HPeterman's Blog

Leaving comments was more difficult for me than I thought it should be. Since my technology knowledge is so limited, I didn’t feel I had much helpful additional information to offer. I struggled with what I should comment about. I could agree with many of the thoughts people talked about, but didn’t want to just reply with “yep, I agree.”

I can see the benefits of being able to comment though. If someone read something on my post and has information that may be helpful, commenting allows them to share. It allows questions and thoughts to be shared so the writer of the post gets at least some interaction. Otherwise, it would just be like journaling or talking to a wall. I think the ability to comment is a critical asset.

With my students, I could see where it would be cool for them to be able to read how others felt about they wrote about. If they write a critique over something we read in class, they could see how others kids might feel the same way, or get new ways of looking at it. Plus, the added advantage that they would have to reading and writing (well typing) to this. Any extra practice is always a good thing.

Along with this class, I also have a facebook account. I have to admit though I don’t get on unless someone sends me a message or something. I don’t usually have enough time in my day to think about just getting on to see what’s going on.

Google docs was new to me. I had never heard of this, but what a great concept. For my class, this may be useful when students are working on a rough draft of a writing assignment and have questions or need help with editing. With 130 students, I don’t know if it would be manageable or not time-wise, but it might be worth a try.

I have seen the maps before but hadn’t really played around with it. It didn’t zoom in as close I thought so that’s a good thing. It makes me nervous though knowing anyone can see where you live and what’s surrounding it. I’m not quite sure if I could use this in school but I could use this to help get directions for personal use.

Zack & Tara at Graduation

After the ceremony, Zack came up to see all of the family. His great-grandma, three sets of grandparents, aunt and uncle and their family all came to celebrate. We are all so proud of him, especially his sister. I love seeing my kids together.

One of the sites I find helpful is http://teachers.net/. There are lessons for all subject areas in all grades. It’s a good resource to get new ideas or different approaches to the same content.

Miller’s English 10 Classroom Blog
millersenglish10.blogspot.com
Mrs. Buboltz’s English Blog
blogs.fruitportschools.net/jbuboltz/

I was probably drawn to both of the sites I’ve chosen due to the content area, but found them both to be very informative and interesting. Both blogs had a wide variety of links that, as a student or parent, I would find very useful.

Miller’s blog had a few different items I would like to use. One being an ongoing vocabulary list. Another, “Units of Study,” had videos with exercises to learn skills and other resources for the kids to practice. I thought this was a great idea! I also really liked how students give their reactions to stories read in class. By being anonymous, I can see where it takes the threat of embarrassment or fear of speaking in front of class away. It is more fun and also addicting in a way where you want to keep reading to see how others react. How motivating is that!

In Buboltz’s blog, I really liked all of the resource links such as book idea lists, grammar links, online resources, and class handouts. I could see my blog incorporating many of these tools.

After going through all of the various blogs, my head is swimming with ideas. Now, I can’t wait to learn how to make it happen.

Blogging is something I don’t have a handle on yet  I set one up last year to only end up frustrated and not using it.  One of my goals for this year was to learn how to use it more effectively.    I didn’t really understand the purpose of blogs, or I guess how it was any different than emailing.  The blog I set up would fit under the teacher communication type.  I want to be able to communicate assignments, projects, etc. to parents and students, as well as for kids who are out ill.  My daughter was recently home sick for three days and said she could get on her teachers’ blogs to get her homework.  This intrigued me even more.  I want my students to be able to do that too.

The student blogs also intrigue me.  This would be something I could use with my subject area of language arts.  Instead of typical “book reports,” they could do book talks on their blogs.  Maybe this would give them more confidence and motivation.  With middle school aged kids though, I worry about if they would keep comments appropriate and show sensitivity.  I guess like with many class projects, rules and expectations would be given and expected to be followed.  The article talked about special programs that would allow me to control and filter posts.  This would definitely make me feel more secure.  What happens though for kids who don’t have access to internet use at home? It’s hard finding time during the school day too. I guess an option would still be to hand in responses on paper.  They wouldn’t get the benefit of the interaction though? hmm. Questions start flooding.

After reading David Warlick’s article and seeing the video, I realized I have a whole lot more to learn than I ever imagined.  This is very exciting but also very scary for me.  Technology in my classroom is very limited because I don’t have the knowledge of what’s even out there.  Some things that I am aware of, I don’t know how to use them so I have just made due with what I comfortable with.  The is very sad to me and I can honestly say, I’m pretty embarrassed of that.  I guess that’s what lead me to this class in the first place.  I WANT to beable to use some of the ideas shown in the video but have no clue where to start.  I’m really excited about learning how I can fit wikis, podcasts, etc. into my teaching.