How to use a blog to improve learning.

Hello World,

I never know how to start my blog post.  I have often started with "Hello World".  I think it makes me sound welcoming and that the entire world is paying attention to me.  It's really just a way to convince myself that the world loves me.  If I promise to stop talking about this now, will you promise to not dash my hopes of world domination?  Good, let's move on then.

The actual reason for creating this blog is to help my students understand my teaching better.  It will also be used to help me get a better reading of how well my students comprehend the material.  The learning experience will begin prior to entering my classroom.  When the blog has new material for a particular class, I will send a tweet to inform those students who follow me.  This will allow students to gain prior knowledge about the upcoming lesson.

When on the blog, there are three tools which will be used to enhance the learning experience for those in my class.  The three tools are "Lesson Links", the polls for each class, and the comment section.

• Lesson Links - The lesson links are located at the top of the page, just above the posts.  These are links (most often the www.khanacademy.org) to video on the subject my class will be learning the next day.  Students will watch the videos in order gain prior knowledge on the subject.  This will allow my students to feel more comfortable with the material and work to a better understanding.

• Class Polls - Each class will be asked a poll question.  The class poll are located at the right of the page on the side bar.  There will be two possible types of questions.  The first type will be an opinion about what the most important or relevant part of the video was.  The second type of question, which will be the more popular type, is an example of a question the students might see on the homework or assessment.  This will allow me to see how well the students understand the material.  I can make changes to my lessons depending on how well the students do or do not understand the material.

• Comments - Label "Questions for Mr. Adelmann", the Comments are located, like most blogs, below the post.   Here students, after watching the videos, will ask questions about anything they did not understand or want more clarification.  This will let me know what questions students have before they enter the classroom.  I can then prepare answers or explanations before meeting with the class.

Hopefully, my students will use this blog as a tool to better understand their studies.  Please let me know what you think.  I would love to hear suggestions before I start using this with my classes.

Thanks & have the best day you have ever had,

J. Adelmann