Last weekend at EdcampNYC, Starr Sackstein (@mssackstein), Tony Sinanis (@TonySinanis), and I facilitated a conversation on blogging and branding. This was the first time I had run a session with either of them, and it was an absolute blast!
Making my work public is something about which I am passionate. Also, I strongly support students being provided opportunities to have their work reach an authentic audience.
Not convinced student work should be made public?
According to John Kotter, one of the biggest mistakes you can make when attempting to achieve buy-in “is to communicate with all ‘head’ and no ‘heart.'” In other words, the odds are not in favor of educators saying, “Well, if Robert Marzano says this is what’s best, then we should all be doing it in our classrooms!” So, rather than use facts/research/data to convince/tell you why students should be able to publish their work (as opposed to handing it in)…Here are two resources that will evoke emotions and “tug at the heart.”
- The graphic featured above. Imagine, after countless hours of dedicated blogging, only one person is able to see or share your work on each social network. (By the way, my fourth graders blogged regularly with KidBlog, Blogger, and WordPress…It’s not a matter of if we can make it happen, but how.)
- The Alan November TEDx Talk. Start at the 7m 30s mark, or just watch the whole thing. I always use this video when conducting workshops on student publishing. Rich Kiker (@rkiker) first introduced me to the resource a handful of years ago.
Seriously…Why write for your teacher when you can publish for the world?
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Excellent point and well made. Why should a student have an audience of one. Why can’t kids see what their classmates are doing? If a student knows that the world can see their work, I bet the work harder and make it better. Look for this reposted tomorrow at http://DrDougGreen.Com. Keep up the good work. Dr. Doug
Thanks, Doug! And I appreciate the repost on your website.
Your blog post addresses a conversation I was having today on Twitter. My students and I have been building our websites and blogging with Weebly since we have returned from Winter Break. My students are empowered to publish their work.
Your blog post supports my claim that students should be able to publish their work, accomplishments, and struggles. Their websites are their digital portfolios in progress.
Sounds great, Brenda! I would love to take a look at what your students are putting together.
Great post! I want this for my students than almost anything. Writing for a worldwide audience is more authentic then a single teacher.
– Kevin
PS love the image.
Thanks, Kevin!
Nice article thanks this post share