This idea got me thinking about the possibilities that blogging a classroom newsletter could provide for my students and their families. As Sonya suggested, by having an electronic newsletter, I could provide links, videos and pictures that I would be unable to share with parents in a traditional paper parent newsletter format. I could feature student work in the class blog or even in the classroom newsletter post and invite parents, peers, and other teachers to provide feedback to my students. I could use "comments4kids" to generate traffic for additional commentary on student work.
Although the possibilities in blogging are endless, I think that I would be comfortable in starting with an electronic newsletter and letting my comfort level grow from there. I may start at the modification level of SAMR by posting information for parents to comment on and interact with and then build up to sharing student work and inviting a global audience to respond, moving the blog to the redefinition level. Admittedly, I have so much to learn in the blogging-world. It is all very new to me!
Also, check our Sonya's coetail work at the link below. It is pretty neat!
https://sonyaterborg.coetail.com/2015/11/23/student-blogs-in-the-junior-school/
I think keeping parents involved is critical. I can't remember what class it was in (maybe it was Jeff's? It's all starting to blur together...), but it's always best to get the parent on your side before there is a problem. I think this is a great way for the parents to get a little insight into what you guys are doing in class and why!
ReplyDelete