Final Reflection for New and Emerging Technologies

Throughout this course I have had the opportunity to explore new technologies and eloborate more on some technologies I have already been familiar with. With the resources provided, I was able to look at the four change agents and see where I could fill in the gaps to improve my overall instruction. Having an understanding of today's learner will put give my teaching the edge it needs to meet students needs and provide quality instruction.

One of the technologies I became more familiar with during this experience is multi-user virtual environments. These can be such a powerful tool if used correctly in the classroom. I found it extremely interesting that teachers could find professional development opportunities through second life and the amount of professional organization/colleges/universities use them. In addition, I really enjoyed learning about the possibilities of the Moodle. With this technology, teacher can motivate and encourage students to be active learners and participators in class. I felt this offers so many options for teachers to use as a learning tool and an assessment piece. I also feel it helps encourage students to get involved during after school hours.

With the details of application seven, I have a thoughtful plan to pursue during the new school year. Students will be using the Moodle site in the classroom to present how life is connected to math in every skill we teach in the classroom. I would also like to encourage other teachers to use technology to enhance their instruction. What is useful about this site is the ability to make adjustments for a variety of students without other students knowing. In addition, technology is what motivates our students regardless of ability. I would ask teachers who oppose using it, why not? Paper and pencil methods are a thing of the past! If we want to connect with kids, we need to do it with what motivates them. I feel strongly that is technology!

Moodle Photostory

Integrating Technology Across the Content Area Reflection

When developing the GAME plan in the beginning of the course, I created an accountability piece of my own for this course. Through the work completed in this course, I believe I have begun to develop a strong beginning to improving the teaching methods in my classroom. I have a better focus in terms of where I started this course and where I want to go. I really feel that I have a stronger knowledge base of technology and how to integrate it into the classroom as a result of my GAME plan. It has challenged me to locate new resources through the course materials, colleagues and conducting my own personal searches.
Overall, I feel the idea of collaborating on a networking site such as the wiki we completed in class gave me the opportunity to work with classmates from across the nation. This piece had a huge influence on my unit plan, because I was able to get the perspective and constructive criticism from people who do not know me on a personal or professional level. I think it helped take down barriers that might be up when asking colleagues for advice, and gave me a true insight into how I can better my instruction. This is one area I would like to take with me from this course. The use a social network system in my classroom to give my students the opportunities to interact with people all over the globe and gain new perspectives.
On area I would like to make an immediate change is encouraging other teachers to be creative with technology. I think most teachers get stuck in the realm of power point, videos and interactive gaming sites for students and do not truly incorporate it into the classroom. I would like to immediately start using the wikis, digital stories and so on in the classroom and invite teachers to observe. I would also encourage teachers to seek help with using technology and be an aide to anyone that wants to incorporate technology into their classroom and does feel comfortable.

Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology Reflection

Over the last eight weeks, this course has provided me with useful information that I can incorporate into my classroom instruction and share with my colleagues. One of the areas that I needed to improve upon was the differentiation piece. As a professional, I think that this course has opened my eyes to the many different ways I can differentiate and how I currently do with realizing that I am doing in it the classroom. Even more apparent now, is how the use of technology can make the differentiation piece easier for me and more motivating for students. There are a plethora of resources that teachers can use on the internet that can aide them during this process. The thought of one size does not fit all in the classroom is now less intimidating because I have access to the ways I can find a shoe size for each student. In addition to the differentiated instruction, universal design for learning is no longer jargon that teachers use in the building that I was clueless about. This course has opened my eyes to the fact that each student is truly a unique individual and the way the material is presented in the classroom should reflect that. Adjusting the material for one or students in the classroom now has a new meaning because the techniques that being used benefit more than that student(s).
Universal Design for Learning is simply providing access to benefit all students. This is no longer scary jargon talk, but a reality that I can provide in my student's instruction.
During this course, I had the opportunity to be a member of a social networking site too. What is really nice about a networking group is the collocation that occurs. I find it extremely useful to see how people think on different levels and interpret materials differently. The end product from that is having a variety of resources, tools, and ideas that I can take and use in the future. Where I would normally not have the opportunity to discuss and meet with people across the nation, this social networking site is not providing that access. It amazes me how powerful of a tool this can be in the classroom too!

