EDTECH537 - Summer 2018

After reviewing the Russell Street School's website, I found the use of blogging very intriguing. I enjoyed seeing all of the blogs being used as a form of communication for the parents. I was very impressed with just how organized everything was. It was also amazing to see that as students get older they are allowed to post their own guest blog from time to time. I could tell that these students really have a community within their own school. Each classroom has their own online presence and one can really feel that just by reading their blogs. I believe this is a great way for students to be involved and a better way for teachers to communicate with parents. I will be bringing this idea up to my administration as a way for us to communicate better with parents and I hope that they will be receptive to the idea.

My first impression of the Russell Street School's use of blogging is wow. I was expecting the blog to be moderated and curated by 1 person but the entire school seems to be involved. Each class has a blog where parents can see what their student is doing and the teacher can keep you informed on whats going on class wise. Students are also active participants and have individual entries. These range from projects to simple posts. I like to keep up to date with my daughter's school but have to wait for the school to post updates. I like the personal feel and the active participation that is put into this school's blog. The blog also has links to assemblies, clubs, radio station, sports and many other useful links for the community. I believe that they make great use of this site and a hub for all things related to the school. Many times, we get lost looking for information on our child's school's website. This blog is well put together and easy to navigate. I do qu

I think, like any teacher who is struggling to figure out where blogs fit into her/his classroom, what Russell Street School is doing is pretty dang impressive. I teach high school, so I would never have considered blogs could be used so effectively with elementary students. As I looked through the blogs from the classrooms and groups in the Russell Street building, there were a couple of thoughts in my mind. Time. How much time does it take these teachers to maintain their blogs? I know these teachers' curriculum is full of required material and the amount of grading they have already feels insurmountable. How much extra time does it take them to maintain their blog for their classroom? What is the time cost? Publishing permission. There are a lot of pictures of kids on Russell Street's blogs, which is so fun to view. However, my foster son, by the laws of my state, is not allowed to have his picture posted online. What happens in this situation at Russell Street? Wouldn&#

EDTECH 537 - Russell Street School Impressions This website is very engaging. It has a great deal of pictures and information. As I was going through the blogs, I enjoyed looking at all of the interesting things that are going on, but I did notice a few things that I could comment about: Communication - The avenue for communication in the blogs is wonderful! There were some blogs where parents made comments on their child’s work or things going on in the classroom blog. Additionally, the blogs contained requests posted by the teachers asking for contributions needed for the class. Some of the posts were about classroom activities and assignments completed in class by students, so it was very interesting to look at. Safety - I noticed some phone numbers and personal information posted. There were front facial pictures of small children. Names were listed on many occasions. There were videos posted with student names of the student speaking. In my school district, we are not allowed t

I was impressed how blogging was used as a means of communication for the school. As I was looking around on the sites, I noticed that they have switched to a different system. I could not tell if it was still technically a blog, but really it functioned the same way. I was impressed by how organized they appear to be. There is really no excuse for parents to not be in the loop when it comes to events at the school or in their child's classroom. The teachers all have their own feed where they post pictures and updates that should help the parents feel included in what is going on in the classroom. I loved that.  I felt like I could feel a sense of community at this school even though I am thousands of miles away from them and have never met a soul who works there. They have truly created an online community with their blogging. Everyone knows what is going on and can be involved . My own school has been trying to figure out a way to help the parents stay more connected with eve

I can tell that the Russell Street School put a lot of effort into their blog. Their dedication is evident. This school is busy doing good things. It was fun to see what they had been learning and doing. There were several things that I liked, but there were things that didn't float my boat either.  I liked that it the school was connected. All of the classes had a blog. Readers could find the link to every class. I liked that the posts incorporated a wide variety of post types. (List, Links, Multimedia, etc). The school was united in connecting the school to home. I liked how I could see the student work through not just pictures, but videos as well.  ' I didn't like several things about the blog. To me, it seemed chaotic, scattered, and too full of information. It's good to be connected to parents, but this seemed a bit much. I was overwhelmed with navigating to the class sites. I think it would be more beneficial if it were a simpler set-up. Most of the inform