Project-Based Blogging in Spanish

If my students learn nothing else in my class, they will learn

1. how to set a goal and
2. how to follow through. 

Blogging is a pretty useful tool when it comes to goal setting. Blogs are a record of progress, a place for reflection, and an avenue for sharing–all important features of any effective project. They can be especially useful when the project is self-improvement. The blogs become a way to keep goal setters accountable and motivated.
And from a linguistic angle,  Very novice appropriate, too!)

Cuadernitos

I wiped out them out. You know those cute little composition books that come in packs of 3 for a dollar? Yeah, I took ’em all. Last year I had to hit another store to get enough. This year I went with the top-bound spiral 3-packs, and I only had to hit one store. I’m willing to drop $15 for two classes for two reasons:

1. They have no excuse–if their internet is out, they can still write, and they can always carry a cuadernito in their purse or pocket. And we can get started right away!
2. It’s a present–they get a tangible thing that is now theirs, from me to them, to make the whole process just that much more appealing.

Establishing a routine is important for changing habits, so I like for the daily posts to be almost a reflex. Keeping the prompt the same for the daily record of progress really helps

1. reinforce the routine itself
2. make it so easy they can’t not do it (as prescribed by our “textbook” for this unit–an #authres self-help blog post), and
3. really zero in on problem areas in their writing.

Let me tell you: there’s nothing like writing “Hoy yo…”  (#authres “textbook” tip #2!) every single day to finally get that pesky “yo” form solidified! I really wish I had started the semester with it this year like I did last year so that it really had time to sink in before we got into everything else.

If their Novice Mid skills are firmly established, you could write the prompt in the form of questions–but in English. It turns out questions are a key feature of Novice High writing and beyond, so if they are trying to push forward proficiency-wise, if you post, say, 3 questions like this:

• What was your goal yesterday?
• Have you accomplished all or part of that goal?
• What are you doing today?

• What has helped?
• What problems have you had?
• What can you do to resolve them?

Commenting

If Wednesdays are for posting about progress, Thursdays are for keeping up with your compañeros. They respond to every compañero‘s progress post with

1. a message of support and
2. a specific relevant question

The best part, though, is that the commenting and responding provide a solid foundation for further discussion, when compañeros can feel really confident using language they’ve sort of previewed and also clarifying what has been going on with their own goals and what they’re going to do next.

The blogs become a bridge to meaningful interpersonal interaction and reflection in Spanish!