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| Blogging Update |
| 01.30.04 (10:17 pm) [edit] |
Well, the blogging's done and I'm home. It sure was fun! It was a great turn out and we all helped each other. There were problems with the wireless access, but we managed. I was so proud whenever I'd hear a teacher say, "I'll show you how." It's a great group. [image]npera2_817089789.jpg[/image] This was the first picture we took but there was a dispute, actually-- revolt during our very first meeting! You gotta love it. We were holding a banner that I made--it says, "Making the Reading/Writing Connection--Harrison Bloggers Network--Hellooooo EduBlogging Community!"
One of our members isn't actually a Harrison teacher and felt the name was not inclusive. That's cool. We're negotiating. So, we'll come up with a new name for our group. And it will be fabulous!
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| We're blogging! |
| 01.30.04 (5:08 pm) [edit] |
From the heart of Los Angeles, to the EduBlogging Community,
the Harrison Bloggers Network sends you a
big HELLOOOOOOO!!!!!!
[image]npera2_1237211848.jpg[/image]
That's me, on the left! We're building community! Woo-Hoo!!!
*Please don't blink and drive!
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| New blogging... |
| 01.29.04 (11:14 pm) [edit] |
Well, it seems that a 5th grade class is joining our Harrison Bloggers Network. I've been working with them on BlogHeads and they became inspired by Anne's Idioms Are Fun! following SuperThinker's referral. Since they're English Language Learners, they've participated in ELD lessons on idioms during which they illustrated the meaning of an idiom they selected, and they'll begin posting their work tomorrow!
Tomorrow is the first meeting of our Harrison Bloggers Network and we'll be blogging at a local hangout. I wonder what will happen?
And, I've posted the 2nd installment on my new blog Stories for YOU.... Check it out and leave a comment so I know what you think!
Last, but not least, via WeezBlog--True Majority, U.S. fiscal expenditures explained with Oreos in a great flash presentation from Ben and Jerry's.
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| MY NEW BLOG!!! |
| 01.27.04 (8:55 pm) [edit] |
I've got a new blog! Come by and check it out! It's Stories for YOU...
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| Sleep is good...but blogging's better!!! |
| 01.26.04 (9:12 am) [edit] |
So, I got plenty of sleep and arranged for a vacation day, too! Hurray! And, of course--what am I doing right now? BLOGGING! BWAHAHAHAHA!!! (*rubs hands together*)
I'm really excited to be taking the Creating and Using Weblogs in ESL/EFL online couse through Tesol EV Online. I've been reading the participant's bio's and it's sooooo cool! There are participants from Japan, Spain, Argentina, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, China, France, etc. Now you tell me--where else can you interact with educators from around the world without traveling but online? And with blogs--you can keep up with them after the course is over! Come join us--there's still time to sign up.
Man I LOVE blogging!!!
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| Ah, sleep is good!!! |
| 01.25.04 (11:02 pm) [edit] |
This year has really started off with a bang! I love my work and there is SO MUCH of it, too! I've been working 6 days a week (7:30-4:30 on Saturdays). I've LOVED the blogging Saturdays, but I've discovered one important detail about myself. I NEED sleep!!!
I'm a very even tempered person. Extremely so. But, these last few weekends I've been grouchy. My family has been shocked at me...grumbling, rrrrrrrr....snapping....snarling. Well, today I slept. Actually, um, I hibernated. 13 hours to be exact! Wow, I feel great.
I got up and danced around the house. Woo-hoo! I sang a little "shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah" while sorta moonwalking in my dining room and did my best rappin' granny impression yet! Lesson learned. You can't burn the candle at both ends and expect to get off free and clear. Bloggers need sleep--especially shameless bloggers like me!
After a good meal cooked by my fiance (who threatens to create a blog for blog widows), and a viewing of "Double Indemnity"--yeah, that's right, femme noir in good ol' Glendale--I grabbed my computer, went back to bed, and checked on our new blogs. Joy of joys!!! Teachers have been commenting on each others blogs today! Here's my favorite comment from Coordinator2 to 1007 Double Spy on Your Side:
"We all come to teaching with our own rich personal history. We face those kids everyday and we go on the journey we call education. Blogging can be about anything. Sharing our inner-being helps us to connect to each other. As educators we have shared experiences that make us come back every day. Looking forward to sharing more stories with you and our fellow bloggers."
