I have been thinking a lot about blogs this week. I have never had a blog before, but I am learning a lot about ways to use them. People use blogs for many different reasons. Some blogs can be personal like one that is written by a mother or wife. I have a close friend who is a military wife and does not live near her family now. Therefore, she decided to start a blog so that all of her family and friends can stay updated with her and her husband’s life. Some blogs can be for a business or work-related. There are also several blogs that are used in classrooms. Some can be educational, which are written by teachers for other teachers. Another aspect of a classroom blog is to write for the students and parents of your class. This is the type of blog I am interested in implementing into my classroom! There is a 1st grade teacher at my school who is very involved with technology and I found the blog she uses for her class. I have now bookmarked this blog so that I can follow it in hopes of learning some great resources and technological ideas for the classroom. http://wrightsclass.blogspot.com/ Feel free to look at her blog!
I
think a classroom blog can be very informational for parents. You can let them
know about important things that are happening in your class. You can also use
the blog to post pictures of things you are doing with your students. Parents
love seeing pictures of their children at school. In the blog I linked above,
the teacher even posted several videos. One of the most recent posts was where
the teacher had the students in her class make paper slide videos. Yes, even
first graders can make their own videos! It is a really neat concept. I also
noticed in another post, the teacher made a slideshow of some of the student’s
work for a particular assignment. What an awesome way to showcase what her
class has done!
I
am looking forward to starting a blog for my own classroom! I will include the
students in the process of writing posts for the blog that way they can learn
how to use blogs early on! While Kindergarteners may not be able to write their
own blogs, it is never too early to learn about blogs and give some input into
what we write!
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteYou and I had the same idea this week with our blogs! I find that blogs can be easily integrated in the classroom like you mentioned it could be used for parents to let them know what is going on in the classroom or for students. I think it would be a neat idea if you had a student each week to do the blog editing and posting of the week.
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of making a blog to highlight the writing process. As a fourth grade teacher, this definitely sparks my interest. I have a classroom blog for science. I've had trouble keeping up with it this year since working on my master's but the kids love it. I am able to put up pictures of science labs we have done, and I also added in some linked youtube videos that would give further information on what we are studying.
I think it would be fun to have a personal blog like the one you mentioned, but I'm hesitant to put too much about my personal life online. I still haven't decided how to merge social media and my classroom as I've seen other teachers get into trouble. Edmodo has been a nice outlet that gets the job done for me so far.
Since you are working with kindergartners I could totally see you making a blog with your students while including their input. Some of them may surprise you after doing a few posts together. :)
Thanks for sharing,
Lydia
I’m also new to this blogging world. I have always known that this exist, but I was never really interested in doing one for myself. I figure those that blog had a lot on their mind and found publishing it on the internet to be a way to release all their buildup information. To me is seemed like an online version of someone’s personal dairy or daily journal.
ReplyDeleteHowever over time and even since taking this class eme5050, I’ve come to understand how useful and innovative blogs can be. Like you mention it a great way to keep family and friends connected when you’re far way and for us in education it’s an awesome way to connect our students and their parents with what’s going in the classroom. The majority of American families do have a home computer with internet access. We are all spend a lot more time online than ever before, so it only makes sense that we connect with each other via blogs.
One thing that I know to be a direct correlation to a child’s success in school is the level of the parents’ involvement in the child’s education. Since our world is becoming so fast pace and we are finding ourselves preoccupied with a lot more, it much more convenient for parents to check on what’s going on in their child’s class than to wait on a progress report, report card, or a phone call which is usually to talk about bad behavior.
Ms. Wright blog is awesome. It’s colorful, vibrant, and every detailed. It’s a great way for parent to learn along with their children and to keep up with what’s going on in her class. The only thing that concerns me with a blog for classroom is safeguarding the identity of children and to afford any predators from using this resource as a way to use it in a harmful manner. I only mention this because Ms. Wright had some location info on her blog such as school district and location.
Hello Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI am sort of new to blogging as well. I have only created a blog for a course requirement. However, I am thinking about blogs in a different light. I hope to start one of my own very soon! I think having students create a blog promotes critical thinking, and showcases the importance of reflection. Moreover, blogging boosts our sense of self. Personally, I take pride in what I post!
From an educator’s standpoint, blogging is a way to foster togetherness and build connections between students and parents. I am glad that you posted Wright's Rippers! I simply enjoyed viewing the pictures and videos. It was nice to read about what was going on in the classroom.
Ultimately, I see myself growing more and more with blogging.
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI am also very new to the blogging world. Just the thought that what ever you write can end up being seen by everyone is a little daunting. However, you make a great point that having a clas blog could be a great way for the parents to communicate with you as well as other parents about things that are going on within the class. The only thing that I might want to do before opening up the blog to the class parents is to let them know that certain topics should be left to personal conversations. I have seen parents spread the news like it was going out of style.