Thing # 3

I think a blog would definitely be an insightful way to be a reflective practitioner and also, open up your thoughts for others to make suggestions or help solve problems you might be facing with lessons or students.  Starting a class blog would certainly be a modern way to help students reflect on their own work, share their thought processes with others and offer support, encouragement, comments and constructive criticism for each others work.  So much of our communication today happens through technology and removing the face to face method can sometimes help certain students come out of their shells because it is easier for them to communicate and open up via technology.  I think it would work great for things like a book club or reading response journals and even reflection journals of any kind.  Setting up a blog that shares student work with parents would be an interesting way to keep the lines of communication open and also, help get more parents involved.  Depending on the community your school is in and whether technology is available to all families this could be a great way to keep students on track having their parents be able to see their progress and openly communicate with the teacher.