Sunday, April 27, 2014

C4T #4 Post #1 and #2

Picture of teacher Kathleen Morris

Post #1

The 2014 New School Year

For this month's post, my teacher is Kathleen Morris and her blog is called Primary Tech.  Mrs. Morris's latest post was dated January 25, 2014 and was written when she was out on maternity leave. Although she has been out on leave, she shares that she has been able to stay in touch by reading blogs, using twitter and other online sources. Kathleen has been teaching for ten years up to this point and has some useful information on her blog such as "starting a class blog in five steps10 tips on how to introduce blogging into your classroom and wondering how to involve parents? Check out A Guide to Involving Parents in Your Class Blog. This post includes the permission notes and guides I have sent home to parents". 
I commented to Kathleen that her blog post was short but full of useful information for current teachers and for future educators as well. I will definitely be adding Kathleen blog to my list of favorites as well as add her to my list of PLNs! If you would like to take a look at Kathleen Morris's blog then click here


Post #2


For this post, 

Blogging and the Literacy Curriculum

Kathleen Morris address blogging in the classroom and how it relates to literacy in the 21st century. Mrs. Morris writes about how she began using blogs in her classroom six years ago. When she began, she tried to squeeze it into small blocks of time in between other subjects, however, she soon realized that this was not the best way to "unleash the full benefits of blogging." Mrs. Morris has since learned that blogging can be so much more when used in the proper way and given the proper time that it deserves. She has since developed her students' blog into a tool used for literacy. She states that, "To realise the many educational benefits of blogging and ensure your program has an extended life-span, blogging needs to be prioritised and planned for. It should to be integrated into the curriculum; busy classrooms rarely have time for 'add ons'."  She also now spends between 10 to 20 minutes of her reading block on blogging. "Blogging is an authentic way to teach both traditional reading, writing, speaking and listening, as well as multi-modal 21st century skills", she writes and she has proven her belief in this by making blogging a priority in her own classroom. 
I commented that I loved how she integrated her class blog with her reading block and that I think it is great way to teach a 21st century tool in a way that is interesting and relevant to her students!

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