How to Develop Self Esteem--wikiHow

I searched for a wiki on self-esteem. I found this "How To" manual that you can edit during my search. After reading the article, which provided an interesting example for developing self-esteem (buying a pair of jeans), I was relieved to see the comments included on the discussion link. I was happy to read that others were slightly confused, too. Additionally, it was nice to be able to read the authors' comments to the readers. They defended or added clarification for what they included. Their example was odd to me, but they did include positive self-talk and taking care of yourself before you can help others, which would be two for the most meaningful tips for someone looking to improve their self-esteem.

WikiTeach edited lesson

Here is the lesson I edited:

http://www.wikiteach.org/index.php/Wikiteach/WikiteachWriteMgr/action/edit/iVar/204

It's a basic reading comprehension lesson that would be on an appropriate grade level for my MoID students. I spent quite a bit of time looking for something that would also benefit them. Most of the lessons I looked at were beyond the academic abilities of my class.

John

(JoHoNew on WikiTeach)

Edmark Sight Word Unit (Using flickr)

Here is my unit for teaching some functional academics to my students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities (MoID):

http://www.wikiteach.org/index.php/Wikiteach/WikiteachWriteMgr/action/edit/iVar/245

Any suggestions or edits will be appreciated!

John

(I am 'JoHoNew' on WikiTeach.)

Topic3

My lesson plan link…
http://www.wikiteach.org/index.php/wikiteach/action/lessonplan/iVar/242

I wanted to explore an area where I could create a private wiki. Out school District has blocked all wiki’s due to the social nature of these sites. J Although, everything is wonderful and worthy of educational merits, school boards in Ontario are potentially liable for allowing the freedom of speech on their networks. Currently, we are investigating private social networking products offered by epals.

If my lesson plan I wanted to find an appropriate wiki space and have it ready as part of the lesson; hence, I discovered wiki spaces that allows for private posting abilities, students could be added by a teacher through their current epals email addresses.
http://www.wikispaces.com

Template
http://autobiographylesson.wikispaces.com

Finally I thought you might want to look at a discussion board I found on assessing Web2.0 wikis from a university in Scotland…
http://ewds.strath.ac.uk/ConferenceSessions/Discussionfora/tabid/90/view/topics/forumid/25/Default.aspx

It was interesting to follow their discussions on the difficulty of marking collaborative work on wikis and their solutions.

Edit Wiki on Wikiteach – After visiting the link above I added the idea of a reflective journal as a great way to evaluate student learning and experiences of wiki’s.

http://www.wikiteach.org/index.php/Wikiteach/WikiteachWriteMgr/action/edit/iVar/228

OLPC~~One Laptop Per Child!

During my research on wikis, I ran across the The OLPC Wiki (One Laptop Per Child), which is dedicated to the idea of cheap laptops for children in primarily developing countries. Originally, the idea was to develop and sell laptops for $100, and while the current target price is about $200 per laptop, the hope is that the cost will indeed drop to the $100 level by sometime in 2008. The five core principles that are espoused by OLPC are 1) child ownership; (2) low ages; (3) saturation; (4) connection; and (5) free and open source.

The basic concept is to market the laptops directly to governments. The OLPC was created by faculty members of the MIT Media Lab, and is now led by Nicholas Negroponte. The idea is to engage these students more directly by the use of a machine that has an operating system stripped down to a bare minimum and little mass storage. I was extremely excited to see that the project is still alive and well. The concept is outstanding and I hope to see it come to fruition soon.

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Home

In addition to the OLPC wiki, I ran across a great, short (less than four minutes!) video describing what wikis are and how they can work. Check it out…it really clarified wikis for me!




John

Wikibooks

While exploring for wikis related directly to the high school curriculum, I came across wikibooks. This wiki is a free collection of open-content textbooks that any person can edit. If you browse wikibooks by subject you will find a list of just about any subject that can be taught in any school. For example, if you click on mathematics, you get an entire list of textbooks that cover math in one form or another. It may not be a book devoted only to math; it could be a science book that covers some type of math in the area of science. Wikis, like wikibooks, could be an excellent additional resource to all teachers in supplementing their current curriculum.

