I found the set-up of this blog fairly straightforward, but I have also created a blog through WordPress before in other EDCI courses. I think the instructions we were given were really helpful, and I probably would have struggled without them!
I think that blogs are a great tool for teaching, as well as for learning. It’s nice that we’ll all have these blogs to look back at when the semester is over, so that we can see how much progress we’ve made in this course. I am looking forward to the free inquiry, as recording our inquiry process on our blogs will give us the opportunity to see how much we improve at a specific skill or interest over the course of the semester.
In terms of my future classroom, I can definitely see the value of having my students use a blog throughout the year. Even with younger grades, if they are recording and posting photographs of their work on their blogs, they will be able to see their own progress throughout the year. I think that blogs could be a great motivation tool for students, because they will be able to see their work improving as they post their work on their blogs.
With older students, I think blogs are a fun way to have them complete blog posts as exit tickets, or to post other projects such as videos, comic strips, etc. Blogs are also really helpful for parents, because if they have the link to their child’s blog they are able to see what their children are working on. It allows parents to feel more involved with their child’s schooling.
Although there are some concerns with blogging, as long as we are always careful with putting our personal information online, I think blogs are more beneficial than they are detrimental. I am excited to continue to post on this blog for the rest of the semester!