Class Blog Reflection

Using a class blog has really helped me to personally evaluate the projects and lesson plans I have created for my future classroom. I can reflect on what worked and what didn't work. These reflections help me to make my lesson plans and projects more effective and more interesting for the students. However, this reflection method isn't the only way I can implement blogs into my classroom.

I plan to use blogs for student feedback as well. Rather than having students turn in quizzes to check progress in novels or short stories, or having students write short essays in class about the stories we read or concepts we learn about, I can require them to blog about their progress or their thoughts about the assigned reading. Other students or I can also read and comment on the students' blog posts. This allows students to share their ideas and start an online discussion rather than having to hide their answers in a quiz environment.

Students could also use blogs to communicate with one another about their progress on a group project. For projects involving journals, blogs are a great alternative to paper journals, and as I said before, other students can view the journals and share ideas and feedback. There are endless possibilities for students to incorporate blogs into their projects, whether it be a mere means of communication or an actual component of their finished product.

Blogs are also a good way to communicate with parents. Instead of sending out flyers for every little notification for students to take home (which often don't actually make it to the parents), I can post notices and important reminders on my blog. I can blog about what we are doing in the classroom so that parents have an idea about what their student is learning in my classroom. Students who are home sick can also check the class blog to see what they missed in class that day.