Educational Technology Wiki

As I was exploring the different wikis available, I came across this wiki dedicated to educational technology or instructional technology. While exploring this wiki, I typed in several topics to search. For example I searched “podcasting”. It gave me a wealth of information on what it is, its history, how it could be used in education, and provided a list of other useful links related to podcasting in education. A wiki like this would be beneficial to me as an instructional technology coordinator in locating information when learning about new educational technology. This wiki could also be used by my teachers to explore ways of using educational technology in their classrooms.

Descriptive Writing

Here is the lesson I added information to. I do a lot of descriptive writing and felt a certain amount of depth had to be added. I was unfamiliar with some of the software being used, but felt by adding elements which are more familiar to educators might enable them to use the lesson regardless of the software being proposed.

Wiki Wiki Where is the Wiki?

If the purpose of a Wiki is to develop and build a breadth of knowledge from various members of the Internet International Jet Set in regards to a given topic, why is it that much of what I visited seemed to have no rhyme or reason in regards to adding facts that develop the body of knowledge? In addition, many of them asserted opinions and a list of ideas or better yet running logs on given topics. No wonder I haven't spent much time on looking at this technological avenue. I will give credit to the person who developed the Wiki for which I am posting a link. It is a nice resource, but there is no body of knowledge that supports the reliability for the suggestions and ideas shared as actually developing the knowledge of a child in regards to the terms and ideas often found or discussed in children's poetry. There is no structure for the development and implementation of how to teach poetry to children although some of the links provide ideas for doing just that.

Calssroom Blog

This site has a variety of Blogs with different topics.....very creative.....and individualized....

Wild Classroom

I thought this was a very intresting Podcast site....It is for the Science Geeks.....it appear to be very intresting, especially for the generation that we are dealing with now....

Math Blogs

Again, because I am a math teacher I decided to search for math related blogs. It is amazing how many blogs are out there. If there is something you want to talk about, there is blog for it. I found a site that I have used often that had blogs on a variety of subjects. At www.artofproblemsolving.com there are all blogs on all kinds of topics. There even some blog where you can talk about nothing at all.

Podcasts

I am a math teacher, so I chose to look up podcasts related to math. I found this site called mathgrad.com. It has lots of podcasts that are about mathematical topics. I listened to a couple of the podcasts that were about solving certain problems. One of the ones I listened to was called the Famous Monty Hall Problem which discussed the probability of chosing the one of three doors which had the sports car behind it. There were several podcasts that had very intersting topics.

Even if you are not a math nerd, check it out.

Learning French online

A parent wants to give his son on-line lessons in French (their school switched to Spanish this year) and he has asked me for recommendations. I thought that this site http://frenchecole.libsyn.com/ would be appropriate for him. It has a variety of lessons for beginning learners of French language. Vocabulary sheets are also available. The disadvantage of this site is that it does not offer video clips which can be an effective learning tool in learning a foreign language.

French Lessons

The "Rocket French" site, while the courses seem to be mainly centered around a working "traveling/vacation" use of the languages, does have a couple of grammar/pronunciation/translation/common phrases (etc.) sections under the German and Spanish language course pages that your students might find useful. Look under "Free Lessons" and "Other Stuff" from the left menu once you have selected a language from their main page The French course page is VERY lengthy but fairly complete in its description and filled with testimonials. It's interesting if you have 30 min. to kill. Here is a direct link to their main page:
http://www.rocketlanguages.com/

topic 2 "Podcast For Educators" weblog

The blog that I chose is “ Podcasts for Educators” Weblog. It contains news and updates from the podcast directory for educators, schools, and colleges. This blog includes several great podcast channels for teachers and students to explore, website links, previous posts, as well as archives are also available for exploration. The one slight negative comment that I have about this particular blog is its aesthetic appeal. This blog wasn’t very visually inviting. Other than that this is an excellent blog packed with tons of very useful information concerning blogs. Check it out.

http://recap.ltd.uk/podcasting/weblog/blog.html

topic 2 Hurricane Katrina Podcast

The topic of the podcast that I chose was Hurricane Katrina. This podcast was a very educational, informative, and heartfelt memoriam for all the lives lost in the devastating hurricane. The podcast was created by year 4 and 5 students in Appleby Primary School located in Nelson, New Zealand. The students are learning new was to communicate using podcast. I chose this particular podcast for several reasons. New Zealand has some of if not the best school systems in the world. I wanted to see what the best were doing with technology in their classrooms. This podcast was not you average podcast created by elementary students. It was polished, creative, professional, entertaining, and well executed. Another great thing about this podcast is that Bloom’s Taxonomy of higer order thinking skills were incorporated throughout the production. This podcast is an excellent example of how podcast should be done in schools. Way to go students and faculty of Appleby Primary School!!!!!!

