I am a high school special education teacher. I am currently teaching a high school Read180 class. I teach a wide variety of students including autism, learning disabilities, and emotionally disturbed children.
I would like to use a blog in my classroom as a common place to hold a book discussion. The blogs purpose would be a place for students to ask/answer each others questions, aid in comprehension, and a common place to make comments/connections. I would lead the discussion by asking the students to make an initial post answering my question(s) regarding the novel we are reading as a class. I would then require the students to respond to s specific number of posts made by their peers. The blog would act as a tool for me to assess their understanding of the book and grade their participation. It would also be a wonderful way for the students to work on their typing, writing, and editing skills.
The use of a blog would be a more interactive and engaging way for students to interact and answer comprehension questions. I think my students would enjoy typing their responses and having a discussion with their classmate using the Internet. It is a great way to keep the classroom discussion going outside of the classroom setting.
I agree, blogging allows for a more interactive discussion that can continue beyond the classroom. Particularly in you case in working with Special Education students, some of the students may be hesitant to participate in the classroom because of their disability but may find it more comfortable to participate through the internet. Blogs also offer more that just writing, visuals and videos can be posted. This kind of visual stimuli might assist your students with their comprehension of the book they are reading.
ReplyDeleteI like your suggestion of adding visuals and videos to the blog. It would help differentiate instruction and may help engage the students by not having the same thing every week. Given this idea, I think it would be fun to post a picture or a song and have students describe where it could be appropriately placed in the book.
ReplyDeleteBlogging would be a natural extension of the Read 180 program. When I taught Read 180, computer time was the component that held student interest (the reaction to small group and independent reading was not so enthusiastic). Providing a means to use the computers for any writing you're doing should increase student willingness to participate. I wonder if, once your students are comfortable with blogging, you could invite other Read 180 classes to participate.
ReplyDelete