Thing 3

This is my 3rd blog and I think I am really going to enjoy doing this.  This is great practice and I can honestly say that I think I will use something like this for my classroom.  I plan to teach younger kids (perhaps 1st grade) so I think the parents would use my blog rather than the students.  I imagine my blog will be used mostly as a communication tool between myself and the parents.  I think it is realistic to say that my goal will be to update blog entries weekly.  I think it would be a good place to connect and communicate with parents about what the class was doing that particular week.  I would have a place for spelling words and another place for the weeks homework.  If a student missed a day, the parents could log in and look to see what the child's homework was for that day.  I could include a monthly calender where important dates such as field trips and test days could be viewed.  I could post all the children's birthdays on the calender as well. 
     I think it would be a good idea to provide important links for parent on my blog.  Maybe there would be fun educational games I thought the students would enjoy that we just did not have time to do during class time.  There are many education sites other than just games that could reinforce learning at home.  Maybe if we are learning about plants (for example), I would have a link for an educational site that could serve as a fun review over what the students were being taught that week. (Let's face it, sometime parents need to be reminded about what photosynthesis is to help their child with homework)   Another good idea would be to post additional literature that I think the families would enjoy reading together.  A book club would be fun as well.  I imagine that there is not enough time in the class day to do everything that I would want to do with my class.  A blog would be a great idea to encourage reading and learning outside of the classroom while involving the parents.  I could give suggestions to the parents on what specific questions to ask the child about particular books.  If teaching older kids, I could give incentives to the children for posting a book review on the blog site. 
     I could also use a blog to communicate with other teachers.  I could post my lesson plans and ask for suggestions or feedback with other teachers. I could include reflections about what worked well and what did not seem to work for the class.  Getting feedback and using the process of reflection is a great way to become an effective and successful teacher.  Maybe another teacher had some of the same experiences and could provide feedback to encourage and provide suggestions.
     Like I mentioned before, this is only my third blog ever.  The possibilities are endless.  I am sure as I continue to learn  more about blogging, I will have even more ideas about how I will this technology to foster learning in my classroom.  My daughters 3rd grade teacher actually uses a site from shutterfly which I think is awesome.  She includes weekly homework assignments along with what the class is learning all week.  She has a place for a wishlist of things the class needs (supplies, snacks, etc.), and even post dates that she is looking for a parent volunteer.  I hope to get lots of ideas from her and incorporate them into how I want to use a blog or some sort of class website for my students.  I think this is a great way to communicate with families and to include parents in the education of their children.