Difference between social and academic commenting.

You could create a blog for your young students, in order to allow them a safe online space where your young students can socialize and “practice” in an online environment. This type of blog fosters a virtual kind of classroom community that can spill over (positively or negatively)  into the physical classroom as well.

Here are some examples of social comments.

I am soooooooooooooo exited about giving my present tommorow!!!!!  I do think the time is wronge. ytou are sooooooooooooooo right!!!!! Will someone talk to me! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you are ridiculous!
i HATE YOU!
haha

what its funny and sweet!! hahah ohhh welll ur missing outt!!! =)

I’m am definitely NOT a pro at it lol.
Lol!!!!!!—- You should come skiing/snowboarding with me some time

heeeeeeyy!!:)
whats up??
did you do your homework for geography?

What kind of comments are we aiming for on an academic oriented classroom blog?

• Related to the content of the post.
• Continuing a conversation started in the post or in other comments.
• Connected to content learned or discussed in the classroom.
• Challenges someone’s point of view.
• Add something to the author’s post in form of a :
  • link
  • connection
  • idea
  • reminder
  • new perspective

Commenting etiquette

While we hope that the content of a comment is meaningful and related to the post and learning, there is yet another dimension to commenting. Students need to be aware and observe proper “commenting netiquette”. Just like any other classroom rules at the beginning of each school year, this netiquette needs to be discussed, practiced and reviewed. It is also important to let students know your expectations of proper grammar and spelling in their online writing. Do you value content above all and are willing to close an eye to spelling? Or are you willing to take less content in exchange of time spent on grammar and spelling? You need to communicate your expectations clearly to your students.

Here is a short and simple commenting guide for my elementary age school students:

• Acknowledge the author of the blog post.
• Let the author know if you agree with him/her and why.
• It is also ok to disagree with something, just let the author know why you feel that way.
• One word comments are not very useful. Writing just “cool” or “nice” are not very helpful and don’t let the author of the blog post really know what you are thinking.
• Always make sure you follow “netiquette”. Think if it is appropriate BEFORE you hit the submit button.
• Always be polite . It does not matter if you agree or disagree with what you are reading in a blog. Don’t write anything you would be ashamed of saying to someone’s face. Don’t hurt somebody’s feelings.

Video Clip: Kitchen table conversation

I believe the video below is a valuable conversation starter for 5h grade and up. Those kind of conversations ARE happening, our students need to know how to react to them.

I think it is a good idea to practice commenting as a class. Ask yourself the question:

What does a quality, meaningful commenting look like?

Pick a classroom blog from around the world, read and then discuss what a good comment to that post wold be. Submit the comment, sign it as “your class“.

Read through the following comment starters with your students and then keep a running log of starters your class comes up with on their own.

Comment Starters
( from Youth Radio blog Netiquette- which in turn was adapted from  Excellence and Imagination

• This made me think about…
• I wonder why…
• Your writing made me form an opinion about…
• This post is relevant because…
• Your writing made me think that we should…
• I wish I understood why…
• This is important because…
• Another thing to consider is…
• I can relate to this…
• This makes me think of…
• I discovered…
• I don’t understand…
• I was reminded that…
• I found myself wondering…

Mrs. Yollis has published an incredible valuable post about student commenting on her blog. The main message is CONTENT IS KEY!

I have used Mrs. Yollis‘ image of quality commenting below to start the conversation with teachers. It is  important to spell out blogging and commenting expectations for students depending on grade level and your own personal preferences or learning goals.

Mrs. Yollis' Commenting Guidelines

The video below is a wonderful example of how to get students involved in teaching others!

I got this list from Chrissy’s blog To Argentina and Beyond.
You’re supposed to bold the things you’ve done… I wonder who came up with this list? How culturally bias do you think a list like this is?

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Guide Biscuits
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a cheque
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Here is another list as promised. I wanted to point out my Top Ten Videos of 2007. I have placed these in my favorites on YouTube and have used them in the classroom with my elementary school students or with teachers during professional development opportunities. Here they are in NO particular order.

1. A Vision of Students today
   Created by an Anthropology teacher and his class from the Kansas State University. Very powerful message on how students are (learn) different than their teachers (teach).
   
2. A Vision of K-12 Students Today
   A clip based on the previous title, using a range of students from elementary, middle and high school. Very effective when talking to K-12 educators. No excuse, that the change in the way kids learn and are communicating does not affect their school level.
   
   
3. Pay Attention
   I have shown this video to fellow teachers during Pre-Planning. It set the tone for the changes we had planned technology integration wise. The video clip helped them see that we simply could not continue the way we had before.
   

4. Stuck on an Escalator
   Commercial, but highly effective when showing teachers AND students. The video shows two people getting stuck on an escalator, too afraid of taking the next step by themselves. I have discussed the use of this clip in my classroom on a previous post “The Power of Playing ”
   
5. Everyone knows your Name
   I have shown this video clip to 5th and 6th graders in an attempt to open up their eyes to the consequences of their online lives. The clip is a great starting point for discussion and one of the three excellent clips about Internet Safety and Cyberbullying.
   
6. Talent Show
   This is the second of three video clips I show my elementary school students and also their parents when talking about Internet Safety and prevention of Cyberbullying. A pre-teen girl steps up on stage at a talent show and publicly harasses another girl that is sitting in the audience. The point of this video is to show how in real life kids see classmates getting bullied (not as openly as in the video on stage), but they still don’t do anything about it. It shows the need for them to stand up united against bullying.
   
7. Cyberbullying- In the Kitchen
   The third in the series is about teenagers sitting in the kitchen with the mother in the background. The group of teenagers talk openly around the kitchen table, similar to the way they communicate via text messages and through social network places like MySpace . The way how the mother and others are witnesses to foul language and harassment might not be as obvious to the teenagers as if it is done digitally.
   
8. Dove Commercial
   This commercial is a great reminder that all of us have to be alert and learn how to be media savvy. Technology has blurred the boundaries of what looks real and what is real or not. It is part of being literate today to know how to recognize and evaluate different types of media.
   

9. Introducing the Book
   This list would not be complete without the hilarious clip of the medieval “help desk”. It was a wonderful ice breaker during pre-planning this year, reminding everybody that “Jeder Anfang ist schwer”, which is German for “Every beginning is hard”. Learning how to read a book, how to turn pages, how to open and close it, was just as hard for someone back then as it is for some to get used to a new media today. The moral of the story is, that in a few hundred years from now, it will be extremely funny to think that there were people around who did not know how to open and close a digital document.

10. Did you know 2.0?
    The updated version from June 2007 of Karl Fish’s original slideshow. What an amazing and powerful video. No further comment needed. Just sit back and watch.