Thing #2, Part A

By chughes | Published: October 20, 2009

     A couple of years ago the school district where I teach at required that the teachers and our counselor sign up for a blog and get it up and running by the beginning of school last year.  I designed my blog as a tool for my students and their parents to use to catch up on missing assignments, print off assignments they may have left at school, use the blogroll to access math related websites (since I teach math), and announce upcoming events in my classes.  My blog fits the description of the “teacher communication” blog that the writer of the http://supportblogging.com/Educational+Blogging webpage wrote about.  My blog is basically a one-way communication blog.  (I do, though, have the comments open on most of the pages so that students and parents can ask questions and make comments.)  This was a good way for me to get a blog started and begin feeling my way through things such as making a post and publishing it, uploading documents so that people who visit my blog may look at and print them, and make different pages on the blog so that there is some logical separation of topics on the blog. 
     As I am beginning the 23 Things I am seeing that I need to step out and make my blog an active part in my classes and not just a place to store resources for my students.   I will be looking for ways others have made their blogs active with their students.  I want to keep the resources available for the students’ use as well as stretch my comfort zone and allow the students to make comments, write posts, respond to comments, respond to questions in my posts, allow students to react to prompts, etc.  (As I am writing this I am scaring myself and also thinking of many of the ways I can do this effectively.)
     I like what the writer of the Educational Blogging page had to say about what blogging does for students.  He said that blogging helps our students find a voice, creates enthusiasm for writing and communication, engages students in conversation and learning, provides an opportunity to teach about responsible journalism, and empowers students.   I want my students to have a good understanding of math and how it can be a useful tool in their lives.  They might even appreciate math as they write about it and have others comment on what was written.  I want my students to think, analyze, use logic, and common sense when looking at a problem that deals with math.  Blogging about math may be a start to this process.

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Thing 1

By chughes | Published: October 13, 2009

     I read the article “A Day in the Life of Web 2.0″ by David Warlick a few days ago.  My first reaction was yeah, right.  How would I find the time to listen to all of the podcasts, make my own podcasts, write about the upcoming week and all of the other things that teaching requires?
     Today, I read the article again.  This time my mind was all over the place trying to figure out where I could implement just the few things that the author wrote about.  I think that the web tools that he mentioned would be good to use.  The problems that I am having about what he wrote are that, first, I am not familiar with many of the tools he mentioned.  Second, I cannot figure out how I would get the students to get the practice they need to master the topics I am teaching.  Third, many of the examples that Warlick used have the students expressing their opinion about topics and not necessarily learning facts to support their opinions.  Last, I am actually frightened by the technology that he wants us to use.
     I am glad that I am taking this class.  I want to be familiar with technology that is outside of my comfort zone.  This brings me to the video “Pay Attention”.  I thought that the video had some good things to say.  I know that many of the items that the video showed, in terms of tools used by many teens, are new to me.  I have heard of many of them, but do not know much, if anything, about them.   Many of the tools mentioned are not allowed in school, because of their potential for “evil”.  A problem I have is that I do not know where to use the tools effectively in my class. 
     I am not an adventurer.  I do not seek the front lines nor the cutting edge.  I have not used some of these tools because I do not want to make any major mistakes.  Those who use the tools presented are putting their “work” lives into the hands of teenagers and others who could destroy a good thing.  The article and the video are assuming that the participants will abide by the “moral” technology rules and not use the tools to do things not appropriate for school.
     I am not against using the tools that many of us carry with us everywhere.  I want to make my class a better place to learn.  I want the students to appreciate the topics that I want them to learn about and learn how to do.  I need help and support in being creative and effective.  These tools can be a big help in allowing me to achieve a place for better learning.

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