Blogging Rational

To test out this new technology I have created a blog for my choir at http://whippurchoir.blogspot.com. The idea behind this project is to give my students an up to date resource for events, links, recordings, video, or any other material important to the class. I also would like to use this blog as a discussion tool. I have always wanted to talk more about music and what we are doing in class, but rehearsal and performance always seem to get in the way. Now I can post questions, topics, video, etc on the blog and have my students comment on these items for short weekly writing assignments. The idea is for my students to start thinking and discussing musical topics, so their education in music is not just about preparing for the next concert. I also hope that this site can be a log of what we do in choir throughout the school year. I know already that I will use the blog to post topics and questions for the required concert reflections I have my students write during the year.

I plan for most of the student access to be done as homework. Any student who does not have access to the Internet from home may use the school computers before school, after school, or during their lunch. Even though all students may not have access at home, all have it at school and are allowed to use it for class assignments.

We do have a school website, but it is very limited to the content that is allowed to be put on it. I will still use my school website for the basics: handbook, calendar, and contact information. The blog is to be used as an interacting tool between the students and myself. In a world of myspace, facebook, and blogging this tool is something that the students can relate too. The site will be completely managed by me. I will be the only one allowed to add content and I will approve all comments before they are posted. All inappropriate content submitted will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

For my parents I have created a wiki that can be found at http://whippurchoir.pbwiki.com. The purpose of this tool is so that when parents have a question like class requirements, performance dates, ticket order forms, etc. they have a place to go and download this information in PDF format. Hopefully this tool can be away to for parents to get needed material without their child forgetting it in their locker or an easy way to replace lost paper work.

Overall I hope to make this blog a historical archive and an up to date resource for my students. I look forward to the day when we have Internet access in 100% of my student’s homes and everything that we do in class can be accessed from the World Wide Web. I would love for my parents to use this site as a window into what their children are learning.