Readers' Survey 2007: Best Blog for Educators

Sometimes, to help my students understand inferences, I think of examples of events in which their friends or peers may be inferring something and they have make to an inference to understand what the friend is communicating. For example, we'll talk about what can be inferred when a person who you try to call more than three times without getting a response might be trying to say without actually saying it. The students guess that the non-responder is trying to say that he or she is mad or uninterested in being friends.

Hi, my name is Chris Van Ham and I am a middle school in Crystal Lake, Illinois. I am currently enrolled in an online distance learning program through Olivet Nazarene University. Blogging is part of our class, and for me a unique experience because this is my first ever blog. I have some experience with blogs because from time to time I read blogs about sports and current events. I never actually wrote my own personal blog.

I think blogging and staying connected with people through blogs and websites is great. People can be updated very quickly and on a mass scale by using the Internet. My school district uses it's website to communicate important information to parents. One example of this is school cancellations due to weather in the winter time. What are some ways other people's school districts use blogs and online sources to communicate with people?

Blogging can be negative when inappropriate or distasteful postings are made, but overall I think the access people have to blogs and other websites really help contribute to self-expression. I enjoyed blogging for the first time and will be more likely to contribute to blogs I read in the future.

Hi, my name is Chris Van Ham and I am a middle school in Crystal Lake, Illinois. I am currently enrolled in an online distance learning program through Olivet Nazarene University. Blogging is part of our class, and for me a unique experience because this is my first ever blog. I have some experience with blogs because from time to time I read blogs about sports and current events. I never actually wrote my own personal blog.

I think blogging and staying connected with people through blogs and websites is great. People can be updated very quickly and on a mass scale by using the Internet. My school district uses it's website to communicate important information to parents. One example of this is school cancellations due to weather in the winter time. What are some ways other people's school districts use blogs and online sources to communicate with people?

Blogging can be negative when inappropriate or distasteful postings are made, but overall I think the access people have to blogs and other websites really help contribute to self-expression. I enjoyed blogging for the first time and will be more likely to contribute to blogs I read in the future.

My name is Stacy and like many of you this is my first time actually writing or responding to a blog. I am a 5th year, third grade teacher from Indiana. I am currently taking masters courses through Olivet Nazarene University. My only blogging experience has been that my school's superintendent actually keeps a blog in which teachers, parents, and even students can respond to the events or discussions that are going on in our school system. It is also a very cool way to alert parents, teachers, and students about any severe weather delays or cancelations. The blog has been very successful, but it has had its problems with inappropriate and hurtful comments. The writing coordinator in our school system also keeps a blog. On this site you can share ideas for writers workshop. What an excellent way for teachers and even administrators to communicate with students, parents, and eachother! I was wondering if any of you more advanced blogging teachers have used this tool to communicate with parents and students? Did it work? Was it difficult to set up? How might I go about doing this for next school year? I've enjoyed my first blog experience, and I hope to do it more.

Nice site
sara
Job Description

Hi Everyone!

Great to have you here. I know many of you come from Walden, which has a wonderful program. We appreciate your voices and encourage you to explore more of the Edutopia.org site. I hope to work more closely with the Walden staff so that we can get you set up with a proper Walden blog. I will certainly keep you all informed as soon as this is up.

One thing I noticed in this thread is a misuse of the word “blogging.” I want to clarify the distinction between "blogging" and "commenting on a blog."

Blogs are content websites that have two parts.

1) Content that is written and published by the blog's author.
2) Content that consists of comments to the content in #1.

So, for instance, this is a blog:
http://www.eduwonk.com/

And this is the comment to that blog
http://www.eduwonk.com/2009/06/the-wise-standardista.html#comments

"To blog" or "blogging" refers to the blog author's creation and publishing of original posts. This is more of an editorial/curatorial role. "To comment on a blog" means to respond to the original posts.

As you can see, this long thread is more of a "comment to a blog" - the blog originally created by Edutopia staff. i know it seems like splitting hairs, but it's a very confusing to say this is "blogging," since technically, we are just commenting. And if we're going to be teaching kids about this stuff, we should be accurate!

Thanks and best regards,
betty ray
Edutopia.org Community Manager

I need some ideas for Making Inferences for a group of summer school students. I am teaching third grade summer school. These are students that didn't pass the 3rd grade CRCT in Reading. I have a 21 students ( 7 with EIP's, some with 504's, two ESOL, and several that are IEP) I am wanting lessons that are catchy and fun, not the typical worksheet.
Can anyone assist me with this?
Thanks,
Deborah Schildbach