Final Reflection

The class was AWESOME! I enjoy using technology, and you showed me how I can use it effectively and efficiently in the classroom. Looking ahead, I hope that I stay diligent and on top of my game in order to use technology - I appreciated and agreed with Stephen's comment at the end of class where he shared that he hoped that he would not be the type of teacher that started a blog or web site and months go by before he inputs on his site again. I worry about that too and have realized that technology needs to become a part of my teaching ritual. Start slow, don't bite off more than I can handle and show my students, parents, fellow teachers and administrators that I am willing to spend the time to try new ideas using technology.

I reviewed my Survey Monkey comments and I liked what everyone said - feedback is important and helps me look at what I have done and how to improve. I appreciated the comment on the rubric and I concur on what someone wrote about writing a rubric for this assignment that I posted. Given that math is a series of small assignments, I tried to incorporate what I would do in total for the whole class as well as this specific assignment. I also liked receiving this feedback because I find that often times people don't like giving you feedback directly, but rather anonymously. Survey Monkey allows for this type of feedback.

Looking ahead, I know I will try and use a type of blog/website for information in the class I teach. Thank you for making the class so enjoyable and for being enthusiastic about our profession. Enjoy your summer!

PowerPoint

PowerPoint used to be the "tool" that everyone used to present information or an interesting to give a lecture that included pictures, tables, charts, graphs, and words. After viewing the link provided, I concur that less is more. PowerPoint is useful as it provides a visual for students who need it and can help students get the key points of a lecture or lesson. The presentation needs to be kept short in length and minimal words and ideas need to be presented on each slide. I don't often see a PowerPoint presentation done at the elementary school level to teach students; however, students use it to prepare oral presentations. They like to add graphics, neat pictures, different colored fonts, and cool transitions to their slide shows to make them interesting.

We have had the opportunity to learn many new tools and different ways to present our lessons in this class. PowerPoint, like other mediums for teaching are one more way to make it interesting for not only the student, but the teacher as well.

I created this PowerPoint to teach an introductory lesson on Slope for a 7th grade PreAlgebra class, which was part of the chapter on Linear Functions. The lesson started with a review of material from a previous class. After the short review, the PowerPoint was started, showing the video clip, followed by the vocabulary words associated with slope. The vocabulary words were done interactively with the students actively participating in "rise" and "run". After the PowerPoint was completed, a hands-on lesson using white boards and an overhead completed the lesson plan.

Final Project: Menu

For my final project I have put together a 6th grade general math lesson with the central focus of introducing the topic of distance = rate (speed) x time.

This lesson would be taught during the first semester of general mathematics as part of the chapter on ratios for 6th grade students. The lesson will be introduced using a rap video from YouTube, followed by a student demonstration. The objective of the lesson is to introduce 6th grade students to the vocabulary and units associated with distance, rate and time as well as to calculate distance given the rate and time. Subsequently, student will also be instructed how to solve for speed(rate) or time using the concept of the magic triangle.

Below are the links to the various components of the final project as well as the link to the survey to evaluate the project.

• Content Standards
• Content Instruction
• Lesson Structure
• Assessment of Student Performance
• Technology Utilized
• Evaluation Survey

Thanks for viewing my project and sharing your feedback with me. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer.

Technology Utilized

The following technology will be utilized as part of the lesson as well as in the classroom:

• To introduce the lesson, the YouTube video featuring a rap song on distance-rate-time will be shown to the students.
• The Smart Board will be used to show word problem examples featuring terminology of distance, average rate of speed, speed, and time. Students will evaluate the verbiage and highlight the words using the SmartBoard to help write an equation to solve for distance, rate or time. The Smart Board will be used to present problems and the students will come to the board to solve them. It is also being used to show the Magic Triangle and the highlight tool will be used to show how distance, rate or time can be found by covering up the part of the triangle you already know from the problem presented.
• As part of the lesson, students will be encouraged to visit the online Kahn Academy as well as other online tutorials to help students as needed.

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Assessment of Student Performance

The students will be assessed in the following ways:

Participation: Each class requires that students actively participate in classroom discussion and problems done in class. As part of participation, working with the Smart Board is encouraged and desirable. Participation is awarded as 5 points per day.

