Classroom Blogs!

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 1^st 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!

Convenience of Teachers

“Are we doing what is best for our students or are we doing what is most convenient for us?”

To answer this question, I think you need to look at individual teachers. There are definitely teachers who teach for convenience and are just trying to take the easy road and teach what is required of them. However, there are also teachers who not only teach the curriculum provided to them, but also go above and beyond, trying to give their students an enriching learning experience.

Let’s look at the first option. Education is based highly on standardized testing these days. It is not uncommon to hear teachers 3^rd grade and above talking about preparing their students for the FCAT and how everything they are teaching is for that purpose. I believe that we can easily get lost in teaching to the test. There are also teachers who are simply teaching out of the textbook, making sure to hit the required standards, but not engaging their students. I am not saying that teaching to the standards is bad, just that there is so much more to expand on. They are teaching for convenience.

Looking at the other side, there are teachers who truly are doing what is best for their students. I work part time with a Kindergarten teacher, helping out the struggling students in her class. It is amazing to see the experiences that she gives these students. Her classroom is so busy (in a good way) with new, exciting activities every day. Technology can play a significant part in creating these experiences for our 21^st century students. We have a Promethean board in our classroom and it is enlightening to see the students’ faces light up when they are called to come up to the board and interact with it. Although, there are so many technological resources out there for teachers that are not being used. Think about how much our kids these days crave the use of technology. Whether it is playing video games, posting on Facebook, texting on smart phones, playing music on iPods, etc., they associate these items with something fun. Therefore when we bring technology into the classroom and give our students the opportunity to use it in an educational setting, it is easily going to enhance their learning. Unfortunately technology is expensive and not everybody can afford it. However, there are inexpensive ways to get started and integrate some technology into your classroom.

So overall, it is up to teachers as to whether they teach for convenience or do what is best for their students. Teaching is a demanding job. As a first year teacher last year, I completely understand how easy it could be to do the bare minimum. It is not easy getting up at the crack of dawn to go in and prepare things for the day and then go home and have a mile high stack of papers to grade. The work is never-ending. The feeling you get, however, when you see the delight in your students’ eyes and see the light bulb go off, over and over again, makes it all worth it. Stop teaching for your convenience and give your students your best! They deserve it!