Thing 3

Blogging will enable students to have access to information as well as to comment to me in a safe and timely environment. I can see many uses for blogs in my area. It would be nice to start a reading blog to have students see the new materials that are in the media center and to let them write reviews for those materials. I also would like to have a blog for each class that I instruct, to give students some assistance with difficult activities and for them to have a chance to question directions. I realize it would be time consuming, however, I would make sure that they realized the time factor and my response time. I think the collaboration factor for blogs is a critical one. Many times students can ask a question and get an answer from another student which helps both to learn more. I don't feel the need to be the "sage on the stage".

I also think that blogs would be a great way to support professional development. Giving teachers the option to explore a particular activity or site and ask questions, on their own time schedule is much more productive. I always find it amazing that students are expected to do work at home and we are getting the idea of 24/7 learning online; however teachers are expected to sit in a room and have someone speak to them or hover over them for them to learn. Blogging could also be the tool for both groups to facilitate questioning and exploration with out peer pressure or humiliation for asking the "wrong" thing.

I can see myself having multiple blogs for a variety of reasons and audiences. I think even education parents on the activities in the media center would be a terrific tool. Many time they only get bits and pieces, but this arena would allow them not only to know what their students were doing, but would also allow them to communicate with me.