Taking Another Step....

I have been very busy with the Kindergarten Tales blog. It has taken off in ways I never imagined. As we enter our second semester with the blog, we are taking what seems to be the "natural" next steps. All this time I have modeled for the children how to post to the blog. They listened as I "thought" out loud the words I wanted to say. They helped me sound out words along the way, and got a sense how ideas flow and develop into a post. They have observed me as I photographed them as they went about the daily routines in class. Rarely was I looking for "posed" subjects, but tried to capture kids as they naturally moved about. Posed pictures seemed more appropriate for the times we were gathered with family and friends for No-Cook Nights or classroom parties.
We moved on to having the children help me decide which photos best fit our topic and the style of our post. We've created videos at One True Media and VoiceThread. The children have helped select music as well. We worked on recording our voices so they wouldn't seem as if we were "SHOUTING" to the world but rather, "sharing".
All this and more has led to me turning over more responsibilities for our posts to the children. They are excited to be the ones that are taking the photos, and dictating the words for the posts. Mind you, some of the photos lack the lighting and centering that one could expect to see on a blog, but then again, these are 5 & 6 year old students who are embarking on new territory. I am so incredibly proud of what they have produced so far. They handle the digital camera, microphones and other equipment with the utmost respect. I am thrilled with how all of this is coming together. I have several projects waiting to be posted, report cards, conferences and other matters-of-teaching limit the time I can spend going through the photos and having kids dictate their posts to me. But we'll get there. I remain excited and enthusiastic about the possibilities for sharing what we do in our class. It's VERY contagious and we continue to spread it to one another, back and forth between us. They keep me wanting to learn more. I will continue to encourage them to learn more and teach each other more about the various aspects of tending to our blog...but in the meantime....I repeat...I am so incredibly proud! We will continue on this road together taking small steps together!