The Poet's Weave...

Is a podcast that can be subscribed to through this link...http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=47054 It could be used in any English class during a poetry unit. It is very interesting because it is a weekly-five minute program which poetry is shared that is written a town in Indiana. Sometimes regional poets will air their own poetry on the show. I think this would be valuable for students to view because it will give them ideas and they may be able to better relate to some of the other poems and poets that will be reading their poetry rather than just the teacher. Every student learns and is touched in different ways this is just one other small opportunity that students can listen to other respected poets and maybe give them the desire and drive to write something meaningful and magnificent on their own. I think podcasts can be very useful in the classroom especially in the older grades where students like to explore the world outside of their own classroom.

Internet tools and Global cooperation

With so many internet tools currently available and global cooperation projects for students and teachers around the world-the way in which students are learning in the schools is concurrent with new technology. I would like to see global cooperation websites, like iEarn use tools like www.surveymonkey.com It would be an easy way to get feedback from around the world. Any topic that you wanted information on would be available simply by making a survey specifically regarding your interests or needs.

Global Cooperation

I recently reviewed some interesting global cooperation websites. One was iEARN and the other was Kidlink. They were both very interesting and valuable but different. iEARN is an excellent not for profit tool where students and teachers across the world can work together through the internet to improve the quality of life on the planet. They do so by creative service learning projects in which classrooms across the world can link up, discuss and work together to towards their specific project. Projects can include planting flowers at the same time as children in other areas of the world and keep records of growth and sharing them with classrooms that are doing the same thing. Sharing folktales using art and text from their country is another project that has been done. This website enables students to participate in meaningful projects with their peers around the world to make a difference as global citizens.
Kidlink was different in that it was a user-owned organization and the students were not participating in projects specifically but more as an open communication system with kids like them all over the world. Each child has their own profile in which they can communicate with other children in any of the 176 other countries that participate. Users are somewhat younger in this system, often ranging between ten and fifteen years old. The site really helps the children to set life goals and talk about their personal interests. There was one particular link that I liked, kids clicked on what they wanted to be when they grew up and discussed why they chose that career. Then there was a link at the top of that page and the kids had to write how they could accomplish that goal. It was interesting to see the kids’ responses. This would be an excellent way to get kids to learn language, interact with students from around the world and also to help find themselves. I see children really getting a lot out of this website.

Power Teaching Video

After searching for some videos to use in my classroom, I came to a video about a "Crazy Professor" game which I thought would be very useful. During reading time, students read to a partner with dramatic enthusiasm, using hand gestures and even props. This makes sure that the students are paying attention to each word and are able to better paraphrase and comprehend what they are reading to a new level. The "Crazy" game ensures that students are not bored while they are reading. The video can be used by teachers to learn how to implement this tool in their own classroom and also the video can be shown to the students so that they can better understand their new "crazy" way of reading in class.

Tweets.

After watching some fellow tweeters on my twitter account, I see how fun and useful tweeting can be. However, it is kind of hard to understand what is going on sometimes on some pages. You have to scroll down to see where a conversation started. I see twitter being most useful for when people post links and quick references of information on an educational account. I like it for personal use as well, I can see how it is fun and people really feel connected to people that they know. I also thought it was neat how celebrities are using twitter. It makes you feel like you know whats going on.

Microblogging continued....

However, to the contrary of the learning experiences that microblogging is useful for, there are people who perhaps disagree. I read an article titled, “More on Academic Twittering: Breaking Down the Classroom Walls” which can be found at this link http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2825/more-on-academic-twittering-breaking-down-the-classroom-walls. David Parry has been a supporter of twitter and microblogging for educational purposes. It seems not everyone is on board with what he is saying. One quote from the article that stuck out in my mind was, “…these ‘new’ ways of socializing such as Facebook and MySpace are where students are forming their learning communities, ones which do not entirely, perhaps only minimally, overlap with their classroom experience. Thus to extend the walls of the classroom, make education relevant to all aspects of students lives rather than just what they do four-five hours a day we need to think of ways to extend the ways we form and foster learning communities.” However teachers are claiming that when they do form these networks of communication with their students, they will block them from their page. This is giving mixed signals in that students do not want to be networking with their superiors outside of school. Many students are using microblogging for peer socialization, not for education. But I think there are certain boundaries that need to be set, if there is something personal on your page that you don’t want anyone to see then you shouldn’t put it on or you should make a separate page for only your friends to view. The possibilities of learning opportunities with microblogging are so incredible it’s a shame to throw it away because students are not ok with their teachers or professors viewing their personal lifestyles on their webpage.

Microblog uses in the classroom!

