Request for Blogging

In our EDTECH 597 class, we were asked to prepare a letter and proposal for using blogs within the classroom. Here is what I was able to come up with.

111 Blah St.

Some town, ID 83699

June 24, 2013

Nampa Christian Schools

439 W. Orchard Ave.

Nampa, ID 83651

Dear Mrs. Vermillion:

I am writing in regards to implementing a blogging program in the sixth grade program. The program will allow students to publish their work for a greater audience, as well as provide opportunities for peer review and reflection.

This program will further utilize the new technology we will be receiving this year. Students will already be familiar with the Google Chromebooks, allowing for a smooth transition into using them for writing.

By having the opportunity to blog, I believe students will develop greater writing, editing, and interpersonal skills. Include in this proposal will be reasons for how these goals will be met.

Sincerely,

Nathan De Groot

            In order to blog within the classroom, a blogging tool will need to be used. Blogger would be a sufficient tool to use for blogging. I believe this to be a good choice because it is developed by Google. The students will already have Google accounts for using the Chromebooks, making the implementation of Blogger very simple. Blogger also is an easy-to-use tool, requiring very little learning time or time spent on technical difficulties.

            The students will not have their own blogs; rather, we will have a class blog to which all students will be able to post. This will allow the blog to be monitored more closely by me as well as other students. The students will also spend less time trying to find other students’ blogs, and it will decrease the chance that students could stumble upon inappropriate content by limiting the blogs that can be viewed.

            Student privacy is a concern for the school and parents. Because of this, pseudonyms will be used for the students who are blogging. I will have these pseudonyms matched with the actual students to monitor blogging involvement and progress. By blogging in this method, people who are viewing the class blog will not gain additional information on students. Privacy between students is also maintained, which will help develop a positive learning community due to anonymity of the posters.

            The main purpose of the blog is to create a classroom community to share written ideas. Prompts will be given weekly and students will be asked to respond to them. The prompts will incorporate curriculum from multiple subject areas. By using blogs to write, students’ ideas will be accessible to the whole class at any time. Students will also respond to their classmates’ postings, creating opportunity for discussion, especially for students who are not vocal.

            Throughout the year, students will work together to develop a project which will be shared via the blog. Using the blog in this manner will allow for the development of project ideas and an opportunity for feedback before completing the project.

            Typical writing sessions or typing could allow these ideas to happen, but they would not be as efficient as blogging. Using a blogging tool, students’ ideas are immediately shared with the whole class. The content and ideas that are discussed can also be shared with others outside of our classroom community, such as parents or classes working on similar topics.

            As with all internet activities, it is important that students conduct themselves in an appropriate manner. Students will not be publishing personal information, such as age, gender, family names, etc. It is also important to develop a safe environment for posting and sharing ideas. In order to address cyber bullying, we as a class will develop rules for what would be appropriate and inappropriate for discussion. Before blogging, we will view several sites that offer definitions and rules for netiquette, manners for conducting online discussion.

            As you can see, the use of blogging will greatly incorporate the new Chromebooks that will be distributed to each classroom. Students will already have accounts to log into the blogging platform. Students will also develop computer skills and writing skills. Monitoring of the program will be done by the teacher and can involve other members as well. I hope that you consider the benefits of blogging in the classroom and allow the sixth grade class to implement this into the curriculum next year.