Web 2.0

Next year I will be teaching 2nd grade in an independent school. I see myself using Web 2.0 as an introduction to social networking with them. I don't imagine we would get too deep into it, but I believe it would be valuable to create a blog as a class and post snippets of information from our weekly events. I think the parents would really appreciate it and it would be cool to show the journey of the class from day one until the end of the year. There is so much that happens in a day that I always feel bad I can't articulate or remember every little special moment with my students' parents. I think this would be an awesome way to virtually bring them into our classroom so they can understand, read, see and feel what their children are experiencing in their academic environment. It would probably be a lot more energy and work on my part, but I like to document and look back on a personal journey to see how far I've come, so I would enjoy giving the kids this perspective and hope they would appreciate it as much as I do. Plus, they would take part in posting and deciding what we want to show and talk about on the blog. I imagine it would be a fabulous community building opportunity. If anything, it would be a great way for me to communicate with the outer community of parents, siblings, friends and family members of my students.

Some ideas for a class blog:

• Group and individual photos

• Videos

• Announcements

• Birthdays

• Art work

• Updates

• Assemblies

• Field trips

• Holiday celebrations

• Books

• Homework

• Reminders

• Lunch/snack menus

• Goals

• Schedule

• Curriculum units

• Math focus

• Guest speakers