Blogging in an Inquiry Classroom

This past semester, I dove head-first into guided inquiry.  Not really knowing what I was doing, and having only actually had about four hours' worth of instruction on how to recognize and implement some inquiry-based strategies into my curriculum, I more or less decided to give my eleventh and twelfth-grade German Culture kids carte blanche for a full semester.

Of course, I also had to explain to them what carte blanche means, but once they understood what I was going for, they seemed excited.  They were allowed to choose any topic they wanted--parties, cars, cliques, the environment--and then they had to write an inquiry question that fused that topic with German Culture.  The end goal was for them to create some kind of product or presentation that provided their peers with the knowledge and motivation necessary to answer that particular question.

One of the tools we used on this five-month-long adventure was blogging.  My initial thought was that I could sort of trick my students into creating individualized writing portfolios by asking them to submit weekly reflections about their research progress and personal development.  Because the kids were already a close-knit group (having had German together for three previous semesters), I had also hoped that they would feel excited about being able to provide peer feedback to each other and/or to be able to share resources and ideas.  Perhaps they would even want to share their writing with their pen pals or exchange partners in Germany.

I had them set up their accounts on Blogger and then posted links to each of their blogs on the course website.  We opted to alternate between two different types of entries: Temperatur posts (reflections on personal growth and development throughout the course) and Aktuelles posts (analyses of current events articles related to their research topics).  The students worked together to set the necessary criteria for each type of entry and then created two distinct grading rubrics for them.  The expectation for the first quarter was that they would write one entry per week, alternating back and forth between Temperatur and Aktuelles entries.

After the first week of Temperatur posts came through, I sat excitedly at my desk reading through my students' personal reflections (in German!) about their literacy skills, searching strategies, struggles with teamwork and linguistic hurdles.  I was enthralled to have a small window into their thought processes and to be able to witness their growth.

"Don't you guys love this?" I asked, enthusiastically waving my coffee cup at them.  "You can vent, complain, brag, ask questions and tell me how you feel in these things!  And in a few weeks, you'll be able to see how your confidence and skills have grown!"

(Oh and pretend I said all that in German.  Because I did.)

Alas, my students absolutely, positively hated the Temperatur posts.  I don't know why I assumed that teenagers would be able to easily express their feelings in writing somewhere (in a foreign language, no less), let alone feel enthusiastic about doing it.  But when I realized my mistake, I literally facepalmed and closed my eyes, flashing back to my sophomore English class and momentarily reliving the horror I felt every time I had to submit a piece of free writing to Mrs. Ruth.

Sometimes I forget that adults are scary.  Or that I am one.

On the other hand, my students actually loved the Aktuelles assignments, explaining that it really helped them to fully understand a particular text when they had to sit down and analyze it, as well as include a brief list of key vocabulary terms (their decision).  They really enjoyed trying to find connections between the news reports and their topics and said they learned a lot from some of the lengthier articles with specific facts and case studies.

By the second quarter, however, it had become obvious that weekly blog writing was far too demanding of an expectation to have from students who were also simultaneously researching, reading, analyzing and presenting other materials.  Additionally, it did not seem like enough time was passing between Temperatur entries for them to really see any noticeable changes in themselves.  And the Aktuelles posts required so much time and preparation that they needed a full day or two to complete them.

We instituted three changes at that point:

1. We reduced the number of blog entries due for the second quarter of the course.  
2. We increased the amount of class time students got to do independent research and/or work on assignments like blogging.  
3. We provided an alternative for Termperatur posts: students could instead approach me in person to explain via a conversation how they were doing, to ask questions they might have, to show off artifacts that showcased their growth and/or to share ideas for their final presentations.

By the end of the quarter, I had so many students signing up for speaking appointments (as opposed to writing Temperatur posts), I could barely keep up.  As it turns out, teenagers actually do like to express themselves; they just want to be able to react to your reactions when they do.

On the last day of class, after all presentations were over and final projects were submitted,we had a round table discussion about how to improve the course for next year.  The kids were really excited (probably at least in part because I provided them with coffee and let them bring pancakes).  They had a lot of great feedback for me and I was very happy to see that even my more reserved students were readily contributing to the conversation.  

They unanimously agreed to keep the Aktuelles posts, but wondered if I couldn't determine a small and finite number of entries to be due each quarter that future students could then complete when it was most convenient.

"No, because then I am going to get five Aktuelles posts on the last day of the quarter, all backdated to make it look like they were done over a span of six weeks."

"Yeah... I guess that's true, Frau."

We ultimately decided that one Aktuelles post every two or three weeks would be reasonable, possibly with a bye week of each student's choosing.

As for the Temperatur entries, my students emphatically suggested that they be replaced entirely with the speaking alternative mentioned above.  They spoke at length about how much easier it is to talk about something of a personal nature when face-to-face with me or their peers.  They additionally suggested that I include a larger variety of reflective speaking activities such as Speed Dating (rotating throughout the class and sharing ideas with someone new for two minutes) or small group discussions.  As a final recommendation, they explained that they should have been able to have pancakes and coffee in class more often, as they work more productively that way.

I am inclined to agree with them on all counts.