Tiny Fingers Can Control it All!

 My goal for this week...find out how primary teachers are incorporating Web 2.0 tools (and more specifically, blogging) into their classrooms.  I figure the best way to see primary blogging in action is to subscribe to students' (and their teachers') blogs and see what students are posting, what sites they are using and what other aspects they are using in their blogs (videos, pictures, etc.).

After looking into many of the tools myself, I find it hard to picture how it would ever be possible to use them in the classroom with such young students.  I was pleased to find that I was proven wrong and there are so many teachers using this technology very effectively with their students.

Here are some examples that have inspired me to learn as much as I can about these technologies in order to give my students the opportunity to learn in these ways.

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The first is an example from Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano's blog Langwitches.  She wrote a post about her first graders first experiences with iPads.  I can not wait to have these experiences in our own classroom (we are now in the process of purchasing iPads for our school!):

First Graders - First iPad Encounters

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The next is an example from Aviva Dunsiger's (such an inspiration!) blog, Grades 1 and 2 At Ancaster Meadow School, showcasing how her grade 1 and 2 students used their video cameras to capture their learning on a fieldtrip (Yes! She let students use video cameras in their own hands, outside of the classroom and out of her sight!  Sometimes this is a frightening feeling for me!)

Experience the Trip With Us

The last is an example from Kathleen Morris and Kelly Jordan's blog 2KM and 2KJ @ Leopold Primary School about how 7 of their second grade students "earned" their blogs.  They introduced their students to commenting on other students' blogs before they were allowed to "earn" their own blog.  I think this would motivate students even further.  This post also has links to their students blogs which are great examples of how blogging can engage and encourage student writers.

New Student Blogs...and Happy Holidays

I think these are great examples of how technology can and is being used to motivate and encourage young learners in and out of the classroom.  I can not wait to get started down this path!