As a result of the research associated with this class, I have come to realize how popular blogging has become to the field of Education. Only about two years ago in an education class that I was required to take to fulfill certification credits for my Professional certificate, I heard the word "blog" for the first time. Previously, I had not a clue what the word "blog" even meant, neither did I really care... It was totally foreign to me in terms of my awareness because I had absolutely no knowlegde of the world from whence it came as I was too busy "teaching". It was at that time that I realized I was totally estranged from the world that seemed to be taking over the world, and that I had better wake up and smell the coffee. (And I did.)
After I became more familiarized with the online web environment I had minimal acquaintance with, I began to take part in some of the online activities like responding to discussion topics and offering commentary on current events, etc. Yet I didn't know that I was in "the blogosphere!" I was just doing what I caught on to and saw others doing...
I thought that blogging ideas on the Kindergarten level would only be doable with parents since I assumed that my students would not be directly capable. But I was so wrong... After googling Kindergarten blogs, I came up with dozens of them, but found this one to be very creative and persuasive: http://www.k-3teacherresources.com/teachers-are-people-too.html
I've discovered that on the Kindergarten level, the creativity with blogs is endless! Teachers have websites that contain blogs that primarily give parents information about what is happening in the classroom, how the class functions daily, information on upcoming events so that parents have an "eye" into the daily happenings of the class. (K-3 Teacher Resources, Jan '10). Some Kindergarten teachers create blogs for the convenience of parents viewing their child's grades! One specific blog post included details about a trip a Kindergarten class took to a farm. After their return, they wrote responses about it and the teacher created podcasts that showcased the actual children's written and illustrated writing piece; but I was astounded by the links that led to the sound of the children's live recorded voices reading their own response! (The links were their names and you could click on the name of the student response you chose to hear!) Awesome! Listen to Susan reading her response! (This is too precious!):
This idea of blogging will be immediately implemented into my lessons and will serve as an enhancement toward my professional development.
This URL shows the details of the creativity of blogging and would be a great resource for information and creative blogging ideas: http://www.eastwood.nsw.edu.au/kinderclips/
There are numerous uses for educational blogging. Look at what I was missing! Look at what I learned...
No comments:
Post a Comment