The use of blogging at the Russell Street School is individualized, yet systematic. and inspiring. Here are some examples which highlight these elements:
Individualized:
- Each teacher adapts the name of the class and themes to his or her class Maori names, such as “Poutama”, sometimes are used to highlight cultural focus, and others use their own names, such as the “Dream Team”.
- Students design their own blogs and add personal elements. Some do the minimum, whereas others do more digital work.
- Students have a wide variety of assignments for which proficiency is modelled uniquely.
Systematic:
- Academic language like: Big Idea, Feedback (from another student/peer review), Evaluation (student self-reflection) appears on most assignments
- Posts are made on all subjects, but seem to have similar structures and requirements.
- Peer and self-reflection are an ongoing part of the learning process.
- While there are consistent posts (about every two weeks), this does not seem to be a daily activity. The blogs appear to serve as a partial portfolio, demonstrating progress toward Maths, writing, or artistic goals.
Inspiring:
- Students are blogging! There is no angst about privacy, control, or protection behind digital walls.
- Administrators and teachers model blogging for students, so are active participants.
- The topic of bullying is addressed on a newsletter posted on the front page of the school website. It appears this is not the first time the topic has been addressed
- Blogs start as young as preschool with the developmentally appropriate “Jump Start” blog.
- Parents are also involved in blogging as well!
I love your post. I love how it is organized. I absolutely am this type of reader and writer. I love bullet points. I agree with your posts!
ReplyDeleteYes, systematic is key here. You can't just have the kids blog once, and assume it's going to be amazing that one time. But if you make it part of the culture (even if it's every 2 weeks), they get a sense of how to go about, just like everything else. Your comment on "peer and self reflection" jumped out to me. For my own class, I'm interested in how one could reflect WITH a blog, or ABOUT a blog. That is, a student could blog as a way to reflect on some in-class activity, or another student could give them peer feedback on the effectiveness on their blog.
ReplyDeleteI want to build on what Nick said. I think that you highlight some really valuable things that Russell Street is doing systematically. I think that all the blogging in the world is worthless unless it connects with something larger, and reflection is a great way to do that.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed the bullying post on the front page of the website. I appreciated how it was right there, and not hidden somewhere. It made me think that, although they must have issues with that (part of the deal with such an online presence), they weren't afraid to talk about it being a real life problem.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Judy. I love the way you categorized it and thought about it. I have to agree it is inspiring. How can I get my school there? It's what I kept asking myself. It's not impossible and if one school can get there so can we. I am going to try with Kidblog next year and try to make it part digital portfolio and part home school community. It seems the school leadership team are embracing the tools available to them to connect and communicate.
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