By Janet English

By Janet English

Long summer months: warm days, cool evenings, and a craving for new and valuable experiences. I’m busy with chores, I’ve adopted a new dog, and I’m planning my curriculum for next year.  I’m desperately trying to get a handle on balancing the curriculum, state tests, the use of technology, and still put the learning needs of my  students first.  Are you struggling, as well?  Is it possible to satisfy all requirements?

My brother works for Facebook.  I know the power of Facebook.  I’ve considered using Facebook to make intellectual connections with my students to integrate learning with their normally , sociable-interactive day. For obvious reasons I’ve never actually done it – but I have considered its potential.

Then along comes a long a quiet little program called Edmodo to stir up the pot.  Edmodo is free, provides a safe and open interactive space, and students and teachers can interact without having to share personal information.  Perfect! What we can share is curriculum, lessons, files and web links, polls, and due dates.  Assignments can be uploaded. Edmodo is a social networking environment that is friendly for classroom learning! Thank you, Edmodo, and thank you, Dennis Grice, for letting me know about Edmodo.  Our online possibilities are improving!

I’m starting to build my own Edmodo account – and I’m creating accounts from both the point of view of a teacher and  student to experience the program from these perspectives.  Edmodo is easy to navigate, it’s easy to share and interact, and parents can be involved as much as they wish.  I like Edmodo.  I’m going to use it and I think it will help students with their learning.

Now I’m going to spend some time with our new dog from the animal rescue – and help her find her place within our family.   It’s a perfect summer activity while I plan my lessons for the coming year.

Click here to listen to what students in the United Kingdom are saying about Edmodo.

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