Hanging out and learning in the Blogger's Cafe at NECC09. Photo by Kevin Jarrett.

I arrived Wednesday afternoon, and to my disappointment, I found out that there was no designated “Blogger’s Cafe” or “PLN Plaza” for folks to meet one another, share new ideas or just hang out in between sessions.  I found this time so valuable last June at NECC09.

Throughout the NCCE conference there were a few people Twittering about their sessions and I gleamed a few good ideas from their tweets and even added some new folks to Twitter -  but never really had the opportunity to meet very many people face-to-face except a few GCTs and DEN folks.

I was expressing my concern about the lack of a designated hang out space (that had free Internet access)  with fellow GCT Martha Thornburgh at lunch and she agreed and she suggested we bring up this idea to the NCCE Program Chair, Becky Firth.  We caught Becky in the hallway and explained our idea of the PLN Plaza and offered our assistance for next year’s conference. Becky was open to the idea – so now we need to figure out how to make a PLN Plaza some place people want to hang out, share, and learn from each other.

Developing a strong PLN takes time, commitment and leadership.  If you have any ideas of how you have organized or participated in the planning of this type of space at a conference -  we would appreciate your ideas.

Related posts:

1. NCCE 2010 If you are attending the Northwest Council of Computer Education...
2. My reflections on EduBloggerCon I’ve heard about EduBloggerCon for the past two years and...
3. Reading and writing Blogs to build your PLN – Part III “A blog is merely a tool that lets you do...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wednesday 3/3/10:   5-8 pm Using VoiceThread for Interactive Projects workshop (fee)
http://edtechvision.wikispaces.com/VoiceThread

Thursday 3/4/10:  3:30-4:30pm  Google Tools vs. Google Apps concurrent session – Rm 612
http://sites.google.com/site/colettecassinelli/

Friday 3/5/10:  9:45am – 10:45am What is a PLN and Why do I need one? with Martha Thornburgh – Rm 612
http://sites.google.com/site/edtechpln/

Related posts:

1. See ya at NECC in DC! NECC Hands-On Workshop Using VoiceThread for Interactive Projects – [Formal...
2. Building at PLN at NCCE I got home last night from the Northwest Council for...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

DESCRIPTION:
Educators blog for many different reasons. They blog about their experiences teaching, their philosophies, and their methodologies.  They share projects their students are working on or use their blog to organize collaborative projects.  Some blog to process something they’ve read or heard about at a conference session.

Steve Hargadon writes, “blogs are about communicating. You observe your experience, reflect on it, and then write about it. Other people read your reflections, respond from their perspectives by commenting or writing their own blog article. You read their perspectives, often learn something through their eyes, and write some more.“

HOW TO USE IT TO BUILD YOUR PLN:

• Start out by subscribing to educational blogs using RSS and your favorite blog aggregator – like Google Reader.  Following and reading posts in your reader is like reading the newspaper everyday.  You get a feel for what’s going in the world and sometimes it sparks your interests.
  
• When you discover a post that speaks to you, add a comment to further the conversation.  Often, the author of the blog will respond to blog comments.
• There are NO rules that you MUST have your own educational blog.  Many social networking sites like Classroom 2.0 give you your own space where you can post your own thoughts.
• If you feel like you have something to share, consider setting up your own blog using Blogger, WordPress or EduBlogs.
• A blog can be whatever you want it to be:  resource sharing, learning reflection, photo sharing, book reviews podcasts — whatever is your passion.
• Share that you have new blog posts on Twitter or other social networks to encourage comments on your posts – but do moderate all comments because of spammers.
  

REAL STORIES:

• ISTE newbie project – http://bethstill.edublogs.org/newbie-project – Beth Still used her blog to promote the ISTE newbie project. She wanted see if it was possible for a regular classroom teacher from Nebraska to leverage the power of Twitter to accomplish a goal. She wanted to see if her PLN could work together to raise $1500 to send a teacher to NECC.
• I cannot believe how many times I am talking to a teacher and I mention an idea, tool or resource and I find myself going back to my own blog or pulling up a post that I just read to share with the teacher.  Blogging is like recording collective memory.  So useful – especially if the authors tag their posts. ~Colette Cassinelli

ADVANTAGES:

• Bloggers appreciate it when people make the effort to comment on blog posts.
• Some interesting debates have occur in the comments sections of blog posts.  Asynchronous commenting give people time to craft their  message and polish up the writing before it is public to the world.
  
