Blogs
Blogs support student learning in many ways. They are
interactive websites for discussions and usually are managed and created by one
individual. Teachers are encouraged to create a classroom blog. Students and
parents can access information online about homework or activities through the
class blog. Teachers can engage their students in activities through the class
blog by having them respond to a class discussion. Classroom blogs can display
student work such as podcasts, movies, or written materials. This encourages student
collaboration and their will to do their very best knowing that it will be
displayed to the public. Online blogging activities promote higher order
thinking skills because the student is analyzing standard- related content and
creating their own ideas around the topic. The ability for the student to
publish their work beyond the classroom on the class blog promotes a high LoTi
level of 5. Remember, the classroom blog should be enticing to its viewers and
interactive. Fantastic blogs are organized according to topic, appealing to the
eye, includes guidelines to commenting and display supporting content. A few
recommended blogging sites are Edublogs, Blogger, and WordPress.
When creating your own classroom blog you must abide by FERPA and CIPA laws regarding minors. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. Only a minor’s parent, teacher or transferring school can access these files. As a teacher it is important to not share a student record with anyone unless it is the parent or school official with legitimate educational purpose. Therefore, do not post educational records to your class blog. Children's Internet Protection Act is a law which addresses concerns about children accessing harmful pictures or mature content over the web. CIPA requires schools and libraries to have internet security in place to filter out obscene material/pictures. It is important to teach internet safety to your students and monitor all communications and websites accessed by minors. In my future classroom blog, I plan to engage my students online by incorporating class projects and individual homework assignments. Flipped classroom is a great concept where the student gains prior knowledge from an online assignment. The online assignment directly correlates to the following day’s subject matter. The student is better prepared to learn the subject because they were engaged in an online activity the day before. It is important to keep in mind the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines when creating your class blog. UDL promotes multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement. A few other beneficial web-creation tools to explore are Weebly, Wix, and Wiki.
Robyler, M. & Doering, A. (2013). Integrating technology into teaching (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
When creating your own classroom blog you must abide by FERPA and CIPA laws regarding minors. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. Only a minor’s parent, teacher or transferring school can access these files. As a teacher it is important to not share a student record with anyone unless it is the parent or school official with legitimate educational purpose. Therefore, do not post educational records to your class blog. Children's Internet Protection Act is a law which addresses concerns about children accessing harmful pictures or mature content over the web. CIPA requires schools and libraries to have internet security in place to filter out obscene material/pictures. It is important to teach internet safety to your students and monitor all communications and websites accessed by minors. In my future classroom blog, I plan to engage my students online by incorporating class projects and individual homework assignments. Flipped classroom is a great concept where the student gains prior knowledge from an online assignment. The online assignment directly correlates to the following day’s subject matter. The student is better prepared to learn the subject because they were engaged in an online activity the day before. It is important to keep in mind the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines when creating your class blog. UDL promotes multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement. A few other beneficial web-creation tools to explore are Weebly, Wix, and Wiki.
Robyler, M. & Doering, A. (2013). Integrating technology into teaching (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Please click on the picture above to explore my classroom blog. I have included a welcome message for my students. My blog is organized into four categories: Daily Schedule, Flipped Classroom, Meet the Teacher, and Websites. I have also included a flip classroom activity example on my blog covering colors.All websites provided include curriculum related content that my students can access to expand their knowledge.
Please view my lesson idea below about classroom blogs.
Please view my lesson idea below about classroom blogs.
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