Sunday, April 10, 2011
Kindergarten Word Map
I can't get my word map to come up as a gadget. If this works I am leaving it here.
Blogging in Kindergarten...
Classroom blogging has become the hot thing in middle elementary, middle school and high schools. They are fairly easy to use and are great because they are easily accessible by students in their homes and other places outside of school. The McGraw-Hill Series article, Teaching Today: Teaching Tips, Lesson Plans and More listed four basic functions of blogging in the classroom:
1. Classroom Management - Blogs are easy to create and maintain by teachers and students. This is a great way for teachers to post information, assignments, newsletters and have an active question and answer board for parents and students.
2. Collaboration -Students can work on pieces of writing and get instant feedback from their teacher and/or other students. It can also be used as a mentoring program where older grade levels work with younger students to help them develop better writing skills.
3. Discussions -A class blog allows all members of the class to have the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions on a topic. It allows students to have time to think and reflect on what they want to say.
4. Student Portfolios - Individual student blogs are an organized way to protect student work. The information is stored by date so progress is easily seen just by scrolling through the different entries. Students and teachers can conference and students are more motivated to produce good work because they know others can view their entries.
Remembering back to my schooling, I was one of the students who lacked confidence in every aspect of my education. I can remember being called on and just putting my head down and saying "I don't know" even when I knew the answers. I was too afraid of messing up or being wrong. Honestly I still HATE speaking in front of others (except my 5 year olds.) Blogging is a great way to get all students actively involved in their education...reading, writing, and all other subject areas. Besides the fact that people are not staring at them, they have a chance to look over what they are going to publish - instead of saying something and wishing they could take it back. It is also COOL to type on the computer. Kids that aren't very interested in school will most likely think that blogging is super cool!
One of the best things about blogging is the how much it allows students the opportunity to write, revise, write, get feedback, and write some more. It just seems so much more appealing to students than writing a piece and getting it back with several red marks on it, only to have to rewrite it again.
1. Classroom Management - Blogs are easy to create and maintain by teachers and students. This is a great way for teachers to post information, assignments, newsletters and have an active question and answer board for parents and students.
2. Collaboration -Students can work on pieces of writing and get instant feedback from their teacher and/or other students. It can also be used as a mentoring program where older grade levels work with younger students to help them develop better writing skills.
3. Discussions -A class blog allows all members of the class to have the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions on a topic. It allows students to have time to think and reflect on what they want to say.
4. Student Portfolios - Individual student blogs are an organized way to protect student work. The information is stored by date so progress is easily seen just by scrolling through the different entries. Students and teachers can conference and students are more motivated to produce good work because they know others can view their entries.
Remembering back to my schooling, I was one of the students who lacked confidence in every aspect of my education. I can remember being called on and just putting my head down and saying "I don't know" even when I knew the answers. I was too afraid of messing up or being wrong. Honestly I still HATE speaking in front of others (except my 5 year olds.) Blogging is a great way to get all students actively involved in their education...reading, writing, and all other subject areas. Besides the fact that people are not staring at them, they have a chance to look over what they are going to publish - instead of saying something and wishing they could take it back. It is also COOL to type on the computer. Kids that aren't very interested in school will most likely think that blogging is super cool!
One of the best things about blogging is the how much it allows students the opportunity to write, revise, write, get feedback, and write some more. It just seems so much more appealing to students than writing a piece and getting it back with several red marks on it, only to have to rewrite it again.
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