Tech Interviews: Pie

Here is a quick interview about how the world relates to pie.

Kipper Interview

This is my first video interview.

BP16_2009103_Media_Assets_LucidChart

In this 1-minute movie, you will observe students working collaboratively using the online site LucidChart. This web site is for creating flow diagrams. You will also view a quick demonstration on how to use LucidChart. The best part for students is their successes; the best part for administrators is that this web site application is free.

BP15_2009103_Web_2.0_Tools_Comments

BP#13_2009103_web20_tool_Raylit

Raylit is an educational site that addressed the needs of student. There are cartoons that host the educational sessions which are composed of fun learning games, videos, music and stories-things kids love. They talk about interesting things and guide kids through the lessons and games, making learning fun and effective. This site is good for kids from 3-7. What I like about this site is that you can type in your student's name to register them. Once you have done that the cartoons that guides the students through the lessons will call them by name. This makes the game personal for the kids.

Each session has 5-6 educational items. The items I had when I signed up under my daughter's name was, sequencing, matching the professional with the correct tool, learning numbers and counting, science knowledge clips and a sing along called Mr. Son, Mr Golden Son. The child's age will give you different educational items.

I plan on using this site with my second graders. I have ELL students and students that are working towards level that can really benefit from this site. It is hard for teachers to go back and teach skills that was suppose to be taught in kindergarten and first grade. This site will supplement to help fill the gaps in education.

As a teacher, I like the fact that I can send a text message to my students that will be spoken by the cartoon characters. I can click on their names to update their profile and settings. I can also view their current curricula and track their progress.

This site is not free, but I believe it is beneficial, therefore I plan to propose this site to administration at my school. I will try the trial version, track my student's progress, and show the data to my principal so that he can see how useful Raylit is.

picture from www.raylit.com
POSTED BY DALE-EMILY AT 4:10 PM
1 COMMENTS:

dcowdenhmb said...
Emily: This is a very interesting site. Thank you for sharing about it. I wish it was free, though. The last time I conferenced with my principal about Web 2.0 tools, the main thing that caught his interest was the part of many sites are free. Anything that requires money is considered a dream at this point. This looks good for ELL's, too.

Love your blogs!

OCTOBER 18, 2009 4:52 PM

BP14_2009103_Web_2.0_Tools_Zooloo.com

I would like to incorporate a web site design piece to the curriculum for my Technology courses. The curriculum would follow some of the pedagogy by Junior Achievement. WWW.Zooloo.com could be such a site for student use. It is still not acceptable on a broad spectrum, district level through parents, for minors to be accessible by the general public. So, any sort of web publishing would need clear scope and sequence, purpose, and responsible work ethics. The advertising is a continued issue, as well. Zooloo doesn't appear to have outside advertisers, and publishing can be private or public, according to the owner's control.

The use of a web page site could also be used as an instructor's site where students would access content information for instruction. This could be a site that a teacher creates to manage online content. For example, a teacher could use Screen Capturing for lessons and upload classes onto the web site.

Zooloo.com could be used as a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) by being a place where students could "bring all of (their) interests together: news, entertainment, social networking, shopping, messaging, photos, and more..." What I particularly like about this site, so far, is that it could be controlled so that access is only through invitation. This would work well for a classroom setting, but involves students to be responsible with their choices and postings.

Zooloo (n.d.) Retrieved on 10/17/09 from http://www.zooloo.com/

BP13_2009103_Web_20_Tools_Jamglue.com

Another music mixer site is www.Jamglue.com. This site looks to be completely free, has a lot of riffs and tracks to use, and students could upload their own tracks. Full Sail University uses this site for advertisement, too, so it must be good!

The tutorial is very user friendly. As soon as the first mixing page opens, a guided tutorial starts. It's good because it instructs learners to stop and restart the tutorial in order for the learner to do what was being demonstrated or explained. I was successfully creating tracks through the tutorial, and that usually requires a Digital Native to help me navigate through the jargon! The site is also intuitive; but, with the tutorial, the stress is completely managed to easy use. I like the array of sounds available for use and that users can add to the library.

