Using RSS Feeds as a Resource

Our assignment this week was to pick one of 3 questions to answer. I chose the 2nd option, communication with parents. I feel that it is key for the parents to be involved in their child's educational experiences. Many parents want more ideas for activities and projects that can be done at home to enrich things that are learned at school. For this reason I chose three blogs with ideas and experiments that bridge school and home education.

The first blog I found was Bright Kids. This blog provides articles and links to ideas parents can use at home in educating their children. Some of the topics included are making nature journals, study tips, and indoor activities for parents to interact with their children.

The second link I came across was actually a resource for teachers to encourage parent involvement. This page, called Parent Involvement in Schools, actually provides tips and suggestions for ways teachers and schools can improve their parent participation. The site also links some websites for teachers to share with parents about activities such as reading at home.

The third page I found was directed toward middle school parents. This page contained posts that encouraged parents to think about how much time their child spends on tv and video games. They also encouraged parents to take responsibility and to encourage their children at home. This blog provided some real-life stories to make their point and help the parents make connections.

I think that I could definitely use RSS feeds in my future classroom as a quick way to access some important or useful information. Using feeds would be a good way to provide some resources for student projects or tips for parents. This method of research and compilation adds another layer to a student research project by providing technology, internet, and factual information. By putting together a list of feeds myself, I can be sure that I am only providing links to blogs with reliable or trustworthy information. I can also make sure that the blogs included are age and school appropriate.

Cool Blogs for Teachers

As I looked through the list of educational blogs, I found it difficult to find blogs that I really loved. I did find a couple however, that I found to be helpful and set up in a relatively easy to read format.

The first blog that I came across was an informative page instructing how to make classroom displays and bulletin boards. I view a classroom as kind of a second home. As a teacher, it is my job to make a classroom a comfortable and inviting place for children to spend their time on a daily basis. Also, it is important for me to demonstrate ideas of creativity in the classroom. I feel like this can only encourage my students further in their learning. This blog not only provided tips for making classroom displays, but also included pictures and comments/quotes from teachers who have actually used the displays featured on the page. Also, this blog contains links to other blogs and resource pages such as a classroom displays page on flickr.

The next blog I found was one used by a first grade teacher in Canada, Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog. The main page of the blog contains posts, pictures, and information posted by the teacher. To the left of the page is a list of links to pages where students are able to post comments and thoughts. Because this is a first grade level, students typed their own responses, and the teacher made notes in parentheses. At the top of the page was a link to a resource called yackpack. I thought this was really cool because it allowed the class to communicate with other classrooms across the world that were also members of this blogging host.

I could definitely see myself using a classroom blog in the future. I really like the idea of being able to include parents in what is going on in the classroom. Blogs allow you to post homework, show off pictures, projects, and make suggestions for parents to become more involved. I also think that blogs would be a great way for students to connect with other students from across the country or even the world. I really liked being able to view Mrs. Cassidy's classroom blog to see how she handled the posting and comments for students as young as first grade. This is important because I hope to teach lower elementary and I want my students to be able to experience technology and blogging. After viewing this blog I can see that with some extra teacher help, these younger students are able to gain this experience.

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

This video, A Vision of K-12 Students Today, was shown to us on the first day of class. This video really impacted the way I think about students today and how much technology impacts their lives, and therefore their learning.

Using Blogs for Educational Purposes

I am a senior in the education program at Michigan State University. After spending time in multiple classrooms and noticing each teacher's style for teaching, I realized that most teachers don't use very much technology in their everyday teaching environment. I signed up for this technology class to learn how to better integrate new software and programs into my classroom. This is my second experience using blogs in the classroom, however I don't have very much knowledge about other technological programs. This class should give me an opportunity to learn about new things that will be beneficial to my future students. By creating my own blog, I can use a format and style of organization that appeals to me, and hopefully to others.