Blog Post 11

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy’s Class, Little Kids… Big Potential and Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy

The video “Little Kids… Big Potential” is a great video created by Ms. Cassidy that gives viewers a great example of what goes on in Ms. Cassidy’s class. In the video, students talk about the fun and exciting things that Ms. Cassidy allows them to do in the classroom while using computers and Nintendo DS’s. First Graders in Ms. Cassidy’s class tell of how they each have their own blog in which they post at least once a week. The students also stated that they are allowed to use their Nintendo DS’s to plan fun games that help them learn. The students in Ms. Cassidy’s class also use Skype quite frequently. During the Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy, she tells Dr. Strange and students how her first grade students are working on computers on a daily basis. Ms. Cassidy stated that when she first started teaching, five computers were given to her for her to use in her classroom. Ms. Cassidy wanted to make great use of the computers, but the computers only had internet access and no new programs could be downloaded on them. So, she started the personal blogging idea. In the interview, she explains how her first graders love to blog and parents and siblings love to read and comment on the blogs of their students. Ms. Cassidy stated that it made her students feel special knowing that all of the world could see what they were writing about. Ms. Cassidy mentioned that in order to keep students safe, students go by a first name basis on their blog, and pictures of students are not posted. Ms. Cassidy teaches her students how to be safe on the internet by encouraging them to go only to the links that she suggests and to stay away from advertisements. Ms. Cassidy stated that she does not have a lot of trouble with her first graders navigating away to other random outside sites, she has more trouble with them playing games that they are not assigned. Ms. Cassidy also mentioned “Blogging Buddies”. “Blogging Buddies” is a way for students in Ms. Cassidy’s class to comment on another student’s blog in another class, whether it is at the same school or at another school across the world. By being able to do this, students can comment on each other’s blogs and even Skype one another and discuss different things such as how that they can improve on their writing skills. I think that “Blogging Buddies” is a great idea and I could really see myself using it in my classroom. I really wish that I would have had the same opportunity that the students in Ms. Cassidy’s class do when I was in the first grade. I would have loved to blog and I honestly think it would have helped me become a better writer in elementary school. I love how Ms. Cassidy stated that Technology is never going to go back to how it used to be, so we as teachers are going to have to change with it. I think that I could use a lot of Ms. Cassidy’s ideas in my classroom, especially the “Blogging Buddies” activity. I think that by allowing my students to use blogs, it would help them tremendously in their writing. It would also allow parents to see what exactly their kids are doing at school and how much that they have progressed in their writing throughout the year. I think that Skype is an awesome tool, and I will definitely be using it in my classroom with my students. I really enjoyed watching the Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy; she had many great, interesting and useful tips to share. I cannot wait to introduce technology like this in my classroom; I feel that it is going to make learning fun and exciting for my students and something that they look forward to when entering my classroom every day.