• You control the message and purpose of your blog.
• Tagging your posts is like creating a directory of all of the posts.

DISADVANTAGES:

• Some people are blogging less because they are spending more time on other networks – like Twitter.
• Hard to build up an audience of readers
  
• Takes time to read and compose blog posts.
• If you find that you are not commenting to blog posts or are bored by the posts in your Google Reader – unsubscribe – and find some new blogs to follow.  You need to keep it fresh

RESOURCES:

• Educational Blogs listing from Support Blogging – http://supportblogging.com/Educational+Blogging
  
• Kathy Schrock’s edtech blog recommendations – http://kathyschrock.net/edtechblogs.htm

Please share your ideas of how reading a blog and/or writing a blog has helped you to build your PLN.  Thanks!

Related posts:

1. Join our 40-day blogging challenge My 8th grade students are participating in a 40-day blog...
2. Using Social Networking sites to build your PLN – Part II “Repeat after me, this is not an information revolution, it...
3. Blogging in an educational setting What is a blog? A blog is a type...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

DESCRIPTION:
Social networking is a means of communicating and sharing information between two or more individuals using an online community.  There are as many types of educational social networks online as there are interests and subject areas.  The main goal of getting involved in a social network is to connect with others who share your same interest, learn from each other by participating in the community, and share what you are learning or creating.

HOW TO USE IT TO BUILD YOUR PLN:

• Join a Ning. Anyone who has a passion and interest can create a Ning site – but it takes a community to build it and maintain it.  Choose one or several Nings to join but be an active community member.  Create a profile so other educators can learn something about you.  Get involved in the discussion forums.  Ask questions, answer other people’s questions, share links, share real classroom projects, and use the Ning to find out about resources.
  
  • Classroom 2.0 -http://www.classroom20.com -  one of the largest educational Nings.  Classroom 2.0 is great for beginners because there is a lot of activity on the Ning and you feel part of the community right away.
  • The Educator’s PLN – http://edupln.ning.com/ – This Ning is for active learners who want to connect and learn.  The educators here sponsor #edchat on Twitter every Tuesday.  They also host webinars and interviews.
  • Specialized Nings like:  The Global Education Collaborative, Art Education 2.0, English Companion Ning, and those created for conference participants like K12 Online Conference, CUE and ISTE.
• LearnCentral - http://www.learncentral.org – A free social network started by Elluminate, specializing in educators connecting, sharing content, and being able to engage in live online meetings.
• Facebook - http://www.facebook.com – if you already connect with others on Facebook, consider friending other educators and join groups to have the conversation there like:  Classroom 2.0, Adobe Educational Technologies, Google Certified Teachers, and more.
  
• Linked In – http://www.linkedin.com – connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.  Linked In is more professional than social.

ADVANTAGES:

• Can have more in-depth conversations than Twitter
• Feels more personal and easier to get to know members of your network
  
• Can create subgroups, share event calendars, and view profiles of members.
• Allows embedding of images, videos and gadgets.

DISADVANTAGES:

• Easy to join too many networks and get spread too thin.
• Need to find system (RSS) to manage conversations
  
• Some networks are very active that results in too much information overload

RESOURCES:

Educational Networking – A listing of social networks used in educational environments or for educational purposes http://www.educationalnetworking.com/List+of+Networks

Education Ning Networks list by Angela Cunningham

Looking for REAL STORIES of how getting involved in a social network has helped you build your PLN.  Please share – thanks!

