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Teachers use blogs to forge new links with students, parentsDec 29, 2008 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Some North Texas teachers' blog posts are direct and to the point: "Here's a tip: READ THE DARNED CHAPTERS!" Others are feel-good updates on personal lives: "I'd like to invest a little virtual real estate to brag on the greatness of my family." All are posted by teachers who have found another way to communicate with students and their parents -- the teacher blog on the school's Web site. Burleson and Alvarado are among a growing number of school districts with active teacher blogs on their Web sites, aimed at reaching students where they live -- on the Internet. "A lot of teachers don't realize how many ways they can use blogging," said Julie Holland, instructional technology coordinator for the Alvarado district. Holland said students really respond to teacher blogs. "Teenagers now have become so expressive with blogs that they're really open to teachers who let them use that," Holland said. "It really kind of validates what they do on their own time." Student comments are monitored for appropriateness before they're posted, she said. Teachers use their blogs to give updates and instructions, pass along assignments, make announcements and share stories. Amanda Bailey teaches Texas history and eighth-grade English at Alvarado Junior High School. She posts short assignments on her blog, and the students post their work in reply. Many are opinion questions, such as "Which European explorer have you enjoyed learning about the most? Why?" Bailey says students readily tackle computer-oriented assignments. "It gets them away from pencil and paper," she said. "It's their comfort level; that's what they do." There's a built-in teacher comfort level, too, according to Bailey. Grading is much simpler with online assignments. "I can see real quickly who understood the concept and who needs more work," she said. Nora Northrip, also an Alvarado teacher, sent out Flat Stanley paper dolls with her second-graders, and used her blog to track where the Stanleys went. People would add comments to the blog as Stanley himself. Now that she teaches first grade, she has not decided the best application for the blog for younger students. "The blog has been a wonderful way to connect to the world, and allow the world to see what we have been doing in class," Northrip said. Richie Escovedo of the Mansfield district communications department said that although the district doesn't have a teachers' blogging presence on its Web site, some teachers maintain their own blogs for parents and students. "There are a few teacher blogs we know of, but it's not a massive thing among our teachers," Escovedo said. "We have helped five or six principals set up their blogs on their school sites." Escovedo is a self-professed social media enthusiast, so he hopes blog usage grows in Mansfield. "Our deputy superintendent, Bob Morrison, started his own blog," Escovedo said. "It's internal, but everyone can see it. It's about school-related topics like the Failure Is Not an Option program, which the district uses, but it's also very personal, like his posts about Oklahoma football." What's a blog? Defined by Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary as a noun derived from the word Weblog. A Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer. Also: the contents of such a site. SHIRLEY JINKINS, 817-390-7657 ------ ------ To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |