EduBlog Insights

The activity going on over at Blog2Learn is amazing! I am having so much fun browsing through the blogs. Assesment plans from O’Reilly’s Blog, how-to directions from the Byrd House, interesting musings on directions to take with blogging from Browder’s Site, and Project Group 3 (Kim, Chris, and Julie) have already created their own pbwiki! This wiki was announced with a glittering sign “We love wikis” on this post from Mrs. Cole’s Oh No! It’s the BLOG.

Also, take note of how cleverly the cat states one of the blog guidelines on “the talking cat” at the top of her blog.

Brainstorming, lots of Web 2.0 tool use, creativity, and planning is going on. What a week!What a group!
Now I have just highlighted a few of many, many “sparks”. They are all over the blogs.

Then this spark of creativity from Sandy Rittenhouse of Language Links. This is one sample of the talent emerging from this group. Sandy wrote this poem on the first day of the workshop:

Two dozen teachers
Crowded in a lab
Searching and surfing
Typing like mad.
Some are beginners
Some are old hats
But everyone listens
While working like rats.

This was my comment to her:

Wow! I hope we get some more of your poetry. Maybe you could write one about the different language arts blogs. That would tickle some of the authors. What do you think?

She emailed me right in the middle of when I was finishing up comments to the others. That was the day Will presented - she was still working away at 9:30 that night (along with me!). Then today I get an email from her and listen to this post entitled Blogophiles:

Language Arts teachers learning something cool,
we’re from Cobb County and Marietta schools.
Instructors far and near, using Skype and other tools,
working hard so we can all turn into blogging fools.

We’ve learned to import files and give our work some style,
and we know how to link to lots of other blogophiles.
The hard part will be leaving our blogs once in a while
to walk the gritty paths of No Left Behind Chile!

One thing I can tell from all this is that for sure “No learner is going to be left behind” by this dedicated group. They get it! I’m ranging out of control but usually when I do that I have to admit it is mostly when I’m working with students. It sure feels good to “range out of control” with a special group of teachers.

I love seeing new blogs like this join the educational blogging community. At a conference this educator encountered David Warlick and Tim Tyson. They motivated him to begin One Teacher’s Quest. Take a moment and welcome him to the community….

I received this comment on my “Bumping up reflections” post and it led me to a group of students who were asked by their instructor to respond to this prompt I had posed:

“A lot of adults are saying that education needs to change. They believe we are teaching like we have for years and years and years. They do not think we are preparing students for the 21st century. Jobs change, information changes and the feeling is that we need students who are critical thinkers and problem solvers. Do you agree? What do we need to change about education to achieve that? Do you disagree? Why?”

The author of the blog, In the Know, is Mrs. Fried. I like that blog name! And the tag line is great - Are you in the know? Share your knowledge with us! She is currently a Technology Director who is looking for new technologies to integrate with a student centered learning community. This site is dedicated to the students who want to learn and who want to contribute their knowledge to others! She provides a good list of rules for blogging and gives credit to these sources:

http://hetherington.learnerblogs.org/rules-for-blogging/
Adapted from http://patterson.edublogs.org/all-about-blogs/
And From Bud the Teacher’s Wiki -
“http://www.budtheteacher.com/wiki/index.php?title=Student_Blogging_Handbook”

(more…)

Randy Ziegenfuss is the Instructional Technology Specialist for Emmaus High School, Eyer Middle School and Lower Macungie Middle School in Pennsylvania. I have been reading his blog, Instructional Technology, for a while. I enjoy his well-written posts and his “takes” on technology.

Recently he referred his readers to a post many of us enjoyed “Are you a passionate tech user?” (one post of many I might add). Right now there are 68 responses and who knows how many posts have been written referring to it!

But what I really loved about Randy’s post was his referral to a student who is passionate about technology.

From Randy:

If we ever wonder what being passionate really means, this kid, and many others, can show us. I only hope we have the wisdom to listen and learn from them.

I couldn’t agree more! The post is about Kyle. He is an 8th grader in Indianapolis who decided to run his own news service, using Newsvine.com. Arvind S. Grover of 21 Apples interviewed the junior high student. Go read the student’s answers to these questions:

• Why did you start the Newsvine site?
• Do you have any other websites?
• Give me some examples of how you would like to see computers used in your school.

You have to read the whole article but here’s an excerpt from the author:

Kyle is a great example of what is possible when young people are able to use the web productively. He communicates with friends, studies and writes about local and world issues, engages in international communication with readers and explores his interests in computers and technology.

