Using a blog in the classroom had never crossed my mind until we began our discussion about it for this class. However, I am now much more excited about the idea of starting a classroom blog.
One of the primary ways I would like to use a classroom blog is to keep parents informed of what is happening in the classroom. Although I have an open door policy for parents to come to class, they never do. This often being because they have to work during the day which I can completely understand. I get lots of emails about what is going on in the classroom and upcoming quizzes and tests, mainly because at the middle school age their children aren't very good with communication! I am always more than happy to respond to parents, but it is a time consuming task. My hope is that with setting up an informational blog, I will be able to answer parent questions so that everyone can see the answer. This way I won't receive the same questions repeatedly via email. I would also use this blog to be proactive and inform parents of upcoming quizzes or tests. I would let them know what unit we are on and what specific topic we are studying so that they can help support their child at home. I do not expect that this will eliminate emails from parents, but I think it would help parents feel more involved in their child's math class, and it would reduce the time spent responding to emails. Of course, more personal questions about particular students wouldn't be asked nor answered on the blog, but the more general ones could be.
"When will we ever have to know this?!?" I am sure that every teacher has heard this many times throughout his/her career. As a math teacher, I think I hear it more often than other content area teachers. It is a consistently asked question by students that I like giving them the answer to. I challenge my students to come up with ways that they use math in the real world and I have them share them with the class. Having a blog about Real World Math would be a great way for students to post ideas they have about how math is used on a daily basis. This would be a great way for students to be thinking about math outside of the classroom.
There are many ways in which a blog can be a beneficial tool for a classroom. For me, I would like to begin with an Informational Blog for Parents and a Real World Math blog for students. I am curious to see how well frequented these blogs would be, and based on that I could see myself expanding my blog usage in the classroom. Although blogging was something that I had never considered, I am now looking forward to setting one up for my classroom.
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I am a special education teacher with a case load of about 25 students. I feel that using a blog would be beneficial to parents, students, and myself. As one of my other peers stated, it's better to be proactive than to try to field concerns from parents about what their child is doing or supposed to be doing for homework. THis is one pro I see to using the blogs. A con would be, when do I have time to sit down and write these. There's not enough time in the day for everything and that doesn't even include the myriad of times I get interupted during the day. I have both general ed students as well as emotionally disturbed students so it can be quite hectic. I think just a time to blog in my schedule for the beginning of the week might be something I could stick with. We all have to plan for the week, so why not take out ten minutes at the end of my planning time to fill in the parents and students about what their week will look like.
ReplyDeleteIt will also be a good place to remind my students to use good reading strategies and maybe supply a bonus question about their reading.
Since all my students are on different levels though, I might want to address individual students. Is there some way to do that or must there be individual blogs?
Cindy
Being able to use a blog as a technology tool in the classroom can assist teachers and students in a variety of ways. When I start my teaching career I plan to use blogging in my classroom. Because blogs can be worked on at any time, any place there is the Internet it makes for a awesome way to communicate with the students in a class. It is also a good way for a teacher to communicate with parents. Through this classroom experience I have found just how easy it is to set-up and begin postings on a blog. It is also easy for students with very little technical experience. Some of the most common complaints I hear from teachers is getting the students to participate in class. Blogs can be a tool to begin the process of in involvement for those students that don't participate in class. It is something about being able to sit in private and be free to express what you are thinking and a blog is the perfect tool for such a student.
ReplyDeleteAs the blog is utilized by the students I believe it can motivate them in the discussions. It is also a effective way to promote collaboration among students. For those students who are struggling it provides a platform for mentoring to occur. As a new teacher I am sure I will need the best practices in order to provide the best possible educational experience for my students and I believe the use of blogs will help me in that area. Being able to provide a forum where students feel free to discuss the classroom topics and providing for parents an area where they can at any time check on what their kids are doing in class is very important.
Students and parents in my class will be informed of the procedures and they will need the consistent of their parent to participate in the blog experience. The safety of all students will be first priority. Students will be required to review policies and guidelines pertaining to class access. Finally students will receive clear expectations regarding respect, tone, and consequences.