Welcome back!
I hope you don't feel too overwhelmed with all of the references and links I sent you. Your first assignment, Deliverable #1, is due before next Tuesday morning (6/2/08). The details are in the syllabus and summarized here:
Deliverable #1 will be to sign up for your own blog (I see that some of you already have). You don't have to create anything fancy. (A person could lose track of time playing with all the details.) Setting up a Blogger account will also change how you comment on our class blog. Instead of choosing 'anonymous' you will instead type in your Blogger user name. If you already have a Google account (either gmail, gdocs..... then you can use the same user name and password b/c the companies are interconnected.
You may access the wisdom of those that have taken this class before you here. Also, some invaluable resources you should also start to check out are the tutorial links along the left side of this page. They'll walk you through a lot of what you need. Great for the visual learners out there. And lastly don't forget to tell us all your new blog address in your posting for this week. As they come in I'll post links to them in the margin with past participants.
By now, most of you are getting more comfortable navigating our class blog. You will spend the bulk of this session being exposed to the multitude of possibilities for using blogs in education. Unfortunately, it seems that some school systems use filtering systems that block access to many blogs, but where there is a will there is a way. You can't stop the evolution of technology, so for every blogging service that is blocked I'm sure there will be ten others to take its place. We are told that the rationale for blocking access is to protect the children, but I see examples every week of our students' using inventiveness and ingenuity to circumvent filters. The kids are more savvy at this than us. I've seen students use proxy servers, foreign country websites, and different languages just to check out their MySpace and Facebook accounts at school. Also, every new cell phone now has the ability to access the Internet, so very soon the students won't even have filters to slow them down.
Blogs are popping up everywhere. Just check out the Providence Journal's website: http://www.projo.com/blogs/ and count how many different blogs are available there. I also have 27 high school students this semester taking 'virtual' classes at a vitual high school. They come to the library for their scheduled period and nearly every one of these classes has a blogging component. Check it out: http://www.govhs.org/
Tomorrow I'd like you to take an informal survey of your students and ask them about their online journal or blog use. (They may call it something different, but the most prevalent is MySpace.com) Obviously the older the students--the higher the percentage of use---but if your survey shows you results similar to mine, then you will be very surprised at the usage statistics. More then 90 % of my students here at the high school use some sort of online journal. The new trend is moving toward Facebook.com. And that number appears to be increasing all the time. Blogs won't always work for "every discipline--every day," but when you begin to grasp the versatility of their usage you will see that they can be a powerful communication tool. And if such a large percentage of our population is using a certain kind of technology then it is surely in our best interest as educators to become well versed in it. Watch this video on Web 2.0. It might be a little deeper than we, as educators, need to reach, but it gives us some perspective.
Then "blog away!!"
19 comments:
Hello all,
In my school in recent years we've really been hammering away at "anti-myspace" assemblies -- so in my informal survey, I found that only 3 out of 8 of my 6th graders frequent myspace or facebook.
I was able to create a blog -- it's located at:
http://mr-d-online.blogspot.com/
--John
The majority of my high school students use blogs. Many of them are frequent users of myspace--my 17 year old daughter included! Although it is clear that blogging is an important activity to hs students, we still limit this use in our school labs. Mostly the use is limited because access to computers is difficult and research papers and projects take precedent.
My novice blog is located at http://mrsdidriksensblog.blogspot.com/
Joanne
Heather Matarese
Deliverable #1 / Session 2 Comments
The blogging service I used for creating a classroom blog is blogger.com, as it is user friendly. This seems to be a popular choice among past and current course participants. I like the idea of the e-mail feature and the ability to screen students’ comments with the “moderate comments function.”
The address of my blog is: mrsmatarese.blogspot.com. It was quite simple to set up the blog and all of the templates offered at blogger.com are appealing to the eye. The only glitch I ran into is that the title of my blog does not appear on the blog. I don't know how that happened, but I will spend more time tweaking it and enhancing the way it looks later.