Related posts:

1. Reading and writing Blogs to build your PLN – Part III “A blog is merely a tool that lets you do...
2. What is a PLN and why do I need one? Martha Thornburgh and I are presenting “What is a PLN...
3. Blogging and beyond Blogging can be used in any number of ways. It...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

A PLN is a Personal Learning Network.  A PLN is a reciprocal network that you create to learn from, connect with, gather information or resources, create with and finally share what you have learned.  A PLN can occur in your school, face-to-face, online, at conferences or through reading, reflecting and sharing.

The benefits of having a PLN?

Teaching can be a very isolating profession.  Having a PLN allows you to connect and share with other educators in your subject area.  Think of the Verizon network commercials … your network is always there support you, answering questions, inspiring you and encouraging your own learning.

It can take time to build up an active PLN – so don’t get discouraged.  It takes time to build community – but once its established – you can benefit from the sharing.

Our session plan is explain how to develop a PLN and then share various tools that can make that happen.  We are planning to share Twitter, Blogs, Social Networks, Webinars, and Collaborative Projects.  Here’s some notes about our first tool:  Microblogging (stay tuned for more posts).

Microblogging: Twitter/Plurk

DESCRIPTION:

Twitter http://twitter.com/ is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages.  People write short updates, often called “tweets”  of 140 characters or fewer.  These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search.

Plurk is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send updates (otherwise known as plurks) through short messages or links, which can be up to 140 text characters in length.

HOW TO USE IT TO BUILD YOUR PLN:

• Be active.
  
• Find other educators in your subject area to follow by following  the followers of edtech leaders or use Educator listings, such as http://twitter4teachers.pbworks.com/ (and skip the celebrities!)
  
• Response to tweets using @username or use a #hashtag for specific topics
• Use ReTweet (RT) to repost your favorite tweets.
  
• Use third party tools to manage Twitter
  • Tweetdeck – A desktop application that organizes your tweets into groups, lists, or by #hastag.
  • Twubs- Twitter groups built around #hashtags

ADVANTAGES:

• You can get immediate response to your questions or requests for help.
• There is an active educator community online who love to share resources and ideas.
• The RT feature furthers the sharing of ideas & resources that users find valuable or insightful
  
• Has great search http://search.twitter.com/
• Plurk keeps threaded conversations

DISADVANTAGES:

• Hard to use effectively when you don’t have many followers
  
• You miss tweets when you aren’t online.
• Addicting:  Can be distracting to tweet when you should be doing other computer work
• A lot of companies are now using Twitter for gimmicky contests or spamming their followers.

EXAMPLES:

• Dennis Grice posted a Google form to Twitter and Plurk asking his PLN to answer the question “What did you have for breakfast” after reading “George Washington’s Breakfast” with his 3rd graders.  He received responses from all over the world and posted the results in a Google Map.  More info …
  
• Every Tuesday, a group of educators hold #edchat on Twitter and discuss the topic for the week.

RESOURCES:

• What is Twitter? from Sue Waters PLN Yourself http://suewaters.wikispaces.com/twitter
  
• The Top 21 Twitter Clients – from TechCrunch 2/19/09  http://techcrunch.com/2009/02/19/the-top-21-twitter-clients-according-to-twitstat/

We know this isn’t an all inclusive review of Twitter and a PLN – but would love your thoughts, ideas or examples of best practices.

Related posts:

1. Using Social Networking sites to build your PLN – Part II “Repeat after me, this is not an information revolution, it...
2. Building at PLN at NCCE I got home last night from the Northwest Council for...
3. Reading and writing Blogs to build your PLN – Part III “A blog is merely a tool that lets you do...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Recap of my biggest take-aways:

• Fair isn’t always equal – meaning you don’t need to have a cookie cutter approach to grading and evaluation of your students.
• Differentiated instruction supports flexibility in the way you teach, the way your students demonstrate their understanding and the way your assess their understanding.
• Create a student-centered classroom – get away from lecture-test-hope for the best
• This type of instruction increases student engagement and learning
• Can be difficult to implement – takes time to plan out activities to meet objectives & classroom management can be an issue too.
• Teachers expressed a desire to gather together in small groups to share ideas of how to best meet the learning challenges of certain students (ie, after a round table meeting).

The teacher gave us a handout of a list of instructional strategies and methods.  This was very helpful for me to review and see how I can improve my teaching.  

A Listing of Instructional Strategies and Methods http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/pd/instr/categ.html

Direct Instruction

• Possibilities include
  • Structured Overview
  • Lecture
  • Explicit Teaching
  • Drill & Practice
  • Compare & Contrast
  • Didactic Questions
  • Demonstrations
  • Guided & Shared – reading, listening, viewing, thinking

• Possibilities include
  • Debates
  • Role Playing
  • Panels
  • Brainstorming
  • Peer Partner Learning
  • Discussion
  • Laboratory Groups
  • Think, Pair, Share
  • Cooperative Learning Groups
  • Jigsaw
  • Problem Solving
  • Structured Controversy
  • Tutorial Groups
  • Interviewing
  • Conferencing

• Possibilities include
  • Problem Solving
  • Case Studies
  • Reading for Meaning
  • Inquiry
  • Reflective Discussion
  • Writing to Inform
  • Concept Formation
  • Concept Mapping
  • Concept Attainment
  • Cloze Procedure

• Possibilities include
  • Essays
  • Computer Assisted Instruction
  • Journals
  • Learning Logs
  • Reports
  • Learning Activity Packages
  • Correspondence Lessons
  • Learning Contracts
  • Homework
  • Research Projects
  • Assigned Questions
  • Learning Centers

• Possibilities include
  • Field Trips
  • Narratives
  • Conducting Experiments
  • Simulations
  • Games
  • Storytelling
  • Focused Imaging
  • Field Observations
  • Role-playing
  • Synectics
  • Model Building
  • Surveys

• Possibilities include
  • Explaining
  • Demonstrating
  • Questioning
  • Questioning Technique
  • Wait Time
  • Levels of Questions

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

From October 24 to December 2, we will join others around the world in blogging about our commitments and encouraging others to do the same on our class blog located at:  http://ccassinelli.edublogs.org

http://ccassinelli.edublogs.org

Since I only see the 8th graders twice a week I needed them to work on this project outside of class.  I divided the students into teams of four.  Each member has a specific job to assist their teammates with their blog posts.  Here are the roles:

• Production editor – Your job will be to make sure your teammates post their entries on the correct date.  You will also be in charge of moderating any blog comments on your posts and assign someone to respond to the comment.
• Technical editor – Your job is to help your teammates with how to post their blog entry.  You should be pretty good with computers and willing to spend some time learning about Edublogs.
• Creative editor – Your job will be to assist your teammates in selecting images, media or creative entries to go along with their blog post.
• Communications editor – Your job will be to check the spelling and grammar of your teammates blog posts and maintain communication between group members.

Each teammate drafts their blog post in a shared Google Document and we maintain the 40 day schedule on a shared spreadsheet.  Writing on a shared document allowed the students to write and edit their post and see what their teammates were planning.  I wasn’t too concerned about duplicate ideas – I just encouraged the students to put their spin on their idea or support it with different facts.

Students are required to support their writing with facts and citations and give credit for images used.  Some students are planning on making motivational posts using Big Huge Labs and comics with ToonDoo to post along their writing. Towards the end of the 40 days each team will add an embedded Google Form to survey their readers or check their knowledge.

One of the ways to be successful whenever you start a blogging project is to make sure someone is reading the blog and students are receiving comments.  I signed up our class with Comments4Kids http://comments4kids.wikispaces.com/.  Teachers list their class blogs on this wiki and I direct my student to visit those student blogs and leave comments and have them invite those students to follow our 40day challenge.

We’ve received comments from a variety of classes – like students from Gary Bertoia’s 9th grade class at Saigon South International School in Vietnam and Russ Goerend’s 6th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies classes.  Having other students read and comment on their blog post have motivated our class and raised the quality of writing.  Students are teaching each other and moving forward with this project with little teacher intervention though I do moderate all incoming comments.