http://allanah.podomatic.com/

French Language

From blogs, I can select programs of commentaries, songs, news, and films to enrich students’ vocabulary, to improve their listening and comprehension skills, and to enhance their oral and writing communicative skills. Karaoke songs are fun to learn in French. They tend to be a little simpler and slower, therefore easier to comprehend. This Lion King video for example has both French lyrics with English translation. http://www.thefrenchcorner.net/

topic2 blog Kathy Schrock's Kaffeeklatsch

Kathy Schrock is a well known and trusted voice in the field of educational technology. I wasn't surprised that she would have her own blog where she's discussing the most current and topical issues in the world of technology. She calls her blog a "kaffeeklatsc" which is described as an informal gathering to drink coffee and chat. This chatting takes place across the Internet rather than in a coffee shop, but it's just as relaxed and effective. Congratulations to Ms. Schrock! On September 17, 2007, Ms. Schrock posted that Edutopia just named this blog one of the"10 Edublogs They Love."

Web 2.0

When I watched the podcast of Web 2.0, I surely didn't expect to see Scotland in tiny print, nor hear the voice of a native. Did the idea of Web 2.0 originate in Scotland? Some parts of the podcast were hard to understand; probably due to the difference in culture and accents.
I did get that it is a great communication bridge, and that if we want the kids to "behave," then the use of technology, computers, IPods, pod casts, etc. would be the way to do it.
I tend to believe that statement! We have Smart Technology's interactive touch technology in our school. It's like a huge screen television. When there are images, sounds, or any other kinds of movements going on, I have their undivided attention. It's like they get entranced and they will do anything that I say.
The trick is, though to keep the content active, fresh and alive, or they grow tired of it and lose interest...and they can do that quickly. It is a good thing, I know, but then we wonder where all of the ADHD comes from!!

Blog Search

I began my search on the Internet for the ultimate, most inspiring, and relevant, blog web site for this assignment. Being a "digital immigrant" first generation, I found myself aimlessly "surfing" the net. Most of the well designed sites required subscriptions, and free sites often proved to be unsubstantial. After many hours of searching, I finally came upon a site from a NECC 2004 Conference. It provided numerous examples of student blogging. I am a very visual learner, and this site enabled me to view a variety of various forms of blogging, done in the classroom. As a result, I gained more of an understanding regarding blogs. It also has another section, which is an initial tutorial for educators in beginning a weblog. The one disadvantage of this site was the 2004 publication date. However, this was an insight into the fact that the NECC was encouraging and promoting blogging three years ago for educators. However, in many instances, it is still an emerging technology in school systems.

Link: http://itc.blogs.com/necc2004/2004/09/elementary_stud.html

Podcasts in the Elementary School

This site brings us to Long Elementary School in Dearborn, Michigan. The school is extremely active in publishing student podcasts which incorporate multi curriculum areas. This web site demonstrates the students integration of technology with literature and writing composition. The three interactive podcast stories are composed by students across the grade levels, demonstrating collaborative learning in the project. The students are involved creatively in all the aspects of producing the podcasts through illustrating and narrating the stories. The final products represent vodcasts with the inclusion of audio and video components.

Link: http://long.dearbornschools.org/podcast/Long%20Elementary/HOME.html

smARThistoryGeneral Musings about using Technology to Teach with Images

This site was a great way to explore the possibilities of technologies place in art history classes. The authors seem to be very informed about various programs that can be use to make examining art interactive. For example, they reference a site called voice thread that allows you to make voice comments about a particular image. This would be a great way o have students examine a work of art at their leisure, then share their thoughts about it.

Welcome to Art Room 161

This site is done by an AP high school class. I think the teacher has the same idea that I had already thought about; technology can be used to allow art students to reflect on what they have created, as well as a way of explain their process of creating. The teacher has the students post an image of their artwork as well as a "tag" or comment about the work. The comment can be a reflection about the work or an explanation about the work. The teacher also allows students to make comments about other students work. This way, students become the teacher, helping each other to improve their work. Students also are afforded multiple feedback, rather than being dependent on the teachers' viewpoint.
As art teachers we often times neglect the area of assessment or reflection in exchange for sheer lack of time and the ever pressing need to have our students produce artwork so that we can illustrate to others that we are teaching our students. However, in falling into the trap of expectations from other teachers and administrators, we do a dis-service to our students. We don't give them time to internalize what they have done or express to others the what or the why they have created a particular work of art. The teacher that has created this blog has afforded his students the opportunity to share their thought process. This sharing of ideas allows the view of the artwork to understand that art goes far beyond a visual image. It illustrates thought!