GAME Plan Reflection

Overall, I think it extremely important to instill the value of goal setting and having a GAME plan to meet those goals. What is nice about this GAME plan format is how straight forward it is. I think it is very important for students to set goals when they arrive to school on the first day. I really think that this class was useful in the fact that it made me sit down think about what my goals where.

It is one thing to set goals, but a completely different thing to follow through on them. That is why I really like the action part of this plan. This is the meat and I think the most important part. I think this is the part that most students would struggle with. For educators, I feel this part of the GAME plan should be modeled and stressed so students know the importance of having an action plan.

For the monitor part of the plan, I think this is a way to be creative with the students. This is part that the students can collaborate with one another and really discuss how their action plan is working out. They can provide each other with insight and suggestions. It also leads into the evaluation part and how did I do.

When I set my goals, I did not realize how much I self-directed my learning. As a result, I have tons of information on how to meet the needs of diverse learners in the classroom. Through this experience, I can now walk away with strategies and techniques to use in the future. I have begun to develop a network of resources that I can use in the future. This GAME plan has encouraged me to search for ways to be a more effective teachers.

GAME Plan Progress

Instructional Practices

What is really nice about taking courses together in a semester is how well they blend together. In each class we are learning about Universal Design for Learning, which I feel really coincides with differentiated instruction. I am learning a variety of ways to use technology to incorporate these practices into the classroom. What is really nice about technology is the fact that most students can play with technology and get it. What I need to do is make the content have the same accessibility. I am learning throughout this course and my other course ways to do that.

New Learning Goals

My new goals is convince my school technology department to unlock the protection against some of our social networking sites so that students can have access to a diverse learning community.

Learning Approaches

At this point in the semester the only approach I would do differently is to complete my work a week ahead of time.

GAME Plan Progress

How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?

• I have had opportunity to use a really great website with the students called xtranormal
• They are creating skits on math concepts that will then be turned into animated video
• This use of technology has really created a great social interaction in my classroom
• It has also sparked a lot of motivation

What have you learned so far that you can apply to your instructional practice

• The importance of multiple means of representation
• It is crucial to present the material in ways that meet all learning styles
• It is clearly just good teaching practices

What do you still need to learn?

• Strategies to use to
  
• Specific ways to make students goal setters

How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?

• Overall, I would like to continue on the path of my original GAME plan so I can see it out and then revise or create a new one
  

GAME Plan revisited

Overall, I have found some very interesting websites that are loaded with information on the universal design for learning. From these resources, I am trying to get the bigger picture on how to plan and implement the three principles of UDL in the classroom. I have found a few websites that give an overview of what a lesson plan should look like. I am a template person, so I will either need to continue my search for a template that fits my own personal needs and the needs of my district. If I can't find one, I will be creating one shortly that I hope will inspire other teachers in my district to enage in the use of UDL in the classroom.


I feel that I my plan is still very clear in the goals I have set and do not wish to make any plans on it for now. I did find it interesting that some of my own colleagues have no idea what UDL is or stands for. One thing I might want to add is spark the interest of my colleagues to get the ball rolling in our building. From this class and another class I am taking, I have learn a good deal of information about UDL. I think the most useful so far are the different strategies that can be used to present the information in various ways for your learner.

The only question I have about UDL is how are we going to make this work without teachers feeling the constraints of state testing to implement it into the classroom?

Carrying out Game Plan

Resources needed:

• the use of the internet sources to find articles to promote digital tools in the classroom
• technology personnel to discuss what is available at the school beyond what I already know
• colleagues willing to co-plan and implement the materials in the classroom
• trainings

Additional Information Needed

• the willingness of the other teachers in the building to incoporate technology
• what types of permissions I need to download different types of technology

Steps taken so far

• finding resources on how to make materials more accessible for all students

GAME plan:

Goals to strengthen confidence

• In the area of promoting and modeling citizenship and responsibility I would like strengthen my skills in meeting the needs of all learners in the classroom. More specifically, I would like to increase my confidence in providing students with equal opportunities to use digital tools and resources.
  
