» Calling the Rebecca's Pocket Brain Trust: I'm looking for clear and especially useful resources on educational blogging, particularly for the Middle School to High School range. What would you recommend for a teacher who is new to blogging who wants to introduce her students to blogging?
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.: October 2006 --> Pocket Brain Trust: Edu-blogging resources?
Pocket Brain Trust: Edu-blogging resources?
[ 10.06.06 ]
The mother of a friend of mine, Erica Jacobs teaches high school English. Last year she assigned blogging to her 108 students and continued to write about the project throughout the semester. She would be a good contact for someone wanting to use blogs in the classroom.
This isn't a blogging tool, but it is a tool that can enable teachers and students to communicate and collaborate online in a structured environment. It's written with teachers & students in mind. The tool is Digication.com.
I found out about it via this podcast: Inside the Net with Amber MacArthur.
I am the teacher Adam Rice referred to, and I thought the blogging project was a great way for students to read others' writing. The downside was that I had to monitor inappropriate (obscene, racist) entries---even on Christmas day. I am not doing the project with my 110 seniors this year, although I am inviting a few to open Typepad accounts to facilitate school work. I still adore my blog(s), but maybe you need some maturity to see the difference between a writing, serious blog and MySpace(???!!!)
You might try contacting:
http://www.professional-lurker.com/
I think she's taught a few classes to teens in the past.
Maybe check out SupportBlogging:
http://www.supportblogging.com/
Will Richardson is probably the most visible Edu-blogging advocate out there - he has a book and was also just featured on the cover of Teacher magazine:
http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/blogging-from-guantanamo-to-my-classroom/
Also, Edublog Insights: http://anne.teachesme.com/
Hey, I blogged with my class over at http://room132.com last year.
Lorianne of http://www.hoardedordinaries.com/ has assigned blogging to her college students in the past. She no longer links to these student blogs, but if they still exist, they offer some fine reading. She's also quite gracious and generous with advice.
I had less success with my own writing students (homebound high school students and adult basic education), but I think it did excite them a little bit to see their work published.