Ah, yes, well it's really all worth it! (*smiles and hums*) "Shake your groove thing, shake your..."
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| THE BLOG CLASS IS FINISHED!!! |
| 01.24.04 (10:11 pm) [edit] |
Holy cow! I can't believe it! The blog class is finished! We worked on the blog site layout, colors, created links, learned a little HTML, uploaded pictures, created Tagboards, a Content Page, added each other as friends, and created a Standards Based Blog Idea page!
It was a wonderful experience. Our last posts and comments are on the BlogClassSharedJournal. Here's a quote from one of the participants:
"It was another full day of learning. I learned so much that I think my head is going to explode. I will rest easy tonight."
We have some wonderful new blogs. And, we tried out the Tagboard--it was sooooo much fun!!!
As you've previously read, we have Mozarts Concept Question Blog, the first to try it out with her class and 1007 Double Spy on Your Side who's a wiz with pictures, and has been working with her mic so she can audioblog with her kinder students, and Mr. Kitty whose 1st graders seem to need a few DIRECT INSTRUCTION sessions on how to wink! Here's the link to the other teacherblogs so you can check them out and even visit them as time goes on to see how they develop.
Everybody loved their blogcards ("You never forget your first...Blog!"). And, we have formed the Harrison Bloggers Network: Making the Reading/Writing Connection. Our first meeting will be at a local restaurant with wireless internet access on Friday, January 10th. We have pledged to bring our laptops, smiles, and thirst (the other side of the restaurant is a brewery!!!) Anyway, if you find a strange blog post here next Friday evening, and an even stranger picture, you'll know I indeed took my laptop, my smile, and quenched my thirst! Margaritas, anyone!!!
Not at all bad for 3 weeks work, eh!?!
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| Mozart keeps the beat... |
| 01.21.04 (6:18 pm) [edit] |
Alright, it's Day 2 for Mozart Concept Question Blog. The teacher posted "What do the words PREDATOR and PREY mean to you?" Students replied! The teacher was not overwhelmed and was excited enough to post something new so soon.
Here's the comment that Mozart posted today on Learn, Teach, Learn...repeat:
"thanks soooooo much!...i was a little nervous at first (blogging? huh?...in our classrooms?...it was all blah blah blah to me)...i answered my own question...can 2nd graders blog?...CAN I?...WE SURE CAN!...thanks for your help...thanks for this new and exciting way to incorporate techonology in the classroom...i was able to relate the blogsite to a writing standard, content area, revision, and it doesn't stop there...so proud of ME...so proud of my little second graders....My students wrote their blogs on a blog sheet they labeled in their notebooks, then we proofread their complete sentences. Then they dictated their sentences to me as i typed them in....Today (DAY 2), they wrote their blogs again in their notebooks, proofread it and this time THEY typed in their blogs....i taught a few of them today...tomorrow i'm going to pair them up with a partner so they can teach the others...very EXCITING...THANKS!"
I received this email today from an off-track teacher:
" I've been reading about the new world of Blogs on your tabulas web. I have also seen Mozart's blogweb and my son has been participating in the adventure since he is volunteering in her class. I can't wait to make one of my own!"
Okay, now I'm feeling a little veklempt...
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| Tha-thump, Tha-thump, Tha-thump...it breathes!!! |
| 01.20.04 (4:43 pm) [edit] |
(*sings*) Oh yeah! Uh-huh, that's right, we're bloggin'...Woo-Hoo!!!
One of my 2nd grade teachers took off running with her blog after just finishing the class on Saturday!!! Her first post to her 2nd grade students: "What do you know about camouflage?" (which supports the Grade 2 "Look Who's Hiding" literacy unit!)
Check it out: Mozart Concept/Question Blog!
(*sings*) Uh-huh, go on now, it's ya' birthday, you're a blogger...
Hey, even our school Coordinator got inspired and joined Tabulas. Check out his new blog at Coordinator2's Journal.
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| Blog Class Day 2...VICTORY!!! |
| 01.17.04 (8:44 pm) [edit] |
I'm really thrilled because everything went soooooo well today - I can't wait for the next class. Day 2 is actually next Saturday but a conflict arose with another training and some teachers needed to meet today. I wasn't sure how well this would work--was 1 week between classes really enough time? Well, I was pleasantly surprised!