I don't see the collaborative use just like Indabamusic.com, but tracks can be created, shared and used by others.

I think this could be a useful tool as a first step into the world of creating music online. Then, for the more savvy users, Indabamusic could be their next step.

DCowdenFSOBlog: BP12_2009103_Web_2.0_Tools_IndabaMusic.com

My middle school students want to create their own beats and background music, but I haven’t had software for them to use. I had considered bringing in my Mac so they could create with Garageband, but wasn’t comfortable with sharing my expensive MacBookPro that I’m using for my schooling needs. Then I started learning about Web 2.0 tools, and wondered if such a site existed. I think Indabamusic is even better, since it is creating music collaboratively.

Indabamusic.com has a similar creating page as Garageband with drag and drop riffs and other pre-made sounds. You can also record your own sounds, and then mix them. There are examples of music created by different people laying down track at different times who are located around the country. The tutorials are pretty good, too.

I’m not clear, though, if this is an entirely free site. I’ve emailed the creators for this clarification. I’ll update this post when I learn how far their free use goes.

I would love to use this site in my classes for students to produce original music and beats that they could use in their presentations, videos, and as music to lyrics for demonstrating their understanding of content. I visualize second language learners being supported by collaborating with students proficient in English, so that all learners are successfully meeting assignment objectives. I could also envision meeting classes across the country so that students could collaborate on projects that would include a music piece to their project presentations. Students could even have “critical friends” who are either college level musicians or professionals! That would be incredible. (For example, I wonder if professional musicians with the San Francisco Symphony might love to work with interested students. This could be a truly win-win as S.F. Symphony professionals reach out to public schools and the students successfully engage in their learning activities.) This also embraces the “Beyond the Classroom” goals that our district strives to achieve for our students.

© 2009, D. Cowden

ARP Motivated to Start

I received an email from my principal that stated, "Congratulations and good work." He was referring to the email from our systems administrators who enthusiastically applauded my request to use Web 2.0 tools in my classes. Suddenly, I felt as if a gift was provided to me, something very valuable and important. Then I felt the weight of worry that I might really make a blundering mess of this project and set a precedence that these tools had been tried before. It's taken me a week to sit with this reality that I have the go-ahead!

Today, I feel more confident and ready to proceed. First on the agenda is to produce a parent permission for their child to create and use a Google mail account. From the permissions that I receive back, I will be able to implement a Round 1 of my ARP.

I'd like to learn from my peers about using music for reading, screen capturing for future student use, rapping with students, and producing video (just to name a few). I think my needs will be met as I complete one step at a time. So, I need to complete a parent permission form for my students to get signed and return in order for students to make Gmail accounts.

I'll start work, soon, on my flow diagram for the module.

BP11_2009102_Reflective_Media_Asset

I produced this 1-minute video to show the benefits of collaboration using Google Documents.

iGoogle_Page_AR/CBL

iGoogle_Page_ETC

iGoogle_Page_FSO

BP10_2009102_Comment_on_Web20_Blog

Original Blog by Dave Nelson, with my Comments below:

BP7_2009102_LearnHub Web 2.0 Tool

The third Web 2.0 tool I looked at was called LearnHub and is found at learnhub.com. This site is a social network focusing on education and learning. It provides a set of tools ?...that make learning online fun and engaging, and teaching online easy and effective? (learnhub, 2009).

I have looked over many things that are offered at LearnHub for Educators but I have not looked at all areas of LearnHub in the detail I would like to. It appears that there are Web 2.0 tools available for use at the secondary school level that could bring the Web 2.0 concept easily into the classroom. There are authoring tools available that allow teachers to create material. To do this there are tools including a lesson editor that allows teachers to share videos, pages including PDF files, and presentations.

There are also tools, many of which I have not looked at in as much detail as I would like to in the future, that will allow to create tests and also follow student?s progress and grades with a built in report generator.

One benefit that I am going to look at further is the course creation area. This area allows the teacher to combine all of their assets including tests, videos, and instruction pages, into an area that can be set up as a restricted course area. In doing this the teacher can control those that have access to the site.