• The second area I would like to strengthen my skills in the classroom deals with collaborating with parents, peers, and students to use the digital tools and resources to support student thinking and learning.

Actions to achieve those goals

1. Locate a variety of resources: examples include articles, conferences, search engines, information technology resources in the building.
2. Ask parents to help and become educated on the resources available
3. Provide students with opportunities to share resources they have found.
4. Ask other teachers for help.
5. Search, search, search

Monitoring Progress

• Keep a journal of the resources found whether through searches, colleagues, parents, or students
• Ask for student and parent input

Evaluate and Extend your learning

• Reflections of the technologies used and how effective they were
• Parent and student input
• Attend workshops that introduce and teach about new resources
• Stay connected with teachers that use technology and share resources
  

Bottom of the 5th - Final Blog Posting for Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology

I would have to say that the biggest adjustment I would make to my teachings and with integrating technology into my lessons is to not be afraid to explore more and to make use of the technology that is out there. Because of this class and the others I have taken through Walden, I have become much more familiar with how to incorporate technology into my lessons. Before, I felt very limited in my knowledge, capability, and awareness of how to do this on a regular basis with success. I felt that if I had my students typing out papers and completing some research using the web, I felt that I was doing an adequate job. With blogging, wikis, voice threads, photo shows, and the other various projects I have worked on over the span of seven classes, I feel that my skills on using technology with my students has greatly improved. I have also learned so much from the other students, my fellow educators, in class and through collaborating on blogs.

I really enjoyed blogging and the voice thread activities that I have completed during this class. I enjoyed seeing other voice threads that accompanied pictures and feel that this concept can be used to complete projects in social studies and science, making for some awesome artifacts.

My plan for the future is: 1) not to be afraid to explore and "get my hands dirty" with technology, realizing that having kids type papers on the computer is not incoporating technology into my lessons; and 2) to seek out other teachers, educational blogs, and educational journals for ideas and take the time to become familiar with the ideas expressed by these sources. To do this, I plan on to at least incoporate a new idea with each month. As I do this, I hope to follow through with this more frequently.

Top of the 5th: My First Voice Thread

Here is the link to my voice thread. It describes a common problem among teachers with limited access to inferior technology that does not satisfy the needs of teachers and students. Please take the time to listen and make a comment. Thanks!

http://voicethread.com/share/1046730

Bottom of the 4th - Cooperative Learning

I do not know of a teaching strategy that would better relate and be an example of the social learning theory in practice other than cooperative learning. In this week's resources, Dr. Orey (2009) describes social learning theories as students when they are actively taking part in assembling and creating artifacts that demonstrate what they are learning while engaging in educational dialogue. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) say that cooperative learning is when students are interacting with one another for learning purposes and for forming new understandings. Through cooperation and collaboration, students can learn from one another, forming new understandings that by themselves, would not occur.



One thing that the Internet and technology does well is allow for collaboration and socialization. Because of this, cooperative learning can take on a new form other than just working together in the classroom. With proper planning by groups, multimedia projects can be produced as a culminating artifact. The Web not only allows for collaboration among classmates, but it also allows for cooperative learning to occur between students of classrooms from different parts of the world. Through sites such as ePALS, Keypals Club International, and Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections, students from different cultures can learn with one another and from one another. There are endless possibilities when it comes to web quests and web site designs for collaboration, as well as multi-player simulation games. Wikis and blogs, at this point, seem to be common practice for cooperative learning and collaborating among classmates.



Again, I can not think of a better way to open up doors to working with other people near and very far, as far as a person can imagine. Even when thinking about the classes that I am taking along with many other students across the globe, Walden University is an example of social learning theories and cooperative learning. The Web must be a tool that is used for these purposes.



