Thing 3: Blogs in Education

I really enjoyed learning how blogs are incorporated into the educational field. What a great way for a school district to stay connected and informed, especially with a blog maintained by the Superintendent! I especially appreciated learning how blogs add value to the traditional classroom. I can envision using blogs to review math concepts, communicate important information regarding upcoming quizzes and tests, post study guide topics with possible links to help students review. In the area of Social Studies, I can imagine creating sections of a blog devoted to different times in history and providing students the opportunity to explore some of the time periods independently using the blog. This could also involve a project where they would have to create a product (possibly a PowerPoint presentation, essay, video, etc.) responding to something they've discovered about their historical research.

While outside my specific teaching area, I love the idea of posting recommended book titles to help students find books they can relate to. This would particularly helpful for LA teachers, where students could post their journals rather than filling up a blue book.

The only concern I have is that I teach four different sections of math and one section of Social Studies. It would be a challenge to create and maintain a blog or separate blogs geared toward each individual audience, as each class has a completely different curriculum. However, certain basic math concepts could be done as a starting point with the possibility of additions down the road.