Please consider joining our 40-day challenge and tell us your idea for reducing your carbon footprint on the environment at http://ccassinelli.edublogs.org

Related posts:

1. Blogging in an educational setting What is a blog? A blog is a type...
2. Blogging and beyond Blogging can be used in any number of ways. It...
3. Reading and writing Blogs to build your PLN – Part III “A blog is merely a tool that lets you do...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Activities to do with your class blog with your students or school community:

1. Post a homework question and each student writes a one-paragraph response.
2. Start a discussion by posing a question and require that students post several times over the course of a week or curriculum unit.  Invite parents, other grades or schools to comment on student work
3. Illustrate ideas and connections through written and visual explanations.
4. Have students post discussion questions for the next day’s class.  This works great if you know students are having a hard time understanding a concept and they post questions they want you to review.
5. Have students write their notes for the day.  Assign one student per day to be the scribe for the class. This is great for discussion-based classes where you want students to focus on the discussion and not have to worry about taking notes.
6. Post progress reports on team projects.  Students can post their work to the blog so that others can see what they are doing and comment on each other’s work.
7. Have students create their own blogs for any independent study
8. Conversations around books:  If you know the author of a book you are reading, have students write feedback and have the author respond, if possible.
9. Participate in a student blogging/comment challenge.  For a set period of time, challenge your students to post or comment on another student’s blog. Sample at:  http://wyatt67.edublogs.org/student-blogging-challenge/

Blogs are great if you are looking for an organized, formal connection with other global classrooms. Cross-country projects can open a wider world for your students while meeting lessons objectives and standards. Students can discuss global issues and compare how each country is working towards solving the problem. Students can share informational links on how they are making a difference or simply just learn more global issues

Organized programs:

• Taking IT Global Online community of youth interested in global issues and creating positive change. http://www.tigweb.org/
• iEarn International Education and Resource Network:  A non-profit global network that enables teachers and students to collaborate on projects that enhance learning and make a difference in the world.  http://iearn.org/
• ePals K-12 online community that safely connect, collaborate and build community across 200 countries and territories. http://www.epals.com/
• Youthink! gears international development issues to a youth audience and encourages young people to get involved in solutions to global problems, such as HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, and gender inequality. http://www.youthink.worldbank.org/
• Global SchoolNet: Focus is to develop literacy and communication skills, foster teamwork and collaboration, encourage workforce preparedness and create multi-cultural understanding. http://www.globalschoolnet.org/

These social networks are great places to start looking for teachers who have planned a project and need collaborators, or just a place to see other projects and how they work.

• Flat Classrooms Ning Participants in the Flat Classroom Project communicate, share and interact via this educational network
• The Global Education Collaborative Ning A community for teachers and students interested in global education. Contribute by adding media, conversation, and collaborative project ideas.
• Online Projects For Teachers Ning A social network to link teachers together.
• Teachers Connecting A place for K-12 teachers to find other teachers
  for cross-classroom collaboration.
• Classroom 2.0 Ning A social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education
• Global Education Collaborative Projects Database A form to fill out to list your projects if you are looking to collaborate with schools around the world.

Related posts:

1. Join our 40-day blogging challenge My 8th grade students are participating in a 40-day blog...
2. Blogging with my students This term I decided to make some changes to the...
3. Using Social Networking sites to build your PLN – Part II “Repeat after me, this is not an information revolution, it...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

What is a blog?

A blog is a type of website maintained by an individual or a class with written entries or embedded items such as graphics or videos. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

Blogging can be used for reading and writing, conversations around topics, communicating with a larger audience or sharing examples from learning portfolios. It can be an effective venue for networked learning. Reading and commenting to one another creates a dialogue that requires persuasive writing and critical thinking.

Blogging Websites

There are many different platforms you can use to set your classroom blog. The most popular options for FREE classroom blogs are:

• Edublogs – http://edublogs.org/
• Blogger - http://www.blogger.com/
• WordPress - http://wordpress.com/
• Classblogmeister – http://classblogmeister.com/

All of the sites have step-by-step instructions for signing up for a blog.  You will need to register with an email address and password and choose a name for your blog.  There will be a choice of themes and page layouts but these can be changed anytime.  Be mindful of your school’s policy about posting student work/images online or blogs that contain advertisements.  Consider having your students sign a “Blogging Agreement” and receive administrator/parent approval first.

