The technology I have chosen is a blog to communicate with parents in order to increase student success in my classroom. I believe that the blog supports my teaching strategy because it is an “easy reader” and does not require a lot of technology background in order for parents to keep up with it. I have learned that in order to communicate with anyone in a professional sense, it has to be made as easy and quick as possible. Parents do not want to spend a lot of time fussing with a computer and learning a program just to find out what is going on in their child’s classroom. Similarly, the students also like to read what the teacher has to post about the classroom. The blog would encourage students to get online and read the reminders of things going on in the classroom, look for excellent examples of showcased work, and watch videos of their group presentations. My strategy to pull parents deeper into the classroom and encourage students to be involved in that link as well is to make it easy and fun. My vision is that the students will know what to look for on the classroom blog, go home, and show their parents exciting things. As the teacher, I can encourage students to go online with their parents and look for classroom competition winners, or a special end of a unit video to create a “buzz” around the blog. This can be a time they spend together at home having a conversation about what the child is learning and how the parents can get involved in upcoming classroom events.
The blog will make the content more intellectually accessible by giving parents and students a common ground to begin talking about what is being taught in the classroom. I will be able to post project guidelines for book reports, group projects, and presentations. The content of our classroom will be virtually accessible. There will also be links for students and parents to find online games to support home learning and extensions of the lesson in the classroom. I also will be able to post PowerPoint presentations the students took notes on in class for them to review at home, spelling lists, and more! The students can follow the links in the blog and with that click we are combining the technology with the content. The blog is also chronological so the students can go back to see how far they have come and prepare for tests/quizzes, by skimming back through the blog.
This pedagogical strategy will make the content more accessible to students because it is an online showcase in review of what they are learning in the classroom. An e-version of the class per say. If the blog is kept daily (or every other day), the students and parents will know regularly what is going on in the classroom. The blog will review concepts covered, homework and upcoming assignments, upcoming activities, and showcase exceptional student work. Students will be competing with each other to provide quality exceptional work so they can see it showcased on the blog. This would be one motivational factor in getting students to provide quality work. In return, the increased parent communication will give parents the information they need in order to help their students succeed. Again, research has proven that increased parental support in their child’s education is proportionate to the student’s academic achievement.
Nicki -
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that keeping parents informed of their child's progress is key in ensuring success. Having a class blog invites students to bring their education home and gets them excited to share what they have learned and what they will learn. I like the simple format of a blog because it is not difficult to learn. If you send home a tutorial for students, they can easily find the blog (with their child's help even!) and bookmark it for reference throughout the year. This would be especially helpful if a student missed a day or more because s/he could stay caught up with what happened in class. Have you considered having a guest blogger? Perhaps a student could contribute something that they have learned, mastered, or are working on? Which site will host your service and will it be private so that parents know that their child's online identity is safe? I think this project hold so much promise because it opens the line of communication between home and school so that parents can respond when they need to and not when school is in session. Good job!
Nicki,
ReplyDeleteI really like the class blog project! Parents will definitely feel connected to their child's school experience through the blog. Many parents are busy with work and the multitude of other responsibilities of parenting that they simply cannot be very involved with what their children are doing in class. Your class blog will help them to feel informed and connected. I also like how you include the students as benefactors in this blog. I agree that you should make the blog easily accessible and inviting. In light of the fact that some parents may not be comfortable with computer use I think it might be good to ensure parents that their child and class information will be protected and safe as you put identity safety measures into place. I really like your project and wish that my own children's teachers would attempt this! :)
Julie
Hey Nicki,
ReplyDeleteI think a blog will be a great way for you to increase parent contact and involvement in your classroom. You mention that students will be competing. How will they be competing? How will you keep that competition from getting out of hand? What will you do if parents complain that their child is never posted as a "winner?" I like the idea, but my sister was a student in this situation. Just something to keep in mind!
Tai