Whether this is your first stop or you've be hoppin' for a while- Welcome to the Bright Ideas Blog Hop hosted by the oh so fabulous, Shelley Gray! I'm here today to share a great technology tool with you!
How many of you have those kids who hate, I mean really hate writing? They are the ones who will sit there for a 30 minutes writing block and get 2 words on the paper. Their go to responses are usually "I don't know what to write" or "I'm thinking". I have a fun way to get them writing and engaging with other writers in their class using.. drum roll..
Kidblog is a great, free tool for teachers to use in their classroom. Signing up is really simple. You sign up for an account, put in your students names, give them a password, and viola. The blog is totally protected. Nobody but you and your students can read and interact. And teaching my 2nd graders was a lot easier than I thought!
It's pretty simple. They can use the profile button to name their blog and add a picture of themselves. ( I had my kids add pictures at home if their parents allowed them to.)
And everything they need to access is right on the home screen (If they've navigated away from the page, they just have to click the Class Blog Button up on the top)
You can ask kids to create their own post or reply to a question/prompt posted by you!
My favorite part of all this is that it has gotten my most reluctant writers to begin to enjoy writing! They get to read other students writing, respond to them, and get responses on their own writing and it's always so rewarding to get some comments (something to look forward to). We use it for reading, writing, science, social studies and even homework. My kiddos LOVE to get on at home and leave comments for friends.
It has truly made a wonderful difference for all of my kids in my room. So why not go give it a try? What do you have to lose? :)
If you are looking for more great ideas, please visit the next blog on this blog hop. written by Lydia Furtado over at Owl be in Kindergarten. She's sharing some great ideas on moving to learn! Alternatively, you may visit the link-up below and choose a topic that interests you. Thanks for visiting!
I love Kidblog!! I've used it for two years now in my classroom and it has been a GREAT way to practice writing. Last year I linked to two classrooms in other parts of the world and my kiddies enjoyed reading other students' writing and commenting on their posts. Would you consider linking with my class this year? :) We try to post every other week at least and I'm encouraging the kids to start to write more. We'd love to meet some new people :)
ReplyDeleteLynn
Love this idea, Ashley! I've heard of kidblog before but never dived into it. I'm going to set it up now! My kiddos use Scootpad during centers and at home and I've noticed that they love to write comments on the leader board to each other, so I know they would love this. Thanks for the bright idea! :)
ReplyDeleteWe just started Kidblog in my classroom and my kids love it! I would love to hear more examples of how you use it in your classroom!
ReplyDeleteSara :)
The Colorful Apple