Sunday, July 21, 2013

Hoy's Impressions

The Russell Street School has done a very unique, but great, job at incorporating blogging into their regular classroom setting.  The blogs developed by both the school and the students allow the children to learn what they need to (for all those lovely state tests) while at the same time being creative and taking ownership over their learning.  Teachers, I'm sure, serve the main role of facilitating and guiding students as they learn and discover new things. 

In a day and age where documentation and data is needed to support student learning and understanding, the school blog provides both.  Parents and other stakeholders have the ability to take a first-hand look at the learning that is occurring on a daily basis in the school.  I'm sure that student motivation is very high in the school as well, as students are not just learning but also creating on a daily basis.  If the students that attend this school have the basis of this motivation now, hopefully it will follow them into their later years and serve them well in their continued education.

As a teacher that is hoping to incorporate blogging in my school more, it would be great to know what type of prep work they gave to their students.  What type of help did they provide for them concerning netiquette?  How did they get the students interested and started on blogging?  What kind of "Internet and Blogging 101" type information did they provide for their students.  Since the Russell Street School has shown such a great example of how blogging can be used to facilitate learning, they would be great ones to get input and some how-to questions answered!

2 comments:

  1. Catherine, there are very few "state tests" in New Zealand, at least not like we know them here in the United States. There are some national exams, but much of that is done in the upper secondary.

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  2. Alicen, I thought your comments about how this school's blog helped document student learning was great. I hadn't thought of that before!

    I got the impression that Russell Street School really values creativity, (dance, art displays, etc.) so this type of showcase seems to align with their overarching philosophy.

    It would be great to know how this school set up their blogging community, as it looks like a huge task and it would be important to set it up properly right away.

    Thanks for sharing your insights.

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