I have never used a blog before in my personal life. I have however, kept a journal written poetry and songs...but I have never used a blog before. Now that I am actually using one, I can become more familiar with what it is and its purposes. I believe that incorporating a blog in the classroom will be wonderful. As a teacher, I would use a blog to show what my students are learning and invite their parents to see what their children are doing. It would be an awesome tool to allow my students to use to showcase what they have learned and things that they have created. It will also be a great writing assessment. I can see how far a student has come from each blog post. I would allow my students to collaborate and give feedback to their peers. Blogs are a great tool in that you can update and edit anytime. I can inform students of their assignments and post handouts and it can be a great student portfolio.
Writing across the curriculum is basically implementing writing throughout all subject matter. Some technological tools that may help promote this are software programs that allow students to create their own stories. Storybird is one of these types of programs. It allows students to create their own stories and the program puts it in a storybook format. Another great tool is a software program called Toondoo. It allows students to choose a character, a theme, and choose from a range of gestures and objects. The student can also type what they would like the character to say in a comic book fashion. The program is very easy to use and can be very entertaining, all the while allowing the student to write and be creative.
I would implement all of these tools in my classroom, especially since I want to teach Early Childhood education. I think that these programs are very age appropriate. In addition, two subjects that I will need to research ways to implement writing are science and math. I think that the number one problem is that students learn writing from English teachers but they may not know how to apply writing when it comes to science and math. One idea may be to have the student solve a math equation and then write a paragraph on how they came to that conclusion. What formula did they use and why? I think the same would go for science. It's not enough to just read about science but perhaps have the student write about their experience in the science lab too. I understand how important writing across the curriculum is and I plan to utilize it in my classroom as much as possible.
Writing across the curriculum is basically implementing writing throughout all subject matter. Some technological tools that may help promote this are software programs that allow students to create their own stories. Storybird is one of these types of programs. It allows students to create their own stories and the program puts it in a storybook format. Another great tool is a software program called Toondoo. It allows students to choose a character, a theme, and choose from a range of gestures and objects. The student can also type what they would like the character to say in a comic book fashion. The program is very easy to use and can be very entertaining, all the while allowing the student to write and be creative.
I would implement all of these tools in my classroom, especially since I want to teach Early Childhood education. I think that these programs are very age appropriate. In addition, two subjects that I will need to research ways to implement writing are science and math. I think that the number one problem is that students learn writing from English teachers but they may not know how to apply writing when it comes to science and math. One idea may be to have the student solve a math equation and then write a paragraph on how they came to that conclusion. What formula did they use and why? I think the same would go for science. It's not enough to just read about science but perhaps have the student write about their experience in the science lab too. I understand how important writing across the curriculum is and I plan to utilize it in my classroom as much as possible.