Wow.... I don't know why I haven't done this before. I've seen "reader" on my Google home page, but I didn't know what it was, and I guess, I wasn't all that curious. All I have to say is it is so cool! I love being able to have everything in one place. I don't have to check one site, then another, and another. It's all there! In the video we watch on Moodle, the guy said it was addictive, and I believe it. I think I spent way too much time going to sites and adding them to my Google Reader! While sorting through A LOT of stories, I found one that made me stop and read it entirely. (After a while, I found myself reading headlines and starring items that I wanted to go back and read more.) It was, 11 Resources for Teaching and Learning Web Safety. I thought this would be an interesting article to share because we have been learning about using "Internet Tools" in the classroom, and it's important to understand and to teach Internet safety. The Internet is great, but it's just too easy to get places that are not safe. This article provides 11 links to other sites about Internet safety, so you can choose depending on what suits you class' needs most.
I'm really enjoying the Google Reader, and this reminds me of our past assignment about "blogging literacy". Although not everything we're reading on Google Reader are blogs, we are still reading. This really changes the way we read online now. Everything is together in the same place, and depending on how much you subscribe to, you can read for hours!!!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thing 4- Student Blogs
This assignment was a little more difficult, because many of the sites that I found seemed to be rubrics for blogs, like the ones we are writing. However, I found 2 that were pretty good and one in particular, I enjoyed exploring further.
I tried to really find ways I could use a rubric for student blogs in an elementary school setting, because I think that student blogs are important and can be done in elementary school! Having the students have their own blogs to respond to topics a teacher poses is a great way to really assess what the students have learned in class. Here is the rubric I came up with:
The sites that helped me develop this rubric are:
A Rubric for Evaluating Student Blogs
and
The Reading Workshop- This is the one I had fun exploring more!!
I tried to really find ways I could use a rubric for student blogs in an elementary school setting, because I think that student blogs are important and can be done in elementary school! Having the students have their own blogs to respond to topics a teacher poses is a great way to really assess what the students have learned in class. Here is the rubric I came up with:
| Criteria | Unacceptable | Acceptable | Target |
| Blog Posts by Students | The student shows little or no understanding of the blog topic and provides no examples in their writing. | The student shows some understanding of the blog topic and provides 1-2 examples in their writing. | The student demonstrates a thorough understanding of the topic and gives 3-5 specific examples in their writing. |
| Comments or Responses that students leave on other student blogs | The student does not comment on any of their classmates blogs. | The student comments on 1-2 of their classmates blogs. The student does not provide thoughtful feedback. | The student comments on 3-4 of their classmates blogs. The student’s comment is positive and provides thoughtful feedback. |
The sites that helped me develop this rubric are:
A Rubric for Evaluating Student Blogs
and
The Reading Workshop- This is the one I had fun exploring more!!
Thing 3 - Blogging
While reading some of the blogs, I noticed several things. First, blog writing is so much different than paper writing. Paper writing (and reading) feels so formal. Many of the blogs I visited didn't have that, "I'm reading this because I have to" feel, but it was like I was reading something a friend was telling me. I also noticed that blog writing is more interactive with it's readers. A great example of this was in the blog, Why I Don't Assign Homework, the author posed his argument on why he doesn't assign homework in his math classes, however when he read a comment from a reader, he changed. The author was able to take in his readers argument on giving homework, and apply it to his classroom. If this was not a blog, this interaction would have never happened, and the author would have never found a new way to give homework to meet all the needs of his students!
I also noticed how reading a blog is so different than reading a book or article. Like I said earlier, it's not as cumbersome as some reading can be. Most of the blogs I read were fairly short, and they got their point across. But even more important, with reading a blog, links are provided to other articles or information that you might need or be interested in. In the Cool Cat Teacher blog, the author was writing about cell phone use, and how it has changed education. The author of this blog provided several links to articles and videos of interest to the reader. If we were reading a book we would not be able to quickly click and get to another article or video related to what we are reading.
Writing blogs are different than other types of writing, because with a blog, you are allowed to be brief, and just write a few sentences in order to get your point across. Also, with reading, writing blogs you can use links to help get your point across. In the blog, Why Can't We Do This? the author (who also wrote our textbook!) using quotes from news articles to really get his point across. He may have written 3-4 sentences, but using the quotes, you really understood exactly what he was trying to say. By the way, I think if we started charging 33 cents for plastic bags, more and more people will be bringing their cloth bags to the grocery store! I know I would! :-) I would even if they charged 5 cents! That can really add up!
One of the blogs I read that I really liked was 2nd Graders Write About Our Missing Duck. One of the reasons I really liked this blog was because the students did most of the work, by commenting on the blog! The students commented on where they think the Duck may be. This is a great way to show how commenting can contribute to writing. I also really liked this blog, because it is a great example of how elementary school teachers can use blogs in their classroom!
I do think there is a "blogging literacy". What we did for Thing #3 was to read blogs, and that is blogging literacy, reading blogs, writing blogs, and commenting on blogs. When I read Is This SSR, 2.0 I was reminded of "blogging literacy". Instead of having SSR in their seats with a book, that they may not be even that interested in, students can now use blogs for their SSR time. The students can choose a blog they are interested in, and read away! This would also be something great to do before the students begin writing their own blogs! I enjoyed reading many of the blogs, and I have found that they have given me some great ideas for my own classroom!