References:

Laureate Education. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning, theory, instruction, and technology. [DVD]. Baltimore: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Top of the 4th - Constructionism in the Classroom

In this week's video, Dr. Orey discusses contructivism and constructionism. Both theories deal with how the brain builds its own understanding of the world around it, how it takes in new information, compares the new with the old, and thus constructs understanding or schema. Constructionism takes the building process one step further. Not only do learners take in information and formulate an understanding of their own, but learners can take the construction of understanding even further by actually applying what they know in creating an artifact that exemplifies this understanding of a concept. When students are fully engaged in the learning process, they are able to construct a very strong understanding of what it is that needs to be learned and fully demonstrating the cognitive process (Laureate, 2009).

I feel that anytime students can take concepts and apply them to real life situations, and in the process, create an artifact that symbolizes the learning that has taken place, the concepts become cemented in the long term memory. The concepts become truly meaningful to the learners. Most elementary students that I know love to create things in class. To be able to create artifacts that test out their own thoughts and hypotheses is a wonderful learning activity, fully engaging their minds in hands-on activities. You can witness first-hand learning taking place as you move around the classroom, listening to the educational on-task discussion of what it is that they are working on. Working in teams and collaborating on tasks, seeing light bulbs turning on and shining bright is what teaching is all about. In this week's text, Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski describe a number of activities involving technology and the constructing of understanding through engaging hands-on and minds-on activities. Through using problem based learning activities, spread sheet software can be used to simulate real-world situations and apply concepts about savings and investment that are being taught in class to test out hypotheses. In other activities, data collection tools were used to collect and analyze data gathered in science classes. Finally, gaming software and web resources allow students to be leaders of their own countries and make extremely important and influential decisions regarding their countries' place in the virtual world. The authors state, "Web resources and gaming software...allowing students to use background knowledge, make decisions, and see the outcome of their hypotheses, often in virtual situations...provides incredibly engaging learning environments, resulting in increased motivation and retention in learning" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, p.212, 2007).

I believe that these and other activities where students are actively applying what they have learned into making decisions, collaborating with other classmates, and creating situations where they can see their ideas come to life is fully engaging and reflects what Dr. Orey describes as constructivism and constructionism.





Resources:

Laureate Education. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning, theory, instruction, and technology. [DVD]. Baltimore: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., and Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Bottom of the 3rd - Cognitive Theories of Learning

It seems to make sense to me that the more pathways that can be created to access information learned, the more this information cements itself in long-term memory. The more senses individuals use to take in information, the greater the chances are that the information will remain, waiting for it to be retrieved at a later time. Any time learners take new information, and manipulate it in a way that makes sense to them, they attach more meaning. Making meaningful connections creates more pathways and triggers that will link back to specific details(Laureate, 2007).

The use of advance organizers, questioning, and cues before a given lesson will open doors to what is about to be learned, creating a reason and interest to continue on with a lesson (Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, p.73, 2007). By using such technologies as spread sheet and concept mapping software, students are able to use information learned to either represent data in various ways and create mental maps connecting one idea to another, heightening the level of understanding. Taking students on a virtual field trip (Laureate, 2007) is one of the most interesting ways to step out of the classroom, allowing students to "travel" any where in the world to see real-world applications of what is being learned in class. For example, in my fifth grade social studies class, it is possible to take students to the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where students can see exhibits and presentations about the details of the Constitution as we study it from our room. It is also possible to take students to a museum to see artifacts from ancient civilizations, all from their seats in class. This may be a way to create episodes, where information is linked to occurrences and emotion, thus placing information into one's episodic memory.

When students take notes in class and are asked to summarize what they have learned, they must actively think about what is being told to them, copy down what is to them the most important details, and construct their notes and summarizing in their own words. Because of this, there has to be some type of in depth thought going on as students complete this task. This follows along with cognitive theories, where learning is seen as information enters the brain, is organized, stored, and is kept there until retrieved when needed (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, p.16, 2008).

Wikis amd blogs are great ways to use technology to help take and synthesize notes from class and also allowing collaboration between students to take place. When students learn from other students, there is more chances for deeper understanding to occur. If class notes are combined with related images in a power point presentation, more cognitive thought has gone into understanding what the notes explain. More meaning is attached to the notes when linked with images creating more pathways to the information for recall later (Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, p.131 and p.135, 2007).

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning, theory, instruction, and technology. [DVD]. Baltimore: Author.

