Blog Post #9 What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy

Little Kids… Big Potential

In Mrs. Cassidy's interview with Dr. Strange, she stated that all teachers should be technologically literate. I must say that I absolutely agree with her. Mrs. Cassidy not only gave precise details on how to start, but she also demonstrated some of her techniques by making a video titled," Little Kids...Big Potential". In this video, Mrs. Cassidy's students shared with us the various technology they used in the classroom such as blogs, Skype,etc. One student said that he liked to writing blog because he received nice feedback from others person such as his mother, sister, aunts and his friends. Another student said that he like blog because every time he blogs, his writing gets better. The students introduced us to the webpage, they can get online and read whatever they like to read and learn. Mrs. Cassidy has a classroom blog that the students can go to and it has appropriate links for them to click on. They can even pull up their blog at home, which they think is very neat. They made videos of themselves counting and learning the ABC’s that they could go back and watch. Mrs. Cassidy's classroom is equipped with Nintendo DS, which is a hand held gaming device that contains educational games. Ms. Cassidy’s first grade class is a very good example of using Project Based Learning in an excellent way.

Mrs. Cassidy got involved in technology about ten years ago when her classroom was given five computers. These computers could not have programs put on them so all she had was Internet access. She started using these computers for center time and wanted to learn how to make them useful for six-year olds. Mrs.Cassidy began learning how to create blogs and webpages that she could use in her classroom. It takes Ms. Cassidy’s students the whole school year to fully begin to understand technology. She started her webpage about 10 years ago and started her classroom blog about five years ago. Technology in her classroom is a process and she is always trying to add to it. Mrs. Cassidy said that by allowing her students to blog, it has opened doors and has given the students the chance to meet people all over the world, it has allowed parents to keep track of their child’s writing progress, and gives the students the ability to keep up in the technology driven world. Mrs. Cassidy has several techniques she uses in her classroom, but she said it changes from year to year. One of the ideas I could see using in my special education class, would be to use blogging as a rotation in guided reading. She said that she had blogging, spelling activities, and students reading to her all in rotations, and this idea would definitely be one I could implement in my classroom. There are incredible benefits to using some of the approaches that Mrs. Cassidy uses. I think that one of the greatest benefits the students receive from creating a blog is they can see the progress they are making. The blog acts as a type of portfolio. It displays their work and it gives a great timeline of how far they have come each week. It is also beneficial for the parents. It allows them to see what their children are doing and it lets them know what is going on in the classroom.