Blog Post #10

In the first interview with Ms. Cassidy (Cassidy Pt. 1), she states that she was given 5 computers in her classroom about 10 years ago. She started off with a webpage when she got the computers, she started blogging 5 years ago, and she started using video about 2 years ago and is continuing to add new things. She says that when it comes to the administration being supportive that none of them have ever discouraged her when it comes to using technology in the classroom. Dr. Strange asked her how the parents felt about their kids posting their work to the internet and she said that most parents are happy to be able to see their child's progress on their blogs. They send home information at the beginning of the year which states that the students privacy will be protected. I think it is very interesting and convenient that parents can go online and view their kids progress and work being done in the classroom. They are able to keep up with what their kids are doing all school year so they can help with anything that needs to be improved at home. Another good point Ms. Cassidy makes about blogs is that students enjoy an audience, they like their work to be praised so why write on paper to where just she can see it when they can write on their blog and let the whole world see it. AS for other people in her school adopting her ways of using technology, she said that the other grade 1 teacher has become very interested in the use of technology. As for other teachers, they just don't want to change.

In the second part of the interview with Ms. Cassidy (Cassidy Pt. 2), Dr. Strange asks her where do you start? She says it depends on where your interests lie. Personally I think you have to start off small and work your way into more complex things. You should maybe start off in a small way such as filming your students read and then work your way up to filming them in groups presenting something. Have them research things on the internet and then have them later make a blog where they can talk about the things they've researched. 

In the final part of the interview with Ms. Cassidy (Cassidy Pt. 3), Dr. Strange has the students with him ask her some questions. The first student asked her how often her classes blogged whether it was daily, weekly, or monthly. She said that it depended on the year and that this year she has a smaller group of kids so they blog once a week. Some of the kids blog from home so if that is the case they blog more often. Another student asked her if she thought that Facebook could be used as a resource in future education. Earlier in the videos she said that she had just joined Facebook a week ago so she doesn't have much experience, but she said that other teachers have had their students set up a completely different Facebook account specifically for their school and has great potential for posting assignments and learning things that are being done in the classroom. 

The one thing that I can see myself using in my future classroom is blogs. I've known about blogs for some time now, but every time I watch a video in this class I seem to learn something new or look at blogging from a different perspective, This time I was able to see that parents can be more involved in their child's progress in the classroom by viewing their work done via their blog page. In improves their writing and reading skills each time they blog in the classroom. It can lead them to blog more at home and think outside of the box.