Lever-Duffy, J & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Top of the 3rd - Behaviorism in the Classroom

In my mind, the learning theory of behaviorism is one of the most common used theories in a classroom. It may even be one of the most common learning theories that individuals develop understanding of basic behaviors. Lever-Duffy and McDonald (2008) state that with positive behavior comes some form of reward. With negative behavior comes some form of punishment or no recognition at all (p.15). During this process, also referred to as operant conditioning, there is no real thought taking place, the brain making decisions based on the thought that it wants to receive that reward. It does not want to receive a negative response or no response at all. Most simple behavioral issues in the classroom are probably handled in this manner, with positive behavior comes a reward in the form as something tangible or something as simple as a pleasing look on a teacher's face. With negative behavior comes a response in the form of exclusion from activities, or something as simple as an unpleasing look on a teacher's face. Sometimes, the look alone can cause students to understand quite quickly that what he or she did should not be repeated. Believe me, I have experienced some of the most intimidating looks from teachers.

For teachers, if we can get desired behaviors from our students based on this theory, I feel that it is possible for students to understand that with more effort may come higher levels of achievement. If this connection can be made, many students may become more successful in school and later in life. According to authors Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007), students may be able to make the connection between effort and achievement through charting their level of effort given during activities and their level of achievement. Once students realize that their level of achievement is affected by how much effort given, it could condition the students to put forth a more consistently higher level of effort.

Along that line of thought, I believe that the completion of homework is part of a student's effort to succeed. This being said, however, homework that is assigned should be meaningful practice of skills taught in school. Assignments referred to as "drill and kill" should be avoided. These type of assignments may cause students to lose interest in what is being taught. Meaningful practice of skills in real life situations is what should be assigned. Teachers should also give immediate feedback, allowing very little room for students to practice skills in an incorrect manner.

Again, if teachers can have their students understand that with more effort may come higher desired achievement, students may become conditioned to put forth more effort on a consistent basis, thus making use of the behaviorist theory of learning.

References:

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Bottom of the 2nd - Class Reflection

In the class that I am about to complete, titled "Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work and Society," I have been able to focus on how technology influences the lives of adults and students alike. I have also had the chance to study how the lives of today's children have been affected due to growing up from as early as they can remember with technology in their hands. I did not have to look far to study this first hand, watching my four-year old daughter play games on my wife's IPhone that she has downloaded through applications.

My skills of using technology have definitely improved, now having been exposed to blogging, wikis, and podcasting. Not only have I become familiar with all of these on a personal level, but I have also realized how all three can be used in my classroom with students. I have also realized how these come in handy with collaborating with fellow colleagues. One of the newest and most rewarding experiences and one that I will certainly make use of is the searching and reading of educational blogs and allowing valuable experiences and information become a part of my classroom.

I plan on finding new and exciting ways to incorporate technology into my classroom on a regular basis, well beyond just using it to type out papers. I will make use of blogging and wikis and find ways to integrate these into my science, social studies, language arts, and math classes and will not feel afraid to do so as before. Smart boards and white boards are on the top of my wish list and will do whatever I can to get one into my classroom. Through this class and other classes in my master's program, I plan on trying my best to absorb and apply the newly attained knowledge and skills to my teachings. This knowledge and the knowledge I will gain through the blogs that I have discovered and will discover, I will be able to teach to my 21st century students.

As stated above, I want to make on of my goals during the next two years to do whatever it takes to have a smart board/white board placed in my classroom. I can not even imagine what it would be like to have that technology at my finger tips while educating my students. Through my last application and creating my podcast, I was able to talk to a student who has a teacher with a smart board. Her eyes lit up when describing how her teacher seamlessly will go from instructing to answering a student's question by searching the web, all while displaying her actions on the white board in front of her class. She also described how her teacher uses the board to model math problems. Her excitement for learning in this manner rubbed off on me instantly, and I will do what ever is in my power to get one in my classroom!

