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| Same as it ever was? |
| 11.24.03 (10:50 pm) [edit] |
When writing up the professional development class on blogging that I will teach in two months, I pondered a question that also seems to have been discussed at EdBlogger SF: "How do we REALLY get students blogging?" The issue isn't using blogs for educational purposes--there are plenty of teachers using them for reflection, to post class information, and for class projects. But, how do we get students to blog--not simply respond to a post, or post information in response to an assignment, specially in K-12?
How indeed, when classroom time is more consistently being taken up with mandated programs and ongoing assessments in an attempt to meet the NCLB challenge? Further, how can we blog when the act of blogging depends on working computers and working internet? Case in point, the internet has been down for 2 weeks in the 4th and 5th grade classrooms at my school (6 converters burned out, then a switch) so SuperThinker's 11/11/03 post remains unanswered (argh!). Classroom, school, and district limitations cast a heavy shadow on what teachers would like to do vs. what they are able to do.
I hope that as teachers and students blog we'll see real ownership happen. Hopefully, many will continue to use blogs outside of classroom time - that will be the true litmus test. I'm not sure blogs will ever be more than another writing tool when used in an educational setting. Blogs seem great for collaborative writing for a real audience. But, with all the demands pressuring today's classrooms we have to find ways to align blogs to the Standards and to school and district mandated goals and curriculum. We also have to remember that the internet is public, and we must be very careful to protect students, as well as ourselves, so we should always use caution regarding what we post and the web resources we use. Does that put a crimp in our freedom of speech? Absolutely. Let's remember, we're dealing with other people's children so limits DO apply.
I wonder if these concerns are fundamentally so different from the concerns of teachers from previous generations. 50 or 100 years ago, I'm sure there were teachers who felt limited in what and how they could teach, couldn't use certain books that we now find so tame, were censured for discussing certain topics, or even "run out of town" for taking a certain stance. We deal with other people's children so we always have to be thoughtful about the resources we use; today we just have more resources. [image]Fidela.bmp[/image] The seated woman, surrounded by her students and her assistant, is my Great Grandmother, Fidela Martinez y Sanchez, in her turn of the century classroom, Havana, Cuba. She loved to write short stories, poems and songs that she'd teach her students. I'll bet she had to toe the line a whole lot of the time. I'll bet she'd be so amazed at what we do today in our classrooms. She loved to write so I'll be she'd be "una blogger." And, I'll bet she'd be proud that I carried on the tradition.
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| Congratulate me! I'm a National Board Certified Teacher! |
| 11.21.03 (11:18 pm) [edit] |
Whoo-Hoo! I did it! I'm a National Board Certified Teacher! After a grueling 1 year process, and 5 months of waiting, The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards released the scores for 2002-3 Candidates today. Public release of the list of new NBC teachers will be next Tuesday, and my name will be on it!!!
In their own words,The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards explains:
"The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is leading the way in making teaching a profession dedicated to student learning and to upholding high standards for professional performance. We have raised the standards for teachers, strengthened their educational preparation through the standards, and created performance-based assessments that demonstrate accomplished application of the standards." I'm very grateful to State Farm Insurance Company for providing me with a scholarship to pay my NBC fees. I'm also very thankful for The Support Network, which provided me with 140 hours of support, from pre-candidacy, to application, to workshops that helped deconstruct the portfolio requirements and assessment center exercises, to the small group collaboration during which I met with my cohort on a weekly basis, for 6 months, to read, reread, revise, reread, over and over again, all of our individual portfolio entries.
I can honestly say that the process changed me. I now approach planning and teaching in a more integrated and methodical way; I approach the Standards more efficiently, model and scaffold more effectively, and reflect on what students are actually learning at each step along the way. My teaching is more streamlined, focused, and powerful. In the past I thought taught lessons. Now, I KNOW I truly teach students.
I'm proud of my achievement and proud to be counted amongst the growing ranks of National Board Certified Teachers. Oh, yeah... whoo-hoo, again!
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| Look Ma, no gaudy post! |
| 11.20.03 (11:11 pm) [edit] |
Well, the professional development committee approved the blog class contract, so I will be teaching a class on blogging in late January/early February! The contract required me to explain how the class will address the needs of Culturally Diverse Students and English Learners, which I did as follows: "With a focus on cooperative learning, participation in weblogs as collaborative writing projects can help culturally diverse students accelerate attainment of high academic standards and the development of the knowledge and abilities necessary for thriving in a multicultural world. Collaborative writing projects create powerful learning opportunities which are particularly valuable for English Language Learners who are faced with the challenges of language acquisition, academic learning, and social adaptation. By stimulating language input and output, weblogs can create a setting in which students comprehend what they hear, read, and write as well as express themselves in meaningful tasks which require them to listen, ask questions, clarify issues, and restate points of view." I'm pleased with this description and am excited to work with a group of teachers on creating some Standards based collaborative blog projects. With any luck, 1 or 2 teachers out of the group will actually implement a collaborative blog. Maybe a few will actually implement the use of a blog in a general sense. (I hate to even think this but I'm trying to be realistic about it. After the first class I can come up with ways to encourage more implementation.)
I'ved added a new Content Page--Concept Question Boards and a "More New Pics!" album in the Gallery at Learn,Teach,Learn...repeat.
I'm a little frustrated about BlogHeads. The internet was down almost a week in the upper grade classrooms so students were unable to post comments. The teacher made photocopies of SuperThinker's latest post, the class read and discussed the post together, and students (*gasp!*) hand-wrote their replies on (*double-gasp!*) paper. I shouldn't be so frustrated about it because actually, the teacher still feels good about blogging and put it in perspective. She's still determined to have students work in collaborative blog groups, so I should really count that as a victory.
