Comments for The Edublogger

Comment on How Do You Feel When Someone Copies and Pastes Your Post? by Mrs. Aber

Mrs. Aber — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:12:26 +0000

Dear Sue,

We are a 5th grade class of students(and teacher) who are very new to blogging. We have been reading your articles about commenting and blogging. We like your information and will be using some of it as we begin the blogging challenge.
You are very good at encouraging people to blog. We have learned a lot from reading your posts and articles.
We agree that copying and pasting from other people’s blogs is plagerism. We will make sure that we use our own words and sentences.
Thank you for all your help!
Mrs. Aber’s 5th Grade ELA class.

Comment on Formal style, proper grammar and good spelling ARE important in student posts and comments! Do you agree? by Jamie (AKA @fiteach)

Jamie (AKA @fiteach) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:49:59 +0000

I, too, have mixed feelings about this. I teach younger students who have had 3 years of instruction in their 2nd language (sometimes 3rd) and this is their first year of formal instruction in their 1st (sometimes 2nd) language, so spelling and grammar are often in the beginning stages in either language. I feel that correcting everything, all the time, would kill their enthusiasm for using and experimenting with the language. It also depends on the audience they are trying to reach. If they are posting to or commenting on a class blog that has the intention of going no further than their teacher and classmates, I am less apt to want correct everything. If their response has the intention of reaching bigger audiences, I might help them correct/edit. I was reading a grade 1 teacher’s blog, and the teacher left the childrens’ posts as is, but following each, put the correct form in parentheses. This both keeps the sense of ownership for the student, but allows for readers to understand the message clearly. I’m just starting with the web2.0 world and look forward to reading the responses!

Comment on Formal style, proper grammar and good spelling ARE important in student posts and comments! Do you agree? by Paul Bogush

Paul Bogush — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:48:50 +0000

Question #1 = No, no, and no.

Yes = a very schooly answer. Should the child make an effort to correct it? Yes. But if after the corrections there are mistakes just let it go. If I knew someone was going to proof read this before I wrote it, I would not bother to comment. If someone left a comment below mine and told me about my errors, I would be more careful next time. If people were not reading my blog because of my errors, that lesson would get into my head–a real authentic lesson, not a teacher telling me something that I do not want to hear.

Speaking for all the poor writers out there, having someone always on my back about my grammar would put an end to my writing–it did for 27 years–from the time I graduated from college to the time I started blogging. So for me and all the other poor writers out there like me, would you rather we just stop writing? or is our voice valuable enough that maybe, just maybe, you could look past out inability to use proper grammar.

The one thing “good” writers can’t do is put themselves into the head of someone who struggles…

I have also found that I would rather read the blogs of my students who make grammatical mistakes over the ones that are grammatically perfect…hmmmmm.

Comment on Formal style, proper grammar and good spelling ARE important in student posts and comments! Do you agree? by drhammond

drhammond — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:48:24 +0000

I do feel it’s important to emphasize grammar and spelling when blogging with students. Writers need to know their audience, and they need to know the best way to address their audience through organizational structures, sentence structure, word choice, yada yada yada…

It’s the teacher’s role to help students understand who they’re writing for when they blog. If the blog is of academic nature and is going to be read by other students/parents/teachers, then it’s our job to show them why conventions like spelling and grammar matter. If students are posting (or texting, or emailing for that matter) for an audience where conventions won’t interfere with their message then it should be ignored. Again, it’s our job to show students how a writer’s audience affects how they write.

Comment on Formal style, proper grammar and good spelling ARE important in student posts and comments! Do you agree? by Cathy Vivian

Cathy Vivian — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:12:37 +0000

I have mixed feelings about this. Currently I correct most of my student’s spelling and grammar when I approve their comments. I’ve read Kathleen’s post and to a point, agree with what she says. I like structure as it gives high expectations and the children know exactly what is expected of them. And I feel that a degree of structure makes for a better comment.
But I’d hate to kill enthusiasm by not approving comments by young children who really are doing the best they can, especially since a number of them either don’t have the internet at home, or don’t have the adult support needed to ensure correct spelling and grammar. I’d think it would be a different matter with older children.

Comment on Are You Making Your Life Easier By Using RSS? by RSS Series: How do I find and install a custom RSS button on my blog?

RSS Series: How do I find and install a custom RSS button on my blog? — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:02:54 +0000

[...] Are You Making Your Life Easier by Using RSS by Sue Waters at EduBlogger [...]

Comment on Formal style, proper grammar and good spelling ARE important in student posts and comments! Do you agree? by Bill

Bill — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:14:05 +0000

well if u dont never use rite gramer an spellin it makes ur shit hardr 2 read and dat mean ppl rn’t gonna read it coz its 2 hard an they cant be bothered so if u want ppl 2 read ur shit u gotta rite it in a way that ppl can understand coz u mite b a deadset genyus but dats no good if no 1 can understand u and anyway how can u be a deaset genyus if u cant even spell

Comment on Our Class Blog List Has Been Updated — Is Your Class Blog on The List? by reginarumford

reginarumford — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:14:22 +0000

My students in 8th grade are learning to become global writers. They selected a topic/theme that they were passionate about. They are eager to become noticed by the world. Linking my site to your site will help them connect to other writers around the world. Happy Blogging!
http://rumfordwriters.edublogs.orgx

Comment on Guest Post by Kathleen McGeady: Teaching Commenting Skills by Formal style, proper grammar and good spelling ARE important in student posts and comments! Do you agree? | The Edublogger

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:07:44 +0000

[...] been having interesting conversations in the comments on Kathleen McGeady’s guest post Teaching Commenting Skills on ‘is a formal structure or style for writing comments [...]

Comment on How Do You Feel When Someone Copies and Pastes Your Post? by Sue Waters

Sue Waters — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:34:59 +0000

@Simon, the scribe post method works really well. You might want to consider that method with the older students?

Here is more information on it – http://theedublogger.com/2009/06/12/using-scribe-posts-on-class-blogs/