wordpress

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Blogging software for the rest of us!

Wordpress provide free blogs which can be used in a variety of ways. For many, a blog is no more than an online diary... usually written as a means of putting a person's thoughts online so no-one can read them! However, they are so much more than that and have immense potential for education, and especially for us as mentors. The main way they differ from a traditional diary or journal is that they are available to anyone with an internet connection, and, anyone who reads what is written can post comments on the content. You repy to the comment, and before long, you are having an asynchronous conversation...

A mentor working in Kinross has a NQT who is interested in trying a new means of delivering a particular lesson. The mentor has a suspicion that there could be practical problems that the NQT has not forseen, but cannot work out what they might be. The mentor writes a blog post about the proposal, and someone in Pitlochry reads it, recognises that he or she has tried that particular lesson, and is able to post a comment that highlights the potential pitfalls. A teacher in California who has stumbled across the post using Google, is able to post a solution...
 * //Here's a possible example://**

For us, as educators, a blog can become an invaluable part of our classroom armoury. It can take the place of your lesson plans, it can make your homework available to parents (so no more "He doesn't seem to be getting any homework" questions at parent's nights!), and it can be used to give your pupils an online audieance for their work...