Thing Four

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of blogs out there - how do you handle information overload and how do you think RSS might help with that?

 

I have spent a lot more time on “Thing Four” than I did on the other “Things” because I spent so much time exploring blogs.  The number of available blogs is immense.  I could spend hours on the exploration phase of this assignment.  I was having so much fun that I had to force myself to stop and answer this question before going on.  As with any new topic of learning, it does seem overwhelming.  I do think that over time as I continue to explore, subscribe, and read blogs, I will become more comfortable with them.  I’m sure that I will continually hone my blog lists and become more particular  about the new blogs to which I subscribe.  Google Reader will help me to gather, organize, and manage my blog lists.  I have also added these blogs to my dashboard and have downloaded an application on my phone so that I can read my blogs anytime.       

Thing Three

How might a blog support the work you do? How might you use a blog with students? How might they respond to a blog assignment? What concerns do you have about educational blogging?

I am an early elementary educator, and because of this have often felt that much of modern technology is beyond my learners, and therefore beyond me.  I have never considered myself to be "tech-savvy" or even "tech-interested."  I have always been open to learning about and using new technology, but never felt enabled to learn independently.  Also, I have never given much time to the business of technology exploration.  This course is forcing me to carve out this time.  I'm shocked to realize, that the time I'm spending is actually interesting and fun and I am learning a great deal. I am seeing that these topics could be appropriate for me and for my learners.  

I have always felt that teaching can be a very isolating profession.  Aside from professional development sessions, staff meetings, and a quick chat in the staff lounge, teachers are often left alone with students for large chunks of the day.  During my career I have felt a need to connect with other teachers, share ideas, and support each other.  As I have begun my exploration, I can see that educational blogs are an excellent way to create a community of teachers.  Blogs would be a way to support my work in that I would be part of a learning community of teachers who are "in the trenches" just like me every day.

As I begin to think about using blogs in an early elementary classroom, a few ideas come immediately to mind.  The first is the idea of connecting parents to the classroom and the learning that is taking place with their children.  Like the weekly newsletter, a blog could keep families informed of classroom and school information and events.  I can envision working with my students to create a weekly blog in which they are recalling what they have learned.  Parents are more likely to participate in classroom learning when the children are able to "show off" that learning, and blogs would be one way to do so.

I'm not sure how I would make a blog assignment for my young learners, but if I did, it would be with the family in mind.  During the school year I often make "family project assignments" that children are supposed to complete at home with the help of their families.  Perhaps there is a way to do this using blogs?  

I have several concerns and questions regarding educational blogging. As I have explored educational blogs on the Internet, I have been unable to find an example that is being used in an early childhood setting.  While I am able to find blogs created by early childhood educators, they are usually used to share lesson plans or to share thoughts about teaching young children.  Both of these types of blogs are useful, and often entertaining, but do not include a parent/child interaction component.  I will need to do a lot more exploration to see if something like this exists.  I'm also concerned about the families that I work with.  I am able to create an educational blog, introduce it and model its use to my students, and invite families to participate.  My concern is that many of the parents would be intimidated or unfamiliar with the use of such technology.  How could I make it more accessible for families?  

Maybe I am getting ahead of myself...one step at a time...on to "Thing Four."

Thing Two

I am participating in 23 Things because I would like to stay current with technology tools and teaching approaches.  In the past few years I have been increasingly perplexed by new technology tools and I have felt the learning gap slowly widening.  I don’t want to be a teaching professional who is scared of new technology, so I decided to take the plunge.  Let me just be clear here, technology is not my forte…not by a long shot…but I am going to persevere.   

While taking this class I hope to become familiar with technology tools and how they can be utilized in my “real world” classroom of young learners.  I am always looking for new ways to make teaching and learning more dynamic and meaningful.  I hope to use technology to help meet this goal.  I also hope to be able to offer technology and teaching information to my colleagues.

Writing on the Internet, in a place where anyone can read it, definitely causes me to think twice before I write.  I do differentiate the style of writing depending on the context.  For instance, I can be much more informal when writing posts on Facebook, which is a place for friends and family to share thoughts.  But I do feel that this class is a more formal setting, so I would like to sound a bit more professional.