If they can write, they can blog

A primary school teacher, Brandey Addison from Tuloso Midway Primary School, said this at TCEA: "If they can write, they can blog."  She and her colleagues, Christy Solis, and Benito Portillo, provide a variety of ways for their students to practice reading, writing, critical thinking, and peer review.

There was a time, in the very recent past, these teachers would have used a wiki to accomplish similar results with their students.  I don't know that the technology resource itself matters.  What seems to be making a difference is the way students experience their learning and that of their classmates.

Mrs. Addison and her colleague, Christy Solis, spoke of some of the approaches they take with their students.  There are so many options.  For example, students write their responses to a prompt on a piece of paper or index card as a "paper blog."  They might spend time reviewing their answers to do their own editing or they might work with a partner to critique and review each others' work before posting their work on the blog.

What's the big deal about blogging?  What does blogging add?  Mrs. Addison and Mrs. Solis shared that their parents can also view the blog which encourages parental involvement and helps insure that parents have familiarity with what their children are doing in school.  Students get to blog about their weekends, about the books they've been reading.

I like the idea of the blog, but, in some ways, I think a wiki or portfolio-like capability like Edmodo or LiveBinders might be somewhat more useful.  I think students being able to see each others' work and learning to critique constructively and learning how to be reviewed and critiqued.  But I also like the idea of students being able to use these electronic resources for all of their coursework.

How cool would it be if students worked on solving a math word problem using math manipulatives? Then wrote about how they approached solving the problem using the paper blog concept.  Then worked with one or more partners to review and discuss their math solutions, perhaps having their class partners help them find better ways to describe their solutions.  Then posted those math solutions, maybe even writing a story about the word problem that included the solution to the problem.  If students keep their work on their own wiki pages or in Edmodo or in LiveBinders, they can also see how their writing and thinking continues to improve.  And that kind of learning doesn't separate writing (aka "grammar" for too many students) from math but makes the two cooperative partners.

Based on the work these teachers and others have done, there are many possibilities for student growth and achievement.

Teachers Memorialized

Whenever I log in to a particular account, the answer to my security question is the name of a favorite teacher.  I remember being a bit stumped when I chose that particular question.  It's the same problem I have whenever I've been asked about my favorite teacher.  I'm fortunate to have had some good teachers.  I've had my share of not-so-great teachers, of course.

So when I think of my favorite teachers, I do a sort of quick scan.  It's sort of like going through the photo gallery on your smartphone: images flash into memory.  There's my high school English teacher who pushed me to do more than I'd been pushed before because she knew I could do better than coasting.  There's my high school Geometry teacher who was one of the first to begin to make math accessible.  There's my 4th grade teacher who was a good teacher, but also a good disciplinarian, coach, mentor.  Firm, but gentle.  There's my 7th grade English teacher who was one of the first to suggest I might actually have some skill at writing and my 7th grade science teacher who made lab work something to anticipate rather than dread.  There's my linguistics professor when I was working in my Master's program who made something that could have been incredibly daunting an adventure in discovery and learning.

There are more, but this is a sufficient example.  As I think of each of them, I think of moments when they redirected my learning. . . or me.  The ways they influenced me to think differently about myself and my abilities; they ways they influenced me to think.  And learn.

So each time I log into that particular account, I think not only of the teacher whose last name I use as that favorite teacher, but I think of how she influenced me and I think of how others influenced me.  And keep on influencing me and teaching me all of these years later.

And that, my friends, is what really good teachers do.