Online Homework: Each night online homework is assigned to further skill development of subject. Online work can be completed in class, during lunchtime or after school if computer access is limited at home. For those students unable to access a computer, worksheets with the online problems are downloaded and printed for students. The online homework has the following components: number of skill based problems. Each problem has a space for inputted the answer. The answer can be inputted 4 times before the system "locks" you out of the problem and it is marked incorrect. As part of each problem a "help" button is displayed giving the student a hint as to how to solve the problem. Another component is the tutorial feature where the textbook is accessed online allowing for the student to read the corresponding textbook material affiliated with the problem. Each online assignment is scored immediately for the student to assess performance and give immediate feedback.

Mastery Quizzes: Each week students will be given a mastery quiz via a handout allowing them to demonstrate master of the subject matter. The quiz will be worth 20 points and students need to "pass" the quiz with a 80% or higher score. Quizzes can be re-taken in order to obtain the passing score.

Technology Assessment: As part of the math curriculum, students are expected to utilize various teacher directed technology resources to enhance their learning outside of the classroom. Various websites such as Kahn Academy, Purple Math, and YouTube Videos are given to students either via a handout or through the classroom blog. Points awarded: 50 points per chapter.

Kahn Academy: Students are tracked on Kahn Academy via subject matter that needs skill building. Kahn Academy allows teachers to track progress in developmental areas in various math subjects. If students need differentiation or advanced topics, Kahn Academy is also used to track this progress.

Special Projects: Alternative assessments are offered to students and encourage the use of technology such as blogs, posting videos, SmartBoard presentations as well as traditional PowerPoint projects. Special projects can be done as extra credit or will be assigned once quarter as a alternative assessment that students can pick instead of a cumulative test.

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Lesson Structure

To introduce this lesson, I asked two students to stand in front of the classroom to physically demonstrate distance, rate and time. Two students are asked to start from the same position at one end of the classroom. One student takes giant steps while the other takes baby steps. Each student takes one step per second. The class will count out the seconds. The students will predict who will get to the other end of the classroom first.

The following discussion question will be asked: What if the student who takes the baby steps does it quicker and the student who takes the larger steps goes slower? What affects the distance traveled? What happens as time increases or decreases? What happens to the time as the speed increases or decreases?

After this introduction, students will return to their seats and watch the rap song on distance via YouTube. The video will be projected via the Smart Board. Instruction will continue with a pair share on vocabulary, followed by the use of the Smart Board to show the Magic Triangle. A variety of example problems will be done on the Smart Board with students coming up to the board to highlight key terms in the problems. This reinforces the vocabulary needed to be able to comprehend distance, rate and time depending on the complexity of the problem presented to the student. The lesson will continue with word problems being done as examples that calculate distance, speed and time.

The lesson will follow up with online homework and the students reviewing Kahn Academy for further clarification on the topic.This skill of ratios and distance equation will be a week long lesson. At the end of the week, a mastery quiz on this section of the unit will be given to assess understanding.

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Content Instruction

Learning about distance, rate and time is part of the curriculum on ratios in 6th grade general mathematics. Students determine the distance traveled, rate of speed and time given various components of word problems. Units of distance and time i.e. miles, seconds, as well as speed, miles per hour are calculated depending on the problem presented to the student. Typically at the 6th grade level, students are asked to determine the distance traveled given rate and time. As students become comfortable with this calculation, the unknown variable changes from distance to time and speed. Students must manipulate the equation to solve for the variable. Students are encourage to use the Magic Triangle to help solve these types of problems. Units of measure must be paid close attention as problems will ask for conversions of measurement. As the questions become more complex, students in subsequent lessons will learn about the DRT table. For this specific lesson:

Specific Goals and Objectives:

1.1 Students will identify and briefly explain the distance formula

1.2 Understand the vocabulary associated with the lesson: distance, rate and time

1.3 Compute or calculate the distance, the rate or the time

Identified Academic Language:

Distance

Speed

Average Speed

Time

Distance Formula: Distance (D) = Rate (Speed) x Time (T)

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Content Standards

Sixth grade mathematics is a continuum of elementary school mathematics with an extensive in-depth curriculum needed to further build a solid base of understanding in mathematical concepts. The following topics are the adopted standards for sixth grade mathematics: rational and proportional relationships, the number system, expressions and equations, geometry, and statistics and probability.

