Safety

I don't want just anyone to be able to post comments. Somehow, I'll have to password-protect the classroom blog so that only students and parents can comment. I do want the parents to comment. I think they would make a great contribution; it would provide a connection to what their children are doing in school.

Like-Mindedness

Yesterday, I was looking through some of the blogs I have bookmarked on my Google Homepage. There, at Se Hace Camino Al Andar, I found a like-minded teacher. She is attending the The Summer Institute on the Teaching of Writing, a workshop I would love to attend. There she is learning how to really do the Writer's Workshop in her class, and thankfully for the rest of us, she is blogging about her experience and sharing much of what she is learning.

Secondly, this teacher has started another blog called Inquiry. Here, in a post called "Inquiry Again," she muses over how best to use blogs in her classroom. This is exactly what I am trying to figure out.

I've ended up at Cool Cat Teacher Blog. I will have to come back and read more. A quick peruse, however, has given me the idea of doing a wiki with my class when we get to the Ancient Greece and Rome unit.

There's so much information out there that it gets overwhelming. I end up with endless tabs on Firefox and can't keep up with the reading!

Shedding the Light on RSS feeds

Today, I finally understood RSS feeds. I know, Tico has told me numerous times what it means, but I had to read the definition myself at the History Channel to understand. There are three lessons in this.

First, the fact that it took me until now to internalize that an RSS feed is a way for the content of a favorite website to be delivered to you instantly, without visiting the website, and that it stands for Really Simple Syndication, further illustrates that information often needs to be repeated before it is internalized. Everyday Math knows this and has developed its curriculum around this premise.

Second, I now know what an RSS feed is and now have "This Day in History" as a feed on my Bookmark Toolbar.

Third, you never know where you will pick up a tidbit of important information. I certainly was not expecting a "What is RSS?" link at the History Channel.

Potentialities

The course EDIT 5342 - Advanced Integration of Technology into the Curriculum at Wayland Baptist University has a very good course outline that gives me some ideas. I can modify some of this and apply to my own students.

For example:
I already know that blogs are used by many teachers for journaling and reflecting. I could also have my students make weekly reflections via blogging. In Room 208 the teacher has the main blog and the students comment back to him. Another teacher in middle school has each student write a blog. His main blog has a link to each student blog and he can comment directly on their blog entries. I am not sure yet how I would like to use blogs in the classroom, but I know I want to use them.

From the course outline from above:

Weekly Posted Article Reflections and Responses

Each week, students are expected to read and thoughtfully reflect on assigned articles as specified in the course schedule (below). Posted reflections can include thoughtful questions, needed clarifications, insights, additional information, and/or appraising opinions relating to the ideas studied and expressed in the article(s). A minimum or maximum length for weekly article reflections is not defined, but students should bear in mind that the quality, rather than the quantity, of posted blog reflections will determine the point valuation of weekly reflections.

Each week, students are expected to:

1. Read the assigned article(s) for the week.
2. Post a thoughtful reflection relating to the article(s) on his/her blog. Include in each posted reflection at least 2 hyperlinks to other related webpages.
3. Post at least two comment on the blog of another class member on a reflection posted during the current or previous week.
4. Submit the URL of the current week's article reflection blog to the course assignment submission database NLT 30 minutes prior to the start of each class.


The Mini-Projects from the course outline give some ideas as to other projects that can be done.

For example:

1. Photo Storytelling
a. Working with your group, take digital photos to communicate a story about an idea or concept.
b. Put the photos in order, naming them chronologically 01.jpg - 02.jpg -- 10.jpg.

2. Social Bookmarks
a. Use your social bookmarks (Del.icio.us: http://del.icio.us) to save and organize websites you find about your research topic.
b. Use some different tags to organize your social bookmarks.
c. Submit your main social bookmarks URL / website to our class assignments/reflections database.
d. Optional: Include a link on your Blogger account to your social bookmarks page (change the template settings - directions are available)

I have no idea what social bookmarks are, but I like the idea of the students making links on their blogs to the websites or the books (via Amazon) they are using for research.
Of course, I now plan on finding out what Social Bookmarks are.

3. Bloglines Digital Newspaper
a. Subscribe to at least 5 different RSS feeds using your Bloglines account.
b. Submit your bloglines feeds URL / website to our class assignments/reflections database.

Again, I'm not sure what a blogline is. Is it something I could use in the classroom?

Deliberations

The school requires goal-setting from its teachers. This is great. I have spent two weeks deliberating on what goals to pursue this year.

One of my major objectives this year is to integrate technology in relevant ways in the classroom as part of the Reading and Writing curriculum. Part of my goal is to integrate blogging and podcasting; consequently, I will be blogging questions and discoveries here in this blog and keeping track of things I have looked at, tried, or want to look at or try.

Another part of my goal is to use and keep up the class website. Class websites is something new for the school this year. I hope to have the students contribute to the upkeep of this website.

Here are sites I want to look at more thoroughly:
Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Education World
Integrating Technology
Integrated Technology Lesson Plans
Teaching Today: Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Teacher Education Institute: Integrating Technology into the Reading and Language Arts Curriculum

Here are blogs from students who took or are taking EDIT 5342 - Advanced Integration of Technology into the Curriculum at Wayland Baptist University
Edit5342
Edit5342 (different from above)
EditComputer
Edit5342 (a third one)
Speed of Creativity