Everyone had a great time with the layout and colors for their blogs. Because Tabulas offers so many features, they were a bit confused at first. But, the Tabulas Control Panel is set up well and they were able to create their blogs, post and comment on the BlogClassSharedJournal, create a content page containing the Standards based focus for the blog, post a picture/s in the gallery, create links, add each other on as "friends", learn to open multiple windows, and learn to use copy/paste shortcuts. They even learned a little html, using tags for bold, creating a link, and font color! These participants are NOT techies--but their desire to learn is strong and peer support comes naturally to them. There were "woo-hoo's," shouts of "YES!" and clapping, as teachers learned new tech skills and experimented with blog features.
There were plenty of good ideas for blogs, mostly in the comments on the BlogClassSharedJournal.--The Mozart Concept/Question Blog for grade 2 posted "RELATED ACTIVITY #2 - Students will post their concepts and questions related to the Language Arts Open Court Unit using a complete sentence" on the Standards Based Blog Ideas page. Comments about having aides or off track volunteers help students post their sentences were posted in the shared journal. (Class finished 4 hours ago and Mozart has changed her layout colors again which is exciting because it means she's inspired and is taking ownership.) Learning is Fun posts "Student Product: Students will gain important practices in writing a variety of sentences ending in periods, question marks, or exclamation points, through the use of class weblogs" on her Standards Based Blog Idea page. G8eraid to the Rescue postsed a pictures of herself and one of our school's Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches in her Gallery!
Each teacher blog that doesn't lay dormant when class is over, has a real chance at life. Mozart has already changed her look less than 4 hours AFTER class finished...it's got a heartbeat! How will I massage teacher blog heatbeats? I'll have teachers next Saturday comment on the teacher blogs that were completed today. Also, perhaps we could create a BloggersNetwork at school and offer some incentives to those who participate (USB drives?). I'll use BlogHeads to get other classes to interact with any class blogs. I'll post, comment, and use every opportunity to mention and show teacher blogs to other staff members to keep interest alive. Aliances--perhaps interclass blog projects. If just 1 blog lives I'll be happy.
I created and distributed blog cards (ala business card) for today's teacher participants. On the front: "You never forget your first..." and the back: "Blog!" with their blog's URL and my blog's URL underneath. Just another fun way to support the blog pulse. Well...time will tell.
Lastly, I cannot say enough about Tabulas. What a fabulous, feature rich site. For $25.00 a year I can upload hundreds of pictures, media files, and create endless shared journals and content pages. Roy, the tabulas guy, is very, very supportive of teachers. He has instituted changes that I have suggested, such as link categories, and has made himself available by cell phone during our class time to assist teachers with any glitches!!! Have you ever heard of such a thing? He has responded with generosity, patience, and immediate problem solving. The next time someone asks you about a blog site, send them to Tabulas. It is really better than you might think.
[image]npera2_1287230699.jpg[/image]
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| Woo--Hoo... We're blogging! |
| 01.17.04 (11:03 am) [edit] |
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We are in Day 2 of the Weblogging class right now. Wow, you should check out the new teacher blogs! And, they are coming up with some great ideas for their blogs! Check it out at BlogClassSharedJournal. More to come after class...
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| Winky Dink and Tablet PC's... Bruno Bettleheim would be so proud! |
| 01.14.04 (12:02 am) [edit] |
Well, it looks like inkblogging is just about here and I can't wait to try it! Here are two new contenders…
BLInk is an inkblogging application by Julia Lerman. With BLInk! you can post handwritten or typed text, draw pictures, and even draw graphic links. Very cool.
Julia refers to another application, WebcamNotes by Loren as the "First Full Working Ink Blogging Application." Loren says he came up with WebcamNotes so he could "... quickly capture webcam photos with my Tablet PC while I'm walking around CES, jot down a few notes, and then post them to this blog." Inkineer3 is the blog that Loren recently created to try WebcamNotes on.
Hmmm…I would love nothing better than to try out this software with a group of kids and see what we come up with...
You know, I've been driving my cousin crazy with talk of blogs and tablet pc's for a couple of months now, and today, after telling him about inkblogging, he finally got irked and asked "What is your endless fascination with tablet pc's about?"
After a few minutes of deep (well, you be the judge) thought, I came up with this... When I was a kid in 1969/70, I used to watch "Winky Dink and You," an interactive cartoon. I begged for a Winky Dink Magic Kit so I could place the magic screen on the t.v. and use my magic crayons to help Winky escape dire circumstances just in the nick of time. But, alas, it was not meant to be. My mother's response to my pleas for the magic kit--"Una que? No." So, no magic window on my t.v. (*sigh*), no magic crayons to draw a bridge for Winky to escape a ghastly peril (*sniff, sniff*), and no decoding the secret message on the screen.
