Weekly Blog #1

Blogs have so much potential. I used to think that they were only for people to talk about themselves and complain, but they can be used for so much more. I never realized.

Teachers all over the world use blogs. Some use them for their classes to post assignments, share ideas, publish writing, and get feedback. Teachers can create them for the entire class to use, or individual students can set up their own. For example...
For me, using it for such reasons makes blogs similar to Blackboard, which many colleges use, but I've never heard of any elementary school using anything like it. There were many times growing up that I could have used help with a math problem or editing a paper. When kids have access to immediate feedback from either their teacher or their peers they are more likely to do complete homework assignments. It also saves a lot of time being stressed or confused and makes kids more eager and willing to learn. What teacher wouldn't want happy, hard-working students?

Blogs can be very helpful for students who miss school. The teacher can post the homework and students can access it at home or in a library. This would also be helpful for forgetful students and those who need more instructions. Blogs can also work the other direction. Students can post or comment their questions for the teacher. One class even used their blog to wish their teacher well when she was sick.

The last thing that was previously unknown to me was all of the blogs out there that provide teachers with help. Any kind of help they could possible need. There are blogs specifically for Music teachers, Children's books, science lesson plans, and even finding a job teaching. If teachers ever get stumped or have trouble teaching a specific topic to a class that just isn't getting it, they can ask a teacher with the same problem how he/she solved it. Plus, that teacher could be on the other side of the country and it wouldn't matter.

Or, if the teacher was really on top of things, they would already be subscribed to quality blogs and the new ideas would just come to them. Ah, I love Google Reader...