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The teacher understands how children with broad ranges of ability learn and provides instruction that supports their intellectual, social, and personal development. Evidence 1 : (EDT650) Blogging for the Classroom What's New in Astronomy
 * Standard 2**
 * Teachers know how children grow. **

Rationale 1 : A blog is a great way to encourage students to write, evaluate and communicate. As my first attempt at blogging I have created a blog for my 2nd semester astronomy students. It’s my intention to pose a new question each week. Students will be required to make a minimum of two posts per week. I hope it will inspire students to seek out and organize information. I think blogging promotes intellectual, social, and personal development in a way that is difficult to duplicate by any other method.

The blogging lessons taught in EDT650 are important to me as a teacher because they gave me a new and unique way to communicate with students, parents, & teachers. I learned that blogs are inexpensive (often free) and easy to setup and maintain.

KSD 2.K.1 The teacher understands how learning occurs -- how students construct knowledge, acquire skills, and develop habits of mind – and how to use instructional strategies that promote student learning for a wide range of student abilities. Blogging helps students develop their reading, writing, and reasoning skills. It gives students an outlet to express their opinions without the pressure of formulating an instant response. This gives students time to prepare a more thoughtful answer and allows everyone to comment without having to raise their hand.

2.S.2 The teacher stimulates student reflection on prior knowledge and links new ideas to already familiar ideas, making connections to students’ experiences, providing opportunities for active engagement, manipulation, and testing of ideas and material, and encouraging students to assume responsibility for shaping their learning tasks. The same slow process that permits students to give thoughtful answers gives teachers time to evaluate where student’s interests lie and formulate better questions. A blog gives me time to pose questions that help student’s reflection on prior knowledge. But once the discussion has begun students are relatively free to shape the conversation according to their interests.

2.D.1 The teacher appreciates individual variation at each developmental level and shows respect for the diverse talents of all learners, and is committed to help them develop self-confidence and competence. In much of the sciences there is no room for opinion. That is to say there is usually only one correct answer. Many students dislike that aspect of math and science. Blog questions tend to be open-ended. This gives students with diverse talents an opportunity to shine.