Student Blogs

Digital citizenship education is most beneficial when it is ongoing and authentic. A blogging program offers this. Blogging can offer not only a safe space to practice digital citizenship, but also authentic dilemmas, discussions, and interactions. -  Kathleen Morris, The Edublogger, Jan. 2018

The 21st century classroom recognizes the importance of digital literacy across the curriculum. Student blogs provide an authentic space for self-expression and to share ideas and initiate a dialogue with an audience. According to Bower & Brodsky, Teaching Credibility of Sources in an Age of CMC (2008):

A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.  “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.

In Scarsdale, students typically begin having their own blog in third grade. Classroom teachers collaborate with their building’s computer teacher to plan the process of introducing the whats, whys, and hows of blogging, including digital etiquette lessons on appropriate content and tone in students’ online roles as bloggers and commenters. Subject matter for blogs are both student-selected and teacher-assigned (e.g., reflect on the 5th-grade Capstone process) across the curriculum (e.g., science, social studies, Spanish).

To access Class 5E blogs, visit mine: Sifting Through: Reflections and Wonderings of a 5th Grade Teacher