The author of the site might want to consider making the site a bit more eye appealing consider it is a site that artists will navigate to.

Kathy Cassidy's Blogmeister

I explored several blogs, but I like Kathy Cassidy’s the most. I like the way she has it layed out and the maintenance of it as well. She has several ideas represented in the blog in which the students are able to express their comments about. I also like the fact that because of so many different labels, it attracts many different types of viewers. She has volunteers to come and help with learning the Smartboard. I also noticed another teacher in another country asking her class to view their page and make comments as well. I get the feeling this is the way a blog should be used to achieve its greatest usefulness.

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337

Division Podcast

Understanding continuous division podcast

http://www.mathgrad.com/podcasts/mgp2-20-06-sharing.mp3

This is a math podcast to be used in the classroom. I liked this podcast because it is one that can be used to help explain division. He seemed to give clear concise explanations of how to share (divide) equally and exactly what that meant. The students should be able to listen to this podcast in a class setting or at home with extra help needed for homework.

The Digital Divide

This is an interesting blog about bridging the digital divide. It is the world's largest blog for those interested in bringing technology to the forefront of education. You have to join in order to participate but it is free. Lesley University is not on the list of organizations that participate... I joined under my CGHS.. the high school were I teach.. It eye-opening to read what others are saying all over the world.

Teaching Math and Remediation

This is a great resource for those who teach students with math deficiencies. It offers several FREE math programs and ideas from other teachers in the same situation. It’s great to share and learn how others are addressing some of the math deficiencies that I have noticed in students.

topic2 science

Do you like reading about strange happenings in the world of science? Like a spider web that covers over 200 yards, 600 people fell ill after a meteor struck outside a small village, or why are the honey bees vanishing. These are just a few of the interesting things you can learn on this blog.

Puzzling Problems-Problem Solving

This is an excellent way for students to utilize problem solving skills as well as communication skills. Students can solve and post mathematical problems (there are various levels from novice to expert). If there are mathematical terms or concepts you do not understand, a link to an online math dictionary is available for use. There is also an emphasis on showing how to solve the problems. Problems that are not solved correctly are posted the next week.

One thing I don't really like is that although I have navigated extensively on the site, since there are new problems posted each week, it would be nice to have the solutions. But, then again, sometimes it is best for students to continue trying methods to solve problems instead of just giving them the answer. Overall, I would definitely use this with my students.

Here's everything! Podcast,Vodcast,Blog,Weblog, etc

Art Pod cast:
Sheila Samuel ECOMP 7010

Art Node Podcast
http://www.artnode.org/projects/artpod/
This was really neat. I had never seen this concept before. They had their page with a white background, and a black I Pod in the middle with interactiveness on the menu buttons. You could select several podcasts to watch. It wasn’t elementary school, or school “high worthiness” but to get an idea of what can be done with something that has such a high appeal to kids already. I could see how the use of the IPod icon being used, and podcasts more appropriate for younger kids uploaded to them. The paint over, one of the pod casts was similar to a video game. It took place in a paint can filler assembly factory and it showed how the paint was made, put in the cans, lids sealed, put on the conveyer belt and shipped out in trucks.
The second one I watched, and without sound once I heard them “howling” was the Man who strayed. Dumb!!! I guess they will let anyone who has the capabilities set up and upload podcasts to the server!! You have to look at that one just so you can get aggravated!

