Blogging has opened my eyes to a lot of wonderul opportunities that it has to offer. Not only publishing kids work and as a means for communication, but I have also thought of many things my fellow colleagues could do with blogging given my knowledge of the projects they currently engage in. For example, my fifth grader currently does a curent events summary for homework. I think it would be really neat if he had to post his summary and was required to read and comment on other current event summaries done by his classmates.
It was very easy to set up, given the excellent step by step instruction!! I have a sincere desire to post and create links in an effort to entice my peers into checking this out for themselves. I plan on putting a great deal of thought into how I can best utilize this at the kindrgarten level with both students and parents. I may have students dictate one or two sentences about the day - a daily newsletter - that parents could read from home. I also have been having monthly parent meetings focused on curriculum and having a parent blog would help us all continue the great conversations we start in person.
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That really is a neat idea to have students post comments about current events. I too have my students do daily current events; but never thought of having them use a blog to do it. The Democrat and Chronicle now allows people to post comments to many of their stories on their website. A similar thing could be done in which you post a couple of important current events and have students comment on that story.
Again, it's a great tool to communicate to anyone and everyone. The students will be excited to "show" what they have done that day, or a special project they are working on to their parents and family. Terri made the point of how she can best utilize this tool at the kindergarten level. It is really tough to have 4, 5, and 6 year olds read let alone type what they want to say. But they'd be proud about what they did non the less.
I agree with Jason that your idea of having students blog current events is a great idea. Someone in the Wiki video stated that "reflection is the heart of learning." How exciting it would be if we can help our learners truly connect with each other's ideas.
I think these are excellent ideas, Terri. I love the idea of trying to get your colleagues engaged in blogging too. If there is anything I can do to help or to help promote this, please let me know.
Terri, I like your ideas about blogging in the classroom. I can't wait to try this with my fifth graders next year!
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of families without internet access - or those too scared to let their kids use the internet. We have to find a way to educate parents and bring them on board the technology train. Your idea about blogging with parents might be just the thing to get those hesitant parents to explore technology for themselves.
For those that cannot access from home, perhaps students can rotate through computer time in the classroom -- and use their fifteen minutes for blogging, either to answer a teacher-posted inquiry, or to just write a new post about a subject that interests them. I think there are numerous ways to apply this technology -- and I only wish we had individual computers or laptops for students all the time.
Terri,
Reading your comments made me realize how powerful a blog could be to connect teachers in a building the size of Village Elementary. Teachers could connect across buildings as well. It could be a great place to collaborate and share ideas. You can add photos and video clips to support your text. It would also provide a permanent record of the ideas collected so other teachers could access them at a later date.
Terri I love your ideas for blogging! You really motivate me to think outside of the box more. I would love your daily blogging because as a specials teacher I could consult that when doing my lesson planning and get and idea of what you are working on and connect it with what I do in music. As a parent and fellow teacher do you have any ideas for me to use blogging?
Betrus said, "It would also provide a permanent record of the ideas collected so other teachers could access them at a later date."
I think this is a powerful aspect of blogging that people often don't think about, whether its blogging with students or with teachers. You've got an archive of thoughts and ideas without having to do any extra in order to save it.
Linda said, "as a specials teacher I could consult that when doing my lesson planning and get and idea of what you are working on and connect it with what I do in music.
What a great idea! I never thought of other teachers reading a class blog so that they could connect their curriculum.
Blogging for Primary students may be a challenge because of the keyboarding skills. I did read that one teacher types for the students so he/she can get the student thoughts into the blog. The teacher used a laptop to enter info into the blog quickly. The kids can't wait to see their work displayed on the web. Another issue I run into is families not having internet access. On the other hand, some families are very tech savy and blogging is a great way to communicate information to/from school.
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