Blogging Challenge #2: Commenting
by Mrs. Bentley
As fourth graders prepared to comment on the Internet, we discussed the importance of protecting our private information. This was a digital citizenship topic I taught them in third grade. I reminded students to ask before posting information about or images of other people, and to only give general details about their lives. To practice possible scenarios we might be faced with, students played the Share Jumper game that Common Sense Media makes available on their Digital Passport site. Students loved working through the different levels. I’m not an expert “jumper” as they are from their experiences playing video games. I guess I need to play them more often!
While searching for resources for students, I learned about YAPPY, which also appeared in Kathleen Morris’s post on the Blogging Challenge this week. I am posting it in the computer lab as a constant reminder for students.
I shared some videos about commenting on blogs that I found online. Mrs. Yollis has done a great job of enlisting the help of her students to teach others in their video, “How To Write A Quality Comment!”. I also found middle school teacher Nicholas Weiss’s adaption, “Leaving High Quality Blog Comments”. I collected some blog posts in Google Docs and let students choose from the one that most interested them to comment on and submit to me in Google Classroom. I gave students feedback, reminding them to write as if the comment were a letter.
One unexpected thing I noticed was that some students were commenting on punctuation or other errors they noticed in the work of student bloggers. I encouraged students to think less like a teacher and more like someone connecting with new people in a positive, encouraging manner. I mined some of the positive comments on our class blog and negative comments students had submitted to me. From these, I created a slideshow of explicit examples to share with students.
Your year four students are learning a lot of useful information about commenting on blog posts, Mrs Bentley. I have seen comments from many online who would benefit from the same information. It is good to know that a generation of polite communicators is coming along. It is important to remember that it is a person behind the words, behind the screen, and they deserve the same respect as any we would meet in person. What a great job you are all doing.
Although I am no longer in the classroom, I still consider myself a teacher. I spend a lot of time online and it is a pleasure to meet up with those who treat others with respect.
I like what u you are leaning so early you be the smartest one in the class.