Blogging In Kindergarten!

I started using blogging 3 years ago as a way to build relationships with my students and their families. My goal was to build strong relationships through daily communication that was relevant and also provided a window into the authentic learning opportunities that happen daily in the life of 5 and 6 year olds.
Wow! So then I developed 3 classroom blogs! 1 focuses on daily life in Kindergarten, one is devoted to science, this includes an environmental science program that is run and organized by parents. This is what I used it for originally, but now it is also used for all of the physical and environmental science that I teach as well. Lastly I developed a summer reading blog that encourages former and new Kindergarten children and their families a place to post comments about books they have read and to share with others about the books they read. All 3 of these blogs have become very interactive and reflective of my teaching practice as well as vehicles for children, parents, extended family and other people in the US and the world to see, watch and listen to what we do! The collaboration has become endless!
So............. then last summer PRIOR to kindergarten starting I set up individual kid blogs for all 18 of my students! I communicated through email what kidblogging was and how it was going to be used! Parents loved this and immediately started using it with their child. I noticed children(with their parents help) started making comments on their new classmates blogs, like, "only 3 more sleeps until Kindergarten starts.", Hi my name is..... I am excited to meet you! So 2 weeks before school started I met with each child and their family. I took a picture of each child somewhere within the classroom, then we posted the photo. Together we wrote a comment and gave the photo a title. Now children are posting pictures, music and even video of themselves! Parents have really been involved in this on going lesson of how to blog and why to blog! It has helped the children become exposed to the idea of being a digital citizen, how to be safe and responsible and the opportunities for communication are endless! The children are now using their invented writing to record, make posts of their learning along with a picture of that learning. This has been a great opportunity for the children to practice and engage in a way that promotes literacy too! This will be a record, an on line scrapbook of sorts that every child will have of their kindergarten year!
I presently have 1 FLIP camera that was given to me as a gift 3 years ago when I first started using video. If I have 10 FLIP cameras, wow! This way every child would have more access to record their learning within and outside of Kindergarten. I have shown my children how to use a FLIP, but by having 10, wow! This would be amazing! The children would be able to record their learning outside of the
classroom walls, vacations, related arts classes, etc. the opportunities are endless!
The children through their own blog and the many class blogs I use are able to reflect on their learning too! This has been a great way to video, record a writer's workshop lesson or math lesson and then give the children an opportunity to reflect, watch and learn from their own learning! Endless opportunities for reflection, sharing and collaboration.

So... my lesson/exposure to blogging is to develop an interest and desire to learn by learning through the daily exposure of blogging, a never ending account and record of Kindergarten life. Blogging is daily and takes on lots of different forms. The learning is constant and authentic........ never ending.....

Thanks so much for this opportunity! I am keeping my fingers crossed in hoping that you can also feel the excitement and passion that I have for teaching and learning.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Sharon E. Davison
Kindergarten Teacher
Allen Brook School
Williston, Vermont