Learning and Leading with Technology: Blogging

Blogging is a great way for student-teacher, teacher-teacher, and student-student communication. There are several different kinds of blogs and we will start with individual blogs. Individual blogs have been around for some time now and has allowed people to use the Internet as a journal, a way to respond to other individuals, and a way to post resources from the new fad diets and top secret recipes to where to find a great handyman in your neighborhood. An online diary allows people to produce daily reflections and allows them to make them available to anyone who is interested. In a classroom environment, blogging would turn a normal assignment into a collaborative learning task and has been proven to make students excited to learn and excited to participate in the class activities. There is something quite therapeutic about unloading thoughts online in a journal format that others can comment on if they wish to do so. Instead of feeling shy about standing up in front of class and stumbling on works and getting red in the face, students are now able to blog. Another plus is the ability to look at the work of your peers and getting a better understanding of what the teacher wants and expects of you.

Classroom Blogging is being used in many classrooms today and helps build communication and collaboration among students. In schools where com putters are limited, students can use computer labs to blog or sign up for classroom computer time. Some students have access to computers at home and can blog for homework assignments. Teachers were finding that students were going above and beyond the assignments and were helping their other peers out with attack strategies and techniques that helped then conquer their assignments. Students were learning from each other while connecting to one and other online. “As students communicate in the blog, they question and challenge each other’s thinking, leading to deeper and more meaningful interaction than previously afforded during individual journaling.”

A Collaborative Blog is one in which students from one class work with students from another class, either within the same building or from another school. This allows for students to mentor other students and learn from each other. What a cool concept! It’s like a pen pal but the gratification comes much quicker and you do not need to wait weeks to hear back from your pen pal. “The motivation of the students, based on their excitement and enthusiasm levels, seemed to grow even more when a new group of children was brought into the blogging experience.”

In a workplace setting where professionals are isolated from each other for the majority of the day, effective use of a blog is one method of bringing educators together, this is called Staff Development Blogging. As I learned in Education 350, becoming an excellent educator means taking great ideas from all over the education world and using them in your own class setting. Staff Development Blogging is a great way for teachers to share stories of both success and failure and hope that other teachers will either learn from their own mistakes or benefit from their experiences.

Understanding Rubrics

I really enjoyed this article about rubrics. Rubrics are a great way for teachers to communicate with their students exactly what is expected. Rubrics improve students performance by making teachers' expectations clear and by showing the students how to meet these expectations. Rubrics are used as a self guide and allows students to become increasingly able to spot and solve problems on their own and make improvements when all criteria isn't met.

Rubrics also allow students to do the best work that they are capable of doing. Teachers get a good idea of which students are stronger in certain areas and having a rubric allows a teacher to accommodate those students who need a little extra help. One of the tips on designing a rubric is to avoid unnecessary negative language. Showing the students exactly what you want instead of what you don't want will help them go back and revise their work and make it the best work with the guidelines that you gave them. Anything that helps a student understand exactly what is expected of them will make their lives easier as well as the teachers and parents lives. I'm glad I chose this article to read. I know rubrics will help me help my students!

IVE Videos

This was a great website to see what creative potential students of all ages have. The first video that I watched was called the "Yes No Recycling Show", and it was created by La Costa Heights Elementary School. This video was creative, entertaining, and most importantly informative! I recycle at home, work, and out in public and sometimes I am confused to what can go in the recycling bin and what can not. What a great idea to make a catchy music video to teach people of all ages the yes and nos of recycling.

The other video that I watched was "Words Hurt". This video was created by Mission Middle in Escondido. The message was "Words hurt. Think before you speak." This video had an impact on me and I can see the power behind the message benefiting a lot of students and teaching them how words can strongly effect some more than others. We should all be more positive towards one and other and really think before we speak.

IVE videos are a fun way for students to get a message out in a friendly and competitive way. I was pleasantly surprised at the technological ability of K-12 graders and it would be fun for a class to enter their video and make an impact on people in this community.

Computer Science Education: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

I found much of this article hard to follow. I am not a computer person myself, so when talking about all the different language and code that goes along with programing, I found it had little relevance to my amount of computer use. What I did find interesting is how far computers have come in such a short period of time. To think back to the computers I used when I was in elementary school twenty years ago, seems like such foreign machinery. But then again, every time new technology comes out, I find myself just getting used to the old version.

The second part of the article talks about the importance of computer technology in the classrooms, the lack of resources, how technology relates to curriculum, professional development, and what education needs in order for the high tech sector to remain a key contributor to the financial health of the United States. Most of the information was repetitive and the main point was that "a strong computer science program at the high school level is the first step along the path to ensuring that this industry remains competitive enough to play a leading role among nations". I think that computer science classes should be a part of elementary to high school curriculum, but only the basics should be taught and the students who show interest and have a knack for the computer sciences should have the opportunity to take their knowledge to higher levels. We have accomplished so much with technology and with such a small population of computer savvy people who are responsible. I don't feel that every student should be responsible for programming and code writing and we should let the techies be techies and the rest of us should be able to learn what we need from them.