In my pre-kindergarten classroom, I would create a classroom blog to communicate with parents, post student work, and provide a resource network. November in Web Literacy for Educators tell us “[r]esearch suggests that parental involvement is a huge indicator of a student’s success in school” (November, 2008). I feel that a blog would give me a better platform to communicate with parents then a paper copy of my usual newsletter.
Independent blogging is beyond the ability of my pre-emergent readers and writers however; I do feel that they would benefit from participating in the creation process, as well as making post and responding to comments through sentence dictation, Podcasts and digital photograph. Academically speaking, blogging classroom events would give my students the opportunity to practice such skills as restating, retelling, and communicating for a specific purpose.
Blogging is our opportunity as educators to change the face of how America’s youth view writing. It is an excellent way to spark student interest and foster independent thinking because students feel valued and empowered. Dr. Thornburg calls creativity the “cornerstone element of education”. (Laureate Education, Inc., 2007). As a pre-kindergarten teacher, I am a firm believer that the process of how one achieves success is far greater than the product.
Resources
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2007). Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society [Motion picture]. Teacher as professional. Baltimore.
November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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9 comments:
What will you do for the families without computer access? How can you foster student interest in blogging without a foundation of computer skills?
In my school, we have more students without computers than students with them. It is difficult to meet the needs of all students that do not have the same access to computers. Our students have the opportunity to go to the computer lab once a week, however it is with the computer teacher. Each classroom contains three computers for student use. However, that does not include pre-k.
Are you able to provide computer use for your pre-k students? What kind of computer skills do they have? I think the answers to these questions would show how effective blogging would be to those students at that level.
My classroom has two student computers. We currently visit the schools computer lab once a week for 45 minutes. I have been focusing on "clicking" and "dragging" using Star Fall.com.
I think my best approach to setting up a blog would be a whole group approach utilizing a projector. Even though most of my student are from the inner city, quite a few of my parents have data capable cel phones and there is a branch of the public library in the neighborhood. The purpose of my blog will be to keep parents abreast of classroom/school events and resources. Independent blogging for my student will be possible for them in later grades as their reading/writing levels develop.
According to a 2005 Netday survey, "the fastest growing age group for using the Internet is 2-to-5 year olds" (Richarson, 2009, p.7). Exposing young students to quality websites and the concept of blogging is an excellent way to lay the foundation for the use of technology as learning tools for years to come. As a Pre-K teacher, I am sure that you are just as amazed with the knowledge that your students bring to the classroom in regards to computers as I am with my Kindergarten students.
In addition to providing information for the parents, you mentioned that you would use a classroom blog to exhibit student work and reflections upon classroom activities. How would you elicit the parents to become an active audience? Would you only post on specific days for consistency? Younger students may lose interest and may not gain a clear understanding of what a blog entails if feedback is not gained on a relatively frequent basis. I look forward to hearing your opinion.
Sorry! I forgot to attach my reference.
Reference:
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Julie,
My intial reaction which has already been posted is to ask you what you plan to do for parents who do not have internet access. Would it be possible for you to mesh and blog and weekly (take home) letter in one? They could contain the same information but this way you could have families sign up to recieve what method would met their needs best. I love your ideas about communicating with parents. Very easily they would be able to access a spot that would contain pertinent information. You could post everything from school lunches to field trip dates to recent lessons and examples of work. I also like that you want the students to be a part of the creative process. To summarize Richardson, blogs lend themselves to many endless possibilities. This new genre opens the doors for "connective writing" which will bring about a different way to express ideas using critical information. Great thoughts and thanks for sharing!
Robyn
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin Press
Julie,
It is difficult to think about pre-k students getting involved in blogging. I think that getting the students involved in the blogs through sentence dictation and digital photograph is a great idea! I know that we are talking about four and five year olds. Do you provide links to useful websites on your newsletter? Parents can really get involved with a blog. Could you incorporate parent/child activities on your blog? Could you provide a blog for parents and teachers. This could be a great communication tool! You have some great ideas! I have a four year old and I look forward to reading more of your comments.
Julie,
Your ideas sound terrific. I was just curious as to how well your students know the computers. How independent are they? I know in our elementary the pre-k students have regular computer lab times, as well as, student computers in the classroom. How open to blogging would the parents of your students be? I have run into the problem of one student in my class not having permission to submit work, photographs, etc. on the internet. I am still working to come up with a way to make this student feel a part of what we are doing. How would you handle this situation?
Allison
I think by doing it as a group you will certainly be equipping them with what they need to know at that age about blogs. The main thing is that educators "are clear about the expectations and reasoning behind it" (Richardson, 2009, p. 46). I think it is exciting that you are trying to incorporate blogs with your students even though it would be hard for them to do this independently. Modeling is a great way for them to learn how to blog.
Resources:
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Julie,
Great ideas about using photos and podcasts on the blog! You are setting up a foundation for when they finally do read and write. That is a great way to let your students be involved in the creating process and to see their work show cased.
I just have two questions: how will you get parents started on the blog? I'm thinking if you send home a newsletter you will probably put the information there, but do you have any ideas on promoting participation? Our school awards "dress down days" (no uniform days) to students who return parent signatures on the monthly newsletter. Sometimes incentives pay off!
My second question: what kind of clearance do you have to get to include photos or video of your students on your blog? (If it is open to the public)
Best of luck with your blogging! It sounds like an activity your students and parents will really enjoy!
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