The more I read about blogs, the more I would like to have one for my classroom. This is my first experience with blogging and I can see the benefits. I thought I wouldn't be able to have a blog since I teach kindergarten. I think my blog would be more informative for the parents rather than students.
What purpose would the blog serve?
Since I teach kindergarten, the purpose of my blog would be more for the parents. Instead of sending my weekly newsletters home, I would tell parents to tune in every week for the class news. I also realize not everyone has access to internet so I would take note of those that need paper newsletters. The blog can be a space for parent questions, comments, or to share classroom ideas. Our kindergarten homework is fairly easy, but I would be available to answer any questions.
Is it a place for students to interact?
I don't see the students interacting with each other since they are five years old. The students may respond but it would be with parental help. I perceive more of a parental interaction with the blog. Parents can comment on each other's posts or ask me any questions.
Is it a showcase for their work?
Since the blog would mainly be viewed by parents, I would post a writer of the week section. The names would be anonymous, but it can show the yearly improvement of the students. It can also show parents examples of good writing. I would suggest to parents not post their child's work to keep the privacy.
How does using a blog enhance the lesson?
I would use the blog to enhance the weekly skills we are learning in the classroom. I would posts ways the parents can help the students at home in all the subject areas. The blog would be a great way for parents to ask me how they can help at home. I like the idea that all the questions would be where all could see.
I think next school year I will try to keep up with a blog newsletter. It is something I can do from home and hopefully wouldn't take up too much of outside teaching time. I really like the idea of helping parents. There are many parents that don't know how they can help in reading. The blog can definitely be a place for suggestions.
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I think you can showcase student work and still protect the student identity as long as you cover the names. Kindergarten students love to display their work. I like the idea of showing the parents examples of good writing. This is an area where I would show our own student work to show parents the caliber of writer's we have.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of using a blog site to communicate with parents about things going on in the classroom. I think students would love to show their parents what they did in school and the parents would love to see the progress their child is making. A lot of parents do not come to parent-teacher conferences so you could show them what their child is doing and the improvements they are making in your classroom. It will not take up a lot of time for you to do a weekly newsletter on your blog site.
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