Blogging with First Graders

In one of my other graduate level classes, I was introduced to Ms. Cassidy's classroom blog and was so impressed that I decided it was worth sharing with others. Here is its link: http://mscassidysclass.edublogs.org/. 

Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Canada and she uses her classroom blog in a variety of ways for both parents and students. On her blog, parents can get a daily update about their students' progress and see what exactly they are doing within the classroom. Ms. Cassidy also frequently posts unidentified pictures and videos of her students engaging in lessons so that parents can again see their learning in action.

Ms. Cassidy also uses her blog as a place where each of her first grade students has his/her own blog page. Each student has his/her own page where his/her work is displayed for anyone to see and comment on. The parents and relatives of these students often will leave comments for their children on their blog page, which the children can then read and respond to with Ms. Cassidy's help. 

I love this idea of giving each of her students his/her own blog page for a variety of reasons. First, it gives the students a meaningful sense of purpose for writing and learning. Secondly, they have an authentic audience with whom they can communicate and publish their work for. In addition, each of their blog pages gives the students choice and ownership over something. Lastly, I love how friends and family can post encouraging comments on each student's blog. All of these reasons are motivating factors for any student, and I love how Ms. Cassidy has sparked this excitement for learning within her first graders by allowing them to incorporate 21st century technology into their learning.

Podcasts

Before last night's class I had never created a Podcast or even known how they are made. I never realized how easy they are to create with the right materials. To create a Podcast one must have a headset with a microphone, some type of podcasting software such as Audacity, and material to podcast. With the right equipment, podcasting is very fun to do. I think students would really enjoy creating podcasts related to different topics because they are engaging, relateable to students' lives, and creative. Podcasts would be an excellent method for performance-based assessments because students could demonstrate their understanding of a topic in an original way. 

Teachers can also use Podcasts to communicate with their students. For example, if they are out they can assign the homework via a Podcast, or they could create Podcasts about classroom events for parents. Podcasts can also be used in instruction to provide comprehensible input for students about any topic.

There are endless creative ways to use Podcasts, however there are some shortcomings as well. First, you must have the materials listed earlier to create one, which may be expensive for some schools. Secondly, you must have a script or plan for each Podcast. Writing a script and then editing it can often be time consuming for only a few minutes of a Podcast. Lastly, you must have access to sounds that will make the Podcast more interesting. You do not have to add sounds, but they help make the Podcast more engaging for listeners. Despite these few shortcomings though, I think I would still like to try Podcasting within my future classroom. I do not think I will personally have enough time to create them on a regular basis, but I think they would be great to have students use within instruction and for assessment.

Classroom Websites

Previous to this past week's class, I had no idea that creating a classroom website could be so fun and easy! I've always admired the elaborate teacher websites with links to their daily classroom activities, homework, calendar, and classroom photos. However, I figured that once I have my own classroom I probably would not have my own website because they are difficult to maintain and you must pay for them. Wrong!

There are lots of easy-to-use free website creators online now. Those who have a Gmail account can create a Google web page through their already established Google account. There are also other sites, such as Weebly, which are very user-friendly. I used Weebly to create my "class" website, http://missdietrichsclassroom.weebly.com/. This was my first time ever creating a website and I found it to be extremely easy and fun to use. There are a lot of templates to choose from which you can personalize with photos, text, font, and the overall layout. I will definitely use Weebly again to create any future websites.

The only downsides to using these website creators, such as Weebly, is that eventually, if you have a lot of content and multimedia (i.e. photos and video), you must upgrade your account and pay a fee to maintain your website. In addition, since teachers are so busy with all of their other responsibilities, websites are often neglected. Failing to maintain my classroom website is my biggest fear when creating a website. If the content is not up-to-date and relevant then it is almost pointless to have a website. Therefore, once I have my own classroom and design my own website, I will need to develop my own system/schedule for maintaining my website. If you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment!