Blogg 3: Technology in the Classroom

So ths is a fairly sticky topic.  How does one define successful technology use? One thing that makes this so contriversial is that all technology is not equal.  I have been placed in a school where the teachers still have chalk boards and students who attend this school are at poverty level income.  It does not seem to me that every child is getting the same level of education.  Isn't that one of the tenants of public education that all children will recieve an equal education?  From what I have personally witnessed, this is certianly not happening.  Funds are going to "critical needs" areas such as math and science in order to be able to compete in the global community.  Other areas such as the humaities are being left by the wayside.  If we educate our students to solve quantum physics equations but they cant tell you where the Great Lakes are located or they cant read a simple childrens book what does that say about teaching in the United States.  Technology should be spread evenly through out the cirriculum and all monies designated for technology should be used for such (unlike what is happening now).  If we dont provide these kids with a solid working knowledge of technology we are crippling them for life. They will be doomed to always be playing a game of catch up with the rest of society.

Blogg 2

So this post is over the Sir Ken's video.  This is not the first time I have seen this video, nor do i suspect it will be the last.  I guess the most popular quote from the video which I see my other groupmates making is that "creativity is as important as literacy".  I am going to go ahead and jump on the band wagon and say yes it most certianly is.  When you think about it logically, creativity is the core of individuality.  When you stifle the creativity, in my opinion you are stifling the individual.  So often we see that students are becoming nothing more than "future Jeopardy contestants", meaning that we are doing nothing to creatively inspire them to peice together the significance of larger events.  We as educators are just giving them a hand full of facts that mean nothing other than the answer to simple trivia questions.  If we tap into each childs creativity then we ensure maximum retention and maximun learning.  We are educators after all isn't learning the name of the game?  If we just want kids to be mindless clones of one another (in the knowledge since) then we simply change nothing.  However, if  we make the effort and tap into that hidden creativity then we see a much more dramtic result in education.  Suddenly it becomes a bold, new, and dynamic environment that kid want to be and want to succeed in.

Blog Post #3

In my field experience I have noticed how teachers work with technology; I have seen positive integration as well as negative integration. Some teachers have tried to use technology too much and end up taking too much time away from the actual learning. In an attempt to use technology the teachers inadvertently stifle learning in order to make themselves look better to the administration. On the other hand, some teachers are afraid of technology and refuse to use it. Even when teachers have been trained to use their Smartboard or even playing videos they still shy away from it because it is not natural to them. For example, teachers have been teaching for over twenty years and have been teaching the same lessons since they began do not want to change or incorporate that technology. The teacher I am working with this year has a Smartboard in her room and she uses it to its full potential. For example, in math she will pull up a game and let the students come up and do multiplication fact games. Also, we watch United Streaming videos and the screen allows for all students to be able to see. Unlike a small television screen that students have trouble seeing across the room or to the side of it. As future teachers we need to use technology appropriately and smartly, incorporating it to help and not hinder the learning of our students. This also includes using technology as a supplement and not a substitute.

Blog Post #3: The Collaborative Classroom By: Anna Davison

Video from Edutopia, The Collaborative Classroom: An Interview with Linda Darling-Hammond

I am actually in a collaborative classroom two days a week for my student teaching. In the classroom are myself, my supervising teacher and one other teacher who is special ed. certified who is the collaborative teacher as well as 32 students. I have found that thus far in my experience with the collaborative classroom that it is quite difficult to manage. In the video, I noticed that Linda Darling-Hammond discussed the different approaches to collaborative teaching as well as some of the strategies implimented within the classroom. I have found that when using any kind of technology in the classroom that these students who have learning dissabilities or discipline problems are much more inclined to pay attention to a movie or a power point presentation because it is something visual. The students really enjoy and typically respond better on tests or worksheets covering the material shown on the power point or movie. However, one area that I disagree with is that although it is a goal for the collaborative classroom to help students develop group interaction skills it is a very difficult thing to impliment in the classroom. Students who have discipline problems are mixed with students who have learning disabilities and unless you have a teacher supervising each individual group it tends to be incredably hard to manage. Therefore, I believe that there are drawbacks to the collaborative classroom, but that there are also many positive aspects as well. Hopefully over the next few years there will be some incredably innovative ideas as to ways to improve the collaborative classroom.

I found a video on edutopia about integrating studies and it was very informative to say the least. I hope that some day I can take some of the ideas gained from the video and incorporate them into my school. I also saw some very interesting aspects about education that one might think that would see, such as the new things that a diverse Boston suburb school is developing. The teacher admitted that we are no longer living in an industrial society and students have to learn more than just facts and skills to succeed in the world, and for a Bostonian to say this is just baffling to me. That is the North and the industrial capital of the United States, but I think that teachers and many others in the U.S. are starting to realize that people have to be educated to succeed in today’s society. I also saw an amazing integration tool they were using in Landry Middle School in Louisiana with making cars. Science made them, English advertised, and math calculated the cost, I would have loved to have know what Social Studies did to integrate but it never told.

Blog Post 3: By Initia van Tonder
My Topic: Don't Be Scared to Experiment!

I have decided to create my own topic for discussion concerning an intersection between technology and education. Over the course of the semester, I have found myself completely intriqued, amazed, and often confused about many of the technology related assignments that we have conducted. However, I must admitt, that I feel 100 times more confident in my technological abilities now that I did 13 weeks ago. For me the key has been experimenting. I know that I have to get the assignment completed and so, even if it scares me, I have to find a way to do that. I believe that so many teachers, especially those of the older generations, are simply scared of technology. They don't know how to use it, and more importantly, they can't see the link between technology serving as an educational tool rather than a mere distraction. But I am here to vouch for the fact, through my personal experience, that technology can be used in education. Not only have I come to understand how to ensure that the technological element of the lesson serves as a contribution to the scholarly content, but I have also come to understand just how useful and technology can be in drawing in student participation and creativity. In order for teaachers to truly recognize the benifit of using technology in the classroom, I feel a course, much like the one we are taking right now, should be introduced in schools for teachers. The course is so benificial because we as the teachers get to experiment with the tools first. Once we understand how to apply the specific tool to its best potential, we can develop a lesson that will allow students to use the technology and creatively learn at the same time. Another essential element is communication. Things like the tech-tool discussions and blogging serve as great educational tools for teachers and provide them with the feedback that they may be looking for. So in conclusion, I think that in order for educators to truly understand the potential of technology in education for their students, they must know how to apply it themselves. Now, as someone who is working towards broadining her technological knowledge, I highly recomend a course like this to help educators move towards that goal.

blog 2

I thought Sir Ken Robinson’s video was great and I am going to go ahead and jump into the idea of “creativity is as important as literacy” and I believe this whole heartedly, yet at the same time I struggle with it. I think there are great minds, hearts and hands out there that get lost in the shuffle because they are being too creative and they are then written off as ADD or ADHD students. They are then never given the opportunity to excel or even succeed in what they love or what they are good at. Research shows that students learn in different ways then why do we force them to learn in certain areas if they want to dance and get up and move around, or they want to spend their time becoming better singers. Another reason that I tend to agree with Sir Ken is the fact that we put all our heart and soul in to athletes in this country while paying teachers and law enforcement agents nothing while at the same time failing to understand why these athletes so often cannot even speak the English language, turn into criminals, or become bankrupt within five years of time they leave their respective leagues. I also cannot understand why we do not put more effort into musical talents when we also put so love into our musicians and their bands in this country. Their talents are revered as much as athletes, yet in schools music is always pushed aside even if students put music at the forefront. At the same time I tend to disagree a little because unfortunately I do not see our country running successfully if we all try to be creative and do not try to push to be the best in the math and sciences. Our business cannot run without people and if we lose people to creativity then it could hurt our national status as if it is not already wounded enough. In closing, though I do not see enough of our corporations being at a loss of employees because people suddenly wanted to take up music or art.

Blog Post # 3 By: Seth Brownlee Ch. 9

It is very important for teachers to be life long learners. Teachers should make it a high priority stay informed on the latest information, both in their content area and in the technology feild. It is important for teachers to follow the NETS standards this way they will be sure to cover all the material that is set for the year and particular grade level. There different ways teachers use technology. They use it for personal reasons, administrative, and academic reasons. a lot of these uses is considered sending and making e-mails. when they are using the academic part they help students use and find resources, and encourage students to produce, solve problems, communicate, think critically and creativitely, explore and learn content more deeeply. There are many things in the characteristics of effective personal development: consider the needs and learning styles of teachers, present information in authentic context with direct links to classrooms and provide feedback while teachers try new strategies in their classrooms, Allow time to reflect and experience, and are social in nature, allowing teachers to interact with colleagues and mentors. There are three steps in the technology professional development process: 1. entry 2. adaptation 3. transformation. According to Cook and Fine time is the number one reason teachers do not get developed in technology, they just think that they will not have enough time to learn how to use a certain activity. Cook and Fine state that schools should set aside time for teachers to undergo learning activities; this will make it possible for teachers to participate in on going learning. Teachers need to have acess to technology, they cant use it and introduce it to students if they do not have acess to it. Teachers also must have knowledge and training in the specific technology that way they can teach it to students. In this chapter it shows many different tools for personal development of teachers.

Blog Post 3: Video Response (by: Tewanna)

The video Deep Learning: An Interview with Elena Aguilar was provocative. Given the fact that research supports learning through integrating studies and different modalities, translation of this is not evident in the classroom. Ms. Aguilar stated that there are some socio-economic groups who do not learn well from 50-minutes of reading in a textbook and class lectures. While integrating studies and using different modalities is more complicated and time-consuming, it is well worth it if students are being challenged to improve their comprehension and retention of material.

Ms. Aguilar addressed several key issues plaguing new teachers. In response to those issues, she suggested that teachers make instruction as authentic and connected to the students' "real-life" as possible. I thought it was interesting that Ms. Aguilar did not "knock" standards; she believes that you can meet standards and the needs of your individual students, respectively. She did not, however, sugar-coat the fact that it will take hard work and dedication, and that we must first understand the curriculum and standards. She advised that we should make small steps (poems, guest speakers). Another good idea that was suggested from the video is to make connections with colleagues and think about it as a long-term goal to prevent frustration.

The video was dead on it, in my view. I do not think that we should continue to spin our wheels over having too many standards to meet, but expend that energy into designing exemplary lessons. I also think that teachers need to take a more active role in selecting textbooks and technology. There has to be a happy medium; we just need to explore ways of finding it.

Blog Post 2: By Initia van Tonder

I thought the lecture delivered by Sir Ken Robinson was extremely interesting, especially since I just completed my digital story on incorporating music into education. Like any other institution that exists today, it is always very helpful to understand the foundations of why and how it came into being. Understanding the basis for the public education system as a tool directed specifically towards the industrial and corporate environment, it is understandable why there seems to be such a lack of creativity in the classroom. I can remember several occasions where the choices that I made in education where based specifically on the notion of how I would be able to apply that in the "real world." Often I had to stear away from the things I loved, like music, because I was under the impression that it was of no use to me in the future. I think that redefining and re-evaluating the importance of creative expression as a tool for education is essential and completely agree with the notion that creativity is just as important as literacy in education. I especially liked Sir Robinson's point about intelligence being diverse, dynamic, and distinct. If we all learn in different and unique ways, how can it be the standard that all students are educated to attain the same goals for the future? Like an issue I addressed in my digital story, it is constantly being shown that having the arts and outlets for creative expression in schools, actually improves student's academic achievement. I feel that it is essential that we explore that idea further, and like Mr. Robinson said, think about the amazingly unpredictable and differnt future that children being educated today will face. Though it seems like a daunting task to re-evaluate the trusted and age old system of education, it does not seem possible to ignore the fact, like the depreciation of the value of a college diploma, that education is changing. I believe it is our job as future educators, and even parents, to explore the possibilites of alternative ways of learning and teaching.

Creativity and Literacy in the Classroom

Sir Ken states, "Creativity is as important as literacy in education, and we should treat it with the same status." Do you agree, disagree or fall somewhere in between?

According to this quote by Sir Ken, creativity is as important as literacy in education. I cannot help but agree with him whole heartily. I feel that creativity is what determines the great students from the good students. Unfortunately, many students believe that they can 'regurgitate' knowledge back to the teacher on a test, a written assignment or worksheet, but it takes a truly creative and very bright student to create something completely unique. I do believe that creativity is as important as literacy. I also believe that creativity should be treated with the same status because creativity allows students to exemplify their knowledge in new and sometimes unusual ways. In order for students to be creative with something they must first demonstrate adequate knowledge or literacy of the topic. Creativity allows students to move beyond their knowledge of the topic into actually demonstrating the application of that knowledge. I once heard that "you have to know the rules to break the rules" and I truly believe that literacy is important, but it is incredible when you see a student think on their own for the first time, without regard to a set of instructions or directions. We as teachers will give students the tools they need and the 'rules' to follow, but they must know when to use their imaginations as well. I feel that if we elevate literacy over creativity we would loose any creditability we had established in trying to help students to become life long learners. We would loose our future Leonardo DaVincis or Larry Pages and Sergey Brins (Google creators) or Mark Twains. These people are some of the most successful and world changing people in history. We do a great disservice to students by not allowing creativity to be as important as literacy and without creativity we could loose the future.

By: Anna Davison

Creativity vs. Literacy

After viewing the video, my thoughts on the discussion prompt question are as follows:

Creativity is an important part of education. I am on the fence when it comes to creativity being “as important as literacy.” Literacy is the foundation of our society and is, in my opinion, the chief cornerstone of developed countries. However, I do believe that creativity is necessary for progressivism inside and outside of the classroom. Much of what we do today is based on creative, out-of-the-box thinking. Many of the inventions we enjoy today were found by accident. Thus, the nurturing of those students who have creative tendencies should not be neglected.

I also do not necessarily agree with teaching creativity (not all kids are programmed the same way) or giving it the same credence as literacy. As educators, we have taken a pledge to educate our pupils based on certain standards and with proven teaching strategies. Nevertheless, educators have a chief role in not stifling the creativity in our students. Instead, we should nudge those creative juices along. An effective teacher/school system is one that is able to embrace creativity while not leaving the most important (fundamental) works undone.

-Tewanna (a.k.a. Busteacher)

Sam Elam's Blog Post #2

Sir Ken's video was enjoyable and poignant. A point that he made that I found particularly engaging was when he said, "creativity is as important as literacy." As educators, we are all concerned with math, english, social studies, science, and then the arts are listed last. He accused teachers of "educating the creativity out of their students" by not allowing equal time for the core subjects and the arts. Students' creativity should not be stifled but embraced. As an educator it is our job to see our students' strengths and positively enforce them. There is an increased emphasis in schools that all children should learn the same things at the same rate, for example, the No Child Left Behind Act. That is why diversity of instruction according to learning styles is so important. We should not be afraid to let our students fail or let our students be afraid of failing themselves. We need to teach them to take risks and do what they love and channel it.

Blog # 2By: Seth Brownlee - Response to Ted talks

This video was great! I enjoyed watching the whole twenty minutes of it. I agree with everything that the man speaking said. I have felt this way about education all along through my college years, but been unable to say it with the precision that the man speaking used. My dad has been a teacher for the past 19 yrs so growing up I heard over and over from him how education was not meeting the needs of the new generations because it focuses on only very few parts of the total mind and imagination. I have seen friends growing up through school and now see students that I work with in feild placement that are cheated by modern educaton. They are meant to think that because they arent good in one particular subject that they are not smart and won't do good in school. It is abvious to me to see why the drop out rates are so large and why so many kids hate school. We make kids sit in a building all day and stay quiet while taking tests for three to four hours at a time. This seems like torture to me and I know it does to them too. I do believe what the speaker said, that imagination is just as important as literacy and we ought to spen just as much time letting kids use their artistic, kinesthetic, dance skills as teaching them math and reading. The speaker said that education is divers wich I completely agree with because there are so many types of intelligences that we have learned from Howard Gardiner. For we as educators to say becuase a student did poorly on a crtain test tha they are not intelligent is the worste thing we could ever do. I am excited to see the revolution that is going to take place within the next couple of years in education.

Shaun Boyd Blog Post 1

Like many of you I happened to choose Mrs. Huffs English class blog.  As stated previously it is a blog directed at the students, who cosist of 9th - 12th grade.  There is a daily posting which we have all seen that consists of assignments for that day.  This blog "works" because it transfers accountibility from the teacher to the student.  The teacher has provided an outlet to the students that shows them what is covered during absences and such.  It also gives the teacher a defense against angry parents.  However, it also lets the parents be aprised of what is going on in the class room thus keeping them informed from sneaky kids who lie to thier parents (you know you all have done it from time to time as a student).  This is a great way to keep parent involvement up in addition to giving the student every opportunity to catch up, which is what teacher's are obligated to do now.

The second one I looked at was the 8th grade history blog.  This blog is about US History.  So in looking over this I will just say "wow".  It is full of information such as podcasts, text posts, and videos.  There is alot of work that goes into this.  I happend to watch a video of him and his classroom and you can really get a feel for how the students are reacting to the way he teaches.  This blog is for everyone and sets no parameters to learn, this is probably the most fascinating blog i have run across.  The students keep up with class, the parents keep up with what students are doing and then everyone else just gets well informed.

Sam Elam - Blog Post #1

I looked at Eric Langhorst's 8th grade American History blog, who is currently Missouri's teacher of the year. Each blog he had posted was educational and about his content area - history. The audience for this blog could be parents, students and also future teachers. He posted lessons and ways to teach history for future educators to learn from and get material from. He also posted pictures and videos of places he had been for students to view, such as Ellis Island. The purpose of this blog I believe is to help teachers or future teachers get ideas and information from his experiences in the classroom. Also, to provide resources and information for his students. The last post on this blog was 10/30/08 so he is definitely still using it and posting. I really enjoyed looking over this blog because it had so many ideas for teaching certain topics, videos demonstrating the lessons, great videos of historical places and his explanation of it all. I believe the blog has potential in the classroom when used correctly and appropriately. Even out of the classroom blogging serves a great purpose by distributing information. It can function in any way you want it to really, it just depends on the purpose you want it to serve.

The second blog I looked at was Mrs. Huff's English Classes. Each blog is a reflection and description of activities done that day. It is for Mrs. Huff herself, other educators, her students, and parents. This blog has many purposes. It is a reflection space for Mrs. Huff, a catch-up tool for students that miss class, and it is a touchstone for the class because it provides information about their subjects and assignments. It also provides information for other educators and great lesson ideas. In a sense, it keeps the door of the classroom open to parents by allowing them to see what their students are doing. The blog is used most every day and is still being used. I think this blog is great because it keeps everyone in her classes on the same page and she provides information in writing that is accessible anywhere. Also, as an educator it is important to reflect on past lessons and this allows Mrs. Huff to do that. It keeps her lessons available to her and makes planning each year easier I am sure. This blog could work outside the classroom for Mrs. Huff's personal reflection as well.

Blog #1 Seth Brownlee "Our class blog"

I viewed the blog titled: "Our class' blog." This was a blog set up by a teacher for her first grade students to use and post their blogs. I found the blogs very interesting, there were cartoon looking pictures of the teacher and the other students when you looked at their names. The pictures looked like pictures they some how drew on the computer and installed them to their blog. The site was also set up with a section for teacher and student comments. It looked like this class blog was being used so students could communicate with other class mates or even just have another way to do writing activities besides paper and pencil writing. The teacher must have helped the students alot because they were only first grader and when you read their blog postings you could tell they could not spell or write well yet. I think the audience for the blog is the teacher and other students. The reason I think this is because the teacher has plases set up on the blog for teacher and student blogs and assignments. I looked like when reading the student blogs they were communicating back and forth to the teacher. The purpose of the blog is so the teachers and students can show what they are doing in their classroom. I can see clearly that this blog is still being used, because I read some blogs from students that posted new writing this October. I think the blogging tool does have potential in the class room, it gives teachers a way to get their students involved using technology and it's a great way to share ideas. The only problem I can see with blogging in the classroom is the lack of time to spend teaching students how to do it.


The second blog I looked at was titled "Technology Article" blogging, my dear Watson it's elementary. It looked as though it was created by a fourth grade teacher who reall was encouraging educators to use blogging in their own classroom. It had lots of information about how to get started blogging. It also had bloggs that talked about using this kind of technology in elementary school. The author wrote about how elemetary school students write better when they kno they will have a real life audience. The author said that used to be had but now students can write through blogger and can publish their writing on the web. The audience for this blogg was other educators and people interested to see how technology could be used in the classroom. The purpose of this blog is to get people interested in blogging by telling them why they should blog. It is also showing the progress being made usng blogger with fourth grade students. From what I can tell this blog is still beig used and updated periodically. I think using the blogs in the elementary school class room is great, it just seems like it would take alot of teacher supervision becuase it will be complicated getting the students started.

