Engaging Students in Math Blogging Activities

Amanda Casto7th grade math teacherDruid Hills Academy, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools

Session Objectives

▪ Create awareness of this cross-curricular and 21st-century tool for demonstrating mathematical mastery.

▪ Model the benefits of student-blogging for multiple purposes.

▪ Inspire teachers with take-away tips to increase student reasoning and writing about mathematics in the classroom.

Blogging Background

▪ 2012– Began personal blog about (math) education, thatmathlady.wordpress.com

▪ 2013– Used Kidblog.org to introduce middle school students to blogging in STEAM

elective class

▪ 2014– 7th grade math students write entries for a grade-level blog posts,

castoscalculators.wordpress.com

What is a blog?

▪ Originates from the word “weblog”

▪ An informational site devoted to a specific topic, cause, or issue

▪ Interactive (audience can leave comments)

▪ Journal

▪ Reverse chronological order (most recent entries displayed at the top of the page)

Why blog about math?

▪ Communicate ideas

▪ Opportunity for students to authentically think, talk, and write about their problem solving

▪ Display projects and achievements by embedding pictures and videos

▪ Summarize and evaluate learning

▪ Increase global and technical competence

▪ Promote literacy across curriculums

Why should your students blog?

▪ Blogging creates an opportunity for student engagement in the learning (synthesis, analysis and evaluation) process.

▪ Students can demonstrate their knowledge using technology and literacy

▪ Feedback can be given to students via blog comments

Setting it up!

One whole-class blog

▪ Ideal for the classroom that lacks technological devices

▪ The teacher or a student-editor maintains one blog site for the class.

▪ Blog posts are general and includes written content from multiple students.

▪ Students submit their blog submissions via email, Dropbox, Edmodo, etc. and the main editor adds content to one blog.

▪ More blog sites available

Multiple individual student blogs

▪ Ideal for 1:1 classrooms

▪ Each student is in charge of their own site, including the format, background, font, etc.

▪ Students have the ability to write, revise and edit their own entries.

▪ Blogging sites such as Edublogs and Kidbloghave a maximum number of students that can blog on an account (keep this in mind if you have a large class).

▪ Fewer blog sites available (safety)

Blog Name

Post Title

Introduction

Student blog entries

Opportunities for Student Blogging

▪ Before a unit (sharing prior knowledge)

▪ After a lesson (exit ticket)▪ What did you learn?

▪ What questions do you still have?

▪ What “stuck” with you?

▪ Did you enjoy today’s lesson? What could be improved to enhance your learning?

▪ After a field trip

▪ Post-test

▪ Summarize a project (perfect to conclude a problem-based or project-based lesson)

Student Work Example 1

Student Work Example 2

Student Work Example 3

Tips on Enhancing Student Blogging

▪ Allow students to explore!

▪ Encourage students to use media in their blogs: practice embedding photos, clip art, comic strips, cartoons, or videos

▪ Assess students’ demonstration of mastering standards of math practice (ex: ability to reason abstractly, persevere in solving problems, modeling with math, using appropriate tools, etc.)

▪ Focus assessment more on creativity and content, less on grammar and writing mechanics

▪ Use comments to give constructive feedback

▪ Allow students to revise their blogs after they have been assessed by their peers

Want more blogging resources?Visit: thatmathlady.wordpress.com/blogging/

Amanda R. Casto, M.S.Ed.

amandar.casto@cms.k12.nc.us

Twitter: @thatmathlady