Blog Assignment 11

I want to start off by saying that Ms. Cassidy is wonderful. I am sure that it takes a lot of patience to teach this kind of technology to a first grade class. While watching the video it is obvious that her students are very enthusiastic about working on their blogs and learning all about using technology. She mentioned in her interview that instead of writing on paper and turning the paper in to her they use their blog. I think that this is great. The students know that their post will be seen by many other students and bloggers this will encourage them to do well on their writing and it makes it more fun or them. The students also have the opportunity to talk with other classes through skype in their classroom, students their age and in college that have been reading their blog. I believe that skype is a great tool to be used in the class. It makes learning exciting for the students, to be able to get to know the people that comment on their blog and to share ideas. Another very important aspect of teaching students technology such as this is that they must know the importance of safety on the internet. Ms. Cassidy’s class seemed to be very aware of the rules to be followed while using the internet.

When I do get my own classroom I would like to start a classroom blog like Ms. Cassidy’s. I will be teaching at the middle school level in history. It would be beneficial to the students to be able to communicate with other history classes that also have blogs. They could even skype with these other classes and share new information that they have learned in class. I have also thought about having my class do different projects and then have them present their projects on skype, with the other class being the audience, and also posting it on the class blog. This would encourage the students to do well since they will be preparing these projects for many people to see. The possibilities are really endless. As Ms. Cassidy said, she is always looking to “push the envelope”.