Reflective Essay About How I WIll Use Blogs as a Resource

Blogs can be a very useful resource that can be accessed from anywhere at anytime. The ability to view blogs can be restricted to very strict standards which can be very helpful when blogs are used in the school environments. As a future teacher/librarian a way that I plan to use blogs as a resource would be to update my blog regularly containing information on class events. This would be a way to "Go Green" in the classroom, instead of sending home paper copies of class newsletters, it is now possible for anyone to access the internet (public libraries, personal computers, WIFI connections, etc). The parents could then comment on the newsletter or ask questions that way allowing other parents to see the question and response from the teacher which would also help cutback on the teacher receiving duplicate questions. Another way this could be used as a resource is to use blogs as a collaborative environment for students to work. The privacy settings can be set to where only people in the class as well as teachers can view the blog. This could help on group projects, collaborative discussions, reviewing of articles and many more. It is a tool that requires little management and the students can work on without taking many materials and supplies home.  I believe that there are many ways for blogs to be used as a resource in the classroom/library. Knowing that there are unlimited ideas on the internet, I cannot wait to further explore the ways that blogs can be used as resources in the classroom/library.

Reflective Essay About Creating and Using My Blog

Although I have set up a blog for a class earlier on in my education, I am still a little skeptical about using this blog. It is a great resource to have to keep in touch with friends or family or in this case to keep in touch for an on-line class. I am excited to start reading others blogs and learning from them about posting and certain ways to make my blog as professional as possible. I worry about having this blog but forgetting about it once the class is over or as I get further into my career. I found it very easy to create my blog and have had no trouble posting and changing settings. I think that the Blogger program has made it very simple and easy to use whether you are a Digital Immigrant of a Digital Native. As this is going to be an ongoing project for this class, I am very excited to continue working with this tool and learning how this can be helpful.

Linked Sites

While searching the internet for new links to add, I came across Teachers Network. It is a site for teachers ran by teachers. It has great information including lesson plans, daily classroom specials, videos, and even a teacher store. I have found this site to be very helpful and I am excited to continue exploring it. Another websites I linked to is Kathy Schrock's Guide for Teachers. This site is also a great site for future educators as well as current educators. There are links throughout the website for tons of subject areas, including library and technology. I was very interested when I came across this site and I am very excited to continue searching this site. The third site I linked to is called Weblogg-ed. It is a blog that is ran by Will Richardson. This blog has many good ideas regarding new, up and coming technology as well as thoughts about existing technology. I am reading Will Richardson's book for another class and I feel that this website can only contribute to this class. All three of the sites I linked to have very good information that is relevant to this class as well as to my future education.

Well, I've gotten my blog all set up! Wasn't sure if there were any specifics we needed to follow.