Another area that I did not test yet is the live video, voice, whiteboard and document sharing that is available to the students. This could provide a great avenue of collaboration from not only the classroom but from those that have Internet access at home.

It also appears that one of the best things about learnhub is the price. At this point in time it is free to use. It looks like in the future they may charge for the service.

This may be a site that everyone may want to checkout.



References:

learnhub (2009), About learnhub. Retrieved October 11, 2009 http://learnhub.com/about.

Posted by Dave Nelson at 6:22 PM
1 comments:

dcowdenhmb said...
Dave: Learnhub looks like a great Web 2.0 tool. I particularly appreciate the quote "...make online learning fun and engaging..." I am glad you located this site and shared about it, because this could be just the tool I need for my class use.

Deb Cowden
October 11, 2009 8:56 PM

iGoogle_Page_WGO

BP9_2009102_Web_2.0_Tools_iGoogle

iGoogle is a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) by Google. The site is password protected, but can be populated with public Web 2.0 tools like Google Reader, Blogger, and Google Docs. iGoogle is a site where URL's can be kept - all on one page, including RSS feeds, Bookmarks, Documents, Facebook, Twitter, ToDo lists, Delicious Bookmarks, and links. This PLE is a way to organize one's own learning.
To use iGoogle, a Google Mail account must be created first (URL located below). After entering Gmail, choose "Web" from the links at the top of the Gmail home page. If iGoogle doesn't open immediately, choose iGoogle from the links at the top. The iGoogle page that opens can be revised to meet one's own needs by clicking and deleting or moving items already populating the page. Items preferred can be added to the iGoogle site by clicking to add tabs and items.

I plan to teach to use iGoogle in all my classes. My Earth Science students could benefit to collect and organize information about earth including help organizations for endangered species, research and development of alternative fuels, and up-to-date information on global warming issues. My English Language Development students could benefit by collecting helpful tools for translators and photos or pictures (like with Flickr).

My Technology students could benefit by organizing information that could be used in all their regular classes, as well as learning about other Web 2.0 tools. This class would be my focus for setting up a PLE and learning about and implementing other Web 2.0 tools for use beyond the classroom. To me, this is one of the best possible tools we, as educators, could provide to our students: useful tools that go with them beyond the classroom and school. A PLE, such as iGoogle, is just such a useful tool for students to take with them beyond the classroom and school.


mail.google.com/mail/signup

BP8_2009102_Web_2.0_Tools_LucidChart

LucidChart is a Web 2.0 tool for creating flow diagrams (URL is listed below). After the document is started, individuals can be invited to join the site and work collaboratively. I like that the collaborative work is done in real time, too. The site is easily navigated and editing features are intuitive. Text chatting is also available at this site.

An email account is needed to invite people to work collaboratively. My students will use Google Mail (Gmail) as their main email account for collaborative work. The URL for Gmail is listed below.

Choose the Sign Up link on the LucidChart site and populate the spaces required. You can decide to form a group at this time, or can choose to do this later through the Settings option on the My Documents Page. Carefully choose alias names for the Forum space. Agree to Yadda yadda yadda. Sign in.

Choose "Create New Document" from the My Documents page. Choose Flow Chart to create standard flow diagrams. Choose and drag icons from the shapes available. Rename icons according to what each represents. Connect icons using "Draw Line" from the Edit dropdown menu. Save the document from the File dropdown menu.

People are invited to collaborate on a document by one person inviting others under the "Share" tab. Users sharing the document will be listed in the space below the invitation area. The inverter decides to provide invitees to Author, Edit or only View the document.

I plan to use LucidChart in my classes for students to work collaboratively on concepts about Earth Science. In particular, I think this will work well to support vocabulary and curriculum concepts, especially for English Language Learners (ELL's).

http://www.lucidchart.com/
mail.google.com/mail/signup

BP7_2009102_Web_2.0_Tools_Google_Docs

Google Documents (Google Doc's or GDoc's) is by Google and is accessed through a users Google Mail (Gmail) account. So, it is first necessary to create a Gmail account (URL listed below). From the Gmail home page, Documents is selected from the top list of links. From the "New" drop-down menu on the Documents page, the type of document to be created is selected: Document, Presentation, Spreadsheet, or Form. A document page opens with many features similar to MS Word. The document is Saved from the File dropdown menu and the document is named. If another name is preferred, Rename is selected from the File dropdown menu. Collaboration on the document can occur by choosing the Share dropdown button, and choose "Invite people." Individual emails are keyed into the Invite area and a message can be included. For invited people to be able to make changes on the shared document, To edit needs to be selected.