Blog Post 1: Initia van Tonder

Blackboard: "K-12 Online Learning in the 21st Century: Report and Podcast"
One of the blogs that I checked out was based from a website called
"Blackboard". It is a blogging site that ranges from k-12, and invites the participation of teachers, parents, and students alike. There are a variety of specific blogs that you can look at, and I choose to look at "K-12 Online Learning in the 21st Century: Report and Podcast." I thought it was pretty appropriate since we have been discussing and exploring ideas and products based on e-learning.
A link from the Blackboard forum lead me to the actual blogging site. The blog is aimed at getting teachers to give their feedback about experiences that they have had with not only their students, but also their admistration, as they work towards incorporating educational technology into the classroom through this Online Learning in the 21st Century program. Teachers are invited to share their views and experiences on topics and issues such as the tracking of students who suffer from ADD in the e-learning environment, data or information about success of programs like the 21st Century program in smaller schools, the types of equipment that teachers are incorporating into the classroom for e-learning, and many many more issues. The blog provides helpful links to podcasts, as well as any other websites that contributors discuss or address. This site is active and very current. Teachers seem to be very eager to contribute their thoughts and plans about e-learning, particulary because it is such a new phenomenon. I feel that this blogging tool is a great way to promote communication between teachers from not only all over the United States, but also all over the world.
This particular tool has great potential for teachers in and out of the classroom. It promotes an environment of perpetual communication and sharing that is aimed specifically at helping the teaching community. Teachers could and do easily use this tool to discuss educational issues in and outside of the classroom.

The second blogging website that I looked at was called "weblog-edu." It was a blogging site set up specifically for the first k12 online convention about incorporating educational tools into the classroom. Teachers where able to use this site to post their ideas about prompts for the convention, or issues that they believed where important and necessary for discussion at the confrence. This site dates back to 2006, so it was very helpful and innovative for teachers who where just beginning to get introduced to technology in the classroom. The blog framework was based on a weekly evualtion of the progressions of the confrence, starting with week 1: "A Week in the Classroom" Week one was based on issues that teachers where facing as they began training with the new technological tools, and how this might serve to be problematic in the classroom. Week two: "Personal Proffesional Development" was aimed at discussing ideas about how to develop and expand your own (the teacher's) proffesional use of the technological tools, as well as considering how individual knowledge could be used to enhance the greater school community. There was a variety of teachers from all over the country who where giving their comments and proposals in accordance with the conventional prompts. This site, however, seems to be inactive at this point. It was clearly very useful at the time of the confrence, and though it is no longer in active use, it is still a helpful tool because the teacher blogs are still present and available. Perhaps struggling teachers could draw inspiration from those who pioneered the incorporation of technology in the classroom. I feel that this blog is a very helpful tool, for in, or out of the classroom use. Again, like with the previous website, it promotes an attitude of co-operation and progression amongst educators.

The first blog that I viewed was the blog from the teacher of year out in Missouri Mr. Langhourst. I thought since he taught history then he might have some useful information for me since I too want to teach social studies in the future. It was cool because students could go onto his website and check out all of his pod casts that were going with the lessons of the current week, and of course as soon as the screen popped up much of it was about the current presidential election. He had a lot of useful “stuff” on there about how the school was participating in a mock election, and how exactly the school was doing it. The blog clearly has different audiences, many times it is the parents when they want to see what is going on the classroom, but if the students want to get a deeper understanding of what is going on in the classroom: such as the cool lesson that he has on the Declaration of Independence and the Election through pod casting then they could. The purpose of this blog was to be informative to his students, fellow teachers in how they teach students, and parents if they want to know what is going on with their students education. This blog is still very active he continues to post pictures of activities that he does when he is away from the classroom and most recently he posted something from the election after Obama won with “President in Transition and a link to his website. I think this tool is great I love how he utilized this tool in that it is not so much used as a way to make his students do work through technology, but a way to help them, inform, and allow them to get to know him on a level that is their own.
The next blog that I used was Ms. Huff’s English class and thought that this was very much a different turn from the one that I viewed earlier. However, that does not mean it was bad just different. I t was certainly a very informative blog and was used for the students and parents to keep them updated on the assignments for the next and upcoming days if they happen to miss anything then they could make it up. However there did not seem to be very much technology utilized within this blog, but the students and the parents did stay updated. It does appear that the blog is still up and running and the teacher keeps everyone updated on the events going on within all of her classrooms. I think it could be good tool especially reminding students of the safety issues on the web and maybe adding a little technology to the blog.

