Since I have been using this blog for a couple months now, I decided that I have had enough time to think about how I might use a blog in my own classroom.
I've decided that I think it would be great to create a blog and let parents know about it and use it as a way to bring your classroom inside the students' homes. I would envision the blog as a way to communicate with parents, offer resources that could be used at home, and also to keep parents updated as to what is going on in the classroom. I could post the week's homework to let parents know what to look for in backpacks and/or what they could be working on at home with their children. I would NOT use the blog for anything negative. I would only use it to communicate the positives of what was going on in the classroom. There are plenty of other ways to communicate with parents for the negative things when necessary. I would also post websites that students and parents could visit together, pertaining to what we were doing in class. I would make it my goal to update the blog once a week, probably over the weekend. This way parents and students would know what was coming up in the next week. However, I would try my best to check the blog throughout the week to keep up on communication with parents. In thinking about privacy issues I would need to be sure that parents and students know that if they are trying to communicate about something personal or that only pertains to their child alone that the blog would probably not be the best place to communicate, but rather through email or over the phone would be best in those types of situations.
I am sure that there are some things that I have left out and/or not thought through the best. I am open to suggestions and thoughts as to how you see this working in my classroom!
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I think this is a great idea...and good for the environment (using less paper than a typical newsletter)! When I was in the classroom there was nothing more frustrating then finding the newsletter that I had sent home still in the backpack seemingly untouched. Maybe this would be more user friendly for parents....and for the teacher for that matter. You could do it from home and wouldn't have to worry about copies!
ReplyDeleteI think it's good that you think of the privacy issues, which can create some problem and lead to security issue if not handled with care. I personally think that blogs are best used for students to showcase, collaborate, and exchange ideas and for parents to track their children's performance and progress.
ReplyDeleteAlso, keep thinking about ways students could actually utilize a blog. There are privacy issues to be concerned with as well, but getting the students to write and reflect could be a powerful medium.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, anything to cut down on paper!
ReplyDelete