Final Blog

I have certainly enjoyed keeping a blog for this class.  I have always wanted to look into “blogging,” but I just never made the time.  This was a good excuse for me to find out how blogs work!  What I definitely enjoyed about keeping a blog was the easiness of writing down my thoughts.  Also, I felt it was a perfect learning opportunity to read others blogs to get their thoughts, opinions, and experiences with their ELL observations and field hours.  In previous classes, we would just post our ideas in the discussion area.  However, it was fun to see the different blog styles.  It felt more personal coming from a person’s blog with pictures and backgrounds than on the plain discussion board.  The only drawback from the experience was the amount of time it took to create the blog for the first time, and then figuring out how to post graphs and other visuals.  However, even the drawbacks were learning opportunities!

 I think keeping a blog as a teacher is a terrific idea.  I could see posting homework assignments, weekly newsletters, and classroom highlights as being beneficial for the students to have in one easy spot.  For my older students, keeping a blog for themselves is an ideal idea.  It would give my students the same benefits I received from this class.  Students could respond to each other’s thoughts and ideas.  It would be a tool to get students writing.  Anytime something is fun, students are engaged.  Creating and personalizing a blog would be fun for the students.  It would be a great learning opportunity for technology and writing.  We could also do math constructed responses and writing worksamples submitted through a blog, where students could learn from one another and respond to each other’s ideas and work.  Using a blog would be beneficial for both my students and me. 

Blog #9

I feel the most important strategies teachers can use for ELL students for both fiction and non-fiction is help create common background knowledge and front load vocabulary before reading.  After this background knowledge, vocabulary support, and previous teacher modeling for how to use/read text features, I feel the non-fiction texts help support ELL students more than fiction, especially in the upper grades when the fiction texts do not have visual that support the story line.   The use of graphic organizers, visual aids, clear labeling, titles, and glossaries, helps with student comprehension.