Teachers, I thought I'd post this one to demonstrate the power of a computer and the blog! I could show students this booktalk to motivate them to want to read the book or possibly create a digital storytelling of their own.
By Teresa Alesch
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Weblogs, Get Started! - Will Richardson
"The true potential of blogs in schools comes when students and teachers use them as publishing tools."
I am ready for a change. In this chapter, Richardson reminds the teacher that before we teach students blogs, we must blog. He goes on to discuss how reading and writing through the web changed the ways he reads and consumes information [in addition to how he writes]. My biggest challenge will be maintenance. Life can move quickly and it is one of those things - I've never been a journal person and blogging, to me, has similarities. I have a head start, however. Richardson makes reference to a quote from Barbara Ganley, one who implements weblogs in the classroom and she talks about having confidence in her tools and how this can infect even the most resistant students. I joined Facebook (at first as a resistant "student") when my students started teasing me and calling me old. Even they said, “Mrs. Alesch it’s not only a great way to connect with us, but it is also a great way to stay in touch with your classmates.” And so, they were right. I joined Facebook as a teacher. I put my disclaimer out there that if students connected with me, they needed to be aware of my professional obligations if they should post inappropriate content that I might see. So far, it’s been a great experience and my students and I have used Facebook to enhance our communication. They really seemed to respect the fact that I was willing to open my page for them to see and take tine to visit their pages and comment on their activities and pictures.
Back to blogging. I am excited to try to incorporate blogging into our curriculum to improve critical thinking and analytical writing. These are 21st Century learning goals and a major part of the Iowa Core Curriculum.
Step 1 in becoming a blogger – study other bloggers and their means. Since I’ve had to do this in my coursework, I am already on my way. I’ve looked at some neat Weblogs and I’m already visualizing my own cup of tea. I can see how as Richardson said one’s reading and consuming of information can change. When you visit a Weblog, especially an Edublog, you are welcomed with endless links to resources. It’s like being a child in a candy shop! A couple I’ve already learned from are Will Richardson’s and David Warlick’s Edublogs: http://weblogg-ed.com/; http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/.
Blogging is mental work? Yes, according to Richardson, blogging involves reading, thinking, linking, annotating, etc. This is what makes it different from journaling. While you can grow from journaling, you take leaps and bounds from blogging – that is if you are within definition. I was glad to read that it’s okay to have a little fun too. I know that from a personal experience when I was stumbling back upon Richardson’s Weblogged, I came across a more personal post. He told his readers about an incident of a person with his same name who refers to himself as “Cuddle Bug” on Facebook. Richardson was asked if he also went by Cuddle Bug! It was the first laugh of my day. Getting to know this humorous side encourages me to keep coming back for pleasure as well.
Close to home: here are some ways Newell-Fonda teachers, students, and administrators are using blogs.
I am ready for a change. In this chapter, Richardson reminds the teacher that before we teach students blogs, we must blog. He goes on to discuss how reading and writing through the web changed the ways he reads and consumes information [in addition to how he writes]. My biggest challenge will be maintenance. Life can move quickly and it is one of those things - I've never been a journal person and blogging, to me, has similarities. I have a head start, however. Richardson makes reference to a quote from Barbara Ganley, one who implements weblogs in the classroom and she talks about having confidence in her tools and how this can infect even the most resistant students. I joined Facebook (at first as a resistant "student") when my students started teasing me and calling me old. Even they said, “Mrs. Alesch it’s not only a great way to connect with us, but it is also a great way to stay in touch with your classmates.” And so, they were right. I joined Facebook as a teacher. I put my disclaimer out there that if students connected with me, they needed to be aware of my professional obligations if they should post inappropriate content that I might see. So far, it’s been a great experience and my students and I have used Facebook to enhance our communication. They really seemed to respect the fact that I was willing to open my page for them to see and take tine to visit their pages and comment on their activities and pictures.
Back to blogging. I am excited to try to incorporate blogging into our curriculum to improve critical thinking and analytical writing. These are 21st Century learning goals and a major part of the Iowa Core Curriculum.
Step 1 in becoming a blogger – study other bloggers and their means. Since I’ve had to do this in my coursework, I am already on my way. I’ve looked at some neat Weblogs and I’m already visualizing my own cup of tea. I can see how as Richardson said one’s reading and consuming of information can change. When you visit a Weblog, especially an Edublog, you are welcomed with endless links to resources. It’s like being a child in a candy shop! A couple I’ve already learned from are Will Richardson’s and David Warlick’s Edublogs: http://weblogg-ed.com/; http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/.
Blogging is mental work? Yes, according to Richardson, blogging involves reading, thinking, linking, annotating, etc. This is what makes it different from journaling. While you can grow from journaling, you take leaps and bounds from blogging – that is if you are within definition. I was glad to read that it’s okay to have a little fun too. I know that from a personal experience when I was stumbling back upon Richardson’s Weblogged, I came across a more personal post. He told his readers about an incident of a person with his same name who refers to himself as “Cuddle Bug” on Facebook. Richardson was asked if he also went by Cuddle Bug! It was the first laugh of my day. Getting to know this humorous side encourages me to keep coming back for pleasure as well.
