Tech Play 1- Reflections

A blog is an online journal of sorts that is usually created by an individual to share their thoughts and ideas on either a specific subject, or just to share about their daily lives. Blogs can sometimes be considered online diaries. Blogs are typically updated on a regular basis and posts are written informally. The information posted can be shared with people around the world. Blogs differ from vlogs in that they use more written communication, perhaps with some photos or videos added. Blogs are less formal than websites, may be updated more frequently, and typically provide more of the authors opinions, unlike company websites that tend to provide facts.

I experimented with several blog hosting sites including Wix, Tumblr, and Blogger. Wix and Tumblr seemed to be the easiest sites to use and I ultimately went with Wix because of the user friendly templates and step-by-step set-up process. I have never created a blog before, so finding something easy to customize was important.

The features of the blog hosting site afforded me to opportunity to create and design my own blog relatively easily and quickly. This allowed me to personalize both the layout and the content that was added. It also afforded me the ability to share my thoughts in a relaxed/informal setting.

As a pre-k/kindergarten teacher, I believe I would most use a blog as a means to communicate with parents. Most of the work in our Montessori classroom is hands-on materials, so there is not a lot of work that the children take home. I think using a blog to share with parents the purpose of specific materials will help them feel more connected and aware of what their child is learning at school. I would also be able to post pictures along with the description of the materials so that parents could have conversations with their child about the work they have completed.

Content: While my students may be too young to share their thoughts in a blog, I could ask them questions and use the blog to record their answers. This would allow me to see how well they are grasping the concepts in our lessons. I could easily track what they remember and understand and then analyze and evaluate the information in order to create more meaningful lessons in the future.

Pedagogy: I tend to use a constructivist approach to teaching and learning because I want students to be active participants in their learning. I don't just want them to memorize information, I want them to get their hands dirty and experiment with things in order to build their own knowledge. By providing students with meaningful experiences, they explore and share their ideas with their classmates while building on their previous knowledge and experiences.

Technology: I think that incorporating student responses into the blog designed for parents will be most beneficial at this grade level. By letting the students know that I am adding their thoughts to our classroom blog, they can then go home and talk to their parents about it. When parent and child read the blog together, they can have conversations about our learning and make connections between home and school.

Obstacles: Some obstacles that I foresee are that parents are busy. They may not have time to read another blog or even remember to go to the site for updates. Although this may happen with some families, I feel it will still be beneficial for the students and parents alike. While they may not read it every week, the information will be there for them when they have the time to explore further.