Using Blogger to Meet Appropriate Standards

Through past student teaching experiences, I found myself continuously asking these questions. "Am I meeting enough standards in my lesson(s)"? "How can I possibly make my objectives meet all of the standards"? "Will I hit every standard before assessments begin this year"? Every educator wants to go above and beyond in their lessons by being creative, engaging students, getting students out of their seats and most importantly, integrating technology.  Within the past couple decades, technology has spread all over the world and pushed its way into countless areas of our lives.  Starting with the World Wide web, medical technology, cars, machinery, cell phones, and educational tools such as the Smart Board.  Adults love these advances and try to keep up, but our lives are always pulling and pushing us in so many areas of responsibility.  Although, the best part of this dilemma is that there are children across the world who love these technological advances, get extremely interested and take so much time to learn the skills of new technology.  So in my mind, what educator would NOT want to use this to their advantage in striking that same excitement with learning in the classroom and at home.  

Over the past week, I have thought over how to use my blog in the learning and professional field as a teacher.  First, I thought of the importance with parent communication.  Ideally, I would like to work with ELL's at any age in an educational setting and communication will become very challenging with their parents.  Language is the key to efficient communication and I will undoubtedly come into a situation where I will not know a language of an ELL of his/her family.  This is where my Blog can come into play.  With the translation resources at our fingertips, I know I will be able to translate all of my monthly newsletters and announcements to any language.  The translation may not be 100% accurate, but any sort of communication is better than no communication!  The communication to parents in my blog will not only benefit myself and the parents, it will improve the student's overall success in my classroom.  An example of a great translation tool is Google Translate. 

Another way I can utilize Blogger in my classroom is to encourage students to check it for homework resources, lesson materials and reflection.  I find that students in elementary, high school, or higher education always benefit when they reflect on their work.  Either from a topic of discussion, a specific lesson from the day, or just a creative free write on something they are passionate about.  This gives the students the opportunity to write without the pressure of a graded assignment.  I would not use Blogger as a graded assignment.  I would assess on a pass/fail given if the student completes the written task or not.  Students will also be able to read what other students have written and comment.  I find that Blogger would be a great resource for the rest of my career as an educator! 

ACTFL Standards

Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. 

ISTE Standards

1. Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.