My favorite new blog

I love that the book we are using for professional book study allows us to be selfish and study our own passions on blogs before attemping blogging with our students.   This seems like a natural progression to me!  I have so many educational blogs feeding into my RSS feed that it's time to pick something for just me.  So I found a blog about movies! Yay!  http://moviesblog.mtv.com/

cool resource

This fits in so well with our book study about blogging. Thanks to Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne. I think this is the best blog that I read for technology and how it applies to the classroom. Everyone in our book study should add it to their RSS feeder! Immediately, if not sooner!

11 Things You Should Know About Blogging

Four of the most critical things that you learned from the reading:

1. "...the original vision of being able to read and write to the Web was slow (in Internet terms, at least) to be realized." (Richardson, p 1). I think that schools are still in the "read" phase of the Web. I have my kids do LOTS of research (History Day, for example), but have I ever really had them write to the Web? Not really...

2. "We are no longer limited to being independent readers or consumers of information; as we'll see, we can also be collaborators in the creation of large storehouses of information." (Richardson, p.3) This makes me think of having the kids create an end of the year Prezi about their favorite unit or the unit where they learned the most. By doing this, kids would be creating information. I think my problem is this: I don't create much content on the web. So, how do I help kids do so?

3."...education has been slow to adapt these tools and potentials." (Richardson, p 3). Example of the turtle-like pace of education: On a professional development day in October, our staff was notified that vocabulary identification and non-fiction reading were two areas where our students struggle (according to NWEA tests). In JANUARY, we were introduced to a strategy (preview and highlight) to help with these areas of concern. It took 4 months to be told about a strategy that would possibly help our kids to be better readers. 4 months!

4. "today's students, of almost any age, are far ahead of their teachers in computer literacy. They prefer to access subject information on the Internet, where it is more abundant, more accessible, and more up-to-date" (National Education Technology Plan, 2005 as cited by Richardson, p 7) I would beg to differ with this statement. As my esteemed colleague, Bob Brink, says "They are only good at what they are good at." facebook: yes. doing a google search for Justin Bieber: yes. Youtube videos of cute kittens: yes. Finding a primary source to support their History Day thesis: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three connections that you made between your teaching and the reading:

1. "they are 'out there' using a wide variety of technologies that they are told they can't use when they come to school." (Richardson, p 6). How can schools meet the kids where they are at? How can I as a teacher meet kids where they are at?

2. "Before you attempt to bring these technologies to your students, first be selfish about their use in your own learning practice." (Richardson, p. 8) I have jumped into technology before without understanding it myself, and it was complete failure. Glogster is the best example of that. I had the students create online posters of Greek Achievements. It was not a meaningful use of technology and therefore, not worth the headache and hassle.

3. "It means learning about whatever we are passionate about." (Richardson, p. 9) It's sad to me that I need permission from a book to put myself first, but I appreciate that Richardson acknowledges the need for teachers to learn!

Two connections to other reading (research) or learning you have had related to the topic of the reading:

1. Much of what this first chapter says reminds me of the blog Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne. He really seems to put his passion for technology first, and then finds connections in his classroom from there. His blog is probably the most helpful one in my RSS reader!

2. I am excited to see how this text connects to what I have already learned through Metronet Information Literacy Initiative (mili)

One question you have connected to your practice and your continued inquiry:

1. I'm stealing this one from Richardson: "What changes must we make in our teaching as it becomes easier to bring primary sources to our students?" (p 6)

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! My husband and I are facilitating a professional book study about the book "Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms 3rd ed." by Will Richardson. We are excited to share our love of technology with like-minded colleagues.

Professional development and continuous improvement are such vital ingredients for quality teaching. I'm excited to share our learning on this blog.