Incredible Art Blogs
http://drawn.ca/
http://sketchcast.com/ (The Actual Site)

Above: Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog
I was guessing that this “Drawn!” would be a “blog” like the one we have to set up. I tried to choose one in my general “arts” related area. I read the “about” the site info, and it is a site to offer daily “inspiration” to artists who just want to draw. I may bookmark this blog and visit it when I have some leisure time.
It is awesome. Go to sketchcast.com.You log in, get a new “page” and draw on the screen…right then and there. Save your image and simply upload it to the blog, send to friends, communicate with people. They are calling it a “sketchcasting” pod!! They may be onto something. I have to read further details, but I’m wondering how I could make or use something like this with kids.


http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/links/blogs.html#pods



Vodcast:
Sesame Street Video Podcast (Word on the Street)
http://video.podcast.com/
I also teach kindergarten, and at our school, we try to keep them up on using the technology that we have available as well. They are no strangers to technology, even as young as they are. Ask any kindergartener how to operate a dvd, mp3 player, video game, IPod, computer, and they can tell you better than you would have ever hoped for. It’s the time they are living in. The world is high-tech, and they are “born” right into the throws of the technology revolution.
I was a little thrown with the differences of the kinds of vblogs, blogs,vodcasts, etc. So a vodcast is a video and sound broadcast? Am I right?
As always, Sesame is delightful and entertaining. The format is just like on tv. It has changed over the years, the images are crystal clear, they went out on the streets, and interviewed kids teaching vocabulary then showing word then image so that kids can link the two together. It uses Brian Williams as an anchor reinforcing the word of the day on Sesame Street. Great for student to world connections.

Weblog:
Tony Peters Art Weblog
http://www.tonypetersart.com/blogs/index.html
First of all, I have to say what an amazing artist. His artwork was moving. I love scenes like that. It reminded me of Edward Hopper’s style…realistic and having that lonesome feeling, but at the same time the work stands strong. Tony Peters, and many other artists are using weblogs to get in touch with the public and spread the word of their art, relate to others, share their visions and creations in the art world. Kids would be too young to do this, but I could see some serious high school students designing a blog of their work and getting the word out about their talents. Even though the design of the weblog was simple, I was hoping there would be a comment box or something, more interactive buttons. There were a couple of his links that did not work. But overall, it too is worth the look.









Color Magic: video podcast

I just made this in the spring of 07 for one of my classes. It is short, simple and to the point. I used my Skype headphone set, my digital camera, some props and Windows Movie Maker and made this color mixing video for my “little ones.” It is posted on You Tube. Below is the URL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZRXJuoa-s0








Mixing Colors
Grade 1
Ms Samuel

Intro: Did you know that all colors are made from three main colors? They are called the primary colors, and they are: Red, yellow, Blue


Task: We will learn how to mix the primary colors to make three new colors. These colors are called secondary colors, and they are orange, green and purple.



The final project will be to use the primary colors to make secondary colors through teacher lead demonstration and hands-on color mixing sessions.

Process:
1. The teacher will put children into groups of four.
2. The children will then work together while watching my video podcast I have uploaded to You Tube. Here is the URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZRXJuoa-s0




4. When the demonstration is over, students should have three primary colors and three secondary colors.
5. Students should also be able to describe what primary colors had to be mixed together to get the secondary colors orange, green, purple.

Elementary Mathematics Instructional Vodcast

I really and truly LOVED this vodcast. Prior to this assignment, I was not that familiar with them, especially to use them in my classroom, but I will definitely be using this one as a start. I love the colorful illustrations and bright colors that are used in conjunction with teaching the different mathematical concepts. The various topics would be most useful in beginning a lesson or using them as lesson grabbers. The animations that go along with the explanations are most beneficial to all learners, especially visual learners.

Topic 2 - More Blogs

Topic 2

Blogging in Education- View the two examples below

1. Classroom Example of an excellent blog…

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337

Wow what a beautiful way to showcase your students work on the web! Take a look at a teacher who takes time to share and promote her students through the web. I’m sure the parents visit the site and have a real appreciation of what the students are doing. It provides a visual to the old question “What did you do at school today?”

2. Excellent Resources on technology for all teachers. “Learning.now”. It opens a great discussion board on all aspects of computer technology. Our focus on school safety includes the issue of cyber bullying and I was quiet interested on the post “An Open Letter on Cyber Bullying”. I think this is an excellent example of open communication professional adult can have using a blog.

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/

Topic2

Topic2-
Podcast
http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~magps/boylit/MP3/boy%20lit%20curriculum.mp3

The topic of Web2.0 I selected was podcasting. I found a wonderful website based on the Ontario curriculum which provides insights on how teachers could engage boys in literacy. Podcasting was listed as one of these methods.

Podcasting was described as a tool which could be used in the delivery of curriculum and a perfect fit for the reading, writing and communication expectations. It addresses the concept of how students will relate, retell or reflect on a particular concept or topic.

