Week 2 Reflection

Blogging is very new to me. I have heard about it and read a few for my own education on various topics. At this stage having a blog makes me very nervous, especially with my name on it. My current teaching position allows me the unique experience of knowing all our schools students K-6 very well. I also meet and speak with almost every parent of those students. What makes me nervous is that I know the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students are on the Internet, looking up what they want when they want. All it would take if for them to type in my last name and our town to find my blog. I know I am not publishing anything unprofessional and I rest assure my classmates will only publish appropriate materials but my blog is open to anyone and everyone. If an inappropriate post is made on my blog and students or parents of students come across it then there is automatically an option formed about me and it is a reflection on me as a person and also as an educator. On a positive note I think it is a great way to communicate with a large group of people, to share experiences, and pass along information. I set up an RSS with IGoogle because that is what I use with my main email. I did not realize how easy it was and that I was already using a program that was capable of connecting me to multiple pieces of information in one place.

After reviewing the Cone of experiences several times, I believe a blog fits best as a contrived experience and the RSS as a visual symbol. The blog to me represents a conversation. A conversation in its original form involves verbalization of thoughts and ideas either face to face or over a telephone. A blog is a written representation of that conversation that can be one sided, with not response from another individual. The RSS provides a place to review written symbols. We choose the topics we would like to read about and have them placed all in one convenient place for us to view at our leisure.

This really shows I am an early elementary teacher but I can see a blog used as a show and tell medium. I find that show and tell can take up a lot of time in the classroom. Each student would get a week to post anything they want to share with their classmates. It could be pictures or pieces of writing. They have the chance to write captions and tell stories about what they are sharing. The other students in the class have the opportunity to ask questions and share similar experiences and situations. If I taught older student I would love to use an RSS at the beginning of each class. I would set it up as an assignment to begin the day or class period. Each student would be responsible for reading the information linked and then completing a task to go along with the information. The assignment could be a simple response/reaction or it could be to find another source to confirm/contradict what was published on the RSS. I see and endless amount of possibilities with this set up.