Instead, I was left to sit, watching impotently, as Winky, the hero, faced his polar opposite, mastered his difficulties, and resolved the dual nature of good and evil within himself. Oh, if only the adults in my life had known that helping Winky out of his existential predicaments with a pocketful of magic would have helped me transcend the narrow confines of my existence, so that I could find the deeper meaning of my life!
And so, it is not because the tablet pc is a really cool, fun, easy to use computer with lots of possibilities that keeps my interest piqued. No my friends. It is because the tablet pc, with it's magic crayon-like stylus, and the ability to write on its magic window-like screen, has become the object of my search for the answers to my own existential dilemmas.
Ah, I feel better now that I got that off my chest. Any tablet pc manufacturers/resellers out there want to support my educational and moral development with the loan of a tablet pc? (*smiles*)
(Added later: Man I'm good. That's even better than my daughter's "...and it's educational" phrase she would use on me each time she wanted a toy. Can you imagine your kid saying, "Come on Mom. This toy will help me work out my existential dilemnas so I grow up to be well adjusted." If only I knew then...that magic kit would have been mine all mine...)
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| Day 1 of the Blog Class... |
| 01.11.04 (6:23 pm) [edit] |
So I have just one question for those of you that have taught profession development classes on blogging...WHY DIDN’T YOU GUYS WARN ME!?! Holy cow!
I began the day filled with hope and excitement. Yea, verily brothers, I say this unto you, for I went forth to blogvangelize--I would surely change lives! The blogspirit was strong, making me determined to lay blog upon the uninitiated. Thusly I began filling the assembled with the powerful news... blogs make internet publishing SIMPLE. I regaled my flock thus: Anatomy of a Blog page—BLAM. RSS—TIME CRUNCH BE YE HEALED. Blog Search Engines—BLAM.
Most unbeknownst to me, evil was amongst us. To my woe, and most fervent dismay, it descended, taking a most chilling form--the district FIREWALL!!! A mighty foe, it sought our demise. Bloglines—EMAIL REGISTRATIONS BOUNCED BACK. Logins—BOUNCED BACK. RESTRICTIONS, CONFUSION, FRUSTATION be thy name!!! Sorely vexed, I commenced to wring my hands and decry my plight--why, oh why, was I forsaken thusly?
At day’s end, whilst I lay drooling during a heavenly massage, the day’s events danced past what remained of my tiny fried brain, and I came to a realization--strength and spirit had stood the test against the beast whose name was, FIREWALL.
How is that, asketh thou? Love, brothers. Yea, verily, t’was love that triumphed over beast. For you see, I was shown how much my teachers truly love and appreciate me, their most humble servant, Literacy Coach. FRUSTRATION crumbled against my teachers’ PATIENCE. They did not blame, oh no, not they. CONFUSION was met head on by PEER SUPPORT—amen my brothers, amen! RESTRICTIONS, thwarted by PATIENCE and CELL PHONE ACCESS to the TABULAS GUY, ROY, who opened the heavenly gates to the Tabulas site, giving life to teacher accounts. Roy be praised!
Yesterday, I was given a gift and today, APPRECIATION remains. Thank you teachers, you are the best and I am honored to serve you.
[image]npera2_12043130.jpg[/image]
Here are some of my excellent teachers, offering PEER SUPPORT in the face of the evil FIREWALL! The teacher in the red...She was my fabulous instructor when I was a TLCG teacher 4 years ago. She taught me how to create a website and now, I instructed her on blogging. (*humming a little Joni Mitchel "The Circle Game") See her new tabulas blog 1007's TABULAS de Los Angeles a Tecocaltiche! (The red arrow on the picture--my 3 year old Graphire Tablet that's getting me through Tablet PC withdrawal.)
See BlogClassSharedJournal for what did and didn't work/revisions to blog class.
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| Blog Class...42 hours, 2 minutes and counting... |
| 01.08.04 (1:59 pm) [edit] |
Nervous!?! Wh...wha...what makes you th...think that?
