LET'S BLOG!
A teacher-student blog for
7th grade students (third year of EFL)
Teresa Almeida d'Eça
Escola de Sto. António - Parede, Portugal
2002-2003
INTERNET FAIR
Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.
2 April 2004
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Feb2002: After reading Aaron Campbell's Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes, I felt that a teacher-student blog had the interactivity, type of content and Web presence that I'd been looking for, so I decided to give it a try. I also felt that it would be a motivating way to extend the use and practice of English beyond the classroom.
I decided to give it a try and created Let's Blog!, a custom-made blog for my 7th graders in their third year of EFL, with the following layout:
- a main entry (following the title) explaining what a blog is and what Let's Blog! should represent for the students
- three columns: icons representing different types of entries (on the left), the messages with the most recent on top (in the middle) and the date of each entry (on the right).
1March2002: Official launch of Let's Blog! I spoke about it in my three 7th grade classes, explained my objectives and how often I'd introduce new content. Finally, the students wrote the URL in their exercise-books.
Strategy
- publicize the blog in all my classes with the URL written in all exercise-books
- introduce a 'motivational' contest with the prize (a mouse pad) given out in class
- upload new content every week (class projects and activities, important school events involving students from any of the classes, interesting and useful links) and homework on a daily basis
- have links to different types of pages: an online dictionary, a pronunciation page created by me, work students do in and out of class, events students participate in, references to our blog, the monthly archive
- have a 'mailto' link at the top and bottom of the page for students to 'click, write and send'
- answer each message within 24 hours and update the page accordingly
- remind students regularly about the existence of the blog; those with no Internet connection at home can browse through it in the Students' Room at school
- refer interesting or amusing messages in class to motivate the passive students
- adopt new strategies when necessary, even if low-tech: a month later I suggested that those with no Internet connection or email at home (about half of the students) write their messages on a piece of paper and hand them to me in class (guidelines: include the To, Date and Subject fields, start with a greeting, finish with a farewell, and sign their first name and class)
- inform online and offline colleagues about it and ask them to post comments in order to help motivate students
- include the latest update at the bottom of the page
- include a counter to give me an idea of the weekly/monthly visits
- keep a log of the names and dates of postings (for my personal info and stats)
Goal
- create a two-way communication vehicle between the teacher and students to prolong the practice of English outside of class
- create a link with outsiders from the world of education: teachers and students
- help students discover the importance of learning English as a global language or linking element with the outside world
- motivate students to navigate the Internet and use it as a working tool on a regular basis
- mid-/long-term goals: jump to text chat with me on a one-on-one basis or in a conference, and progressively to voice chat
VIP(oint): The fact that I lost daily class contact with these students, because I was not given these classes in the current school year, made it very hard at first (and later impossible) to implement this plan, though I tried hard during the first term both online through the blog and offline, whenever I met some students face-to-face at school.
Grading
- there was no grading, because participation was voluntary
Links
- a comprehensive analysis of Let's Blog! by Graham Stanley (please scroll down to Wed, July 30, 2003)
- Have Fun with English! (my 5th grade blog this year with first year EFLers using text and voice email)