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| Trained monkey or freakin' genius...you decide! |
| 11.15.03 (8:02 pm) [edit] |
I'm so freakin' happy with myself that I just can't stand it! I've been sitting with my tablet pc for hours (alright...I mean all day...I admit it, okay) and learning HTML basics via Webmonkey and NCDesign HTML Design Guide. I can actually add tags to change font size, color, blockquotes, cells, borders, and add a little marquee with scrolling text!
Take a look at my Learn, Teach, Learn...repeat. I spent the day creating some no longer boring Content Pages--one on Criteria Charts, and another on Writing (incomplete) in order to support my hard working teachers. And, know what? I can actually go back, look over the page, understand which tags go where, troubleshoot, and fix any glitches!!! (hee hee hee hee hee)[i]Okay, okay[/i]--so some of you really talented coders and designers are having a good laugh at my expense right now. I bet you're thinking, "awe, listen to the funny little trained monkey...she thinks she's a genius now--there, there--let's pat the little monkey on the head."
Well, I don't care! I am a genius... to me! I can see it now(*rubbing my hands together*) I'll learn more, and more, and I'll design my own really, really cool blog site, and I'll do it all by myself (*drooling*) bwahahahaha!!! You'll see, you'll all see... badges, i don't need no stinkin'...Oh, oops, sorry--was that my outside voice? Oh, wow--too... much...time...in front of... computer...must...take...break.
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| Blogging along... |
| 11.11.03 (1:53 pm) [edit] |
Well, things seem to be moving along quite nicely. -The 5th grade class is using BlogHeads independently, though the classroom teacher and I decided that students will peer edit before posting because of numerous errors. This goes along with the collaborative writing we want them to transition into, as we posted on our shared journal The_Circle http://www.tabulas.com/~rocky.
-In the newest BlogHeads post http://npera1.tblog.com, SuperThinker dispells the growing suspicion amongst 5th graders that SuperThinker and Ms. Peralta are one and the same. SuperThinker pointed out some facts, discussed what facts are, and why they are the "cornerstone" of Expository Writing, creating a nice opportunity for the mini-lesson "Just the facts Ma'am, just the facts." [i]Ah, serendipity! [/i]
-I submitted a Salary Point Class Contract to the district so I can teach a class on blogging! Here's the advertisement blurb: [i][b]"If you're looking for a powerful way to connect reading and writing across the curriculum, this class is for you! A Weblog, or "Blog," is a fun and easy way to publish a jounal on the internet, and it's guarenteed to get students "writing like enlightened readers." Learn to blog and create a class blog for a Standards based project of your choice! You and your students will share the excitement of collaborative writing and publishing for a real audience of readers with this simple online software. Come on--be part of the BLOGOSPHERE!"[/b][/i] I'll have teachers create a blog using Tabulas http://www.tabulas.com because of the many teacher friendly features including Content Pages, Shared Journals, privacy settings, and photo Gallery.
-My principal has shown some interest and asked me how she can learn more about weblogs! I'm thrilled because as a Prek-8 school, we have plenty of possibilities for blog use.
-I may have the opportunity to be involved in piloting the use of a set of Tablet PC's at my school (nothing for sure, just a real possibility). I have a couple of ideas rolling around in my brain. Now, if I could just have the use of an Ink enabled site I could have students use the tablets to create a collaborative Standards based blog to go with the Narrative Writing for the 5th grade "Heritage" Unit. It could include a Scrapbook with digital photos, drawings, and maps captioned in ink, family recipes, etc. Hmmmm....
So many ideas, so little time.
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| Blogging with a Tablet PC |
| 11.02.03 (3:40 pm) [edit] |
I've been using Tablet PC's for several months--this summer I had the use of an Acer T100 and now I'm using a Gateway TPC. I love using tablets! The ease of inputting with the stylus, the excellent handwriting recognition, ability to draw diagrams, easily handwrite on pictures, and ability to draw on a PowerPoint slide when giving a presentation makes the tablet a great computer. And, joy of joys, my wrists and fingers don't hurt anymore since I don't use a mouse!!! But, the most excellent fun of all--using the input panel to blog!
[image]npera2_611458953.jpg[/image]
Soon, tablet users will be able to use ink enabled websites with real time stylus ability http://www.itweb.co.za/sectio...%20Development&T=Section& O=FPSH. Imagine your doctor writing your prescription on his tablet pc and your pharmacy receiving it immediately--your prescription's ready by the time you arrive to pick it up! And check out DENIM, http://guir.berkeley.edu/proj..., a software sketching tool that allows you to create a fully interactive website using a stylus! Finally check out this site http://www.inkpositive.com/, InkPositive, soon to be up and running with inkable discussion boards.
I think tablets and ink enabled software will be great tools for classrooms. It still surprises me that in 2003, many elementary school teachers struggle along with one or two working classroom computers and no computer labs. Since, for the most part, students' typing skills consist of hunting and pecking, it takes a long time to cycle students through the too few computers in order to complete an assignment. And, if my wrists and fingers hurt from years of mousing, will we soon have a generation of young adults with rampant carpel tunnel, who started mousing in kinder?
Having had the extraordinary pleasure of using tablets, I can bet that two tablet pc's with ink enabled software would cut the time students need to complete assignments in half. As for blogging, using ink will make it much easier for students to collaborate and publish (it'll also require students to improve their penmanship, which is a good thing). Inky blogs--sounds good to me!
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