For my classes, I plan to have students produce collaborative research projects on various concepts about earth science. In particular, my hope is to support students who are English Language Learners (ELL's) by forming teams of at least two English Only (EO) speakers with one or two ELL's. As teams work collaboratively on their projects, I will want to know if ELL's provide input that is revised for correct grammar by the EO's. Projects will include Word docuements (by copying from GDoc's onto a Word document), Power Point Presentations, and Spreadsheets.

Depending on each assignment, student teams could collaboratively produce quizzes or tests using the Google Forms document. Their tests would relate to their project and assignment goals and learning objectives. I would also use the Form Document to maintain communication addresses with the student Teams.

mail.google.com/mail/signup

BP6_2009102_Media_Literacy

The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), defines media literacy as "the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate." NAMLE explains, "media literacy touches so many areas of life and work, it's hard to contain it in one curriculum area or even one age-group or subject. The truth is media literacy is now a core component of an effective 21st Century education." If for no other reason than that statement, all learners today need the ability to be media literate.

According to Barish (2002), 20th century literacy included "the ability to read, write, and present cogent arguments on paper." 21st Century learners need to be able to synthesize arguments from various sources, including written, recorded voice, video and movies. Learners today also need to produce their arguments through those various media sources, too.

When I consider Media Literacy, I consider the ability to think and produce beyond being told what to do. Filmmaker George Lucas (2009) points to the "oldest forms of learning (as) the most effective forms of learning." He was referring to the two forms of education, the Aristotle/Plato mold (small group of students with questions and discussions) and the hands-on artisan school of learning (i.e., apprenticeships). He has become an advocate of teaching strategies that closely resemble some of the "old ways," namely project-based learning. Lucas concluded, "This type of education system (project-based learning) would significantly improve the character of the people who emerged from it. They would be more independent thinkers, more critical thinkers, and more logical thinkers. And they would be better equipped for a world that is completely overwhelmed with information."

For my classroom, those points are critical. I regularly observe students waiting to be told what to do, wanting to use the first piece of information that they research for without checking for validity, amused by video that is trivial or not relevant to their objectives, and basically not thinking! The post-Industrial Revolution form of schooling that Lucas referred could be the box that 20th century learners were taught to maintain, but it is not working for this Century. Today's 21st Century learners seem to be frustrated with that model, too, since information beyond the textbooks is readily available. What I experience is that today's young learners are, also, asking questions and wanting answers to problems and arguments that are regularly available on the World Wide Web. When directed to answer their questions through media literacy, students demonstrate an engaged sense of higher level thinking.

When I started teaching a technology class for middle school, I started with the standards produced by ISTE/NETS. These organizations steered me toward the realization that learners need to know strategies for evaluating media on the Internet and World Wide Web. At local conferences in 2001, ISTE provided attendees with Information Literacy pamphlets that provided steps for evaluating information, including all media, on the web. The underlying rationale was to direct learners to think, evaluate, and rethink before using information as facts. Students were also directed to produce projects that would also be rethought and revised.

In my classes, I want my students to know questions to ask as they peruse information. Visuals can be edited with incredible skills, now-a-days, and information in the form of blogs and web sites are abundant. In yesteryears, students were pointed towards encyclopedias, the textbook, and the card catalog in the public library for information. Very little thinking needed to occur, since all the sources were within the boundaries of accepted, notable authors and publishers. Today, learners are poised in front of a myriad of information providers through the Internet and World Wide Web. It's up to the learners, then, to have knowledge to make informed decisions whether or not to use information provided on the internet. I love it when students collaborate to decide if an image is "real," edited, or enhanced; a game is worth their time; a web site is opinion or facts; their presentation is effective or not. Most of the training I received for directing my students to this type of work was through the direction of ISTE.