Educational Objective

The first step is to decide the purpose of the student blog.  How will writing, sharing and posting comments to classmates meet the standards or educational objectives of the lesson? Some other questions to answer are:

• What would you like students to understand?
• What kind of authentic task can you design for your students to demonstrate their understanding?
• What supporting activities or tasks need to be completed to help your students construct their understanding?

Once the objective is determined, the next step is to decide whether each student is going to have their own individual blog or are they going to share one class blog with each student as a contributor (recommended for new bloggers).

User Accounts

Once the blog account is set up, you will need to create additional users for each one of your students. Enter a username for each new user. Remember that the username is visible on the blog when posting or commenting.  Consider only using first names to protect your student’s privacy.  Understand that many of the blog websites require an email address* and password.

(*Hint:  Create a teacher email account using Gmail. If the teacher account is teacher@gmail.com, all you have to do is add a “+studentname” before the @ symbol to make a linked account. Therefore mail sent to teacher+studentname@gmail.com will go straight to teacher@gmail.com and students will not need their own email accounts).

With Edublogs and Wordpress you can have different roles assigned to individual users.

• Administrator – has access to all the administration features – usually the teacher.
• Editor – can publish posts, as well as manage other people’s posts.
• Author – can publish and manage their own posts.
• Contributor – can write and manage their posts but not publish posts.
• Subscriber – can read comments and receive newsletters.

Consider assigning younger students as Contributors so Editors or Administrators can preview and approve the posts before publishing to the general public.

With all of these blogging platforms you can restrict your blog to only readers you choose if you need additional privacy. However, these readers will need to log in before reading the blog, adding an extra step.

Posting and Commenting

The basic logistics of formatting a blog post are similar among the various blogging platforms.  Below is a sample of a typical post.

1.  Choose a descriptive blog post title – keep it short.

2.  Write your post in the body area.  Consider writing your post offline first so you have time to edit, revise and check spelling.  Use the “Paste from Word” icon to remove any type of previous formatting. Sometimes Microsoft Word adds extra code that will be hard to edit in your post.

3.  You can format your blog with color, bold, italic, numbering, bullets and alignment.  Consider using headings and keep your paragraphs short.  Insert hyperlinks to connect to other websites and resources.

4.  Most blogging platforms will allow you to embed a variety of media:  images, audio, video, polls, etc.  You can always edit the HTML code directly to embed other media formats.

5.  You can “tag” each blog post with a several words to indicate the topic.  Separate tags with commas.

6.  For a shared class blog, consider creating a category name for each student so you can sort the blogs posts by student name.

7.  Publish the blog entry or send it for review.

Encourage your students to maintain high standards of writing since blogs usually have a public audience.  Student writing should be organized and written with a strong voice.  The work should be edited for spelling, capitalization, punctuation and grammar.  Cite any sources used.

Media projects like PowerPoint assignments might need to be uploaded to a file sharing site like www.slideshare.com and then embedded into the blog for viewing.

Commenting

The type of commenting you want to encourage with a academic or educational blog should be related to the content of the blog post.  Blogging is a conversation.  Comments in a blog should encourage further discussion and be connected to the author’s point of view.  Comments can have a variety of ideas: sharing additional links or resources, making a connection with a new idea, sharing a new perspective or even challenging or debating a topic.
Encourage students to avoid dead-end comments or write something just for the sake of commenting with replies like “good job” or “I like your post”.  Teach your students comment starters like:

• This reminds me of ..
• I noticed that you said …
• I would like to know more about …
• I’m not sure that …

Consider gouping your students into “learning circles”.  The 4-5 members of the group read and comment on each other’s blogs before the rest of the class. This ensures everyone receives comments – not just some students.

Moderate and approve all comments before allowing them to be published.  This prevents inappropriate comments being posted on the blog – especially from spammers.  Remember: comments make by classmates are public to everyone.  They should be written with proper spelling and grammar too.

