A blog or similar forum is very effective when used as reflection. Blogs allow constant feedback from a partner and allow the blogger to review any feedback he/she receives whenever he/she pleases. Nobody is perfect, so having people comment respond to questions you may be having or suggest alternate methods to go about a certain lesson. In my original posting, I identified the blog as simply a way for people to review and provide feedback on things that were going wrong. However, now I realize that blogs are also a great way to spread things that DO work in addition to things that don't. Communication is key for any educator. Last week during the inquiry celebration, I learned how effective communication and collaboration can be. Once every other month, all teachers from the same department got together to review what they've done, what they can do in the future, and what could be improved. Because of this, they were able to create fun, exciting lessons that the students really enjoyed and helped the students gain a better understanding of the material.
Drew, in a previous post, you mentioned that students in you class last semester seemed to learn better when engaged in non-lecture activities. Is this something that you have experience in your Special Education classes as well? What have you done to "engage" the students and keep their interest? Any words of advice on that front?