California State Standards

Ratios and Proportional Relationships 6.RP

Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.

3. Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about

tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.

a. Make tables of equivalent ratios relating quantities with wholenumber measurements, find

missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values on the coordinate plane. Use tables to

compare ratios.

b. Solve unit rate problems including those involving unit pricing and constant speed. For

example, if it took 7 hours to mow 4 lawns, then at that rate, how many lawns could be mowed

in 35 hours? At what rate were lawns being mowed?

c. Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the

quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent.

d. Use ratio reasoning to convert measurement units; manipulate and transform units

appropriately when multiplying or dividing quantities.

Expressions and Equations 6.EE

Represent and analyze quantitative relationships between dependent and independent variables.

9. Use variables to represent two quantities in a real-world problem that change in relationship to one another; write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable. Analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables using graphs and tables, and relate these to the equation. For example, in a problem involving motion at constant speed, list and graph ordered pairs of distances and times, and write the equation d = 65t to represent the relationship between distance and time.

ISTE Standards for Technology

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:

a. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become

active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress

b. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity

c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching

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Evaluation

Evaluation: Survey

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Collaboration: Key to Success and Time

Collaboration allows me to be a better student and a better teacher. When you work with other people on a project, or seek input from others, you end up with a superior product. In business it is called team buy-in when you are brainstorming and collaborating on a project, and as many people as possible are included in the process in order for the project to be successful.

In my first year at NDNU, most of my EDU foundation courses required at least once to collaborate on a group project or assignment. Each time, our group used Google docs and worked together to write the final paper submitted. This method was especially important in the multi-cultural case study presentation. Each of the team members edited and inputted extensively over the course of the assignment. The beauty of working this way allowed us to work on the project whenever we wanted to and we did not have to worry about emailing documents back and forth. Google docs allowed for flexibility given each of our different schedules, while at the same time made us all equal contributors.

The document that I have shared in this blog post is a document that a peer and I collaborated on for the EDU Special Education Course. Both of us were familiar with Google Docs, having worked on a multicultural project together in a previous class. We each contributed to the document, inputting as necessary all of the brainstorming steps we needed for instructional accommodations. Each of us picked a color to keep track of our edits and inputs. What I have shown is the final project that we submitted.

While I was a paraeducator in 5th grade, the most successful events, projects, lessons and assignments came from the collaboration of the 5th grade team. Often times, one teacher would have an idea and she would float it by the entire team. Sometimes the teachers wouldn't necessarily agree on the approach, but eventually one teacher would join her colleague and they would start to collaborate on the lesson plan. Before you know it, they would have this awesome plan going and their excitement would start to build. As the teachers worked together, their excitement would then bubble over to the other 5th grade teachers and before you know it, all would be working together. The end result was always perfect and well-thought out. Collaboration made for a better experience for the teacher and guess who won in all of this? The student, because they received the BEST of all of the teachers.

Terms and Definitions

Researching the terms and definitions made me realize that while I may understand how to navigate around the internet and understanding the tools available to me, I do not have command of the technology jargon. Words such as captcha and Digg were unfamiliar to me while other words such as tweet, avatar and cloud computing were terms I was comfortable both using and defining. Web 2.0 is the phase of the internet that allows for interaction and has definitely changed the way the internet is used. Again, looking at how this will play out in the elementary and middle school environments beyond the typical project using PowerPoint is still being refined. Think about your students needing to learn vocabulary to understand the concepts in math, science, English, language arts and social studies; we are there too, learning the vocabulary of the future.