Online Safety

Blogging is great opportunity to teach about digital citizenship.  Teach students to only first names and refrain from identifying their school or location.  Have students use avatars or use creative filters with Photoshop for personal images to protect identities.  Encourage students to be kind when commenting and to take blog writing seriously.  Remember to write for your intended audience especially if the blog is set to public.

Blogging Resources

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson. Published by Corwin Press, 2008.  ISBN-13:  978-1412959728

Classroom Blogging by David Warlick.  Published by Lulu.com, 2005.  ISBN-13: 978-1411629035

SupportBlogging! Website to support and promote an understanding of the benefits of educational blogging.  http://www.supportblogging.com/

Related posts:

1. Join our 40-day blogging challenge My 8th grade students are participating in a 40-day blog...
2. Reading and writing Blogs to build your PLN – Part III “A blog is merely a tool that lets you do...
3. Blogging with my students This term I decided to make some changes to the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

• write

• revise

• visualize
  

• create

• locate

• take risks

• communicate in new ways

• collaborate

• extend

• learn new technology skills

• become more visually literate

• manage and prioritize

• use real world tools

… and produce meaningful, personal products of value!

From David Jake  Jake Online Wiki about Digital Storytelling
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/4462965/

Related posts:

1. Blogging with my students This term I decided to make some changes to the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

To Meet the Demands of a New Age from Steven H on Vimeo.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Thanks,
Colette Cassinelli

Project Title
Voices of the Past

Description
Middle school students at my school visit residents of a nursing home on our school campus. Students are paired up with a resident and spend time visiting, playing games, taking photos, completing activities and conducting interviews during their weekly visits. The students create a unique friendship with the residents. A culminating social event at the end of the year involves students creating special memory book of each resident and family members are invited to attend a special reception.

How will I use the money:
The money from this grant will be to purchase Flip cameras so the students can record the discussions between the students and the residents. Students will then use the recordings when they prepare their memory books or for use in digital storytelling or videos. The students can include a DVD of the clips with each memory books for the resident’s family.

Who will benefit:
Of course, the flip cameras will benefit the students in our school. Not having to worry about keeping track of notes during the interviews will free up students to focus on the interview and the resident. This project will also benefit the residents of the nursing home and their families. A DVD of their family member talking about their life and memories will be priceless.

Where:
Beaverton, Oregon

How will you use the FlipCam to document your idea?
September 2009

When will my project take place:
The FlipCam will be the focal point of the interview project and they will be used by the students to record the resident interviews. I would also like to interview the students about their experience of visiting an older person and what the project has meant to them. Giving the students a chance to reflect on the stories they heard and the lessons they learned are extremely valuable.

Why I want to do this:
Giving students the opportunity to discover the stories of real people who have led long and interesting lives is so valuable. It teachers them about friendship, respect, listening, curiosity and appreciation. Creating a video for another person about their life is a precious gift. The learning involved in choosing what to include in the interview, which segments to show, how to piece it together to tell a story is a wonderful learning opportunity. It’s real, authentic and meaningful.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

• what it means to prepare students for the 21st century;
• how to recognize, evaluate, and facilitate effective technology usage by students and teachers;
• what appropriate technology support structures (budget, staffing, infrastructure) look like or how to implement them;
• how to utilize modern technologies to facilitate communication with internal and external stakeholders;
• the ways in which learning technologies can improve student learning outcomes;
• how to utilize technology systems to make their organizations more efficient and effective

Teaching in a small Catholic high school where the leadership team consists of a few members with no larger school district or bureaucratic system has its advantages and disadvantages.  As a classroom teacher I am allowed a lot of freedom and ownership of my classroom.  We are considered “professionals” who are hired in our expertise area.  I can constantly reevaluate my instructional practices to focus on student learning and creating an environment that is conducive to collaboration and sharing.  It’s easier to make changes in my own domain, but harder throughout the school or Archdiocese.

The disadvantage of this system is that teachers can become very isolated and focused on their own subject area.  Socially, the teachers get along but there are various degrees of support or encouragement between departments and with other schools.

