Although this class was short and quite open, I learned a lot more than I anticipated. For starters, as most have already mentioned, I learned that starting a blog is extremely easy and painless! I also learned that although it seems quite chaotic and frustrating, managing blogs is very doable especially with RSS feeds and readers. It is a great way to keep organized and up-dated! Until this course, I never thought about promoting a blog either. I was opened to many interesting strategies to do just that. There are so many things you can do that aren't difficult at all! The little things are perfect for my use especially since I do not intend on sharing my blog with a lot of people.
As my earlier post mentioned, I plan on using blogs for student activities as way for them to reflect and for me to assess. However, I am sure as time goes on and I gain more experience, I could use blogging for other things such as a means of communicating with parents via discussion posts, posting assignments and other information students need to know, personal reflections on different lesson plans or activities that other educators can take from, and even more collaborative work for students. I am sure that I will encourage students to use their blogs for brainstorming ideas and collaborating with others on educational topics. I also can see blogging as a means for students to build an online portfolio for themselves.....using their blogs they can post and save all their best works that they intend to keep to show or refer to later on in their schooling. Most importantly, I am going to use blogs as a way to teach students proper netiquette! Being safe online is extremely important and something most kids don't really think about. I hope my lessons using blogs help them become responsible online users.
All in all, I truly appreciated this course. In such a short amount of time I was able to learn a lot as well as become familiar with many resources and references about blogging that I otherwise never would have come across. I truly had a blast and I am really interested to see how I really end up using blogs in the classroom, that is if I end up doing so! Wishing everyone else the best of luck in their blogging future! :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Intelligence
These questions came about in another class and I was just wondering what everyone else's thoughts were......
What is your definition of intelligence?
What deems someone intelligent?
How would you measure someone's level of intelligence?
I had a really tough time answering these questions!
What is your definition of intelligence?
What deems someone intelligent?
How would you measure someone's level of intelligence?
I had a really tough time answering these questions!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Some Interesting Videos.....
Here are some videos I had to watch for other classes....I think you will enjoy them! :)
Changing Education Paradigms
Alfie Kohn vs. Dwight Schrute
The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Changing Education Paradigms
Alfie Kohn vs. Dwight Schrute
The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
My Blog Focus.....
Over the weekend I thought a lot about educational blogging and all the things that come along with it such as managing and promoting a blog site. There are all types of different blogs, it is crazy! Your audience choice and intentions are so critical! I really do not want to depend on technology so I think that I am going to do something really basic with blogs in my future classroom.
I have concluded for my purposes, I am going to use blogging as a means of assessment. I think it will give me greater insight on what my students truly understand and have learned as a result of my teaching and activities. I have a feeling that the students will be more open when reflecting via blogs. I am hoping they will not feel any pressure when writing. I think I am going to present the blogs as a mandatory assignment but really use them to help me assess each student. I am pretty sure that if I present the blogs as an assessment the students are only going to try and write what they think I want to hear. That is the total opposite of what I want. I would really like to see what my students think of what is going on in the classroom. I also think most people are more comfortable expressing themselves using technology. I could gain some really great insight on who my students are as people as well which can be very useful in helping me meet their needs!
As a result, I do not have to do too much blog promoting because it is simply for my students. However, I plan on sharing the address with my students' parents as well as the principal of my school just so they can stop by and see what is going on in my classroom if they are interested. As for managing, I am going to use Google Reader and subscribe to the RSS feeds. Each class I have will have their own folder so it is easier to keep track of everyone. Nothing too complicated. I'm looking to blogging as a means of something different to do that I think my students and I will enjoy! :)
I have concluded for my purposes, I am going to use blogging as a means of assessment. I think it will give me greater insight on what my students truly understand and have learned as a result of my teaching and activities. I have a feeling that the students will be more open when reflecting via blogs. I am hoping they will not feel any pressure when writing. I think I am going to present the blogs as a mandatory assignment but really use them to help me assess each student. I am pretty sure that if I present the blogs as an assessment the students are only going to try and write what they think I want to hear. That is the total opposite of what I want. I would really like to see what my students think of what is going on in the classroom. I also think most people are more comfortable expressing themselves using technology. I could gain some really great insight on who my students are as people as well which can be very useful in helping me meet their needs!
As a result, I do not have to do too much blog promoting because it is simply for my students. However, I plan on sharing the address with my students' parents as well as the principal of my school just so they can stop by and see what is going on in my classroom if they are interested. As for managing, I am going to use Google Reader and subscribe to the RSS feeds. Each class I have will have their own folder so it is easier to keep track of everyone. Nothing too complicated. I'm looking to blogging as a means of something different to do that I think my students and I will enjoy! :)
Friday, January 21, 2011
Marketing Plan....
As I read over other peoples' blogs and check out different links and videos, I am slowly putting together my blog marketing plan! It feels great! :)
There are so many different approaches to promoting a blog. It truly depends on the audience the blogger is trying to target! As many others have already done, I have decided to aim my blog towards a more educational crowd. This would include students, parents, administrators and of course other educators. With this in mind, I plan on including my blog address on my class syllabus as well as with my signature for my school e-mail and you can't forget business cards! I also intend on leaving my blog address when commenting on other educational blogs.
Since I plan on focusing my blog closely on my classroom and meeting the needs of my students, I do not think it is necessary that I deal with advertising and all that. I am not trying to go global or become famous because of my blog therefore, I am not going to go to extreme measures to promote it. Also, I have a feeling I am going to be quite busy with the everyday tasks of teaching!
There are so many different approaches to promoting a blog. It truly depends on the audience the blogger is trying to target! As many others have already done, I have decided to aim my blog towards a more educational crowd. This would include students, parents, administrators and of course other educators. With this in mind, I plan on including my blog address on my class syllabus as well as with my signature for my school e-mail and you can't forget business cards! I also intend on leaving my blog address when commenting on other educational blogs.
Since I plan on focusing my blog closely on my classroom and meeting the needs of my students, I do not think it is necessary that I deal with advertising and all that. I am not trying to go global or become famous because of my blog therefore, I am not going to go to extreme measures to promote it. Also, I have a feeling I am going to be quite busy with the everyday tasks of teaching!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Marketing Blogs
Here are some videos and links that can help understand the importance of promoting your blog as well as strategies to do so.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Hopefully these videos can help!
Here's a few videos that helped me....hopefully they can help you too! :) One is on blogging and the other one is on RSS feeds! Although the blogging one isn't educationally specific, it gives a good heads up on other uses for blogs!
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