There are a number of ways to approach using technology in the classroom. One way is to simply start somewhere. Mrs. Cassidy suggests starting with something that you like. If you like to take photos, then create a Flikr account. If you like to write, then create a blog on Blogspot or Wordpress. Once you get started, you can implement that into your classroom and get your students on a path to being technologically savvy.
One of the techniques I would like to use in my classroom is having a class blog. I feel that blogging is a great tool to use in your classroom for the benefit of your students. I would like to have my students blog on a weekly basis and leave comments for their peers. Another technique I will also use is teaching them the importance of proper peer editing and commenting. It is important to have respect for your peers and that importance is carried over into the comments my students will leave on their peers blog pages.
One impediment that I could encounter is my students running into sites that are not appropriate. You can find anything on the internet and with those kind of limitless possibilities, it is possible to run across sites or images that could be inappropriate for my students. I intend to educate my students on the importance of internet safety, such as not posting their last name or posting pictures of themselves. I will also teach them what to do if they are to end up on a site that they should not be on. I feel that it will be important to emphasize as well that they should not be on a site that is not an aid in learning. If the site has nothing to do with what we are currently working on, then they should not be on the site.
There are incredible benefits to using some of the approaches that Mrs. Cassidy uses. I think that one of the greatest benefits the students receive from creating a blog is they can see the progress they are making. The blog acts as a type of portfolio. It displays their work and it gives a great timeline of how far they have come each week. It is also beneficial for the parents. It allows them to see what their children are doing and it lets them know what is going on in the classroom.
Hey Caitlin!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It was very thorough and well written. I really enjoyed the interviews with Ms. Cassidy. I also think that blogging would work great in an English classroom. It's an easy and efficient way for students to turn in essays and other assignments. I agree that students would probably try to visit other sites, but most schools have a block on certain sites anyway. Maybe this will be the case with every school by the time we graduate.
The only grammatical errors I noticed were:
You wrote, "The blog acts as a type of portfolio. It displays their work and it gives a great timeline of how far they have come each week."
A comma needs to be added after "work" and before "and".
You wrote, "It allows them to see what their children are doing and it lets them know what is going on in the classroom."
A comma needs to be added after "doing" and before "and".
Both sentences are run-on sentences. There is a subject and predicate before and after the "and" which needs to be separated with a comma.
Other than that, great post!
" One impediment that I could encounter is my students running into sites that are not appropriate. You can find anything on the internet and with those kind of limitless possibilities, it is possible to run across sites or images that could be inappropriate for my students." iCurio would really help to prevent this if you were able to use it in your classroom. It would provide a safe search engine for the students to use.
ReplyDeleteGood job.