Some Pictures from San Diego Trip

Blog Safely

Blogs are can be a useful tool, but they can also be abused. Here are some safety tips for safe blogging:

• Limit your audience. There is a privacy setting that means you can password protect your blog so that only the people you want to see the postings have the password.
• Keep personal information personal. Not everyone reading your blog needs to know where you live, your phone number, last name, etc. There are so many people that can abuse that information so keep it to yourself.
• When blogging about other people, don't use names. Especially when blogging about your classroom it's not appropriate to use a student's name in a post or to label them in a picture. Keep them safe by keeping their name private.
  
• Know that what you post is permanent. The web is a public place and anyone can print out a post so even if you remove a post from your blog, someone may just have that post printed out.
  
• Keep your blog positive and don't respond to rude or embarrassing comments. When you keep a post positive it doesn't provide opportunity for a mean comment. If you do get one of these comments, don't respond to it or let it be posted. Delete it as soon as you see it.
  

http://www.microsoft.com/security/family-safety/blogging.aspx
http://kimseducationalblogging.blogspot.com/2009/09/safe-blogging-tips.html

Blog Pedagogy

Blogs within the classroom are a great tool for the teacher to use. First, it's a great way for the teacher to keep the grown-ups of the students informed about what is going on within the classroom. The grown-ups are such an important part of having a successful classroom and as a teacher they are one of your greatest allies. Another great thing about blogs is that it provides a place for your students to be able to publish their work for an audience bigger than just your class. When I was searching the different education blogs is that every child in the classroom had a link to their work that you could read and leave a comment. I know from being in the classroom that teaching about writing to an audience is a really hard concept to teach. I love the idea that children can put their work out on a blog to a big audience so they can learn about writing to an audience. A blog is also a great place to share your ideas for teaching a concept, posting lesson plans, or just sharing some fun and creative ideas that you've done in the classroom. One of my favorite places to get ideas for teaching young children is Not Just Cute because she give so many great ideas of how to teach through hands on activities.

http://notjustcute.com/
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=41233
http://room9nelsoncentral.blogspot.com/
http://www.2mgems.blogspot.com/