This was quite the journey... after much deliberation and frustration, I finally settled on which hosting site to use for my class blog. Although I am somewhat at peace with my choice, I am still not completely satisfied. The problems encountered were which site could give me all the posting and publishing options that I wanted and give them to me for FREE! But oh, no, that was being waaay too optimistic. So I found that every single one of them had some catch that I didn't really like. To get all the features I quickly realized I was gonna have to pay for it! Anyway, after experimenting and building 3 different class blogs, I decided to go with Weebly since it's very easy to use and I already had another site with them for my XC Ski Team that I was pretty satisfied with the outcome. Only the Pro version however, allows you to embed... or so I thought. However, I found a little trick to get around that stumbling block. If you use the custom HTML feature, you can paste the embed codes directly in to that window and get the document, or whatever embedded via the free version. I cannot tell you how happy this made me... or how long it took me to figure this out! So here is my new, school-color-coordinated and customized Lathrop Malemute Science classroom blog.
I was able to add Google calendars to each class page that I can use to post assignments, due dates, etc. etc. My students first task will be to learn how to use the blog via the Tips for Blogging Success page. As for their first science related task, I have made an Ecology Voicethread for my AP Bio students to use for the introduction to their Ecology unit. For Chemistry, I am started with a task involving the Periodic Chart but haven't yet got that fully worked out. Additionally, I am still working on a Prezi for my AP Bio as well but I am not quite finished with it. That is soon to come!
First off, I really like the aesthetics of your blog. It is nice and eye-catching, yet easy to navigate. I've never tried Weebly, but you make it look very appealing!
ReplyDeleteI also really like your tips for blogging page. I think it's important to provide some guidance before we tell our students to simply blog away. On that same note; how you plan on cultivating discussion on your blog? Will students create posts? Or will you write posts and have them reflect? Also, how are you going to grade the posts? (I'm asking you all these questions, as I am struggling myself as I put together my class blogs....)
Good luck in the up coming year!
Thanks for your comments Dalton. As for your questions... for some projects students will definitely create posts. I will create new pages specific to a particular project that will be under the page for their class. I will also write posts myself on the class page that either link to some other assignment, such as the Voicethread or if it's simply a discussion then they will reflect through commenting about that post. As for grading, yes. I almost always grade on a 10 point scale. Generally I give them a rubric ahead of time indicating what a 10 score is, 9, 8, 7, etc. It's generally 10 points if the task was successfully completed and was on time. If they do not comment at all they get a zero.
ReplyDeleteSometimes they will do these things as a group and receive one score for the group.
Hope this answers your questions! Good luck with your endeavors as well!
I love the graphics and colors on your classroom blog -- they pull you right in!
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