Blog Post Nine- Little Kids/ Big Potential

Kathy Cassidy, a first grade teacher in Canada, allows her students to use technology resources, such as blogs, web pages, Skype, and Nintendo DS in order to better learn and connect with others. The students in Mrs. Cassidy's class explain how much they love using these resources in Mrs. Cassidy's video, "Little Kids...Big Potential". By posting work on blogs, students are capable of receiving feedback from all around the world, which gives students the incentives to become better writers. This also allows the students to have an online portfolio of the work produced. A class webpage is another tool that Mrs. Cassidy uses. This allows students to have access to many different links and resources all on one page, which is easily accessible for parents as well. Another great resource that Mrs. Cassidy uses is Wikis, which allows students to learn about different topics or subjects by having people not associated with the class explain the topic in his/her own words. The students make videos that they put not only on their blog, but also on their Wikis. By using skype, the students can connect with virtually any person, anywhere, including experts of different subjects. Playing Nintendo in a classroom may sound crazy, but this techniques allows students to learn about sharing and problem solving. The vast amount of technology that Mrs. Cassidy uses in her class causes her class to be successful, because the students are interested and engaged in the resources used to teach material.

In Dr. John Strange's interview (part one, part two, and part three) with Mrs. Cassidy, she explains how her classroom, which incorporates a variety of technology, is so successful. She emphasizes that technology is never going away, so we, as teachers, need to stay up-to-date with new technology, but this may be difficult because of a school's budget. Mrs. Cassidy uses technology when teaching her students every subject, even if simply a blog is used to journal what each child has learned. She also states how important it is for students in college to learn as much as possible before becoming a teacher. As an education major, I believe that it is my responsibility to learn as much as I possibly can, so once I become a teacher, I can use the resources and knowledge I have collected in college to be the best teacher I can be. Mrs. Cassidy's classroom is a great example of what a 21st century classroom should look like.


In order for students to become bloggers, or for students to use the internet for educational purposes, students need to follow proper internet safety precautions. Teaching these precautions and making sure that students are following the precautions are the teachers two main priorities when it comes to internet safety. I believe that, when first introducing technology in the classroom setting, teaching internet safety is very important.