Students today have options for presenting information. Writing papers is only one method for communicating researched information. Students can learn skills to produce meaningful projects that contain similar information as the written piece, but compiled with images, voice or narrations, movies or video, or music as background enhancing or as the information. Media literacy is the key to 21st Century learner successes. As Lucas said, "Highly educated people like engineers, lawyers or doctors would make better presentations if their schooling had emphasized the need to communicate as effectively with graphics and sound as with words."

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) (n.d.). Retrieved on 10/11/09 from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS

Lucas, G. (2009, October 6). George Lucas wants more greek philosophers and cobblers. The Wall Street Journal, pg A15.

National Association for Media Literacy Education (n.d.). Retrieved on 10/11/09 from http://namle.net/media-literacy

BP5_2009102_Flickr

One of the most obvious uses of Flickr for classroom use is to provide learners with visuals to increase effective communication. At http://www.jakesonline.org/collections.htm, teachers can access uses of Flickr from categories. Mousing over the resources produces pop-up's with links and tags to other resources. Included on this site are examples of how Flickr is used in classrooms.

Derek Baird (2005) stated that "one of the most promising and innovative, in terms of e-learning applications, is Flickr." Baird pointed to how online collaboration and community are interwoven as "main components of the platform design." Baird also pointed to the ease of using Flickr, which allows students to keep their focus on the learning goal while practicing new skills.

In the school's where I work, students used to peruse magazines for images to use for reports. More recently, Google Images provided images that learners and educators have used, but there is a persistant, low-level murmuring of questions about copyright uses like, "Is it ok to use those Google-searched images, or not?" Flickr gives students and teachers the ability to legally share content and use photographs for non-commercial use through a Creative Commons license.

Baird provided seven specific uses of Flickr in the classroom. In particular, I am interested in his example of an American Studies professor:

An American Studies professor travels to Walden Pond during the summer and uploads his pictures to Flickr. The photographs provide his students with visual context and imagery for the places discussed by Thoreau. This example could work equally as well in the history, science, or foreign language classroom, and allows the student to make asynchronous connections to the content being taught in the classroom.

For my earth science classes, I could plan lessons for students to observe cloud formations and to photograph different types of cloud formations that could be uploaded onto Flickr and comments added. These photographs could be shared as a group or community that could be used to produce collaborative projects about earth's atmosphere and different types of clouds. This would support all students to be successful on this type of assignment.


Baird, D. (2005). The promise of social networks. Tech & Learning. Retreived on 10/9/09 from http://www.techlearning.com/article/4816

BP4_2009102_Educational_Uses_for_Social_Bookmarking

For me, bookmarking has taken on a whole new image! In the past, I created Word documents with hyperlinks that I would organize into folders according to subjects. I'd also need to create an index for myself, so I could remember what was filed. Still, I would experience frustration whenever I tried to locate sites that I had saved. This situation is now (amazingly) remedied for me with the social bookmarking site, De.licio.us. Through the research, I've also learned about another social bookmarking site named Diigo; but, I haven't visited the site at this time of writing.

This type of a research-gathering site is phenomenal. Since using it for the first time this week, I'm already excited for using it in many ways. As I peruse the internet for resources and information, I bookmark sites with tags, that are words that sort the sites into useful categories that work for me. I teach three different classes this school year, am concerned about the political and economic situations for education, and like to include sites that I find that I know will benefit the interest of others (like my son who is researching the development of algae for fuel). Sites are tagged with categorical words like: education, science, ELD, studentdirectedlearning, technology, algaeasfuel, moneyineducation, politics, etc. One particular article that I bookmark and tag could show up in many of the categories. So my sites are sorted usefully for my purposes! Educational uses are certainly one of the ways to use social bookmarking, and the research can back that statement up.

Social bookmarking is much more than just a place online to manage bibliographies, too. The application Diigo (www.diigo.com) is used in classrooms "where students provide notes and documentation when they read online articles" (Hargardon, 2008). Hargardon points out, in order to differentiate instruction, this site application allows students an entry point for research, starting from basic level research topics to the use of higher leveled, more sophisticated skills.

