Teaching to reach every single student

Blogging 101 motivates students

This article talks about a first grade teacher who is using blogging as an instruction tool with her students.

I really loved this quote:

Yet Cassidy (the teacher) never intended to take classroom technology so far. She
has been teaching for more than 20 years and struggles to even work a
VCR.

However, when the classroom received five new computers in 2000,
Cassidy wanted the machines put to use. She learned how to create a
class Web site with lessons and education games, but soon wanted more.

In 2005, Cassidy launched the blogging program. The hope, she said, was to inspire and challenge her students.

Blogged with Flock

I reported earlier about working I had been doing to help other teachers set up blogs to use with their students.

For the last week or two, this work has taken up an increasingly large part of my time. And it’s been great.

Here’s a snapshot:

• A 6th grade humanities teacher will be using a class blog to have her bookclubs be in communication with her and one another.

• A 7th grade english teacher is using her class blog to have her students post (and later respond to) their essay projects.
• A 7th and 8th grade foreign language teacher is using a blog to do some work with her students and has set up podcasts featuring (for now) visiting foreign students performing dialogues. Next, she will have her students write and record their own dialogue podcasts in order to prepare for a proficiency exam.

The most exciting part for me is seeing how they can use these tools. I have learned so much from working with them.