I seem to be continually uncovering more and more benefits to educational blogging. Aside from the advantages that I’ve shared here and here, having your class involved in the educational blogging community allows students to learn from and with their peers from all around the world. In my class we often use our blogging buddies’ posts as inspiration for classroom activities, […]
Blogging
Photo Slideshows in Blog Posts
Start small When you start blogging it is important to start small and try to not be overwhelmed by what other people are doing. With time, support, perseverance and inspiration, your blog will continue to grow and improve. When I first started blogging with my students in 2008, we wrote very simple posts containing text […]
Quality over Quantity
I’ve been thinking about how important quality over quantity often is when it comes to effective teaching and learning with blogging, global collaboration and technology. Here are some thoughts… It’s not about how many blogging buddies your class has but about having deep and ongoing connections with classes that you can learn with and from. It’s […]
Fun and Games
So many rewards can come out of connections made through blogging and global collaboration. I love watching my students learn about literacy, maths, geography, technology, history and all sorts of things about life around the world with their blogging buddies. It is such an authentic and memorable way to learn. Last November when we were […]
Our New Class Blog
After spending the last three years in grade two, I have moved to grade four this year. The first two weeks of the school year has already presented many new challenges and rewards. I’m looking forward to extending my students further with technology this year. I am continuing to team teach with Kelly Jordan. This […]
New Teacher Blog: Guiding Digital Nomads
I first met Aine Murphy (@ainetmurphy) when she was completing teaching rounds at my school in 2010. We bonded over a common interest in technologies, blogging and global collaboration. Aine taught in Ireland for ten years before moving to Australia and retraining at Deakin University. She is now teaching Grade Three/Four at Point Lonsdale Primary […]
Parents Shining in the Blogging Community
Educational blogging is so much more meaningful and rewarding when it occurs within a blogging community. It takes time and persistence to establish your own blogging community. When I first started blogging with my class in 2008, we received the odd comment from a student or parent but there was no other audience or interaction. […]
Five Steps to Starting a Class Blog in 2012
I revised this post in August 2012 to create a nine page, five step guide to beginning a class blog. Feel free to view, print or download the document to help you get started on your blogging journey. Five Steps to Starting a Class Blog If you’re having trouble with the Scribd document, you can […]
Setting up Student Blogs
I’ve been asked a few questions lately about setting up student blogs so I thought it would be timely to update my post from 2010 about the process I use. 2012 will be the fifth year that I have been blogging with my class and the fourth year that I have had some student blogs. […]
Quality Blogging and Commenting Meme
If you are interested in educational blogging, Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano has written an outstanding series of posts on her Langwitches Blog. It is called Learning About Blogs FOR Your Students and covers seven areas: Part I: Reading Part II A: Writing Part II B: Student Writing Part III: Commenting Part IV: Connecting Part V: Reciprocating […]
School is out for 2011
2011 has been a fabulous year! In true “Kathleen Morris style”, I have taken on a lot and juggled many different pursuits, but it is all worthwhile to reflect on what has been achieved. Some of my 2011 highlights include: Global Collaborative Projects – I LOVE working on global projects with my students. Some of […]
Reflection on Our World, Our Stories
The Our World, Our Stories project has come to an end this week. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of 2011 for my class. My grade two students worked with classes in the USA, Canada, Belize, New Zealand and Ghana to share their stories and learn about how others live. We used […]
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The Edublog Awards – Vote for us!
The Edublog Awards have been running since 2004 and showcase some of the most popular blogs in education around the world. The purpose of the Edublog Awards is to promote and demonstrate the educational values of blogging. This is something I really believe in! There were many cheers of delight in 2KM and 2KJ today […]
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Memorable Student Blogging Moment
Bianca is a grade three student who I introduced to blogging last year. She is definitely a success story, having produced weekly posts on BB’s Awesome Blog for a year and a half now. That’s 86 posts! Her success is partially due to the fabulous support of her family. Bianca has a solid following from […]
Grade Two Students Blogging with Purpose in the Local Community
Last week, Kelly Jordan and I were approached by our local radio station, Bay FM. They were interested in the way our grade two students were blogging and wanted to talk to us about joining forces for a special project. After meeting with Patrick from Bay FM, we decided that our students would be regular […]