Some Ideas for Using Blogging in my Classroom

I am amazed at how many different ways blogs can be utilized in a classroom setting. An assignment for the class I am taking is to propose an idea of how I could use a blog in my classroom. I currently do not have a classroom of my very own, but am a teacher's assistant. I work with a population of students who have Autism and many of them are non-verbal. Our classroom has six students, ranging in age from 7-12. Although many of them may not be able to physically use blogging, I did come up with some ways that our classroom could use it.

Using a blog is a way to connect ideas. The teachers in my classroom could use blogs to connect and communicate with other educators who are working with a similar population of students. We could share ideas and suggestions about different teaching strategies. It could be a place to discuss things with other people who are familiar with what you do.

Another idea is to use a blog as a class portal. Our class blog could be used to communicate information and updates about the class. This would probably be mainly for parents, due to privacy issues. I really think this would be a great idea, especially for the type of school I am working at. It is a residential school, so this would be a great way for parents to really keep updated on what their children are doing being that they don't get to spend as much time with them. We could use the blog to post any upcoming special events, school news, information about Autism, activities that our class is working on, the class schedule, and so much more. We could also provide helpful links for parents.

I also really like the idea of having an E-Portfolio. Blog portfolios can be much easier to manage and organize. We could take pictures of student work and track progress over time.

A blog is a good tool for the instructional context because it offers so many different possibilities. Both the teacher and students can benefit from it. If your students are not able to actually blog themselves, you can use it to communicate with parents and the community about what is going on at your school and in your classroom. You can communicate with other professionals who are knowledgeable about or are in a similar teaching position. I know that when I do get a classroom of my own, I would definitely like to take advantage of what blogging has to offer and let my students get a hands on experience with it. Just think of the audience they can reach. It could be other grade levels in their school or another class on the other side of the world. When students blog, they are learning critical thinking skills and how to appropriately respond and communicate to others. They are also learning new ways to organize information and find things that they are interested in. Besides writing, blogs can also be used to share images and videos.

The world outside is changing and our classrooms need to keep up with it! :)

iPods in the Classroom?

While reading through some educational blogs, I came across the idea of using iPods as an educational tool. I thought it was really interesting and looked into it further.

I found this video :

This video shows how iPods are used for special education. The teacher has students who are mostly non-verbal or have hearing loss. This applies to me because the students that I work with are also mostly non-verbal. I work with students who have Autism, so I thought that this might be something I could learn from. The teacher and interpreter talk about how they made videos of interpretations of books and signs for parents to learn, voice memos back and forth for parents, video portfolios, and learning vocabulary. One idea I like is creating video portfolios. I've always like the idea of making portfolios to evaluate students, but making a video portfolio really puts a different twist on it.

Besides using this type of iPod seen in the video, there is also a lot of talk going on about the iPod touch. I found this blog (http://mrjonesed.blogspot.com/2008/01/ipod-touch-in-classroom.html) that discusses how the iPod touch can be used in a classroom. Also, this website (http://learninginhand.com/ipod/touch.html) that explain using the iPod touch for blog posting, applications, web apps, audio, video, podcasting, photos, and much more.

What are your opinions about using iPods? Does anyone have any other examples of ways they might be used in the classroom?

Understanding Technology

Hi everyone! I decided to use this blog that I had created for our last class. I want to try to maintain it so I thought continuing it would be a good idea. As we know, the internet and fast growing technology is changing the way our students learn. I liked a question posed by Will Richardson, "What needs to change about our curriculum when our students have the ability to reach audiences far beyond our classroom walls?" This is one to think about.

CREDE Standards in my Classroom

The CREDE standard that I believe is most obvious in my classroom is "teachers and students working together." My classroom is a 6:1:6, so each student has an aide. I think of it as each student having their own personal teacher and then a main instructor as well. We provide assistance to our students as needed. At times, they may even need hand over hand assistance, and others not. In the afternoon, we rotate which student we are working with by week. I always work with the same student every morning and then in the afternoon, I have a different student. The student in the afternoon will stay the same for one whole week and then change the next. This way, I get to work with each student in the classroom. By working with the students so closely, you really get to establish a good relationship with them.

We also engage our students with challenging lessons. Each student has individual goals to meet. Everyday these goals are worked on until they are mastered. Once they are mastered, a new goal is set in place.

Enhancing Learning For All

There are so many strategies and resources out there to be used in your classroom. With so many different types of learning, it is important to be able to adjust your teaching style and come up with new ideas as your students change and the times change.

