Tuesday, June 30, 2009
voicethread
http://voicethread.com/share/551623/
Take a look at what happened to me on the longest day of 2009 (father's day).
Take a look at what happened to me on the longest day of 2009 (father's day).
Thursday, June 25, 2009
After reading about Flickr I have many literacy ideas running through my head. Creating visual stories with Flickr is such a fantastic idea for people of all ages. Also, using this for social studies, or science is a wonderful idea! Having kids create a visual timeline for social studies or possibly a visual of the life cycle of a plant or butterfly would be so interactive and educational.
I can't wait to use Flickr with my students. I think this is a took that epitomizes the 21st century learning that our kids are needing. Tools such as Flickr give kids the create power to express themselves while learning. It isn't stationary and stagnant, it is interactive and 3d. It is the Read/Write Web that Richardson is showing us our digital natives need to learn.
I can't wait to use Flickr with my students. I think this is a took that epitomizes the 21st century learning that our kids are needing. Tools such as Flickr give kids the create power to express themselves while learning. It isn't stationary and stagnant, it is interactive and 3d. It is the Read/Write Web that Richardson is showing us our digital natives need to learn.
Chapter 6 The Social Web
For me, this (the social web) is why people have become so in love with the Internet. The ways people can learn from and interact with one another, digitally is so empowering and convenient for people. This chapter summarizes why people want to use the web and how the social web continues to become even more enticing for all.
For librarians, showing students and teachers the cutting edge of the social web will keep people connected and learning from one another. As Richardson points out "...this is much different from the traditional classroom in which most students work is done in isolation." Students may do their own work, however connecting them to a larger community empowers them to better their work. The learning doesn't just stop. Conversation continues...even after the assignment is handed in.
For librarians, showing students and teachers the cutting edge of the social web will keep people connected and learning from one another. As Richardson points out "...this is much different from the traditional classroom in which most students work is done in isolation." Students may do their own work, however connecting them to a larger community empowers them to better their work. The learning doesn't just stop. Conversation continues...even after the assignment is handed in.
Chapter 5 RSS
I believe Richardson's final sentence in this chapter is quite powerful. Richardson says, " If you don't try any other tool in this book, you simply have to start using RSS. Remember: Resistance is futile." Wow!
Before I started reading this chapter, I felt like RSS would just overload me with information and consume even more of my already extremely limited time. You could say that I didn't have a very positive image of RSS.
After reading the chapter, I see that RSS feeds will actually save me time. I just need to be very choosy when deciding which feeds I really need to subscribe. If I choose the right ones, I won't have to waste time seeking the information, it will come straight to me.
I would like to go back to the final thought in this chapter, "...resistance is futile." I love this quote. Sadly I have to admit that I like it so much because I relate to it. I think that to some extent I have resisted some of the technical tools because I felt that they would just be one more thing to waste my time. Not resisting them and keeping an open mind to see how they can be helpful, not just to me but to others that I work with, is the key. A big part of my job, is to introduce these tools to staff members and students to help reduce stress and gain efficiency.
Before I started reading this chapter, I felt like RSS would just overload me with information and consume even more of my already extremely limited time. You could say that I didn't have a very positive image of RSS.
After reading the chapter, I see that RSS feeds will actually save me time. I just need to be very choosy when deciding which feeds I really need to subscribe. If I choose the right ones, I won't have to waste time seeking the information, it will come straight to me.
I would like to go back to the final thought in this chapter, "...resistance is futile." I love this quote. Sadly I have to admit that I like it so much because I relate to it. I think that to some extent I have resisted some of the technical tools because I felt that they would just be one more thing to waste my time. Not resisting them and keeping an open mind to see how they can be helpful, not just to me but to others that I work with, is the key. A big part of my job, is to introduce these tools to staff members and students to help reduce stress and gain efficiency.
Monday, June 22, 2009
School Blogs
The two school blogs that I am comparing and contrasting are KinderKidsblog by Maria Knee http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=51141 and Mighty Writers by Mark Ahlness http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=41233. Both of these blogs are put together beautifully. They both have links to other blogs and sites. These links to other blogs and sites provide so much information! You could spend hours linking from one site to the next. I can see how easy it can be to get sucked into spending way too much time blogging! :)
KinderKidsblog focuses heavily on math skills and video blogs. Too Cute! You can look at the blog to see what the kids are working on in their classroom and to follow their academic and social progress. This site also allows one to create a weatherpixie that will tell you exactly what the weather is going to be like in your area. As a teacher that sees many kids come to school ill-prepared for the weather, I thought this was a great idea! I saw several videos that the students made, one for father's day. You could tell that the students were really enjoying making their videos! Again, more evidence that the Web helps students get excited about and take ownership in their education.
The Mighty Writers blog is a classroom of third grade students that post all of their writing assignments as well as blog about daily adventures and activities they participate in. This classroom blog site clearly focuses on writing. What is really cool about this site is that you can see the students progress all on one page. I was looking at stories each students had written at the beginning of the school year and comparing them to some of the items they submitted toward the end of the year. What a beautiful way to share with them and their parents their progress! When looking at the two sites, I really felt that this one was put together better. Because of the way that it was organized, it was easier to follow. I think this is a model site to use when showing educators and administrators how useful blogs can be in a classroom.
