Icebreaker-Response

After trying to use our ice breaker idea for Twitter, I've come to the realization that it won't work for the most part. I think students would rather just post when they feel like it and not when they are told too. It can be still be awkward to write something just to write it, just like in a classroom setting. While this idea could benefit some students, I think that for the most part, it will be largely ineffective because students probably won't feel motivated to follow the teacher's instructions.

Twitter in School

Our idea for our group is to use Twitter for icebreakers at the beginning of the school year. Students would be able to post things that they feel comfortable saying to their peers and not feel pressured to answer certain questions. I think that students will feel more confident in their answers knowing that they will not feel awkward answering in front of the class. They could also form a new friendship that may not have existed without the use of this introduction to the class. The only negative that could come from something like this is possible bullying over what someone thinks. In our group, we plan on posting things about ourselves to see how our followers react.

Educational Blog Resources

1. http://www.leekrausonline.com/
This first link helps to give new ideas regarding teaching students through blogs. One of the blogs contains a video that discusses many different life scenarios. It can help give students helpful insight that they may not have listened to before. All of the comments talked of how the video helped the audience to understand the material so I'd assume that the students feel engaged with the topics.

2. http://learningcurves.blogspot.com/
This second blog seemed to be more geared toward teachers. It discussed some of the things that teachers simply would like to get off their chests. I felt like it would be helpful for a young teacher who might be questioning whether to switch their career to see that veterans go through problems too. Some of the comments seemed to be more friendly and playful than all business. This can go a long way to helping beginning teachers feel more comfortable which is why I'd consider to be a successful use of blogs.


As a future teacher, I know that I will need to be ready for increasing technological changes in an increasingly advanced world. I plan on allowing my students to have discussions about homework through blogs. Being a math teacher might make it harder to incorporate much writing into the curriculum, but I think that having the blog could help some students understand material better since they can learn both from me and from their peers. I think that hearing that their fellow classmates also might be struggling actually provides students with confidence because they won't feel as alone as they would without the blog.

Greetings

Hello to all readers. I'm Sean O'Brien, and I will be writing a blog about college basketball for my education class so that I can learn how to use blogs more effectively. I'm a big Duke fan so I'll probably be posting about them frequently. I look forward to learning more about blogs in this course and to stating my thoughts about the rest of the season. Hope you enjoy.

Sean O'Brien