What I have learned….
So far, I have learned that in order to integrate technology effectively you have to be patient. This quality is true to every teacher. I don’t believe you can teach if you do not have a great deal of patience. I have found that having students complete blog entries requires a little deeper level of patience than I have yet to experience. There are constant questions and confusion when trying to do online journaling. However, I do have to thank some of my more experienced students in taking time to help those who are struggling. When beginning this blogging experience, I started with the basics. I did a class demonstration of a blog I had created and went over all of the aspects it offered. Students had a chance to interact with this program via a Smartboard and went over the navigating tips for those who lacked the knowledge needed.
Goals….
As far as my goals are concerned, I am still working for a successful week in student blogging. I would like for students to be able to navigate and successfully respond to the journal prompts throughout the week. I would also like students to begin to respond to their classmate’s postings. However, I feel that this step should wait until students are more comfortable with this type of communication.
I would still like to set the goal of more parent communication through the blogging experience. I would like to get letters sent home that states what the students have been doing regarding their blogs and how the parents can interact with this experience. I would like parents to have the opportunity to respond to their child’s blog by being able to post comments at home. Students could then respond to their parents comments throughout the week. This would allow for a nice school-home connection.
Learning Approaches….
Next time I integrate a new form of technology, I would like to take more time learning about what the technology is. For example if I was introducing blogging again, I would like to show more examples of different types of blogs completed by students of the age of the class so that they have a better idea of what is expected. I would also like to take more time to show what all blogs offer – in regards to uploading images, videos, etc. As of now, students have a very vague concept of the blogging experience and I would like to expand that to show them what else it offers.
I agree with you, Lauren, that patience is key to being a successful teacher -- in all aspects of the job. Through this master's program I am learning a lot of new digital tools that I believe are crucial for students to learn and communicate, and I am also implementing many of them into my classes. However, sometimes I feel that we are exposed and encouraged to incorporate so much technology, it doesn't give us enough time to be patient and learn the tools in as much detail as we would like before introducing to our students. I think your thoughts for what will come next in your classroom blogs are excellent. That is what I have been doing as well -- introducing a new digital tool, observing and asking for students' input on the tool, and then recording what I would change for future lessons.
ReplyDeleteI have a suggestion which may help with the parent commununication. I have started to hyperlink google forms in my emails to parents, so why not put a hperlink for your parents to respond to their child's blog? It may make it less intimidating for them to leave a connent in this fashion. I hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteThat is definitely something to look into Chris. Thanks for the suggestion!
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI actually like the idea of giving the parents the link to their students blogs like Chris mentioned. Parents can monitor what's going on in school and communicate with them. The only problem I can see is if parents do not have internet access or students who do not have a great family life. I would hate to see students not get responses!