Blogging with Juniors

I have finally managed to set up individual blogs for my Year 2 class. As I've said before my Year 2 children seem to be so enthusiastic about everything we do. They love to show what they can do and so I thought that for some of my kiddies blogging is the way to go.
I have some children who are not particularly confident when it comes to writing but they feel more comfortable writing on the computer. The purpose of this is to start to develop an enjoyment of writing in my reluctant writers. They all know that I have to approve their writing before it goes on the web. I think this way they have the safety net of me checking their writing before it goes up online. None of these children have had an individual blog before so having the responsibility is also exciting.

We started by discussing how writing online is like publishing your work on the wall right away. It is your best work. We also discussed some rules about making comments and what to write and what not to write. I think at the moment they are being quite cautious so we will see what the future brings.

Please have a read of what they are writing so far and leave us a comment: http://kidblog.org/room9pvs/

Blink and it's gone

I haven't taken the time to write for a while. You forget how busy this time of year is.  I first thought that I would have time to do loads of professional reading in the holidays and take time to sort the paperwork that was accumulating arounds me. The holidays didn't proceed as planned and after a very busy Term 3 with production my head was swimming.
I finally reached some clarity when I attended uLearn13.  Once again uLearn had delivered inspiration and innovative ideas that made me eager to get back to my class.
I had been meaning to sit down and write for a while, I blinked and before I knew it... three weeks of the term had passed. All the ideas that I had planned to reflect on have changed.
In the three weeks that we have been at school I have had the pleasure of being an associate teacher. Our classroom had welcomed a nervous student who shadowed me for the first few days, watching my every move. I really enjoy this experience and not just because I get to mentor another educator but also because it makes me think about what I do.
You start to think about your every move in more detail. Why did I say that? How do I show differentiation? Do I actually practice what I preach? The need for absolute transparency has made me realise that there are some things I need to make sure I keep on top of and with others I could give myself a pat on the back for.
Once again though, I though that the time I would have with my student would be enough for me to cover everything that I wanted to cover with her. Four weeks just doesn't seem long again.
Where does the time go?

Blink... and it's gone!

Demands of blogging

We had a great Professional Development session today. We talked about the current trends in e-learning and what is happening in schools today. I really enjoyed some of the thought provoking discussion that took place because it let me evaluate what I am doing in my classroom. My current challenge is this whole blogging thing.
At the moment I find it difficult to find enough time in a day (as well as energy) to do all the things that I want to do. Blogging for my self is something I need to get into the habit of doing. For me that will come with time. What I have been thinking more and more about lately is blogging for kids.

I use kidblog with my class (http://kidblog.org/Room265/). Please come and visit us by the way, the kids love to see your comments.

I have some children in my class who have a number of dyslexic type needs (I don't want to label them as dyslexic because it is such a huge range of difficulties that fit under this very large umbrella we call dyslexia). These students often dislike writing and reading. Blogging is a great tool for them as they don't have the negative connotations with computers as they do with pen and paper, which is usually a struggle. I realise that not all children will jump up and down about blogging, but I have realised that some of my children have started to write about their day quite regularly. The comments they write to each other are becoming increasingly more constructive, rather than just "cool" or "nice story." Some still have some growing to do in that sense but we are getting there. This has also been great for my really bright kids because they feel like they are educating the people around them by writing interesting facts. Some of my boy's write a fact each week. They have to find a new piece of information, learn about it and blog about it their own words (NO COPYING!) So over all this has been a very valuable tool to increase children's confidence and enjoyment for expressing their ideas in the written form.
This brings me to my dilemma. I use kidblog to keep an eye on what the children are writing and help out some of the children who struggle with spelling by checking some of what they write. I don't correct all mistakes, I think it is important for them to make these and discuss what they have written with their peers. What I'm finding now though is that I can't always keep up. During the term with all the other things we have to do (MARKING, updating wikis, collaborating with children on their google doc creating flipcharts...) I am finding it harder and harder to make sure that I check each blog and approve comments.
So here is my question to my fellow educators... How do you keep up with the increasing demand to keep blogs, wikis, sites, etc up to date? What do you do to manage these? Am I being a little too ambitious by checking all these blogs?
What are your thoughts on the matter?