I have never used a blog in a classroom in the past and have not really seen many great examples of blog use nor can I say I have seen bad examples. It is something I have not really explored much. This blogging activity prompted me to explore some of my colleagues blogs. It seems that many of them use them as an informational tool for students.
One of the math teachers posts daily notes, assignments as well as important information. She also has links to several helpful websites which include video tutorials and written explanations. While her blog seems mostly focused on students, there are helpful resources for parents as well.
One of the computer teachers uses his blog as described above but also allows students to comment on various things. He expects that they comment on certain posts as an assignment as well as engage in discussion with their peers in his blog.
One of the English teachers has a website which seems to be hosted on weebly. While I don’t know what weebly is, I am sure it it similar to a moodle. While this is not a blog per say I was very impressed by some of the content on this site. She even had a link to each students portfolio that they had to create for their English course.
So now that I have explored what other teachers have to offer in my district, I don’t feel any more comfortable or ready to use a blog in my own position! I quite honestly am not sure how a blog would really be helpful to the students in my role as an interventionist. However, thinking to the future, I assume I will be back in a classroom someday and could really see myself using a blog there.
I would put weekly posts outlining the course goals for the week which would include important dates and reminders. I would make all class resources available online when possible. I would use the SMART technology we have to record any lecture portions of class to post for those who missed class or those that simply chose not to pay attention. I really also like the idea of having students be active in participating in the blog. They could post questions that either myself or a classmate could answer and I could monitor the discussions occurring between students on the blog. This could also be useful if a student comes to class the next day with the same question. We could pull up the blog and read the discussion that had occurred previously to further a classroom discussion.
Having taught in a district with minimal technology prior to last year, I feel very new to the whole integrating technology into my classroom piece. I am very comfortable using technology myself but feel that I could harness it in a way that is more beneficial to students. When I create my first classroom blog, I will definitely seek the input of my students to see what information / links / resources they would find useful, after all, it is for them!
