Teachers Using Blogs for Professional Development

Blogs are great tools that teachers can use for their own professional development. When it comes to new teaching techniques, blogs are a great way to read about a technique and how it worked out in other teacher’s classes. Let’s say that a teacher just learned about a wiki and wants to find out how well it works in a classroom. Before teachers use it in their own room, they can go to different blogs and read about other teacher’s experiences using a wiki. So, blogs can be used as resources when it comes to debating whether or not to try something new in a classroom. Blogs are a great way for teachers to glean new ideas to use in their classrooms.
Teachers can also use blogs for support. A teacher is able to write about their feeling, frustrations, and joys that come with teaching. When blogs are used for this reason, many people can read about a teacher’s personal experience and respond to it. There are other teachers, professionals, or people who can give suggestions or just relate to that teacher.
Lastly, teachers can use blogs as a journal of what they are doing in the classroom. This can be a tool that they use for professional development because other people can respond to what they have written. They are able to get feedback and suggestions about teaching.
In conclusion, these are only three ways that blogs can be used for a teacher’s professional development. There are endless ways that teachers can use blogs. If anyone has any other ideas, I would love to hear them. One of the blogs that I read and find to be helpful is The Fischbowl and can be accessed at http://www.thefischbowl.blogspot.com/. Make sure to check it out. It is a great blog and I find many of the posts interesting.

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

With the internet becoming used more in classrooms, it is important to educate students and parents about not just the good, but also the bad things that are out there. One of the bad things that was happening with children under the age of thirteen was they were giving out their personal information online. When children do this, it can lead to dangerous situations. Therefore, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed in October 1998 to help protect children from giving out personal information to unknown sources online.
If I were to have my students make a website, create a wiki, or some other kind of online teaching tool, I would review with them the importance of not posting personal information. I would create a list for the students that would cover what personal information they are not allowed to post. The COPPA gives these guidelines that students are not to post online; a first and last name, a home or other physical address including street name and name of a city or town, an e-mail address, a telephone number, or a social security number to name a few. As a teacher, I would make sure my students understood all of the guidelines. We would go over what is appropriate and what is not.
I feel parents are also a key player in making sure their children do not post any personal information online. Teachers can only do so much from school. Home is where most of the students would be getting into chat rooms. I would raise awareness to parents about this topic. I would also give the parents a check list of what should not be posted online. This way they will be educated, as well as their children.