5/1/2017 BloggingforEnglishLanguageLearners|Edutopia

E NG LI S HLANG UAG E LE ARNE RS

Blogging for English-Language Learners

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ByRusulAlrubail,EdutopiaCommunityFacilitator/StudentVoice&LiteracyatTheWritingProject

Bloggingisaverypowerfultoolinandofitself.Whetherit'sapersonalor
professionalblog,blogginghasthepowertounleashlearning,reflection,and
communication.Evenmore,ablogcanhelpspreadyourwordsandideastoa
wideraudienceand,asaresult,awiderreach.

BloggingforEnglishlanguagelearners(ELLs)cantapintostudents'andteachers'
utmostcommunicativepotentialandhelpexpandandwidenlearning
opportunities.

BenefitsofBlogging
It'simportantfortheteachertodiscussthebenefitofbloggingwithherorhisstudents,asthiswillinformhow
theylearnthroughit.Whenstudentsunderstandthebenefitsoftheprocess,theybecomeengagedandactivein
theirownlearning.Teachersshouldexplainhowblogging...

Providesanopportunityforreflectionbystudentsandtheirteacher
Opensupstudentwritingtoawideraudience
Providesanopportunitytopracticewritingandcommunicationskills
Buildsalearningsupportcommunity
Empowersstudentvoice
Providesaplatformforpeerfeedback
Motivatesandengagesstudentsinhigherlevelcommunicativelearning

IllustrationCredit:RebecaZuiga/@Rebezuniga

(http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/blogs/alrubailbloggingforell.gif)

HowtoStartBlogginginELLClassrooms
It'sprobablybesttostartplanningonincorporatingblogginginyourclassroomsometimebeforethetermbegins.
Inthisway,theprocessofintegratingitintoyourschedulebecomeslessoverwhelming,andmuchmore
manageable.Thebenefitsfortheteacherandstudentswillalwaysoutweighthebitofplanningneededtostart.

Thereareseveralwaystouseblogginginyourclassroom:

BloggingforStudents

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AstudentblogcanhavemanypurposesinanELLclassroom:

Discussions
Responses
Reflections
Sharingimages,links,andresources
Vocabularyandgrammaractivities
Paragraphwriting
Commentary
Storytelling

Thesearejustafewexamplesofwhatstudentscandowithblogging.Therearesomegreatplatformsforstudent
blogs,suchasKidblog(http://kidblog.org/home/),Edublogs(http://edublogs.org/),Blogger
(https://www.blogger.com/features),andevenWriteAbout(http://www.writeabout.com/),whichisapublishing
platformthatallowsgroups(orclasses)topostpubliclyandprivately.Tochoosetherightplatformforyouand
yourstudents,setasidesometimetoexperienceandcreateyourown"example"blog.Thisexampleblogwillnot
gotowaste,becauseyou'lluseittosharewithyourstudentswhenintroducingthemtoblogging.

Howoftenshouldstudentsblog?
Thiscanbedeterminedbytheteacherandstudentsastheyseefitwithinthelearningoutcomesthey'retryingto
accomplish.However,bloggingconsistentlyaboutthecoursediscussions,materials,andcontentwillallow
studentstodelveintoadeeperselfreflectiveprocess.They'llbeabletotracetheirlearningthroughtheirblogs
andmaybeabletousethemasstudyingmaterial.Manystudentswillendupusingtheirblogsafterthecourseor
termhasended,andlikelywillmaintainthesamelevelofprofessionalismtobuildtheirdigitalidentity.

Howcanpeersandteachersprovidefeedback?
Feedbackisanessentialpartofblogging.Sincebloggingisaveryreflectiveprocess,studentswillneedtostay
engaged.Thefeedbackprovidedbytheirpeersortheteachercanbeveryvaluableinprovidingthistypeof
reflectiveengagementthroughoutthelearningprocess.WhenELLstudentsworkonpeerfeedback,thereare
severalareasonwhichtheycanfocus:

Shareonepositivethingaboutthepost.
Shareonethingtheirpeerscanworkonorimprove.
Shareapersonalstorythatrelatestotheblogpost.

Forteachers,it'sbesttogiveconstructivecriticismonstudentsblogsprivately.Thatway,theconversationdoes
nothinderthestudent'swritingandthoughtprocess.Byfocusingononlythepositivecommentsthatastudent
receivesonhisorherblogpost,theteachercanencourageandmotivatethatstudenttocontinuebloggingand
publiclysharingthoughts.

BloggingforClassrooms
Aclassroomblogisalsoagreatideaformostclasses.InELLclasses,however,aclassroomblogcanhelpwith:

Clarifications
Understanding
Communication

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Languagedevelopment
Parentstudentengagement

WhatshouldanELLclassroombloginclude?
Todecideonthecontentofaclassroomblog,ateachercanusethisasafuncollaborativeactivityandhave
studentsbrainstormtogethertodeterminetheirneeds.Thisnotonlymotivatesthemtotakeinitiativeincreating
thebloganditscontent,butitalsoallowsthemtoowntheirownlearning.WhenELLstudentsfeelcomfortable
andincontroloflessontasks,theircommunicationimprovesasaresultofpractice.

Herearesomecontentsuggestions:

Informationaboutclass,assignments,dailyroutine,tasks,etc.
Discussionandcommentsforum
Classphotosandvideos
Photosandvideosofresourcesrelatedtoclasswork
Interestingarticlesandstories
Vocabularylists
Linkstoresources,games,andfunwaystolearnEnglish
Culturalstorieswrittenbystudents

Thepossibilitiesarereallyendlesswhenitcomestoclassroomblogcontent.Thekeyispersonalizingitwiththe
studentstomeettheircommunicativeandlearningneeds.

ResourcesforGettingStarted
PleasetakealookatmyslideshareaboutbloggingforEnglishlanguagelearners
(http://www.slideshare.net/RusulAlrubail/bloggingforenglishlanguagelearners).

Belowaresomeexamplesofclassroomblogs:

LarryFerlazzo:
ELL:English/Geography(http://www.sacschoolblogs.org/larryferlazzo/)
U.S.History(http://www.sacschoolblogs.org/ushistory/)
WorldHistory(http://www.sacschoolblogs.org/worldhistory/)
ShellySanchez&TaraBenwell'sEnglishClub(http://my.englishclub.com/profiles/blogs/fathersdaywriting
collection)
DougRobertson'sMr.Robertson'sClass(http://kidblog.org/class/MrRobertsonsClassB7/posts)
JessicaLifshitz'sMrs.LifschitzPMClass(http://kidblog.org/MrsLifshitzPMClass/)

HaveyourELLstudentsblogged?Pleaseshareyourresultsandimpressionsinthecommentssection.

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