What+Do+Students+Write+About?

Contributions for the blog come in many ways: the teacher writes a post, the teacher assigns a post, students ask to write either as an individual or with other classmates.
=Students can write about:=


 * Content we are learning in class - After we finish a lesson, my students will often say, "We should blog about this!" Imagine, having students //ASK// if they can write about what they are learning! Here is a post written after a [|Science lesson on light].


 * Topics that interest them personally - One student has written posts about his [|community service] group call //Boys in Action.//


 * A place they have visited - If a student wants to write a travel post, he/she must include educational facts about the place. For example, the writer must include relevant information about population, elevation, or the economy of a place. We are an educational blog, so each post must inform. We have travel posts from [|Washington, D.C.], [|Lake Tahoe], and [|Palm Springs]!


 * I have written travel posts! **It is important for students to see adults as writers.** I also think it demonstrates that the blog is for everyone...the teacher, the students, and their parents. [|Visit the Arctic Circle!,][|Visit Joshua Tree National Park!], and [|Visit Death Valley National Park!]


 * Tutorials! When students find a certain topic difficult, as was the case with [|quadrilaterals], we sometimes create a tutorial. Students can revisit the blog to refresh their memory about the subject.

=Sometimes we post movies about what we are learning.=


 * Here Gal shares what she learned in class about shooting still/video images. [|Gal's Camera Tips!]


 * Here is [|our movie about our "visit" to Asia]. We had National Geographic's Traveling Map of Asia for a week. We made a movie! We also had National Geographic's Traveling Map of North America. [|Here is our movie] about the experience.


 * Here are some presentations of our [|dioramas].

Although I use many web 2.0 tools and gadgets, I am constantly thinking about what brings educational value to this site for my students rather than what brings flash.
Here is a link to a blog post about [|how we get a story written and published on our blog.]