Blog Entry 3- “Writing to the World” The Many Benefits of Student Blogging

References

Ramsay, J. D. (2014). Writing to the World. Educational Leadership, 71(7), 54-58.

Summary

All teachers know by now, competing with technology can be difficult task.  But Julie D. Ramsey took matters in her own hands.  She analyzed what elements appealed to young learners.  Her findings found: communicating, sharing, and debating with others; connecting with others at any time; and almost provides immediate feedback on the experiences and ideas they share.  She implemented this into her class through the use of Kidblog, which provides safety settings and insightfulness. 

Before blogging, students had a discussion with the teacher on the purpose of writing, and grammar and mechanics.  The discussion took time and scaffolding from the teacher, but after they established “writing is simply communicating a thought to someone else” and “realized that editing was crucial for an audience’s understanding.”  After establishing expectations (expectation thoughts) with the help of the students, they can begin blogging.  Ramsey does not set a length requirement, but it must clearly communicate their ideas.  By the end of each week, students must post at least 2 entries.  Before students post, they can share their drafts with a peer to receive feedback, or students can always go back into their original entry and resubmit their post.  Another nice feature of Kidblog, it allows teachers to write private comments to students.  Teachers can easily support students outside of class hours through private commenting.

Moreover, this can be a great way to formatively assess students, and create small groups of re-teaching.  This is where Confer App can be very beneficial.  

One of the biggest benefits of blogging is making the students writing authentic.  At first, students in Ramsey’s class just begin blogging with peers in the class, but after time and practice she connects students “with peers in different grade levels, content areas, or geographical locations.”  Since students write to an actual audience, students spend more time and effort into their writing.

Reflection

Ramsey mentions setting up the blog can be overwhelming, and she has about close to 1,000 posts and comments to review each semester.  One thing she mentions is scheduling a different due date for each class.  Then she confers with students to give them the individual support that they need.  So, as a teacher of about 80 students this is doable.  After time and patience, students will have control of their learning and get individualized support.  They learn the importance of how to clearly communicate, and also implementing other skills such as evaluating, synthesizing, and analyzing.  This is a must for any teacher teaching writing in their classroom!

Blog Entry 2- "Avoiding the Digital Abyss" Important Technology Features for the Classroom

Reference
Mullen, R., & Wedwick, L. (2008). Avoiding the digital abyss: Getting started in the classroom with YouTube, digital stories, and blogs. The Clearing House, 82(2), 66-69. Retrieved from http://library.aurora.edu/login?url=http:// search.proquest.com/docview/196844606?accountid=26354

Summary

This article, “Avoiding the Digital Abyss: Getting Started in the Classroom with the YouTube, Digital Stories, and Blogs”, highlights a teacher’s use of these three tools to enhance curriculum, prepare students, and provide students time for positive collaboration.   Even though this study takes place in a much smaller district/school, the technology is comparable to what my school has now (computer lab with access of Internet and Microsoft Office Software and a few computers in each classroom).   The article reviews the simple uses of these simple tools that any teacher would be able to apply to the classroom.

YouTube

In this article, the teacher Rebecca Mullen, uses the Internet site YouTube for vocabulary, grammar, and to have students record their songs and/or dances which is privately posted on her account.

Digital Stories

Mullen used the Center for Digital Storytelling Web site for her 8^th grade students to focus on telling stories with the use of pictures, either their own pictures or via Google photos.   Mullen mentioned it is more important to focus on the story before deciding on pictures or video clips.  Microsoft Movie Maker or Microsoft Photo Story 3 are software that is available to create these digital stories. 

Blogs

According to Merriam-Webster a definition for blog is, “a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks” (2008).   Mullen used Blogger for her middle school students.  Before the students set their blog up, they watched an informational video about blogs and read a variety of online articles and blogs.  She had her students pseudonyms and can only post when she is logged in for safety.  Students used their blogs for book recommendations, respond to and discuss current events, and comment to their peers.  Also, Mullen used it for posting homework, classroom calendar, podcast lessons, and reflections of students. 

Reflection

In all, it is important for all teachers to close the digital divide by using tools such as these mentioned in the article.  YouTube is an easy way to incorporate technology to the students and to enhance their learning.  After reading this article, I realized I need to save the videos in my favorite sections so I or students can easily access them again and again, if needed.  She provided other sites that have videos for teachers, but mentioned YouTube has one of the largest databases.  As for the digital stories, this is something I have used before when I started my teaching career, but has moved away from and using more “TED Talks.”   I believe some students would highly enjoy creating a digital story and posting it on their blog.  Equipment and time are needed from the teacher and student to utilize this tool.  Lastly, as for blogs, this is something I most certainly want to use in my classroom, but using it efficiently to enhance curriculum is something I want to ensure.  If students did not have their own device, this would be difficult to implement in the classroom.  Since we are moving to 1 to 1, it will be easier for students to learn technology skills having their own blog.  But my BIG question is… what is the best blog software out there for teachers who have 75 students or more? 

Future Ready Schools: Preparing Students for Success

Framework . (2017). Dashboard.futurereadyschools.org. Retrieved 1 April 2017, from https://dashboard.futurereadyschools.org/framework/framework-overview

Summary

Together the Alliance for Excellent Education and the US Department of Education partnered to help school districts and their leaders analyze how well they evaluate their own leadership and the culture in their schools keeping in the forefront the primary goal that all students reach their potential for success and be able to compete in the global workforce once they graduate.  Through various summits and phases, the Alliance was able to create a framework and compile resources to support districts and the technological change.  The visual framework consists of seven gears around the student learning.  The seven gears are: curriculum, instruction, and assessment, use of space and time, robust infrastructure, data and privacy, community partnerships, personalized professional learning, and budget and resources.  These seven gears are surrounded by a ring of collaborative leadership, and the consistent cycle of vision, plan, implement, and assess.

Reflection…1 gear most important to me

All gears are important and need to be addressed during the road map, but one gear that is most important to me is collaborative leadership.  It is essential that students, teachers, administrators, parents and the community work together to achieve a culture of a forward thinking vision for the importance of technology in learning before any specifics can be implemented and then this outside ring is necessary to hold everything together.

TED Talk: 10 top time-saving tech tips

Pogue, D. (2017). 10 top time-saving tech tips. Ted.com. Retrieved 1 April 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/david_pogue_10_top_time_saving_tech_tips?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=r

Summary

Pogue quickly shows viewers some ways to save time with technological shortcuts or tips in his 5 minute TED Talk.  In the beginning he discusses how we need time, lessons, and certificates for anything important, i.e. driver’s license, marriage certificates.  However, one thing that is just as important, but instead is simply handed to you, is technology.  Everyone is given technology devices and expected to figure out how to use them on their own.  Many people, including young students who have had devices with them since they were young, do not know how to most effectively use them.  So would it be appropriate for citizens to take technology more seriously and require technology classes or licenses?

Reflect…"What is one time saving tech - nique you have found or learned"

All of the time-saving tech tips were very helpful.   I think it would be very beneficial for my middle grade students to watch the video and learn these techniques since most of them have very poor skills for using computers and devices.  From this TED Talk, some time-saving tips that I learned included using the space bar and shift button to scroll on web pages, using Google for unit conversions, and the black and white out screen for presentations.  Another tip that I like to use which was not included in the presentation is ctrl + c for copy and ctrl +v for paste.  When I help students with their work, using this instead of a mouse pad helps save a considerable amount of time.