RSS Feed (Real Simple Syndication)

How great is this?  Everything you want is now at your fingertips.  No need to re-google to find a blog, just add it to your RSS feed and use Google Reader.  I didn't think I would enjoy this but now as I continue to follow blogs this allows me to check them out quickly and efficently in one central location.  Check out the following video to get you started with RSS...

Blogging in the Elementary Classroom

community, creativity, innovative, excitement, motivation, sharing, communication, audience, home/school connection, involved

Kids Can Blog Too!

First graders blogging?!?!  I figured this was an activity reserved for much older children but these kids are making iMovies and posting them on their blogs.  I am amazed.  Looking at the benefits of these activities takes my amazement to a whole different level.  These children are able to purposefully share their learning with others.  In reading the article Online Collaborative Inquiry: Classroom Blogging Ventures and Multiple Literacies it notes how children are finding their "voice" and were quite excited when participating in a genuine writing activity such as this.  How are they not to get excited?  They are sharing information with people all over the world and when they respond and make comments what a great motivator for a young child!  I relate it to in my childhood receiving a letter in the mail.  It was a pretty exciting day to get mail! (And yes I am talking about snail mail.)  Additionally as students share information they are reinforcing their own learning.  I typically believe if a child is able to explain their learning to someone else, they are demonstrating their understanding of their own learning.  And guess what -- while they are doing this they are also working on their writing skills!  Another embedded skill in which they are practicing.

The use of technology in the classroom further allows the outside world of various sorts to come into the classroom.  Through Skype, blogging even twittering the information in which students can access and the individuals which can be consulted are endless.  Further a website called Quad Blogging connects classrooms around the world to work on common projects. 

Again, it seems as if with the use of technology, the possibilities are endless.

Blogging for a Better PreK

While I can't expect my students to begin blogs and wikis I am beginning to see how I as their teacher can use them to better my teaching, get ideas, and connect with other professionals to better my classroom and teaching.  In searching the web I have found a couple great PreK blogs including Not Just Cute and Pre-K Pages. I also found a a blog specific to preschool Special Ed: Learning to Grow.  I have found limited resources specific to preschool special ed so to find a blog is quite intriguing.



I have already gotten ideas including the use of the app IEP Pal which helps track growth and progress based on the children's IEP goals and objectives. DATA! DATA! DATA! Who couldn't use some help tracking DATA!  

Another app mentioned includes Toddler Teasers.  Although the title seems as if its made for younger children, at times the objectives I have for children mimic the age of development of toddlers.  This app provides games for children to complete and tracks their progress and provides data of their current ability.  DATA! DATA! DATA!  The app then tells you what the next step for a particular child would be based on their current performance.  Can't wait to give this a try.

Also love the idea of Task Boxes which are different boxes to address different skills.  They are all planned out and all materials are housed and available in the box.  Being a "bin-aholic" I absolutely love this idea - so neat and organized.  All you have to do is pull a Task Box off the shelf and BAM there you go instant skill activity.


After looking through these blogs I am already excited about the possibilities.  I could spend hours surfing these blogs.

save a tree... start a blog.

Today I had a parent call asking to send home another copy of the lunch calendar which of course I agreed to do.  Wouldn't it just be easier to give her a web address to my classroom blog and she could go online and check it out?  Would also save a piece of paper.  Everyday I send home a preschool daily sheet which outlines what the children did today at school - how great it would be to have this up online and parents couldn't check into the classroom blog to obtain this information.  Better yet adding photos and work samples so parents could really see what is happening in our classroom.  My parents could see the L is for Lion craft we completed today instead of just reading about it on the daily sheet and trying to make sense of what this might be.  

 

Again this would also save at least 17 pieces of paper a day.

What about making it an even bigger movement and get the school involved.  Those monthly newsletters that get sent home that are equivalent to a mini novel.  That's a lot of paper there and then multiply that by the number of kids in the school.  Say goodbye to another tree.

The Meriwether Lewis Elementary School in Portland, OR has got the right idea.  If you check out their school website you instantly feel connected to the school.  You are able to visually see and then read about what is going on.  There are links for the PTA, classroom notes, teacher websites, and a student page.  I feel like I am connected to the school by checking out their website and I have never even been to this school or heard of it before reading the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. 

While I am not sure my preschool students are ready to get blogging I feel confident in my blogging abilities and see the impact my blog can have on families and students to share information both about our classroom, research, ideas for home, etc.  It just seems a much more streamlined and easier way to communicate information than what I am currently using in my classroom day to day.