Bull (2005) points to the common problem, "how to locate the right piece of information" on the World Wide Web, and the associated problem of how much time is required to search. This is where the social bookmarking tool del.icio.us is discussed, as well as the image site Flickr. It's the tagging capabilities of these two social bookmarking sites that educators could employ for classroom use. Bull points to examples of students using the bookmarking tools by clicking on the category tag, "Oak" and seeing an array of images and information sites from across the country about the subject.

According to Hanson and Carlson (2005), social bookmarking has the "potential to transform STEM education by providing access to innovative curricula, stimulating applets and simulations, and other hands-on resources" (It's these social bookmarking resources that ) "hold the promise of providing teachers with new ways to engage students" (Hanson & Carlson, 2005). Educators can use these social bookmarking digital libraries to create up-to-date resources on specific topics.

I look forward to adopting the application tools of social bookmarking into my classrooms, too. I think such adoptions for 21st century classrooms are the needed tools to engage today's learners to think and become the needed collaborative problem solvers of today and the future.

© 2009, D. Cowden


Bull, G. (2005). Folk taxonomies. Learning and Leading with Technology, v33, n1, p22- 23. Eugene, Oregon: International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Hanson, K. and Carlson, B. (2005). Effective access: teachers' use of digital resources. Newton, MA.: Education Development Center. Retrieved on 10/8/09 from http://www2.edc.org/GDI/publications_SR/EffectiveAccessReport.pdf

Hargardon, S. (2007). A little help from my friends. Retreived on 10/8/09 from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/toc-archive/2007/20071001.html

BP3_2009101_Anti-Teaching

When I was a senior in high school, I remember becoming so frustrated with the system that I decided to just graduate and get on with life. I had become tired of jumping through hoops that were, as it seemed to me, meaningless. When I genuinely engaged in a topic and requested to discuss my interests with teachers as I sought direction, I received direct replies of disinterest. "That's nice," was a common reply, and the shut of the door before I had left the room. Last year, my son announced to me that he decided to graduate rather than complete his senior year of high school. I was amazed to hear that he had become tired of being put-off after expressing his desire to engage in deeper discussions of his research for alternative fuels. My son had explained to me, "It's all about jumping through their hoops, that's all." And, that's frustrating to a bright, engaged mind.

I am clear that personal experiences are not explanations, but I mention these close experiences to clarify that learning to pass the test does not meet the needs of all students! In my classroom experiences as a teacher, I regularly observe a variety of interests to engage in content and activities. I'm glad to report that the curriculum I follow uses many strategies that are based from Brain-Based Learning, recognize the needs of Multiple Intelligences, and uses technology to differentiate learning (including needs for English Language Learners).

I've been experimenting with the use of virtual learning environments in my 8th grade Technology class. Our school district has purchased the use of a course management system called School Loop (www.schoolloop.com). It is password protected and every student, teacher, parent and staff member has their own accounts and sites. My experiment has been to post weekly assignments, projects, discussions, and blogs so that student directed learning could occur. I included links to sites that would clarify assignments, broaden perspectives and provide appropriate examples. My observations and experiences included that students were more engaged in their projects and learning than I'd ever seen in previous classes! Also, I was very busy facilitating their successes. Student questions were directed for their own project, and even included statements such as: "I wonder what would happen if...?" For me, that was very exciting. And, it was just this past week when I overheard students commenting to each other that they thought this was a very fun class. The linked web site included with this blog shows some of those students engaged in collaborative learning, using Google Docs (the url is listed below, if link is not present).

http://web.me.com/dcowdenhmb/ELDSimulations/Engage_Students_for_Role-Play.html

The use of a course management system still uses the two basic components for learning: a student and a teacher. Students still want direction, feedback and an audience for their work. So, technology in itself is not enough; technology is a tool to engage 21st century learners.

