How can this blog help me teach?

Bogging Huh? Well, it sounds like a great idea, but how is it really going to help?

I have a few ideas that I am going to throw out there. I teach high school mathematics, 10th and 11th grade Geometry and Algebra II. So, the idea of writing or journal prompts doesn't really appeal to me. It seems that kind of thing is better left to the Social Studies and Language Arts classes of the world. Math is a different kind of animal. Here is what I have thought of so far:

1st Idea: Absent work/Make up work.

I always seem to have 4 or 5 students every year how have a propensity to miss long stretches of school. Whether it is mono, or the flu, or the "My parents are taking our family to Hong Kong for two weeks" excuse, something always keeps these kids out of school. But they always come back asking the most annoying of all questions, "What did I miss?" Oh, I hate that question. This is where I feel the blog can help. I can post the homework assignments, dates of test, what will be one the tests, electronic copies of the worksheets and reviews. Students could have access to all class materials right from home. They can lay in bed with Strep Throat or Pink Eye and print off their own worksheets to do! They can keep up with the class from home. And just think about this! If I can transfer all of my notes to PowerPoint or word, they can get all of the notes too. Perhaps I could even get a textbook with an online version. I could just throw the link on the blog and they might never need to come to school ever again. Hey, maybe I could teach from home too.....Just a thought.

2nd Idea: Differentiating instruction

I have a lot of knuckle-head students who have no note taking skills even as a high school junior or senior. I also have a lot of students who are bored out of their minds because I go over the most simple of examples time after time. The blog might allow me too give extra help to the struggling kids and challenge the excelling ones at the same time. For those struggling students, I could post some tutorials that I could make on PowerPoint or even a video on a media player. I could also give a link to other helpful sites on the web that they can visit for extra help! It could really help them a lot when they sit down and their mind goes blank when they try to do their homework. For those bright students, I could post some of the challenging problems that I can never get to in class. There are so many great application problems that build links for students between math topics and also build link between math and other subjects. I could post these problems on the site and they could be extra credit problems. So whether it is helping the bottom of the class or unleashing the hounds at the top of the class, this blog could give some of the additional, differentiated information that I want to get to in class.

3rd Idea: Parent Communication

This one might be pretty obvious, but parents could ask me any questions about upcoming tests, current grades, time I might be available to help theirs kids or get together for a conference. I always had aspirations of sending home a quarterly newsletter to all of my parents. I could save the paper and just post it on the blog (students would never get the letters home anyway).

These are a few ideas. They probably aren't the most original ideas, but our resources mentioned how technology is meant to fulfill our needs as a society, and these ideas would definitely fulfill some of my needs.

Let me know what you all think!

Tyler (Blogging my Life away) Winner