There are many ways that I would integrate a blog into an elementary level classroom. I would invite students to visit the classroom blog to read and write their reflections. While I am constantly trying to teach my students to be reflective learners, I rarely afford them ample time to share their reflections with peers, mainly due to time constraints, during the course of the school day. Children would have the opportunity to reflect on daily and weekly lessons, as well as special learning opportunities such as field trips and assemblies.
On a daily basis, children are required to read during school time, as well as at home. The classroom blog is a wonderful place to share text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections. These connections are very important; however, due to limited time, it is impossible for every student to share all of their connections verbally during classroom discussions. I would also invite students to write about connections they have to the teacher read aloud book. I think the children would really enjoy receiving feedback from peers on the blog about their connections.
On a weekly basis, children work on at least one strategy in problem solving. I would use the blog as a way for students to reflect on their work. Could they have solved the problem a different way? Did they verify their work using another strategy? What was their thought process? Did they use many math words when explaining their answer? Writing about these ideas and reading the ideas of others will enhance students’ problem solving skills.
Currently, news finds its way home to parents by way of a newsletter. Perhaps the blog could replace the newsletter; it would save some paper and parents could even access it from work.
The most effective way to use the blog to foster literacy in the classroom is to change the topic of the blog based on the changing needs and wants of the students throughout the school year. Children could direct the content of the blog, which would make the postings meaningful to them. I think parents would appreciate it too. I enjoyed the posting titled, “Paper Journals vs. Weblogs” by Doug Noon on the blog called Borderland. I agree that Doug’s students would enjoy writing more if they had an audience, other than their teacher and parents. Their writing would likely be more meaningful if they felt they had a broader audience. This would be true of my students also.
Since I am not working this year, I asked a colleague to survey her
4th graders about sites like myspace. While none of her students had any involvement with the social networking sites, they did have an awareness of them. A few have older siblings who use them.
I wonder if a child’s geographic location has an impact on whether or not they use these sites. For example, do children who live in rural areas rely on these sites for socializing more than children who live in an urban or suburban area, in close proximity to other children? I also wonder if socioeconomic status makes a difference.
Hello:
I have created a blog at www.neverthetwainredux.blogspot.com As I commented in my first entry, when I have something to contribute that I feel is substantive, I will write liberally. jack
Lisa Kiernan
Deliverable # 1/Session 2 comments
I am excited to begin this blogging journey with my students (although with 12 school days left, it will have to be next year’s students). I have a few “I wonder” questions about blogging process; more technical than anything else. I currently have my own website: www.mrskiernan.com. In the past I created everything using Front Page and uploading it through an ftp site. Then I found this wonderful site, www.myteacherpages.com, which would allow me to log in, update certain pages on my site, and they publish it for me. It is a very useful tool in my hectic life. I know my webpage, being Web 1.0, would only allow for information to be given to parents, who could respond only in the form of an email. That being said, I have a page for every subject I teach (everything, since I am a 4th grade teacher). I’m eager to integrate Web 2.0 into my curriculum, or better yet, modify my curriculum to include Web 2.0. I wonder what freedom am I giving up with the ability to post on different pages for different subjects? Do I need a new blog for each subject? Would this problem be solved by categorizing posts? Can I post multiple pages on a free blogging site such as blogger, or edublog?
I can see using blogging for many things in my daily routine. I surveyed my students and only a few of them have seen Facebook or Myspace, typically those with older brothers and sisters. Some of my students told me about video game sites that they could ask for codes. Many of my students use the Webkinz site, which isn’t really blogging, it’s more of a virtual pet that they take care of. So this class that I have for the next 2 weeks, does not really have much experience with blogging. I’m hoping to involve a few of them and maybe try a book chat over the summer.
