Blogs in my Future Class/David Warlock

Blogs to me are similar to the modern day newsletter that is usually sent home to a student for their parent to read. Now as more people are trying to "go green," blogs can be very useful as they save paper! It can be helpful for High School teachers to put helpful information for students to look on to help them with projects that they might have. Or as students are preparing for college, helping both the parent and the students looking for scholarships, grants, volunteer opportunities, and etc. It is also something that can be used positively in the summers and during winder breaks as students can look up good books they might wants to read, or various "things" just to keep them busy, and out of trouble.

I plan on working with Special Needs students in a Special Education Classroom, and the more that I think about what a blog is the more I'm considering immediately making it something that I start using at my first school. It can be something where on my weekends or during the weeks I can make post about what has been working in the class and what hasn't been working. This information will help me, make note of this information so say 5 years from now I don't keep making my mistakes. It will also be just as usefully for my coworkers can get on and make notes about what they think, about what I say is going on. Eventually what I'm aiming for is to where I can make it to where all the teachers in the district are able to get on and make notes and comments. Everyday we learn something new, and I want Blogger to be something where it becomes so positive in the classroom. I plan on updating it as I search online for various websites that have helped me come up with creative ways to help my students further their knowledge, and I hope that all the positive feedback that I get on my will help other teachers, that are in the same position as me.

Reading various blogs is very effective - it's almost like reading a newspaper. As I was reading David Warlock's 2 Cents' blog I found this part about "More on What Matters..." to be really interesting! He is talking about why students are doing better now a days in school and how it is said that it is because of the new establishments of technology. He says..

We are just now starting to pay attention and to understand some of what our students are doing, but it still looks like technology to us. We see the machines, because we’re looking in from the outside. To them, it’s the information.

I believe he is right, as students are starting to be monitored better, and finding ways to help them with what they are struggling in - it is easy to say it's just the technology which it isn't. He does a wonderful job with adding in the videos as he explains what he is talking about to make it seem almost like we are talking face to face with him. It's a wonderful blog although it might seem overwhelming if it isn't read on a daily basis because there is so much to read on it!