A key component that I would use in new schools would be Personal Learning Environments (PLE's). I would like to encourage the district I work in to include the facilitating of PLE's, such as iGoogle. Since this is the type of world that our students are living, it would be useful for them to know how to use PLE's. I envision students creating their PLE, and it would continue through with them, maybe forever! Research done in middle school (or maybe even elementary school) could be accessed in college and beyond! I remember information a college chemistry teacher provided in class that I've wanted to relocate; but, it was written into a binder where I scribbled the references, and I still haven't been successful to relocate it. Our students could start a place to gather their references and information that could be stored, organized and maintained for as long as the site was available and working. To me, facilitating our students to create and use PLE's is an example of learning beyond the test.

© 2009, D. Cowden

BP2_2009101_Educational_Uses_for_Blogs

Educational uses for blogs is rather exciting, to me. After using discussion boards and blogs through Full Sail Online, I started implementing this strategy into my 8th grade technology class planning, and am ready to implement it into my regular 6th grade science classes, too. For me, this kind of discussion and/or responding has been very engaging. I?ve needed to think ?deeper? before just replying since my words would be published. My thoughts could be easily measured with others input, even if not replied to directly. This was clearly, to me, a good strategy for low stress self-assessments.

Teachers are using blogs to share ideas that work in their classrooms and blogs are a way to express oneself and have an authentic audience (Solomon and Schrum, 2007). Solomon and Schrum (2007) point out the implications of blogs as a way for students to improve writing skills, learn from each other, improve thinking skills (like thinking through a topic thoroughly enough to form an opinion or add information), peer editing, finding others interested in similar topics, and becoming confident in sharing what they know (pg. 56).

Popular blogging tools include Blogger (www.blogger.com), WordPress (www.wordpress.com) and Drupal (www.drupal.org). But, for education purposes in a K-12 public school classroom, I prefer the blogging tools that are not public. These sites mandate teacher supervision, such as Class Blogmeister (http://classblogmeister.com) and Gaggle Blogs (www.gaggle.net) (Solomon and Schrum, 2007).

At my school site, the district purchased a class management use named, School Loop (www.schoolloop.com). Discussions and blogs are maintained within this password-protected realm. Students, parents, teachers and staff can view published blogs, and blogs can be commented on, edited and deleted or archived. As I learn ways to more easily manage the postings for grading purposes, I look forward to using this format for student collaboration, learning from each other, thinking, and becoming better writers.

Solomon, G. and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0 new tools, new schools. Eugene, Oregon: International Society for Technology in Education.

© 2009, D. Cowden

BP1_2009101_RSS_Feeds

I chose to subscribe to the following RSS feeds in order to stay up-to-date with best practices, strategies and laws with K-12 education in public schools and English Language Learners.

NPR (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1013&ft=1&f=1013
feed://www.npr.org/rss/rss.php?id=1013

Senator Tom Seymour?s Blog
http://senator-tom-seymour.blogspot.com/
feed://senator-tom-seymour.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Scholastic: Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners
http://community.scholastic.com/blog?blog.id=ELL_strategies
feed://community.scholastic.com/rss/board?board.id=ELL_strategies

English Language Learners Program (Shoreline Schools)
http://learn.shorelineschools.org/spec/elearners/index.php#1249125538
feed://learn.shorelineschools.org/spec/elearners/index.rss

English Language Learners and the Law
http://www.wal.org/wordpress/index.php/2009/05/25/english-language-learners-and-the-law/
feed://www.wal.org/wordpress/index.php/feed/

Creating Lifelong Learners: English Language Learner?s Category
http://www.needleworkspictures.com/ocr/blog/?cat=10
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Some Thoughts: Pulling Together Information

I feel like a kid on a long trip with my parents. I'm sitting in the back seat of the car, and can barely see out the window, even though I'm right next to it. I've a stack of books my parents gave to me to help me through the journey to our destination. Still, the view outside and the material in the written pages, the words I hear them discussing from the front seat, I don't have clear direction for what I'm going to do with all the input. Everyday, I put effort into making sense of the pieces: online collaboration, social networking, web 2.0 tools, my student needs, state standards, NCLB criteria, parent concerns, district issues, assignments, grades...a lot of, "Huh's."

I feel excited, at the same time. All these pieces have threads of commonality. I wonder if I could gather those threads together, and weave them into an action research project?