Blog writing is much more informal that other types of reading. I like reading the blogs from the list provided. I liked being able to see peoples opinions on things and how they truly felt about their topic of choice. I specifically liked reading the blog written by the 2nd grade students about the missing duck. This showed that if students as young as second grade are able to blog, any of our students should be able to do it. Using technology as a way of allowing student to explore writing is an opportunity for the struggling writers to have "help." They have spell-check available to help them catch their mistakes. A great example of this is a blog written by a 5th grade At-Risk student. The technology gives them a sense of ownership and allows them to express their opinions in ways that they are do not feel comfortable doing with paper and pen.
Another blog that I really enjoyed reading was the blog on Brevity. This showed students viewpoint on the difference between quality words and the quantity of words. Too often, we set a specific number of words for our students to have in their writings. However, this shows the importance of the quality of the words rather than the quantity of the words.
I could use a few tips from the blog post "Teaching Brevity". I'm going to have to be more succint in my writing if I want people to read it. I know that I read the brief blogs first. Then I review those known to be interesting or insightful. Lastly, I may or may not read the long articles -- if I do, I scan them first to see if it's worth the time reading.
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated with the Blog "Missing Duck". I want to do something like thi with my students this year.