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Here is the link to my comment on Renee Barber's blog.

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Here is the link to my comment on Shahenaz Abdelrahim's blog.

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Kidblog.org is a web 2.0 tool that allows teachers to create a classroom blog for their students. Teachers who wanted a safe and simple blogging platform that was suitable for what they taught built it. The founder and developer has over 18 years experience in web design and classroom teaching, It is designed to be used for elementary and middle school students. For those who teach several sections of the same subject set up can be done for each class with the one teacher as the administrator.

The basic idea is for students to post and participate within a secure blogging community consisting of their classmates. Because the classroom teacher creates the blog they are able to monitor and control all of the activity within the classroom blogging community. The set up is very simple and took me less then ten minutes to create my class site. All you have to do is create a username and password for yourself, plug in your email to receive notices, and then you are in. Once in you set up your classes with the students’ names. It is that easy. It has a clean design with no advertisements so students spend less time messing with widgets and options and more time posting. Students simply select their name from a list each time they post, which means no passwords and username for them to remember. The central directory for the blog and navigation links are simple making it easy to find classmates blogs. It is also a very safe environment for the students and teacher.

Each blog is set up in a way that no student email addresses are involved and no personal information is required from the teacher or the students. Kidblog has advanced privacy features and student blogs are private by default. The classroom teacher and the students in the class can only view the blogs. If the teacher chooses to allow parents to view the parent is given a password in order to check out the blog. The privacy settings also block all unsolicited comments from anyone other than those in the class.

This is a great site to use in the classroom committed to providing an efficient tool for student blogging in a safe and secure environment. Kidblog is also committed to its users by offering technical support and welcoming ideas for new features to add. Kidblog is a great way to introduce students to the world of blogging.

http://kidblog.org/home.php

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Here's the link to my second post on Kevin's blog.

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Here is the link to my post on Margaret Hulse's blog.

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For my second web 2.0 tools I have chosen 4teachers.org. It is a great site that works to teach how to incorporate technology into the classroom. Knowing where to find sites and how to play around in them is one thing but if you don’t know how to use them in the classroom what good are they. I use different sites to enhance my students learning but I realize that I could do so much more.

4teachers.org offers online tutorials and podcasts that show you how to incorporate technology in the classroom along with lesson plans that are Web based. There are resources for teachers and students along with information for professional development. 4teachers also has a link to their video channel on youtube and teachertube that focus on tutorials and educational videos. The link to their blog highlights different useful teaching sites and shares information on other educational discussions. Online assessments are available along with assistance for special needs. The other cool thing is a professional profiler survey used to find out the strengths and weaknesses as a group in order to build a better team. Grade level teaching teams could take the survey to learn each other’s talents in order to build a stronger team by building on those talents to ensure cohesive teaching per grade level.

To have all this information on one site is incredible. I don’t always have time to search the Web for everything I need. I like how this site is created for that reason. There are so many useful tools on this one website. It is definitely a teacher’s friend.

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I have chosen the site gameclassroom.com for my first web 2.0 find. It is a site dedicated to enhancing the learning of students in grades K-6. It has fun educational games for math and language arts. This site was made by teachers for teachers and also parents. These teachers have searched throughout the web to find educational games that are the best of the best. Gameclassroom.com also incorporates homework help pages that have questions with the answers given for concepts that students might have trouble with. Teachers or parents can use this site and choose which grade level they need from K-6 depending on the child. Not only is it educational but also it is set up to match national standards. For interested there are newsletters available with learning tips, activities, and news about education.
Recent newsletters are posted along with most popular ones such as the top 10 homeschool tips and iPad apps. In the math and the language help spots they feature a game for the day and there is also a spot for newly added games. The homework help incorporates four to six skill areas per grade level with a breakdown of skill sets embedded. I like this site because I have students on all different levels and it is nice to find what I need in one convenient spot. We can work on verbs one day and number concepts the next. My students love “playing” on the computer and the more educational games I can find to motivate and encourage them the better.

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==> Lesson Plan Articles- This is a great special education lesson plan resource. As a special educator I am always trying to find new lesson plans for my students that meet their ability levels. Educators have taken lesson plans and made them fit special education needs.
==> Cool Cat Teacher Blog-This blog is created by a teacher for teachers and has a daily spotlight on education. Each day is a new discussion. It is nice to have access to what is going on in the education field.
==> Blogging About the Web-I love this feed. It has great technology resources for education. There are new technology sites posted plus great informational reads on education. With the need for technology use in the classroom this feed will help me to utilize more technology with my students.
==> Webblogg-ed-This is another feed with great information on technology uses in the classroom with examples. Same as the above feed for classroom technology uses.
==> About.com Special Education-I love this feed because of the vast amount of information on special education trends, information, and laws. I picked this one to keep me informed of what’s happening with special education.

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I had never thought of blogs as a tool for education but after reviewing several articles I was impressed by how useful blogging can be in enhancing the learning experience. Blogging has so many useful advantages to incorporate into all subject areas. Teachers can use blogs to post a question pertaining to that day’s lesson for the students to comment on which would allow the teacher to check for student understanding.

Students can also post their work on a blog. Receiving feedback from all sorts of people from different areas of the world could provide some great motivation to improve their skills knowing that someone other than their teacher is going to be evaluating their work. Blogging is a great way for student’s to improve their research and writing skills when given an assignment to research a topic and post it on their blog. Just like I am doing right now. Some other great ways it can enhance learning is to post a current event for students to comment on or even a math problem for students to explain the process they used to get their answer. Not only are blogs useful for older students to use to enhance learning but for elementary teachers to use for other purposes also.

Elementary teachers can use them for a communication tool. They can post what’s happening each week and for any reminders of upcoming events. Other uses include posting spelling words, daily activities, and links that would be helpful for parents to use to help their child’s learning experience. Teacher can make them as simple or elaborate as they want as either way is a way for parents to feel involved in the learning process.

So as I have learned I see blogging as a great way to bring new ways to enhance student learning, bring parents into the learning process, and create new and exciting ways for students to gain ownership of their work.

Dell, D. (2007). Educational uses of blogs and tags-presentation transcript. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/sqoolmaster/educational-uses-of-blogs-and-tags-234136

Downs, S. (April, 2009). Blogs in education. Retrieved from: http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2009/04/blogs-in-education.html

Walsall School. (n.d.). Education uses of blogs. Retrieved May 8, 2010 from: www.educatr.com/uses

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