Every year, there are more and more English Language Learner's coming to our schools. We need to know how to best support them and provide meaningful learning experiences. Two things that I think work very well are using visuals and group work. The use of visuals can go a long way. You can pair pictures with vocabulary, use diagrams, or use technology to create presentations. Students also usually enjoy working in groups. You can use different kinds of groups in your classroom. You can group students with different levels, the same level, ELL's together, or even have yourself as part of a group. Students are more likely to perform at a higher level when they know that the success of the group depends on it. Working in cooperative groups promotes social and academic language interactions. This is a great strategy for English Language Learners.

Being Culturally Responsive

Along with the five CREDE standards are Dr. Eugene Garcia's five R's and T.
The five R's and T are:
Respect
Responsive
Responsible
Resourceful
Reasonable
Theory-driven

When I think about these words, I think that they are all very much needed in order to have a positive and supportive classroom environment. Without these things, a student is not going to feel comfortable or engaged in learning. One thing that I really liked that Dr. Garcia stated in his presentation was, "Children learn to see themselves as others see them and then adapt to that identity." If we don't give students the respect they deserve, they are not going to have a positive self image and the confidence they need to be life long learners. As teachers, we must also teach students how to respect each other. Students come from all different backgrounds, along with their parents. Showing respect goes a long way when trying to receive support from other people in your students' lives. A parent is not going to feel willing to be more involved with a school unless they feel respected.

Next is responsive. To me, responsive means being an effective communicator. You also need to give students time to talk and be there to listen. You can learn a lot by listening. In agreement with Dr. Garcia, I also think that it is important to understand cultural differences in talk. Everyday classrooms are becoming more and more diverse. Different cultures have different ways of perceiving things, such as gestures or expressions. You could be doing something that you are unaware of that is disrespectful in another culture. It is important to always keep an open mind and not be afraid to ask questions or do some of your own research.

Being responsible means that you are accountable. It is a teacher's job to ensure that everyone is involved and engaged in daily activities. It is also a teacher's responsibility to have a positive attitude and assist students in finding what works best for them as individuals.

Resourceful is another aspect of culturally responsive teaching. As Dr. Garcia says, "Diversity should be a resource, not a problem." Students learn from each other and we learn from them. With so many diverse backgrounds, there is so much to learn. Use what your students bring to the classroom as an advantage.

Always important is being reasonable. Being reasonable just means using your head. Like I said before, don't be afraid to ask for help or go find out something on your own. No one knows everything. Dr. Garcia brought up knowing what not to do. So if you don't know exactly what to do in a situation, at least you can come up with things you know not to do and go from there. Being reasonable in a classroom also means coming up with realistic,challenging, and fun lessons. I also think that being reasonable goes along with being fair. Treat all students fairly. Select consequences and rewards that are directly related to what the task is.

The "T" for theory-driven is how teachers approach learning and educating children. Theory-driven means that you have done research and are open to new ideas. You know what you are responsible for as a teacher and know how to react in different situations. You also understand children and how they learn.

Standards for High Quality Learning Experiences

How do we ensure that ALL students have high quality learning experiences?

Dr. Roland Tharp presented five standards for achieving this goal which were derived from the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence. The five CREDE standards are as follows:
1) Teachers and students working together
2) Developing literacy and language skills across the curriculum
3) Connecting school to students' lives
4) Engaging students with challenging lessons
5) Emphasizing dialogue over lecture

I agree that these standards help ensure that students will have a high quality learning experience. Although, I think that in order for teachers to correctly implement these standards, they would need some type of professional development, lessons, or examples of activities that serve as an example as to how to use this correctly. These standards are good, but sound pretty general. Someone might read them and go, "Of course!" or "That sounds easy." It might seem that way, but I think the more teachers are trained in how to do this correctly, the better the outcome will be. We also learn from each other. It would be good for teacher to get together in small team meetings to discuss ways that they can use these standards in their classrooms. Teachers could create activities together and share them. A good way to model working together is for students to see teachers working together.

Dr. Tharp spoke about Vygotsky and the movement from total assistance to the zone of proximal development to assistance no longer needed. He said that, "the task of teaching is to provide assistance at the time it is needed." The zone of proximal development is what a student can do with and without help. It is the job of the teacher to figure out when and how much to assist a students. This involves a lot of observation of the student in different settings and learning arrangements. It is important to know what kind of assistance a student needs in order to still make activities fun, but at the same time challenging.