My name is Christie. I teach 3rd grade. I am getting my Masters of Education in Instructional Technology from Regis University. This blog is a way for me to keep track of all my assignments for my program.
There are a lot of things to consider when starting blogging in
your classroom. At my school, all students and their parents sign a technology
waiver, holding them liable for their behavior with technology and whatnot. I
will definitely also have a classroom contract. It will very specifically lay
out my rules in regards to the Internet and our blogs. Some of these include,
no food or drink around devices, always know where your device is, only access
websites or apps as instructed by the teacher, and NEVER put any personal information
on the Internet at all.
This is a topic I would teach in a gradual release model (I do,
we do, you do) so that I may model and show appropriate netiquette. I will make
sure that there are web filters and parent blocks on any device I had to a
student. Students can be sneaky about what websites they are looking at with a
device in their hands, so teachers need to be circulating continuously when
technology is out.
This is a video introducing using iPads in a school setting. Lots
of great things to think about!
1)
Reading Rainbow style book reviews: Students can either record video, or write
reviews of books they have read including pictures from the story and a bit
about the plot. These can be posted for other students in the school to access,
but also open for anyone else on the Internet to see. All posts will of course
end in “Don’t take my word for it.”
2)
Edmoto: Students can use a blog site like Edmoto that is secure to chat with
their classmates about what is going on at school or specific assignments. They
can also take quizzes and submit assignments on the site.
3)
Video blogging: We want to help students be able to communicate effectively and
what better way than talking about real life issues and school issues in a
video blog. Learning to use this technology is also a valuable learning experience.
Students can see other studends around the country and world and have debates
with them. They can also use video blogs to connect to famous authors and other
people around the world. Here is a video blog by best selling author John Green
that I show my kids at the beginning of the school year.
4)
Book Clubs: From what I have seen in my 3 years of teaching, it takes students
a very long time to learn how to discuss books and to feel comfortable enough
in their ideas to put them out for the world to see. I think that putting this discussion online is
a wonderful idea. Students would have time to read as well as time to process
and spellcheck their ideas before posting them. It takes a certain amount of
risk out of the discussion.
5)
Technology Team Blog: At school I am part of the teacher’s technology team. We
meet monthly and discuss what technology needs we have at our school. We could
use a blog to discuss technology needs before the meetings so that the meetings
could be more about solutions and not just problems. We could also post meeting
minutes and action items for people to complete before the next meeting.
6)
Songs: Throughout the year I use a lot of music in my general education
classroom. (I can just hear all the budget cut music teachers cheering.) On
this blog I can post all the songs I reference throughout the year for the
students and other teachers to reference. Music is a fantastic learning tool
that helps students memorize facts without even realizing they are working.
When I was in 4th grade I learned the song “50 nifty” and to this
day I can still sing all 50 united States in alphabetical order.
7)
Class Photographer Job: I found this idea on Pinterest: As part of the class
job rotation, every day there is one student who is the class photographer.
Their job is to take pictures throughout the day and write a small paragraph
about what we learned that day. It is a great way to chart our growth through
the year.
8)
Parent Teacher Communication: Parents are always asking us to communicate with
them more. Keeping assignments, calendars, forms, and school information all in
one place on a blog is a great way to do this. Here is my class website. (This website is the
format my school requires me to use, but the information could easily be placed
in a blog.)
9)
Classroom Ideas for other teachers: I always say there is no such thing as
stealing in the teaching profession, just borrowing. All us teachers have so
many great ideas, we should share them with each other. Just posting day to day
activities could help another teacher out in cyberspace. Here is an awesome
middle school blog.
10)
Summer: Parents are begging us at the end of the year for things to work on
with their kids over the summer. We could easily blog a list of fun and
educational activities for students to work on over the summer.
