Introduction to Blogging

"Welcome to Our Class" by  Knobeloch, Michelle. 08/28/2014. Pics4Learning. 4 Oct 2014 <http://pics.tech4learning.com>

My name is Elizabeth (Beth) Franxman.  As of 2014, I am 40 years old.  My husband, Glenn, and I have been married for 17 years, together for 22 years.  We have two great children, a boy in elementary school a girl in preschool.  I grew up in Newport, Kentucky. Three years after we were married, Glenn and I moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. We lived there for 12 years.  It was a great, very close to the Smoky Mountains.  We moved back to Northern Kentucky in 2012.  Last year, I returned to Northern Kentucky University to complete my Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education.  The age range for that is Birth - Kindergarten.  When I have completed my degree, I will be qualified to teach in the public schools which requires its teachers to be certified.  To be certified, I must hold a Bachelors degree, and to remain certified, I must then pursue a master's degree.  I chose teaching as a career because, even before I had children of my own, my life centered around young children.  I cannot imagine children not being a part of my everyday life.  I truly enjoy their company, and I hope to make a difference in their lives by preparing them for the "big school" of elementary education.  

This is my first educational blog post.  I think that blogging can be a great tool for both myself, as a teacher, and my students.  All little kids want to show you their work. They want to take pride in what they do. And they want to save what they do.  I think a blog is a great way for my students to show their parents what they are doing in the classroom.  In the classroom I am doing my current practicum in, we often take pictures or videos on the iPad of what the children are doing.  I think it would wonderful if each child could have their own page with pictures and videos of their own work. It would be a wonderful way to communicate to caregivers exactly what their child is doing each day. As a teacher, apart from the students' individual blogs, I can share with caregivers events during the school day or our preparations for upcoming happenings.  I think that it would be a wonderful means of parent involvement.  I also think that a blog would be a great way for my classroom to gain global awareness as well. If you look at this video of Ms. Cassidy's class, you can see the pride which the children have in knowing that their classroom's blog is viewed around the world.  A blog could help my students feel like they are not just a part of a classroom, but citizens of the world.

As a parent and a teacher, I often use YouTube for music and movement instruction.  There are many safe, kid friendly videos that help kids get their "ya yas" out by moving their bodies. Here is an example of one such video called Walking in the Jungle video by Super Simple Songs that I could have my students do while walking in place, jumping in place, stomping in place, etc.. I also really love embedding instruction within music.  As a Pre-Kindergarten teacher, one of my tasks is to introduce my students to their letter sounds.  This song utilizes the melody from one of my own children's favorites, "What Does The Fox Say?" to teach young ones about their letter sounds.