My rhetoric: There is something undeniable about the web. Young people flock to it, heck I flock to it. Culture is a strange thing, because those pushing it forward (read: young people) generally come head to head with those who developed it before (read: less-than-young people). We are there now. Let’s partner with some of the brightest minds to ever live, young people, and see how we can push the web to its limits together. One generation defining it for the other (in either direction) just has no chance.

Then he closes this article with this thought-provoking question.

If we as teachers can’t take advantage of this enthusiasm, do we really deserve our students’ attention?

What a great ending! I can’t wait to share it with my student bloggers!

Dear Mrs. Davis

AAAAHHHH!!! I am so excited to see my name in your blog. Thanks for putting me in it!! My writing must be really good. Yay!!!

This was the first comment I read today on my blog. It was from Chloe, a student in Gordon Brune’s fifth grade class in Mamaroneck, NY. To say that it made my day is an understatement. Chloe posted this comment 3 times so I think she was as excited as I am!

Yes, Chloe you writing is REALLY good but you are also one of the best commenters around! I always enjoy your posts and your comments to many other students.

Then my second comment was over at Podcast Playground. It came from Darren Kuropatwa. Darren is at the top of my list of bloggers who are truly making a difference with kids, so his comment put me over the top….

Anne, this is a BRILLIANT idea! It was fantastic to hear the kids describe, in their own words, how powerfully they’ve been impacted by having people from all over the world comment on their blogs. You’ve long said that one of the most powerful experiences student bloggers can have comes out of the comments left by others. The kids prove your point in their own eloquent words. Bravo! What a great podcast!

These comments make me soar! OK, I’ve just upped my “comment-a-day” goal a whole bunch! Have I mentioned lately how much I love being a part of this blogging community?

Tuesday I went to JHH to have the JHH bloggers podcast about comments. I am just learning the Audacity program. I put the individual student responses up so if you want to hear their thoughts check it out here at the Podcast Playground. I love how they spotlighted the people who are commenting to them! I can’t tell you how good it felt to be back at my former school working with these kids.
—–

I’ve been thinking about the comments my high school students received on their blogs. It is really awesome what a difference they make for the students. So I wanted to say thank you once again to all who commented. I also wanted to post just one sample of the many inspiring comments the kids received.

Here’s one line from Dennis’s first blog post:

I look really mean but I am actually very nice.

Enter the comment:

Dennis, When my two year old son and I walk in NYC, my son is always so eager to say hello to people. And he alway seems to find the scariest looking people to say hello to. I am fine with this. My son can tell a good heart a mile away. Every time he says hello to the scary looking people they alwas get a big smile on their face and say hello back. I bet my son would say hi to you. He can tell someone with a good heart a mile away.

Derek

To which Dennis replies:

Hey Derek,

I am glad that you read my blog. It is cool that your son looks at the heart of the scary looking people. Your son is a nice kid. He looks at the heart of the people so tell your son that he is the coolest kid I have ever heard of, Thank you

Dennis

That says it all, doesn’t it?

I keep finding all

today or 500 years ago have the power still to transform and move us”. Outstanding blog! Then I traveled over to his blog, The Daily Grind. 

My vision for classroom blogging is simple. Use it as a tool in the classroom to ensure that the students and the teacher are talking, reading, and writing frequently about how and what they are learning and thinking. Get them to explore their thinking and the teacher can do the same. Get them to interact with others through comments. Encourage others outside the classroom to join in on the conversations. Value the students’ ideas by making them feel safe to share real thoughts and feelings so discussions can be meaningful. The teacher sets parameters to lead students toward building a community of learners who respect and encourage each other. They can learn to disagree agreeably. They can develop a good standard for learning on the web. They will be writing about the content they are learning. They will be thinking about it. Best of all, they will be writing about it. Writing to learn! You can start on a class blog with students commenting. You can give the students their own blogs or let them be contributing/junior authors on the class blog. I believe students will rise to the occasion, especially if we make them a part of the process of developing it. Take five or ten minutes of each day and have your students blog about what they have learned and what it has made them think about. It won’t be perfect the first time. That’s OK. If you stick with it, you and your students can create a blogging/writing experience that works for your class. You can guide the thinking. If you can’t do it daily, try at least weekly. I think it could be a great way to reassess our teaching and re-examine student learning. It is also a good way to give our students a voice. We can listen and learn from them. And just imagine what other blogging/learning/writing activities may spring forth from these simple beginnings.

I wish you could have seen Patrick’s face yesterday. He was overwhelmed and could barely speak. It was really something as I watched him carefully read every comment. From time to time, he would look up and tell me something that was said. It took a while. Patrick is a slow, careful, methodical learner. He has to have time to process and I could feel his total amazement that this many people had cared. He had 12 responses to his “Fifth Grade” post. All of the responses were absolutely wonderful I’ve posted about this before here and here.