I also noticed how reading a blog is so different than reading a book or article. Like I said earlier, it's not as cumbersome as some reading can be. Most of the blogs I read were fairly short, and they got their point across. But even more important, with reading a blog, links are provided to other articles or information that you might need or be interested in. In the Cool Cat Teacher blog, the author was writing about cell phone use, and how it has changed education. The author of this blog provided several links to articles and videos of interest to the reader. If we were reading a book we would not be able to quickly click and get to another article or video related to what we are reading.
Writing blogs are different than other types of writing, because with a blog, you are allowed to be brief, and just write a few sentences in order to get your point across. Also, with reading, writing blogs you can use links to help get your point across. In the blog, Why Can't We Do This? the author (who also wrote our textbook!) using quotes from news articles to really get his point across. He may have written 3-4 sentences, but using the quotes, you really understood exactly what he was trying to say. By the way, I think if we started charging 33 cents for plastic bags, more and more people will be bringing their cloth bags to the grocery store! I know I would! :-) I would even if they charged 5 cents! That can really add up!
One of the blogs I read that I really liked was 2nd Graders Write About Our Missing Duck. One of the reasons I really liked this blog was because the students did most of the work, by commenting on the blog! The students commented on where they think the Duck may be. This is a great way to show how commenting can contribute to writing. I also really liked this blog, because it is a great example of how elementary school teachers can use blogs in their classroom!
I do think there is a "blogging literacy". What we did for Thing #3 was to read blogs, and that is blogging literacy, reading blogs, writing blogs, and commenting on blogs. When I read Is This SSR, 2.0 I was reminded of "blogging literacy". Instead of having SSR in their seats with a book, that they may not be even that interested in, students can now use blogs for their SSR time. The students can choose a blog they are interested in, and read away! This would also be something great to do before the students begin writing their own blogs! I enjoyed reading many of the blogs, and I have found that they have given me some great ideas for my own classroom!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Will this help me?
I do think that all of this design and development "stuff" will help me in as an educator and as a teacher leader. There are so many great tools out there, but if you want to personalize it, this is where the design and development stuff will help! I know that there have been many times with my team that we have had ideas to add things to our class blogs, but because we have no idea how to implement, we settled for not having it. I don't think we should have to settle. I know I've spent many hours looking up how to embed a Windows Media Video in my blog, so parents don't have to download a link, but I couldn't figure out the codes. Now, once I learn more, I will be able to help not only my team, but my school with their questions and needs when it comes to design and development. I also think that learning more about design will help me create more effective activities and lessons for my students. It will also allow me to teach my peers how to create more effective, and better designed activities for their students. I think that, although it will be hard work, in the long run this design and development stuff will help me become a better educator and teacher leader. It is giving me more skills to share with my peers and it is opening new doors for better opportunities to improve how I teach.
Web 2.0 at School
I feel that I am very fortunate to be in the school that I am. We have a foundation that pays for many technologies for our school to use! Web 2.0 in my school is using remotes for test instead of pencil and paper. Web 2.0 is weekly blogs informing parents of what we are learning, homework they may have, and any important reminders we may have. We also use the SmartBoard to incorporate many websites in our lessons. My first graders love the games or activities that we do as review or practice in class. I also really like just being able to access a picture of something from Google Images to show to my class what something looked liked 100 years ago! It really helps them make a connection to what they are learning when they can see an actual picture of Harriet Tubman and the routes that she took to get to freedom!
I thought that the article was very interesting. It's hard to imagine how much technology has changed, and will continue to change the way we teach. Now parents can be more involved in what is going on in their child's classroom. I liked the idea of having the students create podcasts and create and wikis to show what they have learned. It allows them to take ownership of their work, and feel proud of what they have done by publishing it to the Internet! Because kids today are spending more and more time on the Internet, using Web 2.0 tools are a great way to get kids engaged in learning. Because technology is changing we, as educators, must change with it in order to keep kids engaged. From a personal experience, I know that whenever I introduce a new technology (xtra normal, voki, etc...) my students are really excited and they stop and pay attention. It's almost like when you put in a video on, and they all are enthralled with whatever is on the TV. Except now it can be more interactive and involve the students to show what they have learned. I like that things are changing in this way. In order to keep educators relevant we must change as technology changes. Many of these changes help us, and are a great resource for the classroom! I am looking forward to what is next!
I thought that the article was very interesting. It's hard to imagine how much technology has changed, and will continue to change the way we teach. Now parents can be more involved in what is going on in their child's classroom. I liked the idea of having the students create podcasts and create and wikis to show what they have learned. It allows them to take ownership of their work, and feel proud of what they have done by publishing it to the Internet! Because kids today are spending more and more time on the Internet, using Web 2.0 tools are a great way to get kids engaged in learning. Because technology is changing we, as educators, must change with it in order to keep kids engaged. From a personal experience, I know that whenever I introduce a new technology (xtra normal, voki, etc...) my students are really excited and they stop and pay attention. It's almost like when you put in a video on, and they all are enthralled with whatever is on the TV. Except now it can be more interactive and involve the students to show what they have learned. I like that things are changing in this way. In order to keep educators relevant we must change as technology changes. Many of these changes help us, and are a great resource for the classroom! I am looking forward to what is next!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)