Activity 1:

I see blogs as a tool that can improve my classroom in different ways. Primarily as a way to communicate with students and parents.  By adding relevant pages, gadgets, and links students can find: assignments, curricular help, extended knowledge of a topic, calendars and learning games. These are just a few that I could think of and I could keep going. I certainly can see it helping some of my students who have difficulty with responsibility and using their planners.  Parents can keep updated on what is going on in the classroom. They can check on assignments, upcoming events, as well as find ways to help students with work at home. With correct permission I could see posting great examples of student daily work for parents to see and stay connected with.  It can be a portal for parents to see into the classroom. With consistent communication to parents and students, a stronger classroom experience can be achieved.

You will find two movies embedded on my math page. Both are fun. I love using short clips from time to time to build excitement, background knowledge, or even to approach a concept in a different way. The top video I might use as one tool to create excitement for math closer to the beginning of the year. The second video was a video I showed while my class was studying long division. I thought it would be fun, but I didn't expect how much students would like it. I even had a couple of parents email me about how they liked it as well. I believe I will show it again next year.