What is a BLOG?
Blogs are explained clearly HERE by the great people of Common Craft. (Or press play below)
Communicate with parents. Blogging could be an outreach tool for interacting with parents. A blog allows a teacher to summarize what’s going on in the classroom and share it with parents that have Internet access. Most blogging tools allow readers to comment on what’s been posted, so parents are able to respond to blog entries and have an online conversation with the teacher.
Communicate with your peers. Many teachers blog so they can have a professional dialogue with their colleagues. Sharing is the golden secret in instructional success these days. Blogs allow for a nationwide audience (or choose just a private circle of collegeues) to bounce ideas off of. Blogging is more personal and intimate than other digital outlets, as they can be tailored to your professional interests and needs. (This is my purpose for this blog. I want to share and inspire the use of 21st century digital tools and ideas with educational application with my awesome colleagues at DDE and anyone else who might visit here!)
Showcase student work Show off! Blogs can be used as a stage for highlighting the best work of your students, showcasing their talent to an audience that goes beyond the classroom. Be careful of privacy and permissions! Never use full names!
No matter what you do or don't do with blogs, being aware of them is important because they will most likely be something your students are or will soon be familiar with....
Just reading this blog is a great beginning! Want to create your own blog? Click HERE for directions using Blogger. (There are several other blogging options, but this happens to be my favorite. Blogger pairs nicely with any other Google applications you may use, too.)
Oh, and remember.... we don't need to use ALL of these tools. A blog just might not be for you. I bet out of the 20 featured tips and tools that I will focus on this month, you'll find some you use already, some you want to use soon, and some you think you'd use "someday", and maybe a few that just don't jive with you. That is fine! :o) Remember, raffle ticket credit is given for commenting in a positive/constructive/sharing manner. (Please refrain from commenting on how you'd never use it or why it doesn't work...)
"See you" here tomorrow for the next focus.... ;o)
I think that a blog would probably be a really good way for me to communicate with parents. Recently, at my other school, I had a parent ask for a weekly newsletter. For me that's like asking for a daily newsletter. If I had a blog I could refer her to that. (I did refer her to my wiki.)
ReplyDeleteSuzy (AIG)
I partnered with a 1st grade class to help the children do a blog. They had 2 class reporters who would write at the end of the day 1 or 2 sentences what they learned that day. The teacher would then check their comment and approve it to publish. It was a challenge for 1st grade, but could see it working well with any grade higher.
ReplyDeleteI have used blogs in the past, especially in college. I feel that they are a great tool to use when communicating with parents. At our school, I think they would be beneficial due to the fact that most of our population has internet access. It would also take away us having to do weekly newsletters on paper! It is also a great tool to use when sharing kid's thoughts and ideas or fun comments they made during the day.
ReplyDeleteI think that is awesome! Question. When you write on the blog does it send an email to those who are part of it or do they just check it?
ReplyDeleteAmy Kimble
You will see on the upper right hand corner of this blog there are places for visitors to sign up to "follow" this blog. They can type in their email address to get an email when new posts or comments are added. OR They can follow via RSS, which would feed the blog contents and/or comments to a "reader" such as Google, Netvibes, MyYahoo, or any other place where feeds can be directed/embedded. The newest ActivInspire software will allow feeds to be embedded on the side of a Flipchart. This digital idea is worthy of a whole other focus. Maybe another day. :o)
DeleteYou can set up your blog to allow access to visitors and followers in many different ways.
If you create a classroom blog, you can link it from your Blackboard Course so it can be easily accessed. If you have a club, you could create a blog and we could put it on the Clubs and Activites Blackboard site. :)
ReplyDeleteI used a blog when I was pregnant with Chelsea...Weekly updates. I think in the classroom it would be a good tool to use in place of paper newsletters!
ReplyDelete~Kara
I think blogs in place of weekly newsletters is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteBlogs can be great INFORMAL ways to share data. Just be aware that parents (or anybody) may have the rights to post. If it isn't monitored, it can be a source of MISinformation. On the flip side, it's a great way to catch and correct misconceptions!
ReplyDeleteAmy Fenton
I agree, Amy. I think that any blog would have to be set up similar to this one where you can "approve" comments before they are posted to help with monitoring and avoid any MISinformation!
Delete~Kara