Another goal of mine over the next two years, is to just simply incorporate forms of technology regularly in my teachings. This will be beyond a tech class once a week and the typing of reports. I can envision having computers to be a center in my classroom all of the time. I will have my students blogging journal entries, exploring educational websites, completing research projects, and using wiki pages in many various ways. I am only half-way complete with my classes through Walden, and I look forward to learning many more ways to work technology into my classroom in the most educational and beneficial was possible.

In conclusion, I was very pleased with what I have learned through this class and through collaborating with other fellow teachers (students) as we exchanged thoughts and ideas through the discussion board topics. As I reflect on what I have learned and gained as an educator in this class, I can certainly feel the excitement building as some fears have been erased, some walls have been broken down, and some windows and doors have definitely been opened!

Top of the 2nd

I'm excited about a National organization, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php founded in 2002 by the US Department of Education in partnership with several well known organizations. The foundation partners education with business, community and government leaders to position educators with 21st century skills necessary to ensure students are equipped to be "effective citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st century." I discovered the Web site while completing an assignment for one of my graduate classes at Walden University. The site offers many tools, resources, upcoming events and related news and information on the different states already participating.

I often find myself in discussion regarding the need for schools to mirror 21st century business practices. I had not previously been exposed to the orgainzation, but found the mission statement to echo the sentiments of many teachers and non-teachers alike. We teach students how to read and write, but aren't doing enough to prepare them for real life corproate America. I have not seen anything to this magnitude to prepare children for their future career and feel this is a must needed initiative, especially in my school.

My wife works for a fortune 200 corporation and my day to day life as a school teacher is a complete 180 from her day at the office. In hearing some of my frustrations with the politics and administration of the school, she would say they really need to treat schools more like a business. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a big push for education to mirror and partner with the businesses of the 21st century. Many of the 21st Century themes and skills rang familiar to the conversations I've had with my wife about corporate expectations and measurements. As a VP of Sales, much of her performance is measured against results and behavioral leadership skills up to and including a large percentage of her pay.

The site spoke much about the skills that students need to possess to succeed in life and in a career in the 21st century, but lacked information and ideas on how to incent teachers much the way businesses compensate their leaders on their performance in influencing these necessary skills. I think this is critical in order to effectively incorporate the themes and skills into day to day lessons. Also our school curriculum is lacking tools and resources on many of the key themes and skills and more awareness is needed. Students will be ill prepared for life situations and career if more is not done to develop their professional future. As a contemporary educator, every lesson should deliver experience and life skills for our future leaders, if we aren't preparing them for essential basic life lessons, in many cases no one else will either.

Blogging in the classroom - Bottom of the first

In learning about blogs, I realized I am not taking advantage of this great resource in my classroom. I've really been missing the boat. I can see many uses for a blog and so many times we as teachers are concerned about budget (or lack thereof), but this is one tool that we can use and free of charge! In addition to being cheap it also serves as a connection between school and shall we say, "real life". A blog serves as an excellent communication tool. I can share with parents about lessons and daily learnings. As a parent myself I would value any additional information on what is occuring in the classroom. I could incorporate pictures and share stories each day and invite parents and other teachers to see what we are discussing. Blogs offer another means to interact and get parent involvement, which ultimately helps the children and makes my job easier.

Second, we use a journal today as a means for students to discuss daily assignments. As I learned in class, children become more concerned about grammer when they know others will be viewing their work. In addition, they will better learn to navigate through the internet and on the computer and improve typing skills. Most importantly it will act as a forum to share thoughts and interact and even collaborate with one another. Several of my students are already accustomed to blogs via Facebook, My Space, etc. and having an online journal via the blog will definitely excite and invigorate them!

I could see using an online blog to replace standard written essays. Not only would they be able to share their work with other students, but showcase their hard work for their friends and other family members.

In school today, their is less time to focus on opinions and not much opportunity for self expression, but a blog encourages these very important pieces of learning. I will use a blog to enhance the lessons by allowing students to document their thoughts and interact with one another, bringing the lessons to life by sharing real life experiences.

As a fifth grade teacher, I focus on math, science and social studies. I can see how a blog saves paper, time and allows a forum to give children a voice. I can only imagine the excitement when my students see that someone has posted a comment to their work!