Blog Post #10: What Can We Learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

In First Graders in Mrs. Cassidy’s Class, students are doing projects using technology. Each student has their own blog, records videos, and plays Nintendo. I had never considered Nintendo as an education tool but Mrs. Cassidy uses fit in the classroom and students loved it. Getting students to create blogs and using Nintendos in the classroom are things that I could use in my classroom. It’s wonderful that these students know how to comment on blogs and about the dangers of the internet.

In Mrs. Cassidy’s interview (Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3), she explains how she began using technology in the classroom (by being given 5 computers for the students to use) and began to look for ways to incorporate them in classroom use. She uses blogs and can view the number of times people have viewed her students’ blogs. She mentions that students don’t have an audience when they write with pencil and paper but it’s different when they write a blog. They can get feedback from various people from all over the world and really enjoy reading the comments. This made me really think about how much feedback students are given when they write. I haven’t seen many elementary teachers comment on students’ work but with blogs, they get various comments and suggestions from all over the world. She suggests beginning with a subject students are really interested in when implementing new technology. I would really like to use blogs my classroom because they allow for feedback and give students the freedom to write about what they want.

Some impediments I anticipate while using technology is the safety of students.and the occasional tech failure. To better address the safety concerns, I would hold a parent informational technology night to explain our safety measures, such as only going on certain websites to research and post blogs. When technology breaks, I will either ask a teacher if our classroom could borrow a laptop/ iPad or , if my school has an onsite repair center, I would take it to get repaired. Some benefits to using Mrs. Cassidy’s approaches are the connection that students receive and comments from various people. The blog will help the students become better writers and accept suggestions.