Engaging ELL's Through Blogging

For another class that I'm taking right now we had to subscribe to the Edutopia blog (www.edutopia.org). At first I was reluctant to subscribe because I didn't want to be inundated with e-mails, but surprisingly I have discovered this blog to be a wealth of information about all things education-related.
After typing "English language learners" in the site's search engine, I was provided with several relevant blog posts. However, the post titled "Using Blogs to Engage English Language Learners" was the first to catch my eye. This being my first real attempt at blogging, I was intrigued to discover how this might be a useful tool for ELL's and their families.

The author, Jon Schwartz, teaches in a combination 4th/5th grade classroom in California. The majority of his students are ELLs, most of whose parents speak little to no English, are uneducated, and work long hours. Even though most of his students came from disadvantaged homes, most of them had computer and Internet access at home, so access to technology wasn't a big problem. Schwartz decided to try using blogging as a way to engage student interest, help them improve their English language skills, and develop 21st century skills.

Schwartz began by making blogging an optional classroom activity. When the students saw what the kids who were blogging were doing, they wanted to try too. Schwartz allowed them to blog as long as they wrote 90-100 words per day, and he gave them the option to submit written assignments via the blog. In order for students to participate they had to have their parent's permission. Once the permission was attained, Schwartz invited parents to come into the classroom to "use the Internet as a learning, research, and communication tool." For many parents, it was their first introduction to e-mail. By inviting families into the classroom, Schwartz provided opportunities for communication, involvement, and learning.

Schwartz noticed a significant increase in his students' productivity and creativity as a direct result of the fact that they now had an authentic audience to view their work. Student work on the blog could be viewed by teachers, administrators, peers, and families with the click of a mouse. The students enjoyed viewing their blog stats to see how many people had visited their blog and where they were from. As they continued to blog, the students gained confidence in their technological and language abilities, and a sense of community was established in a classroom of diverse learners. It also provided the vehicle to "bridge cultural and technological gaps with English Language Learners and their families."

This article by far was one of the most interesting and inspiring things I've read thus far about supporting ELLs and involving their families in the learning process. Even though it was not mentioned in the article, I think it would be even more beneficial in maintaining a school-home bond if ELL students were permitted to write in both their native language and in English because the family could more easily understand the content of the blog. Before reading this article I had never considered the possibility of having elementary students blog, and would have been more reluctant to do so in the case of ELL students because of the language barrier, but reading about how it helped engage and support ELL students in Schwartz's classroom, I am inspired to try it in my own classroom.

I would encourage everyone to check out this article, (http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ell-digital-divide-jon-schwartz) and take some time to explore the rest of this website because it contains a wealth of practical information from experts in the field of education.