In just two days (well, really 42 hours and 2 minutes) I’ll teach my first professional development course on blogging--The Reading-Writing Connection: Internet Publishing made SIMPLE with Weblogs. I teach in the second largest district in the nation, and as far as I know this will be the first blogging course offered. I wonder what will happen. I was unable to get lab space and really wanted to offer the class this month, but I WAS able to get an Airport base and a conference room. I'm thrilled because the final okay for these arrangements came on 1/5/04 and I’ve already filled up the class! All the teachers are from my school and have seen my blogs, so it’s not like there was a spontaneous clamor district-wide to take the class. Still, it’s great considering we’re having a problem getting technology classes even half filled. My teachers are interested in blogging and I really, really, really want someone to jump on board with this. But since there are so many obstacles I'm trying to be realistic and just cross my fingers in hopes that one, just one teacher really implements a blog. I will support that teacher's efforts like crazy!
Will's latest post brings up the difficulties teachers have in REALLY implementing weblogs. I think personal use of a blog is much simpler and perhaps the real starting point, especially for teachers. Recall Will’s advice: “To teach writing-write, to teach blogging-blog.” As for my blog course, I know being assigned to do something is a drag, and the only way to create the class was to align it with the Standards and create homework assignments. I call myself the Queen of the Salary Points classes ‘cuz if it was free, on Saturday, and provided a salary point, I took it. That’s how I learned to really integrate technology across the curriculum. But, I also know your body can sit in class, you can do the minimum, collect your points, and not use a darn thing. So, I will really push for teachers to look past the assignments and just try it for a while--see what develops.
Know of any K-5th BLOGS STUDENTS REALLY WORK ON? If so, please leave me a comment. I want my teachers to see real examples. Here’s the =http://www.tabulas.com/~rocky/content/2035.htmlresource page I’m creating for the course (I’ve got a day and a half to finish—yikes!) I’ll add your suggestions to it. Thanks!
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| Happy New Year -- I'm Back! |
| 01.06.04 (9:57 am) [edit] |
Happy New Year!
We kicked off our new year at school yesterday with a Code Blue ("lock down" while the Sheriff's Department searched for shooting suspects in the hillside behind our school, on foot and with helicopter) and the internet was down--again! (*sings* "I'm back in the saddle again--I'm BACK!!!")
Well, it was a great vacation--while it lasted. I kept up with some blogs and was surprised to see so many keeping up with their writing during the holidays. Funny--at first I thought I would do so much writing, then I read others commenting they were taking time off from their blogs so I thought I'd do the same. It felt strange at first, but then--boom-- blogger's block. Can that really happen in just a week, or am I just lazy?
I read and thought about what to write--DAILY. But, nothing came out. What was I thankful for--it seemed trite. Goals for the new year--ho hum. Bloggers coming and going, and blogs becoming passe--oh well, that's the way of things, there's always a time when something's new, the avant-garde moves on, the masses discover it. Something new gets developed. It's evolution. People take things as far as they can, move on to develop something else, and others pick it up. Thank goodness peole move on--they develop other cool things. Boredom stifles, inspiration powers creativity. DO weblogs improve writing? Students aren't particularly interested in weblogs? Oh well. Most students aren't interested in writing--period. That's because we assign it--it's a task. They're also not too interested in getting up early to come to school. Just because they're not too interested in working doesn't mean the task at hand isn't valuable.
Most of the time writing is work and it's the "work" aspect that kills it for many. (Hence my inabiilty to resolve to "work out" this year. I've got to resolve to "play" or take a dance or tai chi class.) (Umm...yeah...that's it...that's why I don't work out. *turns red and grins* 'cuz the word "work" is in it.)
So, what if I come to find that weblogs, as classroom writing tools/projects, don't work well. Oh well. I DO know that weblogs are very powerful because through mine I have connected with so many wonderful people who ARE helping me to move forward. And, MY writing has improved, so have my skills in teaching writing. THAT, is worthwhile. So, why throw out the baby with the bathwater?
Anyway, I've yet to really blog with students in any meaningful way and I'm really a "show me" person. I have to find out for myself. This Saturday, January 10th, will be day 1 of the professional development course I'm teaching, "The Reading-Writing Connection: Internet Publishing made SIMPLE with Weblogs." My hope is that at least 1 person will use a blog with students. And, since most of the teachers enrolled in the course are from my school, I hope to support the blog and see how it works out. Then I can judge for myself. In the meantime, I'll keep blogging for myself. (*sings* "Back in the saddle again--I'm BACK!")
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