EduBlog Insights

Michael Lackner and Rena Shifflet are two webloggers to watch!

It was fun talking to Michael and Rena at the workshop today - wish I could have talked to more people. Check out Michael’s Magnolia Mustangs weblog. He is doing some incredible things at his school. What I have really been impressed with is how he has empowered the teachers at his school. There is a lot going on. Be sure to check out Mrs. Britton’s Class. It’s an excellent collaboration blog between Maryland and Michigan. The Mustang T.E.K. Committee weblog is a place to keep the minutes of all that is going on with technology. The picture albums tell wonderul stories about  the classrooms. Then there’s the terrific Media Matters weblog. Some of the class blogs are closed to the public. I’m sure they are good, too. And the site design is so nice and appealing.  I told Michael that he should be presenting at NECC. I’m going to keep following along - the story is good. Don’t miss it! Michael is making a difference at his school.

I had seen Rena’s weblog one night as I was exploring different weblogs. I thought it was one of the best weblog projects I had seen. She created a blog/WebQuest combination as a collaborative project. It is located at http://husd4-region.blogspot.com/ It did not get off the ground this year. It should have. Rena is just way ahead of the curve. Maybe some of you would like to work with her - check it out. What a great project! In her writeup for the workshop she said, “I think blogs have an amazing potential in everything from increasing student writing skills to content management.” I couldn’t agree more.

These two are certainly webloggers to watch! I love seeing all this weblog take-off!! What a difference from last year!

Nothing beats face-to-face!  It was great presenting with these 4 weblogging guys whom I never would have met, let alone presented with, were it not for the power of weblogging. I think we had a dynamic group of attendees. Many already had weblogs and everyone brought a lot to the table. Lots of good discussion, ideas, and suggestions were offered. Will gave an overview of his weblog work, I followed with my weblog projects, Tom honed right in on the importance of reading and writing to the whole process and explained RSS and other technical aspects, and Steve got everyone up and going on their very own weblog. Of course, none of this would have happened without the guiding hand of Tim Lauer. He amazes me. He has really put together quite a setup with weblogs at his school. I love the fact that the first 15 minutes of their faculty meetings are devoted to teachers posting about their classrooms. I think the participants learned a lot. I did, too! Face-to-face is terrific!

Thanks to Thor (of the fine company Clarity) who provided the weblogs. The process they have set up was easy. Weblogs were up in no time!

It would have been nice to have more time to talk with the group. I did connect with two for a few minutes between talks. One was Rena Shifflet and the other was Michael Lackner. I had already seen some of their work. It’s wonderful! That will be on another post I’ll make a little later- gotta run to a session. 

Here’s a pix of the group….. weblog fever coming up!

As usual, NECC had a fantastic opening keynote speaker. I love the different personalities they pick, and they always make you think. It was really interesting tonight. Malcolm Gladwell gave a thought-provoking talk on how little things can make a big difference. His talk about how ideas and trends start and spread kept making me think about parallels with weblogging. He told the story of the fellow who affected change in radio broadcasting. He put together a makeshift broadcast of the fight of the century, which in turn became the tipping  point for radio. He discussed how it wasn’t econonic power, political power, or dollar power that effected transformation. It was social power. Certain personalities who have a larger circle of friends who respect and trust them can be true change agents, as they do have social power.  It makes sense and it’s something we should really think about in education. We can help make change agents out of our students. We can be change agents. Weblogs can really help here if we can use them in a way that helps students and teachers see the worth and power of developing relationships that foster growth in our reading, writing and thinking. Weblogs could really be a gateway here. (Or should I say tipping point???)

Ahh, the night is late but my brain is really wired. We have to be good stewards for our students. I’m going to keep mulling over all of this, but better get some sleep so I can help share the possibilities of weblogs in our classrooms in our workshop in the morning.

I attended another good workshop today. Steve Adler led a very worthwhile session. This one was all about Adobe Acrobat 6.0. If you have not checked out their free lessons, coursee guides and projects visit here and view or download all the free resources. My brain is on overload, and it’s just getting started. That’s alright! The really fun part is coming up!

