1. Students can create a blog where they describe a typical day at school. The teacher can invite other same aged students from different global locations to contribute the same type of information on the same blog.This will allow students to see the different ways in which their school days and similar and differ. Students can ask questions and leave comments to gain cultural awareness. Students can then begin to share/compare thematic units being learned, novels being read, field trips being taken, etc. This will be interesting to use in my classroom now because they are learning about different vocabulary in and affiliated with school. This will heighten their awareness on schools around the country or schools that can be right around the corner. This will cover the standards 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 which allows students to communicate in languages other than English.
2. In my school, the 8th grade girls and boys need to make a portfolio to enter a high school of choice (usually a Catholic School). Having students create an E-portfolio will not only display their student work but will also allow students to visually see their portfolio on the computer. Students could add links to videos, presentations, podcasts, etc. which can show the viewer how that individual excels in their field (academically or in sports). Allowing students to complete this type of portfolio will allow them to comment on their weaknesses and strengths as well. This type of work shows others what work is highlighted in their portfolio. Standard 1.2 allows children to understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics which is the standard that students will demonstrate while completing this task.
3. Creating a blog to communicate class/school information with parents will allow students, teacher, and parents/guardians to see important information that's happening in the community, school, and in the classroom. Teachers can post
field trip information, field trip forms, parent helper calendars,
general classroom guidelines and more. This will be extremely beneficial to those specific parents who don't speak English as a first language because the teacher can intertwine links that will allow parents to appropriately view and communicate with the other parents/guardians of the students. Teachers can also show homework assignments, spelling words, test, quizzes, and projects on the blog which will allow for open communication between the teacher and guardians if questions happen to arise. In my classroom, I can have students post a special fact about the Country of the week and students can post their thoughts about it. This will allow students to not only communicate with others but will also allow students to gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures.
5 comments:
Your first idea is a great, specific example of communication and culture. I think this would be a fascinating assignment and could really branch off into many other natural conversations and probably assignments. I have a similar idea, more general, on my blog. I was unsure of how to make these connections with other schools, do you have any experience or ideas for how to do that?
I also like how much you talk about developing a class information blog. I think the country fact with student comment would be particularly interesting. Students love to learn bizarre facts about places/things and I think this is a great way to connect them and teach them interesting tidbits.
You have described some excellent uses of blogging. Please see my reply to you in the How did it go? forum for further details.
I really like the classroom information blog. It's a great way to encourage parents to get online and provide them with information if it is difficult for them to come to the school!
I also think the use of the blog as a means of connecting students with another culture has great potential as a learning tool. Coupled with an occasional video conference so the students can speak face to face to gain a level of comfort with their counterparts, this is an excellent tool for sharing ideas, both strategic and critical. The exact goals of such a use are so open that the possibilities are almost infinite.
As for the e-portfolio, I think your prescribed use is great given the circumstances of the classroom, where your students are aiming for admission in another institution. In my classroom, I plan to use the e-portfolio more as an evaluation tool for the course itself, to measure students' progress across the term of the course for a final assessment.
The fact that we are both planning on using these tools in a similar way but with different goals shows the flexibility and versatility blog use provides in the 'virtual classroom'.
I know it's not part of the standards, but I like that you mentioned that the children's parents can have better communication with the teachers through blogs posts regarding homework, field trips, and other such important activities. this closes the gap between teacher and parent and improves accountability on the parents' part.
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