Reflection #3

As a first year teacher inside a classroom setting, it has been a challenge to manage all that is required to do. But as a technology lover, as I read A Complete Guide to Using Blogger in School, it helped me to brainstorm some ideas as to how I am able to integrate technology in the classroom in order to make all the tasks that I am required to do in an easier and much more organized manner.

            When talking about the distribution part, I thought of creating a blog in a 5^th grade Language Arts classroom setting in order to create a source where the students are able to find the notes and material we covered in class. Since this content area requires so many anchor charts and note taking in the classroom, it is important that the students are able to access and review the information in various ways. By implementing a blog for this particular class or content area, it would be beneficial for the teacher, parents and students. The teacher will have to scan any anchor charts, notes, homework or announcements that were given on that day into the blog. Not only that, but the teacher will also have to be responsible to inform the parents of the resources that are being available for the students outside the classroom. The students will be able to have access to the content that was reviewed in class through technology devices in case they need to refer back to the material at home, if they lost the notes, or if they were absent that day. By allowing parents to be aware of the blog, then it will allow them to clarify their doubts of what the students need to do in certain assignments or to ask any question through the blog as well.

            When reading in the discussion part, I thought if my 5^th grade classroom setting as a Language Arts and Social Studies teacher. Blogging can be so beneficial in the classroom in so many ways. It doesn’t only contribute to adding technology in the classroom and learning, but it also creates a different style of learning for the 21^st century students that are so involved with technology around them. I would use blogging to discuss what had been taught inside the classroom and make it due by the end of the day. By giving the students time to reflect on their learning more time than the one given during school hours helps those who need the extra time to process the information and it also allows the other students to get creative on what they are going to post on their blog. It is a wonderful idea to target the shy students, the SPED students, LEPS, and the others that take time to process all the information given to them.

             After reading the last part which is the demonstration part inside the classroom, I thought again of my 5^th grade Language Arts classroom that I am in right now. I would have students create their own blog through Kidsblog at the end of a unit that I had just covered in order to use it as a checkpoint to see if they fully understood the material as I wanted it or if there were some misunderstandings. By students writing the blog, it helps them on their writing structure and it also gives them a chance to create unedited audio reports if they struggle with their spelling or for the ELLs in the classroom.