Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about...

So often I watch my students engage in hearty conversations and sit back and smile at their ability to discuss so freely. Of course, sometimes these conversations aren't the discussions I foresee coming, but I am continually impressed with the depth of their contributions. Just today, I started a lesson with my students as in introduction to the play Twelve Angry Men.

The students haven't been told yet that we are moving forward to begin the play, but instead I introduced the concept of bias to them. After taking time to look at images and being told to note their observations, we led quickly into how our biases impact all of our viewpoints. Students very quickly chimed in and enthusiastically voiced their opinions on how our biases are developed. I was thrilled at their observations, but at the same time saddened that I was the only one being able to hear their highly intelligent perspectives.

Thinking about it now, it would be such a great opportunity to have my students continue their thoughts after a lesson has "ended." I know that after I leave class, my brain is still reeling with ideas and I would love to imagine that my students have the same experience. Class today ended in perfect timing with the bell ringing as soon as I posed a very deep concept to my students.  I saw in so many of their eyes that there was a genuine A-HA moment happening. I was giddy with excitement and cannot wait to see them again to hear their reactions.

But what if I didn't have to wait? What if I created a blog that was a venue for my classes to continue the discussion well after we left the school building? My students and parents have shared that conversations that stem from class discussion are happening around the dinner table, but I am not privy to the continued banter. If I had a blog that allowed for an open forum of discussion, I would be able to hear all the thoughts that are now just getting lost in their teenage brains.

Maybe I don't quite yet know what form a blog such as this would look like, but I do know that so often my students are leaving me with excellent concepts mulling around in their brains and I never get to salvage those musings. In Richardson's Blogs, WIkis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, he makes the point that blogs act as ". . . an audience for . . . ideas." In classes of 30 students, it is rare for me to hear every opinion of every student.  If, however, students were able to leave class and continue their conversation in individual blogs, I would become their audience. 

Obviously, Richardson does discuss the need to scaffold the implementation of blogging, but the ideal would be students independently blogging. Initially, I could take baby steps and work my students into the concept. If I started a blog for my classes, I could require each student to respond a certain number of times or even to a certain prompt.  A prompt could be as simple as, What did you think about after the bell rang today? 

While a discussion based blog is certainly plausible for my classroom, Richardson's notion that students ". . . could be asked to reflect and build on previous ideas, incorporate feedback from readers, synthesize readings from a number of different sources, and advances new ideas or interpretation of the topic" is intriguing. If students were able to reflect in such an open forum, imagine the possibilities of the discussion. My giddiness as the bell rang today doesn't have to suspend mid-air and slowly dissipate as the hours tick on until I have to wait to see my students again. No- my giddiness could continue as I read all of the detailed discussion points my students blogged about into the night. Not only that, but I could sit and marvel as my students comment on each others' blogs. Even better, I could be thrilled to see that my students were discussing the points we raised in class with other classes! I would not longer have to think silently to myself, "Gee, I wish block __ could have heard that point!" Instead, students would be "hearing" their peers as their blogs flowed with brilliance! Sigh, a girl can only hope. I wholeheartedly agree with Richardson that " . . . Weblogs can play an important role in [my] classroom." 

But the big question is...where to start?