Kayla Smith reflects on her progress in her teaching internship over the past two weeks. She has been working to create two blog sites, one on Edmodo for her second grade students to interact around reading assignments, and another for parents to learn about classroom concepts and events. She chose Edmodo because it is safe, similar to Facebook, and offers useful discussion and collaboration tools to engage students both inside and outside the classroom. While slightly behind schedule, she plans to have students begin using the Edmodo site this week or early next. She will also develop a parent blog and Smartboard website, gathering needed resources along the way.

1. Kayla Smith
ED ET 650, Fall 2012
Reflection Two
October 8, 2012
Recent Accomplishments:
Over the past two weeks, I have continued to work on several tasks within my
internship assignment. One of the goals that I plan to accomplish during this internship
is a blog site for my second grade students to interact and collaborate with each other as
they discuss the reading story from each week. I have searched all over the internet and
joined numerous blog sites in order to determine the type of site that I will use in the
classroom (and outside of the classroom) to enhance student participation as well as
reading fluency and comprehension. I decided to create two sites, one through Edmodo
for student involvement, interaction, and collaboration and the other through a
different blog site for parents to gather information about the concepts we are studying
as well as to view certain events that may be happening in the classroom or around our
school. I selected Edmodo for several reasons. First of all, I believe that this blog site is
safe and secure which will hopefully gain positive support from the students, parents,
and administrators. Secondly, Edmodo is very similar to the popular social networking
site, Facebook. In this day and time, most people (both children and adults) are familiar
with Facebook which will allow for easier access and navigation around our blog
site.(Crazy to think about a second grader on Facebook!) Third, this site offers many
great features that will assist the students as they learn about our reading story and
associated skills each week. For instance, a discussion board, quizzing and polling tools,
as well as a library feature to view more information on the topics we are discussing in
class, will allow the students to become more involved in the curriculum and establish a
stronger learning community, both inside and outside of the classroom. You may view
my Edmodo blog site by going to www.edmodo.com, selecting I’m a Student, entering
your information and the following code: tggqsx. I am a little behind the proposed
calendar, and unfortunately, my students have not been given the opportunity to
participate yet. We are required to cover SO much information in a very short amount
of time. However, the students should be able to begin sometime this week – early next
week at the latest. I apologize for the delay, but I have to prepare the students to the
best of my ability in order to secure their safety and provide a strong foundation for
proper online etiquette. I will also begin the design and development phases of the
parent blog site as well as the Smartboard website. I have and will continue to gather
resources for both of these – pictures for the blog site and information (Everyday Math
Content and Games) for the Smartboard website. Ultimately, I feel as though I
accomplish a small step towards my projected goal each day, and moreover, I think
about how this internship will directly effect and benefit both the students and teachers

2. at my school.