WordPress Follow-Up

So, it has been quite a while since I mentioned using WordPress as a class discussion board. Today, as I was planning for my next novel unit, I realized that I will want to use WordPress again. However, I do not want to have to take class time to explain to my students how to log on and post again. So, I made a screen recording using QuickTime that I will post onto my website. That way, students who have forgotten what is required can watch a quick "refresher" tutorial about how to use WordPress and how to earn points on the discussion board.

One more change I will make to my discussion board assignment is to keep a check sheet active as soon as my students begin posting their comments. That way, as I read a post, I can make a check mark next to that students' name and at the end won't need to read ALL of the posts at one time. (Thanks David for your input!) Further, I will have a quick idea if there are any students who have not posted anything at all.

I loved using QuickTime to make an instructional video! It was super easy to make my screen shot video and voice recording. I can think of many uses for this feature. In fact I think I will make one for my students to use to remember how to log onto and use DiscoveryEducation!  


BUT, I had a really hard time getting the QuickTime video to upload to my blog.  I checked compatibility and space requirements and believe I met all the criteria.  And, yet, when I went to publish my post, there was nothing there.  So I had to upload to TeacherTube and pride a link for you to see my video there.


In the meantime....  read a bit about blogs and WordPress for yourself...

Using a Discussion Board

Check out Word Press at http://wordpress.com/

In my classroom this year, all of my students were set up to be part of a discussion board in order to discuss the ideas in the novel Out of the Dust. I was quite impressed with their ability to write meaningful entries and also to agree with and disagree with one another.

The discussion board that I used was Word Press. Word Press is really a blogging site, much like "blogger." This was a closed discussion board, in that I had to provide a username and password for each of my students. But, this way, I could be sure that it was a safe site, without advertisements and would allow only registered users to participate in the discussion. The discussion board was simple and extremely easy to use. I did not have to approve comments, but I did have access to delete comments if it had been necessary.

One downfall to using this discussion board was that in order to create the student accounts, I had to provide email addresses for my students. I made up this data and it did not seem to impact the ability of students to use the site. Another issue was with grading! I had the expectation that my students would each post one time for the 6 sections of the book. But that alone was 180 entries. However, on top of that, I had given them the opportunity to earn extra credit for additional meaningful entries. I need to figure out a less time consuming way of giving my students a grade! Any ideas you have would be appreciated!