The idea of blogging and creating my own blog site had always interested me. I knew that I would someday look into it, but 3 weeks into my first year of teaching?! It was easier than imagined. I currently teach five social studies classes: Two Global History classes (10th grade), two Economics classes (12 grade) and one Participation in Government class (12th grade). Here are some ideas that I came up with on how I could use my blog in my own classrooms:
Global History: In this course, I try to take the role of being a storyteller. In doing so, there is a wealth of information that is associated with this course that I may use that I may not have time for in my classroom. The supplemental resources and stories of the people, places and events we cover in the course could be used in a medium such as my blog.
Economics: With both of my 12th grade courses, I could use my blog as sort of a "Discussion Headquarters" for current topics regarding domestic and foreign economic and government ideas. This could be a great tool for students to discuss and dissect certain issues that our world and the United States face on a daily basis.
Participation in Government: In addition to what I previously mentioned, I think using a blog for this particular course could really be a facilitator for political interaction, community awareness and in general, a way to express ideas in a more democratic fashion.
In each of these courses, you could bring up your blog site (on a projector or SmartBoard) and refer back to student responses and using what they wrote as a whole class discussion. This could give students who aren't particularly vocal in class a voice to express their views, concerns and so forth in a productive setting.
I must say, I am really enjoying my blogging experience and look forward to using it, along with contributing to others, in the near future.
Regards,
Ryan
