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Tips and resources to help teachers use KidBlog as an assessment device

That's right...you heard me! And it's one of my favorite activities all year long. Paper Blogs. I use them to introduce my seventh graders to the idea of blogging and, more importantly, commenting.

Some REALLY good links to assessment options and ideas for building a proper blogging community with your students.

So you have heard about blogging with your students and you are considering taking the plunge but just not sure what or how to do it? I am here to tell you; blogging with my students has been one of the most enriching educational experiences we have had this year, and that says a lot. So to get you started, here is what I have learned:

Teach your students to use their hand-held devices to capture and present news and personal stories.

" considering the digits after the decimal point, the likelihood of the next"

The Teacher Challenge is made up of free 30 day professional development challenges where participants are stepped through weekly tasks that increase their skills while working together as part of a global community.

The Challenge is open to anyone who wants to increase their skills - blogs will be used for reflecting your progress while learning and connecting with each other. We've observed success of any use of online technology is strongly related to the teacher's abilities. The greater we support and increase a teacher's skills, the better they are able to support their students use of web 2.0 technologies.

WordPress plugin that converts all Joomla posts to WordPress posts.

Too lazy to learn SQL queries? No problem!

Yet another free WordPress MU blog(s) for you and your class.

"This blog is for elementary students to share their comments. There will be a new post every Monday. Students are encouraged to write often and as much as they wish in response to the post." Blog created by Sue Sheffer, "retired" technology integrator from Central York School District.

"You've completed your lessons for the day, but you still have some time left and a group of eager students with nothing productive to do. What can you do in this time to keep your class under control until the bell rings? Here is a list of 10 things to do when you only have 5 minutes left in class."

"If you're a teacher / administrator / librarian / education professor that somehow 'doesn't even realize [yet] that there's a decision to be made,' should you even be working in a school or university? Don't our children and our school systems need and deserve someone who's in a different place than you are? It's one thing to still be a learner; heck, we're all learners with this technology stuff. It's another to opt out or not even recognize the choice. If we look at what our kids need, shouldn't we replace you with someone else? "

Poem entry

"Why shouldn't learning start with hunches?

As a new teacher, there are many times I feel stranded somewhere between the older students I teach and the younger teachers above me. I still have strong memories of being a high school student, but am operating in an authoritative role "above" them. I've gotten used to being "the new guy" on the staff, but also to being "the tech guy" to whom many come with questions. I enjoy the dichotomy that being new and also holding a position of soft power puts me in; It's a place that fosters frequent reflection, which is good."

An excellent comparison of traditional research methods to 21st Century skills. A great discussion to advocate for the use of Wikipedia, and the difference in research styles between students being a positive thing.

Turning the tables