KinderKidsblog focuses heavily on math skills and video blogs. Too Cute! You can look at the blog to see what the kids are working on in their classroom and to follow their academic and social progress. This site also allows one to create a weatherpixie that will tell you exactly what the weather is going to be like in your area. As a teacher that sees many kids come to school ill-prepared for the weather, I thought this was a great idea! I saw several videos that the students made, one for father's day. You could tell that the students were really enjoying making their videos! Again, more evidence that the Web helps students get excited about and take ownership in their education.
The Mighty Writers blog is a classroom of third grade students that post all of their writing assignments as well as blog about daily adventures and activities they participate in. This classroom blog site clearly focuses on writing. What is really cool about this site is that you can see the students progress all on one page. I was looking at stories each students had written at the beginning of the school year and comparing them to some of the items they submitted toward the end of the year. What a beautiful way to share with them and their parents their progress! When looking at the two sites, I really felt that this one was put together better. Because of the way that it was organized, it was easier to follow. I think this is a model site to use when showing educators and administrators how useful blogs can be in a classroom.
Educator blogs
I took a peak at all of the educator blogs that Kristin offered to us. Like everything else in life, there are strengths and weaknesses to all of them...the one common factor is that every one of them offers somethings useful to educators.
The two blogs that I chose to focus on were Will Richardson's and Brian Crosby's. Starting with Will's, I found it to be very professional and creditable. Using Google BlogSearch, and by studying the links and comments found on his site, it was easy to see that Will Richardson is a professional and leader in the world of education. The biggest strength that I found with this site is all of the other sites you can link to...all having to do with education, particularly 21st century learning, however most definitely not limited to this subject matter. Will's blog provides motivation and research supporting current education theory. Some of items found on his blog do give ideas for your classroom, however I feel his blog and blog links would be most helpful for educators gathering information to use in an inservice, a paper or to provide answers to some of the questions about current topics in the field of education. It is a solid source of information that is well organized and understood.
I chose to compare and contrast Brian Crosby's and Will Richardson's blogs because I feel they are equally useful but in different ways using different formats. When reading comments to Brian's blogs, searching him using google and his blog using google blogsearch you could tell that Brain was an active member in the world of education. As compared to my search on Richardson, I didn't find as much information to convince me of his credibility. Clearly I found he is a teacher, which of course makes him somewhat of a credible source, Richardson's resume seemed to have much more depth. The big difference between these two the how I would use their blogs. I found Crosby's blog to to provide more information and opportunities to use for my classroom. I found wonderful ideas to use with students in my own classroom or to encourage other teachers in our building to use with their students. Most of the information and ideas found on the blog support the use of web 2.o and 21st century skills in our schools. Like Richardson's blog, Crosby's is well organized and clearly defined.
This assignment has shown me how to use blogs to enhance and support my career. I am excited to continue to follow these blogs for my own professional use. I am planning on doing an inservice to show fellow teachers how to use blogging with their students and how to use it as a tool for their own professional growth.
The two blogs that I chose to focus on were Will Richardson's and Brian Crosby's. Starting with Will's, I found it to be very professional and creditable. Using Google BlogSearch, and by studying the links and comments found on his site, it was easy to see that Will Richardson is a professional and leader in the world of education. The biggest strength that I found with this site is all of the other sites you can link to...all having to do with education, particularly 21st century learning, however most definitely not limited to this subject matter. Will's blog provides motivation and research supporting current education theory. Some of items found on his blog do give ideas for your classroom, however I feel his blog and blog links would be most helpful for educators gathering information to use in an inservice, a paper or to provide answers to some of the questions about current topics in the field of education. It is a solid source of information that is well organized and understood.
I chose to compare and contrast Brian Crosby's and Will Richardson's blogs because I feel they are equally useful but in different ways using different formats. When reading comments to Brian's blogs, searching him using google and his blog using google blogsearch you could tell that Brain was an active member in the world of education. As compared to my search on Richardson, I didn't find as much information to convince me of his credibility. Clearly I found he is a teacher, which of course makes him somewhat of a credible source, Richardson's resume seemed to have much more depth. The big difference between these two the how I would use their blogs. I found Crosby's blog to to provide more information and opportunities to use for my classroom. I found wonderful ideas to use with students in my own classroom or to encourage other teachers in our building to use with their students. Most of the information and ideas found on the blog support the use of web 2.o and 21st century skills in our schools. Like Richardson's blog, Crosby's is well organized and clearly defined.
This assignment has shown me how to use blogs to enhance and support my career. I am excited to continue to follow these blogs for my own professional use. I am planning on doing an inservice to show fellow teachers how to use blogging with their students and how to use it as a tool for their own professional growth.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Richardson: ch. 2
"...writing stops; blogging continues."
This quote really stood out to me. I would love to share this with my fellow teachers. This chapter, particularly this quote, made me think of a paper and pencil response or homework assignment being 2 dimensional and a blog as a 3D, interactive learning tool. Getting teachers to use this tool with their kids would be a huge step in the 21st century. We continue to engage in professional discussions within our schools and districts about how to be 21st century teachers and speak in a language that will be meaningful to our clients...this is one big tool we should all be using in our schools. Our students are here and we need to catch up!
This quote really stood out to me. I would love to share this with my fellow teachers. This chapter, particularly this quote, made me think of a paper and pencil response or homework assignment being 2 dimensional and a blog as a 3D, interactive learning tool. Getting teachers to use this tool with their kids would be a huge step in the 21st century. We continue to engage in professional discussions within our schools and districts about how to be 21st century teachers and speak in a language that will be meaningful to our clients...this is one big tool we should all be using in our schools. Our students are here and we need to catch up!
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