All it takes is Asking

I was trying to find a way to incorporate blogs into my classroom and get around the whole issue of my students not being able to set up email accounts. I decided to go to my TRT, or ESPIT at some schools, and ask him if there was a way. I found an ally in my TRT, Andy because he said there was a way, but he didn't think the county had gone on and gotten the addition to the school websites. We emailed the head technology guru in Stafford County and asked her. She responded that the program is there but that they only allowed access to the High Schools and Middle Schools. Well we emailed her back with rationale of why I wanted to use it and with Andy's help we finally got permission. Poor Andy though because now he has to go and create ID's for all of my students, but I learned that all it takes is a little thing called asking. I opened my mouth, found an ally, and things got done. So the next time you have a great idea and run into some road block, don't give up just find an ally and ask.

Blogs as Portfolios/ Filing cabnits

Wow, now in Chapter 2 of Richardson's book "Blogs,Wiki's, Podcasts" I never thought of using the weblogs to install student work. What a great idea esspecially in our current economy where the counties are cutting our budget for supplies. In my school this year we only get 2 boxes of copy paper for the whole year and when you need to individualize instruction for each child for every subject having only two boxes of paper isn't realistic. Well if I was able to put their work online and have them hand in their work online I could save it and have it right there at my finger tips. I was also thinking what a great way to keep all their work, so if you have a child who needs to go to Child Study you have all the documentation right there. This would solve the problem of not having enough paper and it would also allow the students to put their work up and get comments from parents, peers, and teachers. I liked it also because it would be easy to keep track of their work, so if a parent came and said well they handed that in or questioned their grade (like they would ever do that right?) you could pull their work up and show them. Communication, Communication, Communication.

What does every think of this idea? Does anyone already do this and any suggestions for implementation?

Blog Question

Wow, finally we are talking about a topic I wanted to know more about. I have used blogs on my own for years now and have been looking for ways to get them into my classroom. My own experience with blogs has been mostly to talk about sports, newspaper articles, and personal reflections on facebook and/or myspace. Mostly on these sites people are commenting on something or they are complaining about something. I was looking to bring blogs into my classroom to discuss a reading story we were working with, a math concept that they were learning, and with science and social studies concepts, as well as with homework issues that may arise. However in the Stafford County where I work they don't allow the students to setup email addresses, so using a blogging site like this is difficult because it requires them to have an email address.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get around this issue?