> > Regarding school use of blogs, I would steer people towards Dvid Warlick's > BlogMeister at http://classblogmeister.com/ It's free and the student > blogs are automatically tied into the class blog that is set up. All > articles and comments need to be moderated by the teacher which is a good > and necessary thing but takes time each day for a teacher to do to. It does > not have a lot of bells and whistles which is also a good thing in my mind > -- the students can focus on getting people's attention with the writing.
Edublogs and learner blogs (http://edublogs.org/) are others that are used but some find them more difficult to use because the teacher has to manullay tie the student blogs in with the teacher\class blog. Both edublogs\learnerblogs and BlogMeister are free and ad-free. They are both a bit buggy at times but the managers are both very responsive to users' issues. They also both provide rich user discussion forums (like literacy workshop) that ultimately are the most important aspects of the tools -- the users create an audience for the students' work! Both of them clear my district's filter but I would guess that would vary with each school district. If not, one can clearly explain to the powers-that-be the moderation controls and they can clear the sites from the filter. David Mack's system (http://www.literacyworkshop.org/webtools.htm) really looks great and seems similar to edublogs\learnerblogs. I would assume with the price would come an even better support system and the tie-in with the literacy workshop discussion forum would, again, provide the ultimate audience for the students' work. In my mind, it all comes down to finding an audience for the students. Yes, they can provide and audience for each other but the real power comes when they start receiving comments from others outside the classroom. The teacher really has to work at finding the audience through the user discussion forums tied with each system. Gordon Brune 5th Grade Mamaroneck Avenue School Mamaroneck, NY http://mrbrune.org > ------------------------------ > > Message: 24 > Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 23:24:25 -0400 > From: "Bill IVEY" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [LIT] blogging or written conversations > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." > <[email protected]> on Wednesday, July 04, 2007 at 7:45 PM -0500 > wrote: > >I have had some real success with my students having a deeper > >conversation in their book clubs when we blog. I have had a lot of > >trouble maintaining one with the district's filter. It is so very > >frustrating. My kids are excited to talk with each other using the > >computer. Has anyone else used it? When the blogs were down we just > >passed a paper for conversation. For some reason this written form of > >discussing literature is so much better than the oral ones in class. I > >certainly know the importance of talk, but the inherent teen shyness > >sometimes keeps them from truly opening up with their thoughts. Writing > >their conversations seems to bring out the real heart felt thinking I am > >so dearly looking for in response to literature. Any ideas on blogging > >and filters? > > Hi! > > I don't know how filters would affect this, but I do know that Keith Mack > offers all LiteracyWorkshop members the option of purchasing blogs through > either the "Blogger" or the "Gold" membership, both of which are described > in more detail at > http://www.literacyworkshop.org/memberships.htm > > Take care, > Bill Ivey > Stoneleigh-Burnham School > ********************************** > _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
