Welcome!

Dear Parents:

This year we will be incorporating technology into the classroom through the use of blogs. Using blogs in the classroom is becoming more popular in education and is shown to be an effective teaching technique. A blog is short for weblog and is a website consisting of a series of posts, listed by the most recent.  Users can write messages and post them to the blog then all users can comment on each other’s posts. Using blogs in the classroom helps students with their digital fluency as well as their overall reading and writing skills. Digital fluency is the ability to use specific technological skills to express knowledge and learning.  Research shows developing these 21^st century skills are necessary in a global economy. 

I feel that using blogs in the classroom is a great reflection tool for the students’ writing.  Blogging encourages students to express their own ideas and reflect on their own writing as well as on others.  A blog also serves as a portfolio of work from every child.  As a security measure, I have modified the settings of the blog so that only members with passwords would be able to access the students’ academic work.  I will also have a discussion with the class about online safety issues such as cyber bullying.  It is important that students follow this safety rule to avoid more serious consequences with administration.  

This year, the students will participate in a blogging project taking place during a Social Studies unit on the Founding Fathers.  Each student will research a Founding Father and write a biography about that individual.  The student will write the biography in sections, post them to the blog, and make changes after their classmates and I make changes or suggestions.  Once the students have their sections written, I will help them construct a final copy.  

Having a classroom blog is an effective communication tool for parents, teachers, administrators, and students.  All of these parties will be able to access the blog to look at the students’ writings, the classroom schedules, recent projects, lesson plans, and other important news and events. I hope you will find this blog to be a useful tool for you and your child. 

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                                Ms. Hoffman