Week 2 Reflection

Create a post on your blog titled “Week 2 Reflection” and answer the following:

What did you learn?
I learned how to begin a blog and how to begin manipulating information within my blog. I also discovered that setting up the blog was really quite simple.

How will you use what you have learned?
I will be able to establish a blog for my students and hopefully my parents to enhance communication and learning in my classroom. I'm excited about the possibility of having a different medium for communication and reflection for me and my students.

How did you feel about staring a blog?
It was relatively simple. My concern now is not starting the blog, but maintaining it and using it effectively.

What do you not want to forget your blog?
Like the rest, I'm not sure I understand what this question is asking.

How can this be used in the classroom or in your educational role?
I feel it could be used to help other members of our department communicate. I also plan to use this, at this time, as a reflection tool for my students to improve my informal assessments of their knowledge. I have found that one of my weaknesses as a teacher is checking frequently for understanding so I'm hoping this will enable me to be more aware of how my students are feeling about the material being taught in class.

Should you use this in the classroom or your educational role?
Hopefully in both. I hope this will be a good tool in my classroom but I also hope it will be a way for me to continue improving myself as an educator and working with people in my school, district, and even educators in other cities, states, and countries. There are so many great resources available that I am hoping blogging will help me access more of those resources.

What questions do you still have about this your blog?
I am wondering about how to moderate my blog. I want to know how to limit the people that have access to the blog, can post comments, etc. I'm not sure if that knowledge comes from just experimenting with the blog or if there is somewhere I can go to learn how to change those things.

Some interesting blogs...

As I have been exploring the world of blogs, I found one today that really helps me get an idea about how this technology can be used in my classroom. This teacher has a blog that both her and her students have access and post things relevant to their class. I think this is something I could strive to acheive. Her blogging abilities are well beyond mine at this time but its a good goal for the future!

http://missbakersbiologyclass.com/blog/

I also found Robin's Tech Tips (http://www.robinstechtips.com/) very useful. It was easier to navigate than many of the sites I have explored and there were lots of useful hints, tips, and instructions for those of use who are less than tech savy.

Me :)

My graduation from McMurry

My Purpose

I am definitely still exploring the ways I can use blogging. I know I want to have a blog at some point in the year that my students can use as a part of our classroom. I want them to be able to communicate with one another and with me to help enhance what they are learning in my class.

However, I am also wondering if it wouldn't be beneficial to have a blog for my parents to communicate with me and each other. I also wonder if it wouldn't be a good tool to establish within our department to help with planning, etc.

Blogging to Learn

I designed this blog as a part of an online blogging class. I hope to use it to help me learn the ins and outs of blogging so that I can effectively incoporate blogs into my classroom this year.

I also hope that it will become a resource base for me when I need to find answers to the millions of questions I will have this year as I learn to work within my intelligent classroom.

All About Me

Hi! My name is Jessica Gladman and I am a science teacher at McNeil High School. I am starting my 4th year teaching and this year I will be teaching Biology and IPC with a significant portion of inclusion classes. I have discovered that I have a true passion for teaching students that struggle as opposed to those for whom school comes naturally. I enjoy the challenge of helping those students find ways to be successful that are not necessarily traditional.

I am a graduate of McMurry University in Abilene, TX. I came to Round Rock after graduation because of the job I was offered and have really enjoyed becoming a part of the Austin/Round Rock community. I love Texas Country Music, the Boston Redsox and the fact that I get to spend most of my year playing in a lab with some really fun kids.