Finding time to respond and post comments
can be tricky, especially when you only see your students once a week. Here
are some different strategies that I have tried, each with varying success.
I set aside a class period every so often
specifically for browsing and responding. This approach has its advantages
and disadvantages.
On the postive side my older students can handle this with ease. Often they
have time to post at least two comments, and they enjoy browsing. They also
like to take time to visit the KIDWAI list, because it is easier to respond
to a comment that has been posted on their pages using KIDWAI.
On the negative side: my younger students have a difficult time with
independently adding comments so this approach of setting aside a period
of time for everyone to add comments can sometimes be frustrating for some
students.
For younger students I set aside a row of
6 computers for one period. Students seated at that row will browse and comment.
I give them 10 minutes and rotate them out. This method is efficient for
getting maximum number of students to successfully respond, but they don't
get as much time to view as they would like.
I have just set up an after-school club for
students in grades 4 and 5 who have shown special enthusiasm for the projects.
The club will meet once a week and the students will take the time to browse,
comment, and post messages to the mailing lists. The club will also look
at projects that we are not currently participating in during class time
to see if they would like to participate as a group. The club has not yet
had its first meeting, as I only have just been given board approval for
it. I expect it to begin around the third week in February. I will let you
know how successful or disastrous it is, if anyone is interested.