Blog Post #1 by Anna Davison

The first blog that I looked at was for Mrs. Huff's English Classes. On this particular blog, Mrs. Huff seemed to direct most of the blog postings to the Students and the Parents or any others who may be interested in what upcoming assignments and events are taking place within her class room. Her students range from 9th Grade, 11th Grade and 12th Grade. It is specified on each posting who the posting or comment is directed towards. The purpose of this blog is to help students and parents to keep up with assignments, changes in their assignments and grade posting updates. I found that this would be very useful in any class when or if a student should miss an assignment or be out of school for a period of time; this would work excellently to keep everyone up to date on what is going on within the class. The blog is updated at least weekly from what I have read. That is the minimum it seems to keep students posted on assignments. I certainly found this tool very useful for the classroom in that it would be excellent for keeping assignments posted so that none of the students are unaware of any work. I really liked this blog. I found it very simple and easy to navigate and I truly believe that this blog is very useful for both students and teachers in the classroom because it will make organization and keep information easily available for parents and students.



The second blog that I viewed was a blog by Dean Meyer for his 5th grade class. I believe that his audience is his students as well as their parents. This blog is used in correlation with the classroom in that students are kept aware of upcoming assignments as well as allowing them to post assignments or post comments on this page. The purpose of this blog is to keep students as well as parents informed of the work that they are responsible for as well as allowing students a different avenue for students to do their work. This blog is being used regularly by the teacher as well as the students. The teacher seems to post sporadically; however, the students appear to post almost daily. Students can post responses to homework or other assignments. One comment by a student was a paper written by a fifth grader through the eyes of 'Bigfoot'. I found this great. I really liked the blog and found that obviously the teacher uses this blog on a regular basis to teach his students. I was amazed that fifth graders are using this blog as much as they are. It is a great way to get kids interested technology while teaching them something related to content as well. I think that this tool certainly has potential for the classroom because it is an easy way to keep assignments, homework, and other assignments easily available for students, parents and teachers to see.

K-12 Blog Evaluation by Busteacher

The first blog I visited was Mr. Meyer’s 5th grade blog. Mr. Meyer has not utilized the blog that often since the beginning of the school year. The blog appears to be used in the classroom as a tool for the teacher to periodically update the students and for students to comment on things done in the classroom. This is a way for parents to stay informed of what the students are doing, as well. The blog is still being used with the most recent posting on October 24. Blogging is a great idea in and outside of the classroom as it opens the lines of communication between the teacher and the students. Some students will never take an active role inside of the classroom, but they may voice their opinion in a blog entry. However, blogging appears to take a great deal of time/work on the part of the teacher who has to read the comments and (hopefully) respond to each one of them. Also, you would inevitably have those students who will attempt to abuse the platform by saying inappropriate things. All in all, blogging is a great communication tool for teachers, students, parents, and administrators. It also gives the students extra practice in composing sentences!

The second blog I visited was Mrs. Huff’s 9th-12th English class. This blog is used in direct concert with the classroom. The teacher has posted weekly syllabi for each of her classes as well as links to notes and handouts for student s who were absent. Students, parents, and administrators would be the intended audience, as well as other teachers. The purpose of the blog is to organize the four English classes in an electronic format so that the students have all the tools they need to succeed. The teacher is requiring the students to be proactive in their education and take responsibility for the work they have missed. This blog appears to be still in use with the last weekly entry posted on October 20 (Tech Tip). Blogging is a great tool that has potential inside and outside of the classroom. In this particular blog, students who have missed assignment due to illnesses can retrieve notes/handouts from home. Also, the parents can have an active role in pushing the students to succeed if they know the agenda for the week.

-Tewanna Brown