TERMS	DEFINITIONS
aggregation	a composition technique for building a new object from existing objects that support some or all of the news object’s interfaces
avatar	subject in a virtual world that represents a person
blog	a series of informal articles
cache	a place to store something momentarily where it con be retrieved quickly instead of having to get it from the server
captcha	letters and numbers randomly generated by program that are inputted for “security” of a process on the computer to insure the inputter is human
cloud computing	allows for web-based applications as opposed to purchasing software i.e. Google Docs
Digg	social news site that allows for users to submit and rate input. allows for users to popularize the content and “digg” it.
hashtag	a tag used to categorize posts on Twitter according to topics
HTML	the language of the world wide web - a system of markup codes and symbols inserted into a file that is intended for use on the world wide web. The markup tells the web browser how to display the images and words for the user.
podcast,webcast	a broadcast sent over the world wide web or ipod
tags	a language element descriptor
tweet	a message or post on Twitter- must be 140 characters or less
web 2.0	interactive services that the web now offers such as online banking, photo sharing, webmail
wiki	content management system that allows people to input and edit sites without knowing HTML
source code	human readable instructions that a programmer writes

Gradebook and Excel

Excel is a very powerful tool. I had used Excel extensively in my prior business career and never really thought about its usefulness in education other than in math and science to create data tables. Excel was used by Site Council to create our strategic plan every year as it was both a budget as well as goal oriented project. Using Excel to create a gradebook as well as other documents makes it extremely versatile. I thought the concatenation tool was super cool and one that I had never used before. Working collaboratively with another teacher, administrator or parent in your classroom can minimize the paperwork or repetitive actions that can happen when paper is passed from person to person. Being able to create a document in Excel, download to a web based solution such as Google docs and then share it with those who need the information, makes it a tool to keep in your arsenal. It will be important to continue to hone those skills in technology and identify my weaknesses in order to seek the necessary training I will need to minimize wasted time trying to figure something out. Asking questions of a colleague more knowledgeable than me in order to learn is also important.

Lisa Hennefarth's gradebook is accessible to be viewed.

Social Networking and Privacy

Call me old-fashioned, or perhaps it is generational, but as much as students like and use social networking sites outside of class to connect with friends and family, I just can't seem to buy in to allowing it in school. I have to ask what value does social networking bring to a classroom? I guess I have been in too many classes where students use Facebook, checking in on friends, their statuses and chatting, all while the professor is lecturing. I expect respect and common courtesy from students when a teacher and professor are delivering a lesson or lecturing on a topic. Some may say that teachers need to be make their lessons and lectures entertaining and interesting, and bring them into the 21st century with the use of technology and interaction. Even when this is done, students still feel the need to be connected, and I think that sometimes we need to be “unconnected” from the internet and technology. I know how hard some teachers work on delivering curriculum to their students, and for some students, they fail to see what value some topics bring to their life. I “get” it and often have used this argument before when I was younger, but now, my age tells me differently. We gain perspective, understanding, and critical thinking skills when we learn outside of our disciplines. This is important as we add tools to our basket of knowledge.

As I thought about this reflection, I decided to research some other opinions to see what others thought about the subject. One opinion in favor of using social networks in school likened it to the invention of the printing press. If we look at social networking sites as books, they too were considered inappropriate, threatening and people were scared. But, not everyone was scared; there were those who stepped forward and forever changed civilization. Could we be on the verge of a new renaissance era with new thoughts and ideas forever changing the way we "do" life? I can wholeheartedly agree with this position of stepping forward, and I am willing to be open-minded about the use of social networking in school; however, we need to teach the courtesies of using social networking, especially to young students. Social networking sites can be brutal and I worry about bullying and distractions, but if we can monitor and teach, then these sites can be powerful; we can reach those students who are on the fringe of the academic circle. I believe it can be used to compare and contrast topics across communities as well as be used as a way to brainstorm ideas and gather as much information as possible. Have I changed my mind? No, not really, but I am willing to take a second look.

Slope Dude

Slope Dude
This adventurous young man can teach us the important terms behind learning slope, including the dreaded algebra term ... undefined, all the while being on a ski slope, high on a mountaintop. Intriguing? Interesting? Designed to capture a student's attention? Perhaps, if you have never heard of the slope concept before, like in a pre-algebra class, this video might be the perfect, goofy way to grab the student's attention.