The one area of leadership that I would love to focus on is a shared vision for supporting student learning.  I believe that this type of shared vision is essential for moving forward as a school.  Are we engaging our students to be critical and passionate thinkers?  Do our students have a love of learning and sharing?  How are we assessing our students in authentic and relevant ways?  While individually I am sure many of our teachers are addressing these questions – what are we doing as a school to encourage and create a shared vision among our whole staff and how are they being implemented?  And another question I have for myself if “What is my role as a “traditional” technology instructor to infuse technology into every subject area and support learning?”

I find it very challenging to lead from the middle of the pack.  On one hand I want to model effective teaching practices using technology but without shared planning time or regular Professional Development – opportunities for sharing just don’t exist.  Many students learn valuable technology skills in my classes and then have a hard time using those skills in other subject areas.  Due to recent cutbacks, positions have eliminated from our school and funds for outside PD have been scaled back.

So, I guess this post really is what I hope to achieve as a “leader” in my school – especially in regards to technology and supporting student learning:

1. I am thrilled to work with the middle school teachers this coming school year to systematically plan and infuse technology into the curriculum and give suggestions how it can support what the students are already studying.  My dream would that this would be a model of how my “Computer Applications” course will be moved into the regular curriculum.
2. With the help of a newly formed PD team, plan and conduct (optional) professional development workshops throughout the school year for our faculty – ones that focus not only on technology, but also on assessment, questioning strategies, Project Based Learning, etc..
3. Share how being involved in my own PLN has shaped and challenged my own views of student learning and has encouraged me to grow as a teacher.
4. Continue to attend the monthly Archdiocese Technology Teachers meetings and encourage this group to develop workshops that serve the entire Archdiocese.

As I am writing these, I am stuck how ambitious my plans are but I hope to create some sort of synergy and excitement around what we are trying to accomplish.  One of my biggest take aways from NECC09 was the importance of community when conducting Professional Development.  Our small school community has that advantaged – we already do have a sense of community – now to just to move our vision forward so we are all working towards the same goals.

Read more about Leadership Day 09

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

• Getting a chance to hear Angela Maiers discuss Literacy at NECC Unplugged and discussing it with her afterwards.  Angela is passionate about literacy.  Literacy is more than learning how to “read”  it encompasses all aspects of making meaning.  She suggests that we should teach literacy as a LEARNING SKILL.  She breaks down 21^st Century literacy proficiency into 4 areas whether you are a young learner reading a book, a HS students  doing research, or reading a Twitter page.  You learn to read and you read to learn.  The 4 Resource Model included:  Code Breakers, Text User, Meaning Maker and Text Critic.  You use all four methods when making meaning  whether the information is printed or digital.  When you understand that the skills, strategy and thinking of reading is the same skill set no matter what you are learning – it transcends all mediums.  I love her analogy of driving a car.  We don’t break down the skills of driving into mini lessons (this is how you turn the steering wheel) – it takes practices to be thinking of where you are going, what’s going on – how you are going to steer the car, etc.. Why then do we continue to break down reading into small parts instead of dealing with all aspects as one???  Anyway, I love taking with someone who loves what they do and any school is lucky to have Angela working with them
• Listening to Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Will Richardson at a session called Here Comes Learning! and them talking about the great work they are doing with their cohorts at Powerful Learning Practice.  I would love to be involved in a future cohort!
• Having a personal lesson about Wikispaces from founder Adam Frey during NECC Unplugged.
• The Blogger’s Cafe – what a fabulous idea.  I loved having a central place to return to after session and review what I just learned with the folks around me.  I think I must have met 50 people f3f who I follow on twitter.
• Learning more about the National Girl’s Collaborative Project and finally meeting Karen Peterson face to face.  I will definitely be looking at their resources for my Digital Divas 2.o girls tech club this year.

Btw, the last time I checked there were 4675 photos tagged necc09 at Tag Galaxy Check it out!!

Related posts:

1. Progressive Pedagogy and 21st Century Tools One of the most inspiring sessions that I went to...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.