I also would like to integrate blogging into my reading instruction. I see many opportunities for students to respond to literature using Web 2.0. My next set of “I wonders” are in regards to teaching writing and blogging. Do students actually start with brainstorming, then move on to a sloppy copy, edit, then finally publish their final copy? I’m worried about giving up that type of structure for fear of “THE TEST”. We are all so worried about how the students will do on State Testing that we kill and drill, “5 paragraphs, Introduction, 3 main idea paragraphs w/ details, and conclusion”. I am also concerned that my students, being 4th graders, would not have the motivation to create a piece that is ready to be read “in public” or will this be motivation enough that they will try to make it the best it can be just because they will become published writers on the web?
I have many questions that I know will probably be answered as we go on, I’ll probably find most of the answers myself as I “play” with my blog more, but these are the things swirling through my head now! I did create a blog, 2 actually. I created my class site on Blogger, http://mrskiernan.blogspot.com/ and one on Edublog, http://mrskiernangrade4.edublogs.org/. I haven’t really finished deciding which class site I would like to keep, so I am updating both for now. I also still have security questions as well. Although, after looking at Doug Noon’s blog and his description of B2evolution, I just might try that one as well. One will only learn by doing!!
On a side note, we are taking a short family vacation (Wed – Sun) so I may not be available to comment on other “I wonders” during that time but will do so when I return.
Hello,
My blog is located at hppt://readingbooknook.blogspot.com/
Deliverable #1/Session 2 Reflections
The bogging service that I felt was the easiest to use for my students was blogger.com. The students I work with range from kindergarten to grade five. As a reading specialist I don't have a great deal of time with them so I would focus my attention on modeling with my own blog. I would then follow up by posting questions or book think alouds and have them respond with the anonymous button as we did in class. It could also be used to post student work. My thought is that I would integrate the blog for use as a resource/ communication tool for administrators, parents, teachers and students in the area or literacy.
After reading Chapters 2-3 in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts I realized that for the past year we (classroom teachers and reading specialists) have been banging our heads against the wall trying to get our students to use critical thinking skills such as analysis and synthesis while reading text. Most seem to struggle with this higher level skill. I'm wondering if blogging will not only motivate them but get them to really understand what it means to sythesize text.
Heather made a comment about socioeconomic status. I have been thinking about this a great deal. In my district more than half of the students come from low income families. Do the low income students have the same technology background as do the middle and upper class students? If not, how do we bridge this gap? How can we reach these parents and families who would benefit most from this knowledge?
I love John's photo on his blog. It made me chuckle.
Ami Sinclair
Cranston High School East
Resource/Inclusion
9th-12th Grade
I created a blog using blogger because it was so user friendly. http://www.chseinfo.blogspot.com/ I created this blog about a month ago in course 920. I have since been playing around with it trying to find a way for it to be most helpful for myself, students and parents. I found pages 40-41 in Will Richarsons book helpful in trying to figure out what to incorporate into the blog. After reading this section I realized that I will have to make it clear to parents and students about using their full name to keep things confidential.
Working in a high school I find that the majority of students have a myspace or facebook accounts. They often try to use their cell phones during the day so they can get onto their accounts.
I am hoping in the fall to connect with some of my students general education teachers to add their links to my blog so that the students and parents have a central location to go to when they have questions.
I have a high percentage of students who do not have access to computers or the internet at home. This would make it very difficult for them to respond to blogs at home. I would have to make time available for them at school. For those students who do have computers at home I am hoping that students will post papers/reports that can be checked over before being submitted.
As a resource teacher, who does not give out grades, it will be difficult to get the majority of my students to respond to readings. In the near future Cranston is going to try and have resource count as some credit so then I would have an easier job trying to get the students to respond.
Deliverable #1
http://brookestrachan.edublogs.org
After exploring all of the blogs listed in this week’s assignment I think I am getting a much better sense of how I might use this technology in my library. The blog I set up for this week is one for my library in which I will write mini-summaries of the books I read. What I love about edublogs is the fact that I can attach a category and/or tag to each post. I think this will be very helpful for my students. As I am writing this I am realizing, if I understand it correctly, that I might also be able to attach a tag to each book denoting its type and this way a student might be able to find a good beginning reader mystery.
