Blog2Learn

12-5-08 Session: Question 3

lisahuff — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:15:08 +0000

What ideas do you have for using blogs in your professional practice?

Post your group’s response by commenting on this post.

12-5-08 Session: Question 2

lisahuff — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:13:51 +0000

How would you categorize the many different kinds (categories or types) of blogs being used in education?

Post your group’s response by commenting on this Post.

12-5-08 Session: Question 1

lisahuff — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:11:53 +0000

How would you define a blog?

Post your group’s definition of a blog by commenting on this post: Scroll to the bottom of the page, and type your response in the comment box.

Update Your About Page

lisahuff — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:08:31 +0000

Adding an About page gives readers information about you–the author of the blog. Since one of the first rules of information literacy is to evaluate the source of information, it is vital–if you want readers to count the information on your site as trustworthy–that you explain who you are, giving credentials to validate yourself as a legitimate source of information. Consider creating a page or, at the very least, posting an About text widget in the sidebar.

Check out Sue Waters’ tips on creating an About page.

Allow Readers to Subscribe to Your Blog

lisahuff — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:40:03 +0000

Now that you’ve created your blog, you want to make it easy for readers to subscribe to your blog. Watch the brief video below to learn how subscribing to online content works.

Creating a subsciption widget in your sidebar is a two-step process:

Burn your feed: By burning a feed at Feedburner, you create a way to track stats and give readers several options for subscribing to your blog–no matter what feed reader they may be using.
Add sidebar widget: Add the RSS icon to your sidebar to give readers one-click access to subscribing.

Also, consider giving readers the option to subscribe via e-mail, just in case they aren’t familiar with RSS/readers or they prefer e-mail subscriptions.

WebQuest Step 2: Question 3

lisahuff — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:19:14 +0000

What ideas do you have for using blogs in your practice and with your students?

Post your group’s response by commenting on this post.

WebQuest Step 2: Question 2

lisahuff — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:18:13 +0000

How would you categorize the many different kinds (categories or types) of blogs being used in education?

Post your group’s response by commenting on this Post.

WebQuest Step 2 Question 1

lisahuff — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:15:42 +0000

How would you define a blog?

Post your group’s definition of a blog by commenting on this post.

Wanna Be a Blogger?

lisahuff — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:28:44 +0000

Blogging is all about conversations–reach out to others around the globe who share similar interests and learning from each other.

How do you get people to visit your blog? How do you find people to talk to–to enter into conversations and collaborations?

Here are a few tips:

Read and comment on other people’s blogs. When you comment, be sure to type in the address to your blog. Other people will read your comments and click on your name to learn more about you.
Add your blog URL to educational blog lists like Support Blogging and Teacher Lingo.
Find a niche (what’s your passion? your special area of expertisement?) and share things people really want to know. Avoid just journaling (Who really cares about what you ate or what movie you watched?)
Use more than just text. Incorporate multimeda elements like images, Vokis, videos.

10 Ways to a Killer Blog

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: tips cartoons)

Process: Task 4

lisahuff — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:06:37 +0000

Now that you’ve created your own blog and learned the basics, it’s time to think about how you might involve your students in blogging.

In this final task, you will work on your own to create and post to your blog a lesson integrating blogging.

Step by Step Directions For Classroom Teachers

Sample Blogging Lessons

1. Think about a lesson, unit, or activity you currently teach with your students.

What are the goals of the lesson?
What, specifically, should students know and be able to do at the completion of the lesson?
How might you teach the lesson in a different way-using blogging?
How could students use blogging to master the same content and skills?

Teacher Blogs:

Critical Issues in Literature
Teacher Lingo (a huge list of teacher blogs)

Class Blogs:

Love2Learn Blog
Room 9
Liz Keinfeld’s Class Blog
ArguendoClass: For the Sake of Debate
The Fischbowl (Check out the teacher and class blogs in right sidebar.)

Individual Student Blogs:

iThink
Peeling the Layers
Shorewood High School (Check out links on right sidebar.)

Helpful Resources

4Teachers.org (This site has a ton of resources and tools-even a rubric maker.)
Lesson Plan Template

Standards

3. What type of blog would work best for the lesson?

A teacher blog to which students contribute?
A class blog with multiple authors?
Individual student blogs?

4. What resources do you need to provide to scaffold students?

Would a project checklist be helpful?
Would a list of links to sources be helpful?
Are graphic organizers needed?

5. How will you assess students’ learning?

Do you need to provide a rubric?
How will you assess students work throughout the lesson as well as the end product?

6. Now, create a lesson, project, or unit that integrates blogging. Create (or locate and link to) accompanying resources. Post the lessons and resources on your blog.

Before beginning, you might want to explore some of the lessons in the links to the left.

For Other Educators (Administrators, Curriculum Coordinators, Literacy or Math Specialist, Educational Technologists…)

Support Blogging (See the sidebar at right where blogs are categorized by type.)

Teacher Lingo

(Another huge list of categorized educator blogs)

Use a blog search to search for blogs in your specific speciality area:

Think about the way you communicate and collaborate with colleagues, parents, other educators.

How might you use a blog to improve communication?
How might you use a blog to inspire and model best practices?
How might you use a blog to collaborate with other educators?

2. Explore at least three of the blogs from the list of blogs at Support Blogging or Teacher Lingo. As you explore, think about how you might learn from them or modify their methods to suit your purposes.

3. Now, plan one project or activity that allows you to use your blog to help you reach out to others more effectively.

4. Write a post on your blog either explaining your project plan or (if possible within the time limits of this course) create the actual project.