New year - new posts!

I haven't posted for a while, but have been busy working on a new class blog for 2011. I really find it a useful tool for communicating with the parents, a portal for students to access useful websites and to encourage students to improve their ICT skills.

Learning beyond the boundries of the classroom

I would like to write a post about my class blog. It has been almost half a year since I started it and feel it is time to reflect on a few things:

Why did I create it?

As ICT education is a real passion, I wanted to find a way to provide my students with access to learning via technology beyond the classroom wall. I also thought it would complement our home learning program by providing engaging and enjoyable activities that support a range of learning areas. It was also a way to share the student's work with the community via the Internet.

How has it been recieved?

I have had many parents provide postive feedback about the blog. It has been wonderful to see comments by relatives of the students who live far from the school, but through the blog have a portal to their learning. The children enjoy the challenges and activites that cover all learning areas. As we are a global community, the responses from children overseas has been rewarding.

Where to next?

I teach a grade 3/4 class and am pleased that three of my grade 4 boys have created their own blogs. A grade 4 girl from another class has decided that they need their own blog and I have assisted her in creating one. I hope this trend continues, however from this experience I would like all my students to eventually use a blog to document their learning.

Check out the latest puzzle on my class blog - it is a real beauty!

The seven-year-old bloggers

This article is about children as young as seven creating their own blogs in England. I have a class blog at the moment, but think it is exciting to see students in primary school creating their own.

Class Blog

I started a classroom blog about three weeks ago and has been well received by both children and their parents. Not only am I using it to showcase children's work, but also to promote ICT out of the classroom and as a communication tool. I try to put on variety of posts, including messages and reminders, fun activities and videos. I had never done a blog before and have found the more I experiment the more I find out to enhance it. If you have a moment it would be great if you could visit it and leave a comment.