Most of the items posted to my reader will hopefully be items of interest to my students that will generate meaningful discussion or a connection to what we are (or have been) reading in class. Others will help them navigate through the next few years of school or help give them a view of the future and motivate them to develop those skills which will enable them to be successful.
http://students2oh.org/2008/01/30/what-is-learning/
Many starred items are from Student 2.0 and one is a podcast discussion (with kids) about cliques from Kids Corner Podcast. I was blocked from the Infinite Thinking.org website on my school computer, as well as the RSS in Plain English video. However, I can easily see how the RSS could help with being regularly updated on topics of interest, with a minimal amount of time and effort.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thing #4--Blogs in the Classroom
It boggles the mind to think of all the ways classroom/student blogs could be used, not to mention the benefits of doing so. Helping students to read to learn and to see knowledge as it connects to the "big picture", collaborative learning, creating enthusiasm to communicate through writing and giving them the support tools to successfully do so are just a few examples. Having students blog their assignments not only eliminates "lost" papers, but also allows students to expand their understanding through reading their classmates blogs.
I had never thought of allowing students to read other students blogs during SSR time. Most of my students are reluctant readers and I can easily see how this would eliminate many of the motivational issues with reading independently.
Through Patrick's 5th grade blog entry, my kids could see that there are others with similar struggles who, instead of giving up on themselves, choose to persevere and prove their "doubting Thomas(s)" wrong. In addition, there were several links that would be interesting to my kids. If only we could direct more of our "stubborn" students to this productive use of that quality.Another student's blog on brevity points out that limiting the length of a written response often forces greater thought, discrimination, prioritization and concise word choice than requiring several paragraphs or pages. These two student blogs prove that students reading other students' blogs can very often be both interesting and productive for the student.
The suggestion from Cool Cat Teacher to act as if we, as teachers, are being recorded at all times was somewhat sobering. With editing, almost anything can be made to look questionable or inappropriate. I would suggest reviewing this blog more for the information of how to effectively use a blog in the classroom.
I had never thought of allowing students to read other students blogs during SSR time. Most of my students are reluctant readers and I can easily see how this would eliminate many of the motivational issues with reading independently.
Through Patrick's 5th grade blog entry, my kids could see that there are others with similar struggles who, instead of giving up on themselves, choose to persevere and prove their "doubting Thomas(s)" wrong. In addition, there were several links that would be interesting to my kids. If only we could direct more of our "stubborn" students to this productive use of that quality.Another student's blog on brevity points out that limiting the length of a written response often forces greater thought, discrimination, prioritization and concise word choice than requiring several paragraphs or pages. These two student blogs prove that students reading other students' blogs can very often be both interesting and productive for the student.
The suggestion from Cool Cat Teacher to act as if we, as teachers, are being recorded at all times was somewhat sobering. With editing, almost anything can be made to look questionable or inappropriate. I would suggest reviewing this blog more for the information of how to effectively use a blog in the classroom.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Thing #2--Thoughts About Web 2.0
I am really getting excited about the possibilities for expanding my use of technology in the class—not only to engage students, but to encourage parent involvement and increase their awareness. I am looking forward to finding out how to control the timing of access to shared student assignment blogs so that a few lead students’ work isn’t excessively “sponged” off of. (I know, poor English.) With the use of both blogs and podcasts, I can see great advantages in helping parents be well-informed as well as helping students catch up with information missed due to absences from class. Talk about no excuses !
I teach at MMS, which obviously includes students in the age group where drama (often) rules. Because of the type of classes I teach, class sizes are often too small to utilize a variety of group work situations. With internet collaboration/teams, theoretically the groups wouldn’t even have to be in the same class and I could more appropriately/creatively group students based on their strengths & weaknesses. Theoretically, it wouldn’t even matter if the students “got along” or liked each other. I would like to know whether the group members could even be anonymous, at least temporarily. This might be a real eye-opener for those who thought another student would make minimal contributions or those who “couldn’t” work together. This also might encourage the less confident student to take more of an active role.
Although I have a general idea, I also want to know exactly what an “aggregator” is, how it works and how to put one together. Becoming familiar with and learning to use the numerous new “tools” that didn’t even exist just a few years ago is somewhat intimidating, particularly to those of us with almost no previous exposure & experience. I would think that becoming more comfortable and knowledgeable with the current tools should help in acquiring additional new skills as even more tools become available.
Thing #1--Habits of Lifelong Learners
The most challenging habit for me, sadly, will probably be #7 1/2--which is to play. For me, being a teacher is neither an 8 to 4, nor an August to June job. I also have a daughter still in high school and a son in college, so "extra" time is hard to find.
The easiest habit is to accept responsibility for my learning--#2. I truly love learning new things and improving my knowledge and skills--both for the benefit of my students and just for fun.
The most important habits will be #3 (viewing problems as challenges & an opportunity for success), particularly in combination with #6 (use technology to my advantage). These two things don't always go together well.
The easiest habit is to accept responsibility for my learning--#2. I truly love learning new things and improving my knowledge and skills--both for the benefit of my students and just for fun.
The most important habits will be #3 (viewing problems as challenges & an opportunity for success), particularly in combination with #6 (use technology to my advantage). These two things don't always go together well.
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