While preparing for a SDAEI Lesson in my ELL class, my colleagues and I found this funny YouTube video on Slope. At the beginning of the math lesson on slope, this video was used to grab the student's attention. A ski slope with a skier demonstrated positive, negative, zero and undefined slope while learning the key terms around this important part of Linear Functions. As part of the NDNU program, we have been taught to use a "hook" to draw the students into your lesson. YouTube videos serve this purpose because they allow teachers to be creative by giving them access to all sorts of materials. YouTube videos also help students, by giving them options to learning. For example, Khan Academy started as uploads to YouTube and there are also many other online and video tutorials for math including songs and games. Recently, while teaching a lesson on Distance, I found a rap song on the equation of Distance=Rate x Time. This was taught to a 6th grade class and they loved the song and remembered the equation easily. Students need to learn and we, as teachers, need to teach. Keep it creative and get your students hooked.

Slope Dude

At Your Doorstep....

RSS Feeds are like having different newspapers delivered to your front door every minute of the day; however, these special newspapers contain only the information you want to know about either on a professional or personal level. It used to be that you stayed current in your industry by subscribing to different professional magazines, be involved in work-related organizations, read the NY Times, Wallstreet Journal and any other local, national or international newspaper of your chosing as well as attended conferences to hear the latest news and information. Today, technology makes it easy, affordable, accessible and most of all, current.

Feeds allow for instant access to great ideas and this is especially important to teachers in all disciplines. My subscriptions include traditional and fun math blogs and websites, as well as the iconic NY Times. I am a also a big sports buff so therefore subscriptions to the SF Giants and English Premier Soccer are also at the top of my list as news feeds. I think that math has to be presented in different ways in order to be interesting. How often is math done sitting at a desk or table with a white board or paper? How often does doing problem after problem or better known as "drill and kill" come to mind? There are great ideas out there to teach math and taking advantage of them is key. Today I received notice of a new movie coming out called "An Invisible Sign" - a movie about a young woman who becomes a math teacher with no formal training. She loved math as a young girl because her father was a mathematician. If I was a high school math teacher, I would contemplate taking my class to see this movie -something interesting, unique and different - something teachers are always trying to do to keep their students interested in their subject.

Having the ability to look at posts or announcements with a click of a mouse is inspiring and keeps my creative juices flowing. I have a responsibility as a teacher to always improve. Each year, I cannot remain stagnate but must push myself to do things differently than before. If lessons went well, then I must think about how to make them even better. Each student is unique and each year brings different students with different learning styles and I must adjust what I do in the classroom. RSS Feeds can help me do this by keeping my up-to-date and on top of my game as a teacher.

Rules of Engagement

My goal: To engage students in active learning....I have used this verbiage in papers for other education courses at NDNU. What does it mean? Engage means to occupy the attention or efforts of a person or persons. As a teacher, I will not want to stand up in front of a classroom and just lecture. How bored my students, as well as I, will become with a subject that I feel needs to be introduced in an interesting and innovative way. I am not saying that lecture does not hold its place in a classroom, but I do feel there needs to be a balance of delivering the curriculum. I need to tap into the intellectual energy of my student's minds and keep them focused on the task at hand - learning math. This will be my primary role as a math educator. Watching the video clips made me smile as I nodded my head in agreement knowing full well what lies ahead for me as a teacher and pondering the how's: How will I reach all students successfully? How will they learn by incorporating multi-media and technology without getting lost? How will I keep track of all of the student's attention and not fall victim to have students "Facebook" or "Chat" during classtime? How will I have the time to learn all of the technological tools out there at my disposal?

As I watched the opening moments of the "Students Today" YouTube video, I vividly remembered sitting in one of those types of lecture halls at UC Davis with 500 other students and the professor never knowing my name. My daughter goes to Woodside High School and is consumed with Facebook, texting, cyberspace and online music. I am trying to be open minded to the situation that students and young people face today in the technological world all around them. So many things vying for their attention and with only 24 hours in a day, how will they navigate through it all?

Marshall McLuhan is quoted in this same video stating that a child was bewildered entering a 19th century educational environment. That quote is over 40 years old and still holds true even today. Think of the students in large college lecture halls, in elementary and middle schools as well as high schools, who sit in rows of desks or seats, all facing the front white board, listening to a teacher or professor drone on and on while they sit at their desks or tables furiously taking notes. Technology can help us with all of this, but we need to use it correctly. My son was recently in a couple of classes where teachers replaced their traditional teaching by giving the students projects using the computer 100% of the time they were in class. One teacher thought he was using technology correctly, as he felt was the mandate of the school district's strategic goals; while the other teacher had students write their English prose on a computer, with the students never touching pen or pencil to paper. Technology by itself cannot replace traditional teaching but will and can enhance it. Technology should be used efficiently and effectively so that students can feel that what they are learning has meaning in their life. It is our job to show the value of what they are learning and how it can be used by students later on in their lives. It is our job as teachers to be interested in what we are teaching for the sake of our students and their future. We must feel passionate about teaching, and use all of the tools at our fingertips to keep our students interested - that is our job. These are my rules of engagement.

