to become
efficient navigators in these digital spaces
where they will be obtaining a majority of
their information.”
— Anne Davis, Georgia State University

Types of Classroom Blogs

Teacher-centric

Student-centric

“...sometimes it did not even
seem like a homework
assignment.”
— Sara D., Class of 2009

Student
Blog
Student
Blog
Student Student
Blog Blog
Student
Blog
Student
Blog
Aide Home
Student Blog
Blog
(Teacher)

Student
Blog
Student
Blog
Student Student
Blog Blog
Student
Blog
Student
Blog
Home
Student Blog
Blog
(Teacher)
“Outsider”

www.anamericanstudies.com

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[from the Pew Internet and American Life Project:
“Writing, Technology and Teens”]
“Forty-seven percent of teen
bloggers write outside of school
for personal reasons several
times a week or more,
compared with 33 percent of
teens without blogs....

Teens also report that writing for
an audience motivates them to
write well and more frequently
— and blogs are one way of
providing this type of audience.”
— “Blogging Helps Encourage Teen Writing”, eSchool News

How private is this?

Closed

Closed

Open

Open

What tools do I need?

Tools www.zemanta.com

Tools Google Analytics

(Sunday)

Tools Google Docs / Spreadsheets / Forms

Spreadsheet

Tools RSS Readers

Advice What has worked in the past

1) Validate within the classroom

2) Allow comments to count for participation

• Zemanta: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zemanta/2655752114/
• “Drilled”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cayusa/2221656599/
• “Tools”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashland/259178493/
• “Ratchet Set”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tigrre/17460796/
• “My Swiss Army Knife”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/herzogbr/2274372747/
• “Wheaton”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveblog/19559607/
• “New Trier High School”: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/Winnetka.jpg
• “Questions Answered”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/223839049/

• “Spirals”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nuanc/188202612/
• “Rationale for Educational Blogging”: http://anne.teachesme.com/2007/01/17/rationale-for-educational-blogging/
• “Blogging Helps Encourage Teen Writing”: http://www.eschoolnews.com//news/top-news/index.cfm?I=53663
• Solar System: http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/wallpaper/art/Solar-system-1024_768.jpg
• Classroom: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brajeshwar/324581085/
• “Little Secret”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pricklebush/224674200/
• facebook logo: http://www.socsci.uci.edu/ssarc/facebook_pic.jpg
• “Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies”: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1879169,00.html

• Construction: http://www.flickr.com/photos/desmondkavanagh/2189526652/
• Wall: http://www.flickr.com/photos/svenwerk/1973027093/
• Card Catalog: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emdot/535440373/
• Delacroix: http://www.theartwolf.com/services/wallpapers/delacroix_1280-1024.jpg
• Book (heart): http://www.flickr.com/photos/celedreen/3269920210/
• Information: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eskimoblood/2111672366
• A Tale of Two Cities: http://sbfmedia.relationalhost.com/prodimg/TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES,_A.jpg
• Walled Garden: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8525214@N06/2938379788/