Tweet…Tweet

Ok, let's just say that I was not too excited when I saw that we were going to be required to open a Twitter account for this course.  I don't care who broke up with who or what someone thinks about the cold weather.  I had absolutely no clue about how great it can be for professional learning.  I thought this was going to be a quick, effortless assignment for the week so I decided to cross it off the list late Saturday night (great social life, huh?).  A good hour later, I was still there.  Was it effortless…absolutely.  Was it quick…no way.  It was so easy to sign up and create my account, but that was the end of the "quick" part. Follow, unfollow, tweet, retweet…I was hooked, checking out all the great resources that others were sharing.  I already have found a great blog to follow because of it!  We will see if this new found excitement fades away as the weeks roll on.  But even if my interest dies, I can say that this was one assignment that I was happy to have had.

The Benefits of Blogging

This week I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the way to use my classroom blog.  Up until this point, I have encouraged students to share the site with their parents and family member and to share their thoughts about the content of the post.  Starting this week, I will be having two students write their own posts about the classroom happenings that they choose to share.  I really think this may get some of the students who haven't spent as much time navigating the blog getting a little more involved and interested in the process.  I am also going to be taking some class time to make sure that students understand just how they can interact with the blog.  They may not always be able to have a response to the question that I pose or feel comfortable responding to it, however may not realize that commenting on the thoughts of others can be just as empowering and fun.  Besides just having students write posts, I also want to link student work to the blog so that student's feel pride in sharing their work with their families in a different way.

Where To Start?

My brain never has a shortage of awesome things that I want to implement into my teaching and/or classroom.  These ideas come from my own brain, through conversations with teammates and coworkers, through supplemental research, and now, from my Masters classes.

I have added a new component to my classroom blog by giving students another way of participating with it.  Since they still aren't ready to write entries that we will post to the blog, I have started putting up a "Question of the Day" several times throughout the week.  Students can go on the blog at home (which is encouraged) and can submit an answer for their peers and myself to see and possibly respond to.  If students don't have the ability to access the blog at home, they are able to go onto the blog during some of our computer time at school so that they can participate.

Since having my own experience with Skype this past week, I feel much more comfortable setting this up and using it in my classroom.  The simplicity of Skype makes it very easy to want to use because it doesn't take a lot of setup or time to learn how to facilitate.  During a recent committee meeting at our school that is focused around technology, a coworker suggested that we use Skype to broadcast our morning announcements.  This would bring a new and fresh way of delivering the announcements and add a new spark of excitement for the students.  I also feel that by allowing students to see those students who are participating in the announcements (ie: saying the Pledge of Allegiance, sharing Student Council information, and any other student participation opportunities) it will create a better sense of community throughout the school because students will be able to put a name with a face and feel a connection to each other.  I am excited to see if we can get this accomplished this year.

I would really like to find a way to use Google Docs with my students, but there are a few "privacy and privilege" concerns that need to be looked into carefully and then I will really look at how I want to use the tool (possibly for weekly spelling tests or spelling practice).

The Wonderful World of Technology

I always thought of myself as someone who was fairly knowledgeable and secure with my capabilities when it came to technology.  After Thursday night's class, I definitely took a step back and questioned how much I really knew.  While I am always looking for new ways to incorporate technology into the classroom, that search often includes blinders.  I look for things that are marketed towards schools, kids, and learning, instead of looking at technology options as a whole and asking how it can be tailored towards students.

In my classroom, I am extremely fortunate to have an Activboard to help facilitate instruction with the inclusion of technology on a daily basis.  We also have student response systems that can be used for tests, polls, and as another way for students to participate in class discussions.  These tools have opened up so many opportunities for my students.  We have also started a classroom blog and share the latest classroom updates and activities with our families.  The students have had a chance to participate by sharing photographs and quotes about certain activities that we have done.  Our goal is to start writing a weekly post about our week together so that they can see how the process develops and to experience writing through a different medium.  After being exposed to using Google Docs for class, I have developed a quick interest in looking into how I can use this within my own teaching.


Till next time...