Mr. Kelly's Classroom Blog

Our class is looking for ways that will bring the 21st century into our classroom to help prepare our 21st century learners for their future.  We have created this blog , which is short for web log, as a way for my students to discuss topics that come up in class, to extend their thinking about a particular curriculum topic, and to create a classroom community through active conversation and collaboration.  Blogging will be a regular activity for our class.  By blogging regularly, students are developing skills in writing for real audience. Blogging allows students to respond to prompts, and then respond to their peers in a way that promotes discussion and leads to new understandings.

Blogging Expectations

Students will be asked to comment on a post made by me or another student.  They will also be asked to respond to classmates’ comments.   Student comments must include first Name and Last Initial. – do not include full last names.  Students should be respectful of classmates’ ideas and opinions.  Students are encouraged to “piggyback” off of other’s ideas, and may respectfully disagree as well.  Students should practice discussion techniques just as they would in school.

All comments will be reviewed by Mr. Kelly before they are posted.  Remember that ANYONE can read comments, so responses should be carefully constructed so that they make sense, have a point, and utilize appropriate conventions.  I recommend students to compose and edit thier comments in Word and then copy and paste their comment.

Blogging Assessment

Blogging contributes to classwork grades for the appropriate subject area.  Students will be graded using our blog rubric Blogging Rubric or Writing Blog rubric depending on the content of the post.  After I grade each post, I will return a score to the students.