Kidblog Brings it ALL to the
Table.
Why Kidblog?
So when I
was asked to write a blog for Digital Learning Month I feel like there should have
been a lot of thought and decision that went into what I wrote about. I
figured I should share something that went really well with my class this year
and something hopefully other people could bring to their room if they aren’t
utilizing it already. Fortunately for me, it was a simple choice. Kidblog
immediately jumped out as an awesome tool I’ve used for a few years now, and I’ve
loved all the different things it brings to the table.
Publishing Pieces
Kidblog is just a great place for
any kind of online posting, writing, or blogging for your classroom. I’ve found
it an awesome place to publish and share. If you want a quicker, easier way for
your students to share their writing or ideas then you should keep reading. The
past several years now I’ve used Kidblog to publish our persuasive writing
pieces. I preface it to the class as a place just like ‘Facebook’. A place to
share our ideas, but then others have the opportunity to agree or disagree with
our post.
Digital Citizenship Opportunities
I know what
you’re thinking… Openly disagreeing and telling peers they’re wrong?! I have
some sensitive students just like I’m sure you do. But what a great way to
teach your kids how to respond to each other in positive, kind, evidence-based
ways! I also used it on the other end by telling them what would happen and
encouraging them to be so convincing that no classmates could argue with their
points. What an incentive… Not only will your classmates be seeing your work,
but they’ll even be able to disagree and argue with you! One of our mini
lessons was researching counterpoints to their opinion and researching ways to
shut them down. It can also be a place to support your peers and share your
thoughts on topics! A great opportunity to discuss digital footprints and
making sure they have an intelligent one!
Got proof? Show it!
If you’re
just having a discussion or debate you can’t bring the charts and graphs to
your defense without a fancy poster board and a whole lot of mind reading. Using
Kidblog, you are able to support your arguments with images, charts, graphs,
funny memes… whatever you want! This helped encourage the students in a couple
of ways. They not only researched their paper topic, but those others they
cared about and wanted to respond to. It also helped press the importance of
responding with evidence!
This sounds like chaos!
Ok… calm down. Kidblog was genius
in the way they set up their whole system. I introduced it as a type of ‘Facebook’
to comment under posts and reply to each comment. The best part of it all is
YOU have control over everything! You can set it up where their posts don’t
even become live until you’ve approved them! You can edit comments or posts
yourself! I even tell my kids I will delete any comments that are one sentence
because they didn’t even try to put thought into their posts. The kids rise to
the occasion and it makes the writing unit one I’m always excited to dive into!
Thanks for reading and I hope you try it out with your
students sometime soon! Just start by creating an account and exploring some of
the features! If you have any questions or want to chat, just reach out!
Billy Fama.
William_fama@nobl.k12.in.us
Billy.fama@gmail.com
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