I would like us to have a conversation on how you feel the use of blogs in the class is going so far. Although no one is required to post, please do so if you have a comment or question to add to the discussion.You might write about:
- What you find valuable about our use of blogs
- What you find to be limiting or frustrating
- How you can imagine using blogs in the future
- Questions you have about the blogs
- Ideas for mini-lessons/discussions we might have in class
I'll read the posts carefully, both to guide my planning this semester and think about the use of blogs in future classes.
8 comments:
I find blogging very effective as a way to reflect on topics, however, I think it would be more valuable if we blogged as a dialogue on one particular page for each topic. This was we could respond to other posts and it would be more like a conversation. Sort of like we are doing now by posting comments to this post.
In regards to using blogs in the future: One idea is that blogs can be used in classrooms to have instructional conversations about key topics among students.
I imagine using blogs in the future as a means of communicating with students and parents. This is where I could post a weekly update letter to parents of future students. I know it will also be useful for parents who prefer online communication and can be faster than phone conversations. I like how we can post additional comments on our blogs about class discussions. It gives me a chance to reveal my thoughts and ideas after I have had time to think about classroom conversations. It is also a useful site for generating important questions about diversity. One suggestion I have would be allowing a few minutes in class for questions brought up in the blogs. Or just bring up the questions and ask for replies later on in the week on each other's blogs!
Blogging is going very well for me. My only trouble is remembering to post. I always leave class with great ideas for a new post and get so caught up in life that I forget to write a post. It has been a useful technology to learn to use though. I had not ever used a blog prior to this and I could see yousing this as beckie b said as a tool to keep in touch with parents. I feel that the parents would be able to easily comment on my posts and read any news for the week from the classroom. I don't feel like blogs could be my only means of getting news to the parents though because there are still people that just don't feel comfortable or have the time to get online to check my posts.
In regards to you using this technology with upcoming classes it may be easier if there were typed step by step instructions of how to set up a blog account. It wasn't too difficult but it would have been so easy and quick had I had directions.
I feel that the blogs have been going great in the class so far. This is my first time ever using a blog and so far I have experienced no problems. These blogs are valuable because they allow me to collect my thoughts and then go back and view my posts at a later date. However as Ashleyh mentions above, after class is over I have been having troubles with remembering my ideas for a new post. Due to the blogs being convenient to use, I can imagine using them in my future classroom. Blogs are a great way for students to receive feedback from their teachers. They also give students the opportunity to share as well as ask questions to other classmates about what they learned in class.
I find blogging very effective when I actually remember to do it. The biggest problem I have is just free-writing in my blog. I never know what to talk/write about so I havent written anything besides our required writing. When I do find something to write about, especially after discussions in class, I always forget all about it when I actually get home cause I have different courses to worry about that night. My main issue is finding the time/remembering to blog. Other then that I have finally learned and become comfortable with using it. I fully intend to blog more and more as the semester is now almost half over.
I think that blogging has been going really well thus far. I think that it is great for sharing our opinions on what we have read and talked about in class. Sometimes I don't always think of something I want to share before class and blogging gives me the opportunity to share it even once class had ended. It also allows me to go and find more thoughts and opinions than I have heard in class. I hope to use blogging in the future I think it will work really well with book clubs and other discussion forms for upper elementary literature
I know this is a little late, but I figured a late blog is better than no blog. I have to admit that at first, I did not want to do the blogging assignment. However it has been useful to me in more ways than one. One that does not directly have to do with this class is that in my TE 402 class we are working on a new literacies project in which we are supposed to expose ourselves to a new technology in a way to enhance our knowledge of teaching technologies. For that class I am making a website so that I can have an online profile. I plan on putting a link to my blog on this website to give whoever looks at my website, such as future employers, other teachers, or parents. My language arts professor has already looked at my blog and agreed with me that this is a valuable asset that I can include on my website.
I didn’t think that I would enjoy blogging, but I have found it very useful. There have been things that I have thought about in class and we have either run out of time, or I don’t think that it is the appropriate time to bring it up. It’s nice to be able to go home and write what has been going through my mind. That way I can get all of my thoughts down without any interrupting of any kind, whether it be a comment from you or another classmate, but I’m able to get all my thoughts down in one fell swoop. This way you are able to get an insight into what I am really thinking about the controversial topics that we discuss in class. However I feel that it could be somewhat limiting because these are public blogs. Because of this, there are some things that I might not want to post because they are highly opinionated. That is the only limiting thing I believe.
I never thought that I would use technology like this to communicate with students and parents, but I believe that I will use a classroom blog in the future. This way I can communicate with parents. We all know how busy teachers lives are, but this way we can put the weekly newsletter online. We cal also do things like post the weekly assignments, and if it is a concept that parents aren’t used to (such as new ways to do traditional math) we can give parents homework tips so that they can help their children with their work. I this way parents can also get in contact with me easily and make their posts either public or private depending on whether or not they think other parents are going to have the same questions. I think that blogs will be extremely helpful in my classroom in the future.
I can’t think of any mini-lessons to go over in class, but I do think that it would be helpful for us to give each other ideas about what to do with blogs in the future (such as my homework tips) that way we will all have basis of different ways to use blogs in the future.
There are many ways that a blog can be utilized in the classroom in the future. One of my first future goals in using a blog, is for it to be a place for open communication between parents, students and I. As a teacher, I could use the blog to post letters to the parents about daily or weekly classroom events and lessons or I could use the blog as a place to let both students and parents be aware of what homework is due and expected from them. Here is an example of how a blog can be used for communication to students and parents.
Post a Comment