Yes, it is April and, yes, it is snowing.
If you can’t call a snow day and cuddle up with a good book in front of the fire, you could do the next best thing…cuddle up with a great set of student blogfolios and let the fire of their inspiration warm your soul.
I have not done this is a while, but because blogs and blogfolios do makeup the spine of which much else is built around; and because they are outward facing – available for you and the general public to read, respond and engage with – I do want to make sure that I keep them top of mind by seasonally (even when the seasons are all mixed up!) putting them back in front of parents, community and fellow travelers on the road of education.
For a significant portion of my professional life, I had two children in (my) schools where they maintained blogfolios. I subscribed to them, of course, but I am not going to pretend that I read each and every posting, and certainly not at the time of publication. So whenever I do this, please know that it is never about shaming parents or relatives whose incredibly busy lives makes it difficult to read each and every post. As the head of a school where blogfolios are part of the currency, I try to set aside time to browse through and make comments – knowing that each comment gives each student a little dose of recognition and a little boost of motivation. But I am certainly not capable of reading each and every post from each and every student and teacher!
When I am able to scroll through, what I enjoy seeing the most is the range of creativity and personalization that expresses itself through their aesthetic design, the features they choose to include (and leave out), and the voluntary writing. This is what we mean when we talk about “owning our own learning” and having a “floor, but not a ceiling” for each student. [North Star Alert!]
It is also a great example of finding ways to give our students the ability to create meaningful and authentic work. But, it isn’t just about motivation – that we can imagine more easily. When you look more closely, however, it is really about students doing their best work and reflecting about it. Look at how much time they spend editing. Look at how they share peer feedback, revise, collaborate, publish and reflect.
Our classroom blogs and student blogfolios are important virtual windows into the innovative and exciting work happening at OJCS. In addition to encouraging families, friends and relatives to check it out, I also work hard to inspire other schools and thought-leaders who may visit my blog from time to time to visit our school’s blogosphere so as to forge connections between our work and other fellow-innovators because we really do “learn better together” [North Star Alert!]
So please go visit our landing page for OJCS Student Blogfolios. [Please note that due to privacy controls that some OJCS students opt for avatars instead of utilizing their first names / last initials which is our standard setting. That may explain some of the creative titles. Others opt for password protected accounts and a small number remain entirely private.]
Seriously go! I’ll wait…
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English, French and Hebrew; Language Arts, Science, Math, Social Studies, Jewish Studies; Art, Music, PE, and Student Life and so much more…our students are doing some pretty fantastic things, eh?
I will continue to encourage you to not only check out all the blogs on The OJCS Blogosphere, but I strongly encourage you to offer a quality comment of your own – especially to our students. Getting feedback and commentary from the universe is highly motivating…
I was happy to be a guest on a colleague’s podcast last week and it just so happened that blogs and blogfolios became a big part of the conversation! If you are interested…check it out:
