Blogging
Our visit to Plymouth Grove primary school on 13/9/12 was my first experience of a school having a blogsite rather than a website - http://plymouthgrove.net/. The Headteacher said it was an easy way of sharing learning with parents and the wider community and could very quickly and easily be updated. This was evidenced shortly after we left, when our visit was the subject of one of the blogs and we were able to comment on the blog and submit our thanks.
Since then I have also visited other blogs, including Tim Handley’s blog http://classroomtales.com, described as "the reflections, resources and general musings from a primary school teacher" and I am also following him on Twitter.
I was especially interested in the QuadBlogging section and how this could be used to find out about other countries and cultures and what another school might be doing on the same topic that you are studying. I think it would increase the breadth of learning if pupils could present their topic work to be shared on the blog, plus benefit from finding out what other pupils had done. I can imagine that the children would enjoy talking about themselves and their interests and how viewing the comments would engage the pupils.
From a teacher viewpoint it could be considered that this is extra work, but I liked the suggestion that the lesson plenary could be used to update the blog – and that the children would write up what they have learnt in the lesson then add it to the blog. It was also serve the purpose of communicating with the parents on a regular basis.
As a parent, I think it would be an excellent portal to view more than just what my children have planned for the term. The blog could be updated on a weekly basis so parents would have a much better idea what their child is doing and be able to comment. I like the idea that each class could have its own section and that there would be passwords set up for parents and when viewing photos or videos.
Through my Twitter account I also learned about BlogDipping which is sharing class blogs across the world. The site http://www.blogdipping.org.uk/ says that the availability of a world-wide audience has encouraged teachers in all phases of education to set up a blog and post different aspects of the work done by the pupils. There is also mention of blog being posted at home - might this become the new way of doing homework?
Since then I have also visited other blogs, including Tim Handley’s blog http://classroomtales.com, described as "the reflections, resources and general musings from a primary school teacher" and I am also following him on Twitter.
I was especially interested in the QuadBlogging section and how this could be used to find out about other countries and cultures and what another school might be doing on the same topic that you are studying. I think it would increase the breadth of learning if pupils could present their topic work to be shared on the blog, plus benefit from finding out what other pupils had done. I can imagine that the children would enjoy talking about themselves and their interests and how viewing the comments would engage the pupils.
From a teacher viewpoint it could be considered that this is extra work, but I liked the suggestion that the lesson plenary could be used to update the blog – and that the children would write up what they have learnt in the lesson then add it to the blog. It was also serve the purpose of communicating with the parents on a regular basis.
As a parent, I think it would be an excellent portal to view more than just what my children have planned for the term. The blog could be updated on a weekly basis so parents would have a much better idea what their child is doing and be able to comment. I like the idea that each class could have its own section and that there would be passwords set up for parents and when viewing photos or videos.
Through my Twitter account I also learned about BlogDipping which is sharing class blogs across the world. The site http://www.blogdipping.org.uk/ says that the availability of a world-wide audience has encouraged teachers in all phases of education to set up a blog and post different aspects of the work done by the pupils. There is also mention of blog being posted at home - might this become the new way of doing homework?