Educational Blogging

Educational blogging is defined as a medium for teachers to provide extra communication between families- parents, guardians, and the students. The purpose of educational blogging is to share information. Rather it is purely content related about upcoming assignments, to share what is happening daily in the classroom, or to highlight projects/tasks done in the classroom. There is a shared, accessible space to access all of this with educational blogging. When teachers use a platform to blog, they are able to creatively share their ideas with peers as well. This helps to ensure not only the standards are being matched at a school wide level, but additionally, bounce off ideas to keep students engaged and learning in the classroom.  There are many benefits that align with educational blogging, however, the main one would be bridging communication. Different teachers can use the sources and curriculum in different classrooms. All while providing additional information to the parents in regard to classroom material. 

Two hands typing on a keyboard.

As mentioned previously, educational blogging provides a platform for co-teachers to see others' thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Therefore, reading 3 blogs made by my classmate, Faythe Stallings. Their first post about the difference of learning styles was very impactful. Every child/student learns at a difference pace and rate. This is important to acknowledge. However, Faythe additionally highlighted the different preferred styles of learnings: visual, auditory, reading & writing, or kinesthetic. It is critical to note which style a student learns the best practicing and to make accommodations accordingly to fit everyone's needs, which is exactly what Faythe's purpose of their first blog post was. Their second blog post had to do with FM systems. Both of us will be going into the Deaf/Hard of Hearing field. Therefore, it is critical for our peers to be familiar with FM systems because it is very common for those who use hearing assistance devices. I found it incredibly beneficial to readers how Faythe was able to share their own personal experiences with this technology. Having first hand experience and being able to share that with others is important and helps one familiarize themselves with a new platform. Their third blog post captured the important of a classroom design. Just the layout of a classroom can differ students' learning. Faythe did an amazing job pinpointing and addressing the pros and cons of typical layouts seen in classrooms. It was refreshing to read about the variety instead of only addressing one layout. 

Overall, blogging was not a new experience for me. Many classes in high school had us do blogging to some degree for assignments. However, it was not to the extent of my Educational Technology class at the University of Tennessee. Rather it is a classroom website or a blog, I fully plan to implement at least one into my classroom. Currently, I remain undecided as to which one.  It helps with having a physical tracker, in parental reach, of the progress the students made throughout the year. However, since my intended grades to teach are young elementary students, I would not ask them to blog. Classroom time would be far more beneficial practice reading comprehension, how to write letters, etc. It is important to teach foundational skills of reading and writing first. Maybe they will blog someday, however, there are no plans to introduce this into my classroom.