I am also thinking that a blog would be a great place to house our summer reading suggestions. The tutorials on edublogs I used in order to set up my blog, gave me an idea that would take summer reading one step further. James Farmer, the edublogs tutorial man, created them using Jing, with which I am unfamiliar, but I have used a similar program called voice thread. I thought that I could use such a program to make a powerpoint type book talk with an audio component describing summer reading options and embed it in my blog. I think this might get them more excited about the list of books. For some students it would be an easier way for them to choose their books.
When thinking about a way in which students could interact on the blog, I am actually thinking that I might set up a second blog. My school does an activity called the Rooster Games with the Lincoln School. The students read 10 of the 20 books on the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award list and then play a variety of games based on the books. We assign the students to mixed teams. A blog would be a perfect way for our students to communicate with their team members before the big day. They could blog about the books they read, plan strategy ahead of time and get a chance to know one another before they meet in person.
As I imagine this blog I am thinking that it might make sense to create a static page as the home page with a summary of each book. Perhaps the students themselves could write the annotations. As they complete the books they could use the comments feature to write their personal opinions of each one. I know I have seen surveys on other people’s blogs. I would love to learn how to create them. That would be a fun, informal way to get a sense of which of the books the kids like and why. I have really enjoyed creating my own first blog this week. I cannot wait to play around more with the features on edublogs as I imagine how to incorporate them in my own blog.
Hi, everyone.
I have indeed established a blog, albeit a sparse one:
http://msditusasblog.blogspot.com/
(I'm just impressed that I managed to do it, so give me a moment to pat myself on the back!)
There is so much to think about in terms of how to apply what I've learned so far. As interested as I am in beginning the use of blogs, that is how nervous I am at the same time. My biggest concerns are with student safety and privacy. Although there are certain steps we can take in order to protect them (and to protect them, we must teach them how to be cautious), there are always risks because of outsider involvement. Another concern is with student appropriateness. Even though we teachers can talk to the students about what is appropriate and what is not, we can only monitor and police what we recognize. Now, speaking as someone who is not as young as she used to be (or wants to be), I have to admit that the slang of today is certainly not at all like that of MY day - no more "tubular" or "grody" or "radical"; as a result, the students might be exchanging inappropriate messages right in front of the eyes of us older folk! Wouldn’t we look foolish then?
In addition to safety and appropriate use, my concerns have to do with computer access, both and out of school. I have five computers in my classroom, and the school has a mobile classroom and a computer lab. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get access to the latter two since many teachers use them regularly. Teachers are not only limited by resources (although I cannot complain because our school district is extremely fortunate, thanks to our technology folks), but also by time; because of the emphasis placed on testing now, can I afford to dedicate class time to blogging, even with the benefits? True, many students have computers at home, yet if I am asking students to do this type of task using technology, then I also need to provide the opportunity for them to use the school’s resources. Overall, I am keeping an open mind about using blogs for educational purposes, but it is going to be a challenge to work out the kinks.
I feel like I am still processing all of the reading, the slides, the process of creating my blog and people's comments here. However, because I am a geeky librarian, the main thing I am wondering about right now is copyright. I am not clear about copyright in relation to images. For instance, for my blog I used a picture of a book from our circulation system. I don't think it violates copyright law since we pay for the use of the database and I am using the image for educational purposes. Quite honestly, I am not sure. I am curious if anyone knows of a source that discusses copyright issues specifically in relation to images on the internet.
Deliverable #1:
I have many ideas as to how to use blogs in my classroom and as a member of the school community.
