I think that blogs could help support the work of my classroom in many ways. It could be an avenue of connection between myself and parents, both as a simple communication tool and as a message board.
Blogging could also support our work in the classroom as students use this resource in accessing academics electronically, rather than using paper and pencil methods for everything they do. They could respond to a comment of the day or comment to something that is happening in current events. They could respond to a prompt, which would be the assignment's end, rather than a list of endless questions they needed to answer and I needed to read, then I could respond - or not. There is an endless realm of possibilities for this.
Concerns I have about educational blogging? There is always the possibility of someone misinterpreting what you are trying to accomplish in an electronic format. Face-to-face always seems to be an easier way to read people. Another concern is in student responsibility; how will I know for sure who has truly completed the required work? These are just a few of those concerns.
Be sure to look at kidblog.com for secure student blogs. Today's students will do more digital writing in their lifetime and need to practice effective communication with these tools with teacher support rather than launching out on their own. They are easy to set up. Mrs. Bahlau in your building has been using them and could maybe answer questions on this tool, management, etc. or give me a call.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! I see the value in using blogs to connect with parents. I think communicating with parents will be my first attempt at using blogs in my classroom. I have a classroom website at http://clintonelementaryyoungfives.weebly.com/ (I'm not sure how to turn that into a link??). Weebly.com is a really easy way to make a website and it appears to have a blog component. I haven't played around with the blogging yet but intend to try it soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on the website. I know we have the websites we set up a few years back, but that is something that we were walked through and that was a long time ago. I'll try to take a look at it - as soon as I have a few extra minutes!
DeleteIn completing Thing 4, I see a definite value in organizing all of the feeds of which I might want to keep track, rather than going out and searching for things constantly. I know that just in setting up the feeds alone, I spent way too much time searching around; this is one of the real downfalls of so much information being out there. You can so easily get bogged down in the searching for the sake of searching alone. That being said, it is definitely a good way in whcih to organize and streame your information.
ReplyDeleteThing Five
ReplyDeleteWe see students who are reeling from results of what we are discussing in Thing Five on a daily basis. At the middle school level, students are adept at interacting in social media settings and texting, and they often do this interacting without thinking about what happens after they hit the "send" button. We have all hit that button with regret at some point or other, with that "Oh, no!" just as soon as we have done so. One of the videos I watched talked about TONE; this is something that students don't understand yet but is something that holds such meaning in messages as people read them. I know that I make a point of rereading messages to be sure that they have tone that won't be "misheard."
Who should be teaching students digital citizenship? I suppose that every teacher who asks students to accomplish a task using computers should be doing this. If we we are asking them to use the tool, we should teach them how to do this appropriately. They should know digital etiquette, just as if we expected them to behave in public. We, as teachers and parents, should abide by those same standards. Children really do learn by example.
I found a cool thing in my search during Thing Five that does its own take on the Ten Commandments; this has much of the same idea we are discussing here in this Thing. I would like to share it here.
Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics
1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files.
4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid.
7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper compensation.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write or the system you design.
10. Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration of and respect for your fellow humans.
Barquin, Dr. Ramon C. "Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics." Online posting. Educator's World: The Educator's Best Friend. Educator's World: The Educator's Best Friend. Linda Starr, 14 July 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. .
Continue to surf in good conscience!