It’s going to be  a kick tomorrow at the weblog workshop with Tim and the other guys. The participants who have responded seem eager to learn more and several have already created weblogs. Follow along on the weblog workshop blog and the other NECC blog. I’m gathering up my blogging shirt and getting ready to blog, blog, blog!

If you’re looking for scrumptious food, you can’t go wrong at the Red Fish Grill. It is located at 115 Bourbon Street (between Canal and Iberville St. in the French Quarter.) I ordered the hickory grilled redfish - yummmmmm!

NECC is alive and kicking! If you didn’t sign up for some of the workshops. you’re missing some good sessions. Today I went to “Practical Magic: Using Adobe PhotoShop Elements in the Classroom.” It was great! Chris Peters and Ryan Visser from Clemson University did an outstanding job. Now maybe I can produce some magical graphics down the road, maybe even a banner for this blog! What fun! I love the learning and the mixing with fellow educators. We really have some good folks gathering here. Of course, on the bus ride over I was busy talking blogging. I think we have a lot here who will get turned on to blogging in short order! Yep, there going to be blogging on the Bayou!

OK, I’ve got to get busy packing and getting ready to take off in the morning for a few days of R&R before NECC! My husband and I are leaving with no specific plans of just where we will end up and that sounds wonderful to me! No planning, no schedules, no deadlines!

I will be taking my laptop though and checking in from time to time but probably not posting till I get to New Orleans. I am really looking forward to the conference! See ya in New Orleans!

Thor Prichard and the good folks at Clarity Innovations have the Edweblogs.org: NECC 2004 weblog up and running. It looks sharp! Be sure to go over and sign up to be a part of the weblogging team at NECC. This is right on the front page of the Clarity homepage:

Our vision is clear.
Our mission is simple.
Our intent is genuine.

I’ve said it before but I love that - clear and simple yet so effective. I think it’s how we webloggers feel about our work, too.

Will’s post today was about being invited by Intel to be a part of CEO Craig Barrett’s keynote speech on Tuesday morning. Will and one of his students will be onstage to highlight weblogs in the classroom. Wahoo! That’s going to be great! Aren’t we educators lucky to have companies like Clarity and Intel featuring and helping educators like they do? I think so! 

I am really looking forward to NECC this year. I can tell that there will be a whole of blogging going on! A quick recap of the blogging events at NECC:

Somehow in all my blog wanderings, I have missed Julia Siporin’s blog “Relections on Classroom Use of Blogs” and “The Adventures of Jefferson the Bear”. Julia is a third grade teacher in Eugene, OR. Julia has been trying out blogging with her students and taken the time to post her reflections. Looks like she is getting others involved, too. Lots of good brainstorming going on for good use of blogs in the classroom. I like the way she uses Jefferson, their class teddy bear, as a springboard into discussions about classroom happenings and the curriculum she is teaching. Also, she is using Mo’time. I have used it briefly during one of my training sessions and it appears to be one of the better free ones. She talks about what works, what doesn’t and lets students post comments a lot in the classroom. Her blog is just full of good ideas about blogging. This would be a good one to show elementary teachers who are thinking about blogging. Julia also has created  The Gilham Forum as an experimental blog. Her tagline reads This is an experimental blog for Gilham staff to play with blogging, sharing ideas and visions, get support, and whatever else we dream up!

It’s great to find good examples like this. I’m going to have to connect Julia with some of the third graders at J.H. House next year. Julia is doing a great job!

The June issue of T&L Learning features Technology Integration and the Beacon School Portal by Chris Lehmann. I read his blog, A View from the Classroom–Lehmann’s Log. He is doing a great job at his school. His school is an alternative high school located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in the New York City public school system.  The article points out the important role a school web site plays for the community.  Beacon is certainly a great example of this.  Chris writes the following about blogs at his school:

Great story - go read the entire article!