Technology Workshop Lesson Plan

Instructor:
Rachel Nachman
Blogging in the Elementary School Classroom
Day #5
Subject of Workshop:
The family-school partnership
Why blogs should be used for promoting
the family-school partnership
Ways that teachers can use blogs to
promote the family-school partnership.
Prerequisite Knowledge:
Basic computer skills
Knowledge of blogs
Knowledge of and ability to create a blog
Fluent typing
Content:
This workshop will focus on why and how blogs should be used to promote a family-school partnership.

Participants will begin by learning about the importance of a family-school partnership. They will learn
about the different effects that family involvement has on student learning and development.
Participants will also discuss what they are currently doing within their classroom to encourage a
strong family-school partnership.

Participants will then learn about the value of blogs with regards to this partnership. They will learn
why blogs should be used to promote this collaborative relationship, and will see various examples of
classroom blogs that successfully achieve this goal.

Participants will then be given an opportunity to create their own classroom blog. Once the blogs are
completed, the instructor will post the URL to each blog on the course blog.
Objectives:
Participants will be able to create a lesson plan aimed to promote a family-school partnership
Workshop Outline:
1. Participants will be seated in a computer lab. Each participant will be given his or her own computer.
The instructor will be in the front of the lab and will be using a computer that connects with an
Interactive White Board or projection screen.

2. First, participants will watch a video titled The Family-School Partnership. This video, created by
the instructor, provides a brief introduction about the importance of a family-school partnership
within education. The video also highlights the effects that family involvement has on student
success.

3. Once participants have watched the video, they will be asked to respond to a Poll Everywhere poll.
This poll asks participants to identify how they currently encourage a family-school partnership
within their classroom. Participants can either reply by sending their vote via a text message or by
accessing the web-version of the poll. The instructor will facilitate a discussion regarding the ways
that participants are currently promoting the family-school partnership within their classrooms.


Workshop Outline (Continued)
4. The instructor will then explain that there are various ways in which we can use technology to
promote this family-school partnership. More specifically, blogs serve as a valuable tool to use in
order to establish this collaborative relationship. Blogs can inform parents of what is taking place
within the classroom, serve as a source for classroom news and announcements, and showcase
student work. Parents can even respond to blog posts with any question or comments they may have
for the teacher.

5. The instructor will then show participants examples of various classroom blogs. The instructor will
highlight various characteristics, components, and features of these blogs that make them valuable
for promoting a family-school partnership. Participants will be encouraged to take notes while
looking at these examples.

6. Participants will be asked to log on to their computers and access our course blog (Using Blogs in
the Elementary School Classroom). They will then be asked to locate and read the post Using Blogs
To Promote A Family-School Partnership. Once participants have read the post, they will respond to
a discussion question (found in the blog post). This question asks participants to identify and discuss
three characteristics of blogs that effectively promote a family-school relationship. Participants will
respond to the post with their answer to this question.

7. Participants will then be asked the following summarizing question:
Why are blogs valuable tools to use for promoting a family-school relationship?
Participants will be asked to submit their answer via a Poll Everywhere poll. They can submit
responses either via the web poll or by sending a text message.

8. The instructor will explain that now, participants will be given an opportunity to create their own
classroom blog. They should consider the features of effective classroom blogs that they identified
during the previous part of the lesson. The instructor will direct participants who are not familiar
with edublogs to re-watch the screencast shown on the first day of the workshop. She will explain
how it is crucial that participants are comfortable and familiar with using edublogs before
continuing with the lesson.

9. The instructor will explain that while participants will have creative freedom when creating their
classroom blog, they will be required to create the following pages:
A home page with at least one introductory blog post
A page with information about the teacher

10. Participants will then be given time to work on their blogs. Participants will be able to work at their
own pace; however, they will design their blog in this order:
They will first be instructed to choose a theme for their blog.
Once participants have chosen a theme, they will be instructed to create an introduction post
that welcomes students families to their blog.
Participants will then create an About Me page for their blog.
o This page should have the teachers contact information (or the contact information
should be found on a separate page)


Workshop Outline (Continued)
Changing their blogs discussion settings
o The instructor will discuss the importance of Commenting Guidelines, as well as
things to consider when changing a blogs discussion settings

11. Participants will be instructed to e-mail the instructor their blog URL. The instructor will post these
URLs on the Our Classroom Blogs page of our workshop blog.

12. As a summarizing activity for our workshop, participants will be asked to think of one word that
describes the value of blogging within elementary school classrooms. Participants will be asked to
add their word to our collaborative word cloud. They can do this either by sending a text message
with their response or by accessing the web-based version of our word cloud. The word cloud is
created by Poll Everywhere.

13. Lastly, participants will be asked to complete a Post-Workshop Survey. Just like the Pre-
Workshop Survey, participants answers will not be graded. However, participants will receive
credit for completing and submitting the survey.
Materials:
1. 1 computer connected to an Interactive White Board or projector
2. 30 computers
3. The Family-School Partnership video
4. Poll Everywhere Poll -
https://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/oMyuDFWg2G781Sb/web
5. Examples of classroom blogs screencast
6. Using Blogs in the Elementary School Classroom - http://blogsintheclassroom.edublogs.org
7. Poll Everywhere Poll #2 -
http://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/FJZCbZnNOnXTPYn/web
8. Poll Everywhere Word Cloud -
http://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/IYnaHYO9uDeoZRb/web
9. Post-Workshop Survey -
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MdWuw_LrvVNVJwMsREEIC7w13kNMZYDuD6m-
pI7TcuA/viewform?usp=send_form
Evaluation Strategies:
Participants blogs will be evaluated for the extent to which they:
Have a student-friendly and family-friendly theme
Include an introduction blog post that welcomes readers and provides an overview of the
blogs content
Include a page that provides information about the teacher
Include the teachers contact information