First, I use Writers’ Notebooks occasionally, which I would like to improve upon in the future. Right now, I house the notebooks in the classroom; students write only in class, which is not ideal, but I do not want students to lose them. When we discuss various techniques used in writing (Magic 3’s, repetition for effect, hyperbole, alliteration, hyphenated modifiers, rhyming couplets, onomatopoeia, etc.), I supply a prompt to which students respond and applied what they just learned. Other times, they have an open-ended question or a controversial topic that applies to the literature. From time to time, they free-write. After each writing session, we share, which the students really enjoy. I take volunteers only, since some students are uncomfortable about sharing their creativity, about reading aloud in class, or about expressing their opinions; some just don’t want to appear to be “kissing up” by volunteering! Even though all do not like to read their work, they do like to listen. If I use blogging for their Writers’ Notebooks, they will 1) have access to all students’ work, 2) evaluate the various styles of writing their peers have, 3) provide feedback to their peers, 4) be able to work on their entries at home, 4) share their work without having to share it face to face, 5) keep their entries organized and safe, and 6) reflect on their past writing in order to see their growth.
Blogging can also be used for my Advisory. I have a grade 5 Advisory, and these students will be with me until grade 8. A blog would be a terrific way to foster communication. Since Advisory focuses on the total child, a blog would allow students the chance to discuss academic and social issues with me and with one another in a comfortable way. Some students are quiet and do not readily participate in some discussions; this forum will hopefully make them more confident so that over time, they will be more inclined to speak to the group directly. Another important piece is the communication with home. Parents would be able to get more involved in what is happening in Advisory, which is something about which parents are curious. Furthermore, we have a “buddy” Advisory, which consists of grade 7 students; they can be involved as well. Finally, my Advisees’ teachers and guidance counselor can use this tool to learn more about the students.
In addition to Advisory, our school has included an Intervention block for students who could use assistance in math and Language Arts. This group will meet twice a week during a four-week cycle (math = 4 weeks, ELA = 4 weeks; population varies). These students sometimes feel “punished” if they are assigned to these blocks; blogging would be a terrific hook for students who are otherwise unmotivated and unwilling to write. Also, knowing that their work will be viewed by others, they will hopefully put forth a greater effort. Because their work will be visible, they can provide feedback about how their peers can improve and give praise when they do. As a result, they will better learn how to improve their own work, too. Last, their work on the blog can be used for assessment at the end of an Intervention cycle.
Another way to use blogging in my class is for reader response. Currently, we use reader recommendation cards for accountability. After students finish reading a book, they complete a card (short summary, significant passage, explanation of passage, theme). Unfortunately, I tend to be the only one who sees them; ideally, we want students to review the cards when they are looking for book ideas, yet they do not. Students used to post little colorful cards on the classroom wall when they discovered a “must read” book, and that worked fine. Blogging, however, would be a much better way of passing on information about what they have read and what they recommend to others. Also, we use literature circles, but the students really enjoy just talking about what they are reading for fun; it is wonderful when I see students actually seeking books that others have recommended. So, students would be able to use this tool when they are trying to find a good book as well as when they do find a book they love.
I am thinking of ways to use blogging within the school but not as part of my classes. I am a program leader, and in that role, I sometimes need to facilitate meetings. A blog would give all involved parties the chance to voice their opinions. Also, I would have a chance to respond in a more thorough and reflective way. The communication would serve as notes for the session, too. Finally, administration would be able to view the dialogue.
Lots of possibilities for my students, yet lots of time in front of a computer for me…
\Hi,
My blog is titled "My favorite things" and is located at http://mrsschaal.edublogs.org.
I decided to use edublogs because I found it to be easy to use and manage for both myself, my students and other teachers.
I really was interested in what David Warlick and others are doing at classblogmeister.com but you need a school password to join and did not feel that that was necessary for this assignment.
As some others have already mentioned, I see this blog being used in the library mostly for book reviews. I envision the reviews being written by both myself and my students with comments going back and forth by both.
I can also see myself setting up another blog for correspondence with my teachers. In the past, I have sent emails to teachers about new studies I have read or new materials available in the library. With a blog, we would have a permanent place to find that information as well as hopefully some dialogue.
Brooke had mentioned concerns about copyright issues. That has been a recent discussion on lm_net, a listserv for school librarians. The concensus has been that most materials would fall under "fair use". New guidelines are in the process of being written.