After reading a couple of articles on microblogs, I have realized how many great ways they can be used in the classroom for education. This one article that I read, "Can we use Twitter for Educational Activities?" (Grosseck, Holotescu, 2008) had some really great insights. The article can be located at this link for your own reading http://www.scribd.com/doc/2286799/Can-we-use-Twitter-for-educational-activities. "People use twitter to communicate, to ask questions, to ask for directions, support, advice, and to validate open-ended interpretations or ideas by discussing with the others. Twitter has mashed up personal publishing and communication, the result being a new type of real-time publishing" (Grosseck, Holotescu, 2008).
Microblogging has the potential to create a positive impact on education due to so many ways of its uses. It can change classroom dynamics, it is easy to get information, keeps people connected that might never otherwise have met, it keeps track of conversations students carry on of a topic, requires summarizing, teachers can be available, it connects students to the real world and quiet students can finally be heard! Some of the more specific ways microblogging can be used in the classroom based on the article is that it promotes writing as a fun activity, fosters editing skills and the development of literacy skills. Questions and responses can be set to a group in the classsroom, it develops online discourses. Students can have an audience to their thoughts, feelings, ideas, etc. They can send notes, manage meet-ups for studying and group work. Collaboration across the school or even the country has just been made easier with microblogging as well! It seems the possibilities are endless.

Rss Feed

I joined bloglines recently and found some interesting educational blogs that I will find useful. One of the blogs is titled, "School Library Journal-Preschool to Grade 4". This blog reviews books in those grade levels including picture books and chapter books. You can go on and search for a book you might be interesting in purhcasing or even using for you class. The blog lists the price, a brief synopsis, lists the author and if it is fiction or non-fiction. I think this blog can be an excellent tool for any elementary teacher, especially if they are a newer teacher that is not familar with every children's book out there :) Here is the link. Check it out. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/community/Preschool+to+Grade+4/47073.html?nid=3263

Social Networking

I just joined this social networking group. http://teachers20.ning.com/. This will be useful to me because I can connect with other teachers to get their view on lessons I am teaching, suggesstions on students, curriculuum or just support from other teachers in general. I find that when two teachers get together they could talk for hours about their students, school and bounce a lot of great ideas off of each other. This group is basically just another way to connect with thousands and thousands of professionals who do what I do. Anything I want to find out about teaching I can do through this site. It's just a really great way to share, think, learn and support people from all over the world who have the same passion...teaching!

Today's Learner

Today's learner is like that paper and pencil game called, "Squares". We have probably all played it together at one time in our childhood. You draw a bunch of dots on a paper and take turns drawing lines between the dots. When you have formed the last line to make a square, you mark your initials in that box and continue until the whole set is all filled with connecting squares. Today's learner is like that game because students and teachers are now focused on social learning. "Our learning today is one of forming networks with each other. Our tools enable that effortlessly and in a way that is very human to us because most of us enjoy dialogue and conversation. We are social beings" (Siemens, G.A., The Impact of Social Media on Learning) Here is the link to watch what he has to say about today's learner-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grI_h88vs3g&feature=PlayList&p=3E43054A8703F57A&index=3 Today children are encouraged to work together and think, bounce ideas off of each other and read and comment on each others written pieces. Each pencil mark on the squares game is one link to one person that they have connected with. Then that line is connected to four other lines and it just continues because students today are socially connected in so many ways. In an article written by G.A. Siemens he continues to point out that, "Formal education no longer comprises the majority of our learning. Learning now occurs in a variety of ways – through communities of practice, personal networks, and through completion of work-related tasks". I think this new way of educating our students is very positive and encouraging. We owe our new educational strategies and techniques to the advances in technology!

I am very happy to begin learning and understanding current technology starting with blogging. It's incredible how fast technology has changed in the last few years. I am relatively young and blogs, wikis, podcasts were never used in my education throughout high school and college. I am glad that I am given the opportunity to get up to date with these advances to better foster the learning experiences of my students :)

Using blogs in the classroom

After reading about the huge array of ways that you can use weblogs in the classroom to assist in learning, there are several that I would love to one day use in my own classrooms. Using weblogs as an online filing cabinet are useful becaused students can post their work for peer and teacher editing. Students can give each other feed back on what they have written and students get to see their progress throughout the year as they become a stronger writer. Its important for students to get feedback from their peers on their ideas and thoughts to make learning even more collaborative. Next, I love the idea that all assignments and resources can be posted to the weblog. Parents can view the easily updatable sight and see what their child should be working on. Students no longer have excuses for not knowing when assignments are due or even what is due. Everything being posted to a weblog also makes the students responsible for checking it daily. It holds them responsible for their learning which is important in the upper grades and transitioning into college when they will be using websites like blackboard.com for their course work. My favorite way to use weblogs in the classroom was to use it as an open communication system to discuss topics that are being studied. I loved the idea in Will Richardson's "Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts" that explained how one classroom created a readers guide to a book they were reading. The author got involved and throught he blog answered questions that the students had and she was able to give insight as to her character development and where her ideas had come from. The author even said that this was interesting for her too to be able to hear ideas about her own work!