I am participating in the 8 Things program to earn credit for a comp day with my district. I chose this program over any other because blogging is new to me and it can be done from home! I am excited to learn a new tool that will be beneficial to both myself and my students. I feel that I am constantly playing catch-up with technology and the knowledge my students have of it and this is a great opportunity.
During Thing 1, I realized that blogging provides many opportunities in education. It is a way to expose students to parts of the world that they might never have otherwise. It broadens knowledge and awareness of any topic of interest as well as gives students and teachers alike a chance to interact internationally. I also feel that it helps us all be more aware of the proper writing guidelines during this age of texting with an abbreviated language!
The blogs that were provided in Thing 1 were interesting and insightful! It was a great way to better understand the life of blogging and to get ideas of how to create my own. I liked the idea of creating a blog to inform students and parents of what's happening in the classroom and to provide an agenda of some sort for assignments.
Writing on the Internet definitely changes the ease of how I write, as far as being more cautious of typos and grammar etiquette. However, I do not feel limited in expression while writing on the Internet.
I think many educators feel the same way about having to "play catch up" to keep up with their students' knowledge of and familiarity with technology. As we'll discuss in Thing 2, however, just because students know how to use technology, doesn't mean they know how to use it wisely--which is where teachers step in!
ReplyDeleteYou make an interesting point about being more aware of typos and grammar when you blog. The same is often true for students, and many teachers find that when their kids are blogging for an actual audience (be it parents, classmates, or just the Internet in general), they too are more thoughtful and cautious about what they write--one of the advantages of engaging students in blogs!
Your idea of using a blog as a sort of "classroom update" is a great one. Many teachers find that blogs are well-suited for this purpose because they're easy to edit and because your entries are saved online, so it's easy to get back to a previous post.
Great start! Thing 1 is complete!