Using blogs in the classroom

     I can see many ways that blogs would be a benefit to a teacher.  There are many obvious ways, like having the students keep their reading journals as a blog, using the blog to post results of reports and experiments and using the blog as a class homepage where information is stored.  All of these methods would simplify assessing progress, as any computer with an internet connection can take you to a student's blog.  It also increases accessibility for students by allowing them to work on the assignment at home without having to worry about format conflicts or similar problems.
     Another great asset that blogs provide is the vast amount of information available for teachers blogs like The Cool Cat Teacher Blog provide a variety of teaching aids like lesson plans and free online resources.  I found the Cool Cat Teacher Blog on David Warlick's blog, which is a perfect example of how easy it is to find resources on a blog.  There is so much information available, and it covers almost any topic you can imagine.  Blogs can be a hugely valuable resource to a teacher if they know how to use it.

The importance of inquiry and project-based learning (IBL & PBL)

There are many reasons that IBL and PBL are important to my unit plan.  My essential question is "How does the sun affect our daily lives?".  This question is one that is very easy to include IBL or PBL, because it investigates many things that require detailed research.  The question is also one that is open to personal responses, allowing individuality.  The unit questions are "How does the sun affect plants, animals, and people".  These questions are also open-ended and allow an individual response.