The Conversation...Opening Up the Lines of Communication

I remember the typewriter - electric with backspace erase was the one to have for those writing assignments in comparative literature classes. I remember having to feed scantron sheets to write the code for a nutritional analysis and dietetics class. If one small comma was missed, you had to re-write everything and then feed it all back into the computer. Lots of time was wasted in those computer labs.

Fast forward to today. Technology is at our fingertips - computers, laptops, ipads, itouches, youtube, widgets, gadgets, facebook, myspace, social networking, wikipedia, online databases and encyclopedias - the list goes on and on. As a math teacher, I want to engage students and help them build a solid infrastructure of knowledge in order for them to succeed later on in their math courses. Math builds upon itself and once the mortar is put down, you can lay the tile work. The tiles can be laid sequentially in a linear fashion, geometrically in a random pattern or in a beautiful mosaic. However it is done, the end result is spectacular and will serve them well in the years ahead. Math is everywhere and is needed in all walks of life; however, the challenge with young students is to show them how math applies now in their lives. Technology in the classroom can help with this endeavor.

How will I do it? How will I be able to stay up to date and knowledgeable about the technology that will be available to me? For me, the answer is simple - Keep my ears to the ground and my eyes open. Stay connected to my students. Get to know them and find out by observation and asking questions what is new, interesting, challenging. Students often know before you and will love to share what is out there on the computer. Be willing to try and experiment and do not be close minded. I am willing to accept new thoughts, ideas, to take a risk and step out of the box to learn and I have to be hungry to learn. If I can show my students my hunger for knowledge, perhaps they too will be hungry. The sky is the limit.

Thoughts

For the last five years I have been a paraeducator and recently left that job when I increased my school workload, and opted instead to become a substitute teacher. In addition to being a substitute, I also run an afterschool program for 4th and 5th graders, helping them with their homework every Wednesday afternoon.

When I was working, technology was and still is a very big part of the school. Each 5th-8th grade classroom has laptops for each student to use. SmartBoards are evident in all of the 4th and 5th grade classrooms AND the use of document cameras are used extensively by all of the teachers. Technology and the parameters outlined in your blog make total sense to me;however, it must be implemented and supported by everyone on the school campus. It is a shame to have all of the great technology at your fingertips but not use it to its full potential. Inconsistent use and methodology are two areas that stand out to me from your list as to what does not happen on a regular basis. I find that teachers not familiar nor comfortable with technology do not embrace it and thus it goes to waste.

The importance of on-going training, support and personal development is key to the success of technology implementation and use. Teachers must see the value and understand how to use technology to get the most out of their students. Educators can't use technology as a babysitter and must continue to be involved in teaching.
This is an area of extreme balance and where training and development are crucial. School districts must have the resources;however, in these tough economic times, technology, unfortunately may go by the wayside. We must continue to push the limits and look for web-based solutions. We, as future educators, must learn all of the tools and be open-minded in their use in our classrooms. We must keep our students engaged and enthusiastic and I believe the technology can help us if used properly.

Pretty Awesome

Blogs are a terrific way to get students engaged in writing in all disciplines of education. I took a World History course this past summer and the teacher used a blog to get us to write reflections about our weekly readings. We were also encouraged to comment on other classmates blogs. This was the first time I had done this and I felt myself really thinking about what I wrote; I definitely felt the peer pressure to sound intelligent and well-read.

I used to work as a para-educator in a 5th grade classroom and a couple of teachers in the 5th grade used blogs to encourage nightly writing from their students. Interestingly enough, the teacher that assigned a "free-write" had more students participating on a regular basis; though for some students, writing about a specific topic was easiest because they did not have to stress about finding the "right" topic to write about on their blogs.