Jill
Amanda Lovett
Middletown, RI
Sixth Grade Special Education
Deliverable 1
So, I made a blog for EDC 920 last semester, but I decided I wanted to do something this time that I could get into more. My math students who I originally made my blog for this past semester told me that only one of them has access to a computer at home. So my idea of having them, and their parents/guardian, check the website at night for the homework assignments and homework and study tips did not go over well. My first blog is still an idea I would like to use next year maybe. This link is http://lovettsmathmessages.blogspot.com/.
The blog I recently made is going to be for book recommendations. I love to read and collect children's books and adult fiction and non-fiction as well. I love when people recomend me books,and I also greatly enjoy recommending books to people who love to read, and to those who hate it. I figured that with summer coming up, most people have a little more free time to curl up with a book! So my blog this time around will be geared towards reading and book discussions for both teachers and students. The link is http://lovettsreading.blogspot.com It's still very much in the works however.
I love reading other teachers' ideas for blogs. I can't wait to use some of their ideas in my future as an educator. It's really nice to see the type of projects and things teachers all over are doing with their students that involve technology.
Wben I polled my sixth grade special education students, only 1 out of fourteen used a program such as facebook, myspace or a blog. I have 12 boys and 2 girls and most of my students do not have great computer access, or just don't care! I am considering polling one of the classes I co-teach in to see if I get a different number. Sixth grade is young though!
~Amanda Lovett
Session 2
Deliverable #1
I used blogger.com to create a blog last semester in EDC 920 for my two high school reading and one literacy class. The URL is:
www.wrightsreading.blogspot.com.
At our high school, a student must earn two credits in English/Lang. Arts besides English class to graduate. Many students take a language. But many other students qualify for reading or literacy class, which may be taken in place of a language. Literacy class is appropriate for students reading one or two levels below their current grade level, and Reading class is available for those reading three or more levels below.
I created the blog in an effort to tap into some of their enthusiasm about online writing (myspace, texting, etc.). I surveyed my students and found that roughly 75 percent of them participate in online blogging (mostly all MySpace).
I agree with Richardson in chapter two “What’s somewhat discouraging…is that these teenagers use these sites as more social tools than learning tools…” (p. 20). I am anxious to point out to students that what they’re doing on MySpace is indeed reading and writing. The key to the enthusiasm might be that online, they are writing for their peers. It’s so important for them to be respected by their peers. The peer review inherent in the blog set-up has proven to be a great motivator for better writing on the classroom blog site.
The initial blog posting states: “Each week, periods 4, 5, and 7 will be required to post on the "weekly topic" and reply to at least one other person's post.
• Your reply to someone else's post must include your thoughts about their work AND a rating. You will rate (score) them on a scale of 1-4. Use the scale below:
1-They barely tried on this assignment.
2-They tried, but this was not their best work.
3-Pretty good job.
4-Outstanding work!
• Weekly topic posts will be added on Mondays. You may post and reply during class or at home, but it must be done by Monday morning of the following week to receive full credit.
• Please see the blog posting rubric in the left hand column under "Important Links" on this page for grading guidelines.”
Students are more motivated to write here than they are in class. I assign a weekly writing assignment which will then has to be rated by peers. I don’t use the ratings from peers as a grade. It’s an important aspect, though, because it makes them think about quality. I have found that most of the time, students rate each other fairly.
Please check out my blog and the blog posting rubric I have set up at www.wrightsreading.blogspot.com.
Erin
I neglected to "share out" how I invision using my blog in my content area in my first post, so I added another entry on my blog which fumbles over my initial ideas.
Honestly ,though, I feel like a bloggin' oaf compared to my classmates. There are so many great ideas posted--and on just the second week of class!
I really like Erin's idea of encouraging writing and reading through blogs. The rubric is easy to use and puts the students in the driver's seat. Gotta find a way to tap into that internal motivation whenever possible!
