You can read the assignment and students' responses here: http://thurstonworld.blogspot.com/
Disappointingly, only ~25 out of 64 students completed the assignment. I gave the students 4 weeknights to do it and reminded them daily. Furthermore, students had the opportunity to use the computer lab during lunch hour each day of the week. While I was impressed by some students' responses, the overall lack of participation speaks volumes. One anonymous student commented on the blog: "I would just like to say how insignificant this assignment was. Thanks." There are always those students who resist out-of-the-ordinary assignments. But I'm left wondering: Was I trying too hard to be cool by making a blog? Did the kids understand the purpose of doing the assignment? Did I fail to "sell" it when I introduced it in class? Was the assignment, in fact, worthwhile? Should I be content with the fact that some (albeit fewer than half) responded with enthusiasm?
Disappointingly, only ~25 out of 64 students completed the assignment. I gave the students 4 weeknights to do it and reminded them daily. Furthermore, students had the opportunity to use the computer lab during lunch hour each day of the week. While I was impressed by some students' responses, the overall lack of participation speaks volumes. One anonymous student commented on the blog: "I would just like to say how insignificant this assignment was. Thanks." There are always those students who resist out-of-the-ordinary assignments. But I'm left wondering: Was I trying too hard to be cool by making a blog? Did the kids understand the purpose of doing the assignment? Did I fail to "sell" it when I introduced it in class? Was the assignment, in fact, worthwhile? Should I be content with the fact that some (albeit fewer than half) responded with enthusiasm?
I think that doing the blog is a great idea. Maybe having the kids do the assignment in class may work out better. You could also have the kids pretend to be characters in history and blog in character. In other words, don't give up on this wonderful idea.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that my reaction was more along the lines of: 20+ students responded, and the posts by and large were thoughtful. It also occurs to me that you may be taking your students out of their comfort zone a bit. I don't know enough about what they are accustomed to, but most kids haven't been socialized to do the kind of thinking that you're asking them to do. My sense would be that you would want to work on this over time, as there's a lot involved in blogging (and perhaps ultimately in commenting on one another's work) and in doing some of the intellectual work that you're asking of them. You ask them a terrific, but also a somewhat heady question. Next year, you'll be able to lay groundwork for this kind of thing, and perhaps even bring some work of this kind into the foreground of what you do as a class. This is an encouraging start, Jenny...hang in there!
ReplyDeleteHi Jeff! Thanks for your feedback. Your point is well taken; I definitely need to be more aware of when I'm pushing students out of their comfort zone. And since I didn't take the kids to the computer lab to show them what blogging looks like, the assignment might have been extremely foreign territory for a lot of kids. Not sure if the blog I created will get more use this year, but it was an interesting experiment and I know that more guidance on my part will be key.
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