Close to home: here are some ways Newell-Fonda teachers, students, and administrators are using blogs.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Weblog Evaluations for SLIS
Weblogg-ed: learning with the read/write web
http://weblogg-ed.com/
Will Richardson's weblog is the "ideal" in terms of content and structure. He provides his background, resources upon resources, links to more resources, podcasts and videos, and much more. One of the best parts of his blog is his links to his wiki as well as another wiki that supports educational blogging. I am excited to refer to this source and to use it in my endeavors to implement blogging throughout not only my district's classrooms but also the teachers' desks.
2¢ Worth: teaching and learning in the new information landscape...
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/
Because David Warlick is another author we are reading for class, I decided to take a look at his blog also.
I especially appreciate the layout of his blog. On the right hand bar/frame, I can really get to know Mr. Warlick by viewing the books he’s written, pictures he’s taken, videos he’s uploaded, other blogs he’s written, and of course I can also look into his archives there. There are subscription options, a couple of neat widgets, and an award for being the winner of “Edublog 2008 – Lifetime Achievement” – pretty neat. The top bar offers several tabs to explore further Warlick’s content. A feature I will definitely come back to is a Wiki designed for educators, media specialists and administrators and involves acceptable use policies. It seems in the past ten minutes I’ve been navigating through it that information is endless.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Read/Write Web - Will Richardson
It seems like just yesterday I was playing the "Oregon Trail" on the early Apple with the black screen and green text/graphics using a floppy disk!! The birth of the Web was 1989 and here we are in 2009 with what seems like unlimited possibilities: limitless: colors, graphics, fonts, videos, games, publishing, networking, organizing, etc...
Richardson made an important point, "...this new Read/Write Web promises to transform much of how we teach and learn as well." There isn't even a slot for the FLOPPY disk! Yikes! I embrace this change, but I worry about my colleagues who have been ingrained in the traditional methods of teaching and fear changing to a more student-centered and technological classroom.
The following excerpt is SO important for those "AFRAID" of Web 2.0 and what it has to offer and truly highlights the change that has and is taking place.
I was reminded of the fact that technology has allowed us to make our lives more transparent and this is what many are afraid of. However, if we do not take some responsibility in educating students in the appropriate uses, who will? They will simply "plug in" at home or some other place and open the doors of vulnerability that we block in school. It comes down to schools having two options: 1) block, or 2) role model and teach students the skills needed to make better use of the Web and how to respond to distasteful situations. To me, an educator, the choice seems very obvious. Are we not day-by-day preparing students for the rigors of life? These are the Millenials - they are the technology generation...are we really going to deny them the right to be educated in their own world?
With that being said, privacy for students should be a number one concern for teachers and parents. It is an area that should be well planned between teacher, parent, and student. Teachers can teach students ways to remain anonymous and ways to publish their work on the Web while providing only limited information. This chapter is an important intro into exploring ways to bring a Web 2.0 application such as blogging into the classroom appropriately and with students' safety considered.
Richardson made an important point, "...this new Read/Write Web promises to transform much of how we teach and learn as well." There isn't even a slot for the FLOPPY disk! Yikes! I embrace this change, but I worry about my colleagues who have been ingrained in the traditional methods of teaching and fear changing to a more student-centered and technological classroom.
The following excerpt is SO important for those "AFRAID" of Web 2.0 and what it has to offer and truly highlights the change that has and is taking place.
..."But, as is often the case, education has been slow to adapt to these new tools and potentials. In other areas of our lives, however, we can see some of these transformations happening right now, right in front of our eyes... At this writing, we're in the midst of the "YouTube Campaign," as some have called it. Every major candidate for president has made extensive use of blogs and video and podcasts throughout the campaign. Each has a MySpace page, attempting to take advantage of the power of social networking, and the voting public has had more ways of engaging in the conversation around issues than ever before. Each is using the web to connect to their very passionate supporters, allowing them to invest their own time and creativity and, in many cases, money in the cause. The very model of how we run campaigns and "do" politics is changing right in front of us, driven by these technologies that allow us to connect and collaborate more easily than before."
I was reminded of the fact that technology has allowed us to make our lives more transparent and this is what many are afraid of. However, if we do not take some responsibility in educating students in the appropriate uses, who will? They will simply "plug in" at home or some other place and open the doors of vulnerability that we block in school. It comes down to schools having two options: 1) block, or 2) role model and teach students the skills needed to make better use of the Web and how to respond to distasteful situations. To me, an educator, the choice seems very obvious. Are we not day-by-day preparing students for the rigors of life? These are the Millenials - they are the technology generation...are we really going to deny them the right to be educated in their own world?
With that being said, privacy for students should be a number one concern for teachers and parents. It is an area that should be well planned between teacher, parent, and student. Teachers can teach students ways to remain anonymous and ways to publish their work on the Web while providing only limited information. This chapter is an important intro into exploring ways to bring a Web 2.0 application such as blogging into the classroom appropriately and with students' safety considered.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)