Joanne
Hello all,
I quickly found out that my district blocks Blogger, edublog as well as many others. It was very easy to loose track of time and reading all of the links. I tried to find some blogs by school based occupational therapists. Interestingly, I found some blogs by therapists in the UK, Sweden, and Egypt. I don't know much about education or healthcare in Egypt... so I became distracted and explored. The majority of blogs from US OTs seem to be students (which was very interesting to read) as well as University instructors. I'm sure there are more- but I needed to stop!!
I have a number of ideas of how to integrate this in my work. My first project would be to compile a list of all of my favorite links & documents including resources as well as company products for parents to access. I also work closely with a whole team of therapists. Right now, we communicate through some of the tools in yahoo, email and fax, but I can see us doing it much better with a blog. I can also identify two classrooms that I'm sure would love to explore these tools. I do need to find some service that we will have access to at school.
I was able to create a blog - it is located at http://simmonsotcorner.blogspot.com/
Question: I'm sure I missed this direction somewhere... how do I add a calendar to my blog? Some of the samples/links had this feature and that would be great tool for some of my students.
I am sure I posted to session 2 but I do not see it any where so I will try again. My blog is at ldeakers.blogspot.com. I experimented with some photos but had difficulty making the top band smaller. The entire photo was displayed and I was trying to make a band? This weeks reading in Blogs text by Richardson has me thinking about what is not blogging on page 32. I have read many blogs that are more journaling or listing things or seen teachers us them to print out a chapter review but what I am understanding from Richardson is the blogging should involve "analysis and synthesis" to flush out the deeper understanding of a topic. I definitely see the educational value in this aspect of blogging.
blog @
DELIVERABLE #1 Pick the Blogging service that you think might be the easiest to use for classroom application and ‘share out’ how you could integrate this tool into your discipline (4 paragraphs) )
The free Blogging service I chose is blogger.com. I chose it because it is familiar from course work for this class, it is a free service, and relatively easy to navigate as I begin on the Blogging learning curve.
The title of my Blog is the “cosmic library by the sea.” I have chosen this because a common bumpersticker here is “Homer. Cosmic hamlet by the sea.”
For this high school library blog, I want to incorporate many aspects. I would include a link from each teacher which gives a brief summary about their topic of study that week and give materials available through the LMC which would be useful to both staff and students. Patrons could blog about information they are aware of or discuss the resources posted. Staff would also have the opportunity to reserve materials and the space for their discipline of study.
Art pieces are often displayed in the LMC. I would like to include reference books about the particular art medium and include internet sites. It may be appropriate to include student names who have pieces on display.
Here in Alaska, we have a competition called “Battle of the Books.” This consists of reading 10 books, asking and answering questions about the books, and lastly competing via tele-conferencing with other schools with questions about the books. Blogging would be an opportunity for students to read/write about the “Battle” books.
Other ideas to post on the blog:
services available in LMC
blogs/discussion about posting of current events of interest
reading lists
new books and readers comments/discussions
a book “wish list”
Really, Really, Really Late Deliverable #1:
I was looking back through previous session comments and I realized that I never actually wrote anything for D#1. Sorry about that, Dave!
Anyway, I am loving this class and learning muchos about all sorts of web 2.0 services I had no idea existed. What I am envisioning for my class blog is sort of an online information center.
Initially I spent time learning how to add different widgets to my blog. (Playing, really, with clustermaps and clocks, etc...)
Now I am thinking more deeply about what role the blog will play in my class next year. I am imagining administrators, other team teachers, my students, and parents of my students being able to subscribe to my blog. I have added my own customizable Google calendar to my blog -- for students and parents to take note of school events, due dates, projects, and such.
I'd also like the blog to be a place where students and parents can download things like rubrics, assignment information, field trip permission slips, and the like.
Finally, I am seeing myself posting regarding current units of study, projects, upcoming tests. I'd also like to include video tutorials that go along with current topics of study (like a math video that parallels what I'm teaching at the time).
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