The following strategies were provided to get the teacher started…
1. Have students plan, and memorize (or closely memorize) their scripts, this will help students have fun and sound great.
2. Organize visuals and begin with a timeline on a data projector-give natural breaks during the recording.
3. Set up small groups with a variety of responsibilities.

Final Comments
I will share this resource with our Language coordinator. We just replaced half of our Windows 95 machines with XP in our elementary schools and installed Audacity on those machines. This is the first year we have the capability to do podcasting with our students. Its excellent resources like these that help move the project further!
Webpage
Podcasting in Education
http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~magps/boylit/Podcasting%20in%20Education

Looking for blog links. Look no further!!

http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers

That is all I have to say. Check it out!!! HUGE!!!

Jonathan Orr

Topic2 Blog Assignment

Blogs
Written by: Bryan Tonini

The Fischbowl
http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

This blog was developed by Karl Fisch as staff development blog for the teachers of Arapahoe High School. The blog seems a great way for teachers to interact and give ideas back and forth. The main blog has links to other blogs within the school such as class bolgs. One of the topics I felt was particularly interesting was the best of the Fishbowl (blog) 2006. This topic was where Mr. Fisch chose the most interesting blogs of 2006. He mentions that he chose the blogs not only due to the topics but also due to responses.
This blog shows that not only can blogging be used to promote student to student communication but also teacher to teacher communication.

Special Education Blogs

The following are some of the blogs I have found in my search over the past few days. I have attempted to provide blogs from the teacher, parent and legal perspectives. Teacher blogs are important for professionals to be able to connect and discuss the wide range of special education topics available. The parent blogs are essential reading for parents as they learn to be proactive for their children and be able to obtain the best and most appropriate services for their children. The final category is necessary because unfortunately, our litigious society often pits the school system against the parents or vice versa.

1.) Special Education Law Blog
"A special education legal resource discussing case law, news, practical advocacy advice, and developments in state and federal laws, statutes and regulations. Postings include insight and sometimes humor from Charles P. Fox, a Chicago, Illinois attorney who is also a parent of child with special needs, and other guest authors." ~from the blog site

http://specialedlaw.blogs.com/

2.) Special Education Law Blog

http://specialeducationlawblog.blogspot.com/

3.) Special Needs Education

http://specialneedseducation.suite101.com/blogs.cfm

4.) families.com
Education Blog | Special Education

http://education.families.com/blog/category/134

5.) Best of the Web Blogs: Special Education

http://blogs.botw.org/Reference/Education/Special_Education/

6.) Teacher Lingo

http://teacherlingo.com/blogs/default.aspx?GroupID=24


John Newman

Educational Podcasts

Some of the podcasts I found sounded as if they would appropriate for my students who are juniors and seniors in high school and functioning about two standard deviations below 'average' (Moderately Intellectually Disabled~~MoID). The title for the podcast section was 'independent living' and is a topic that is very germane to my students and their families, as one of the goals for many of them is to indeed, live independently. However, upon closer inspection, these podcasts were not appropriate for my students, as they were quite a bit above their intellectual level.

Here is the link:
http://dafc1885.audioblog.com/rss/independent_living_podcasts.xml

It definitely appears that my area of interest is wide-open after perusing the Educational Podcast Network, as there were few podcasts that would be easy for me to work into my students' programs. I hope to continue to see if anyone else has begun development of a library of podcasts for students requiring continuing work on living, social and vocational skills or functional academics for MoID students.

John Newman

Blogs for Teachers

Written by Jonathan Orr

Blogs for teachers. Again a shameless self promotion, but you can check out my Anatomy and Physiology Blog portal. What makes a blog portal different than a blog. A blog portal is a website that allows me to host individual blogs for all of my students, instead of all of us sharing one blog. The company I used to create my portal is 21publish. It is here that my students reflect about what they have been learning and reading in anatomy and physiology. It has become a very productive learning environment with multiple comments occurring. In my opinion if you want to get students to read, make them publish their thoughts on a blog. Then they must link to the sites where they are getting their ideas, and they cannot write intelligently about the sites until they have read them.

Now I am looking down my RSS feeds in Google Reader, what do I share??? Here is a list of blogs I read about technology in education.

• 2 cents worth - David Warlick
• edu.blogs.com - Ewan McIntosh (I had pizza with him and Marco Torres on the last day of BLC07)
• Ideas and Thoughts from and EdTech - Dean Shareski
• Think:lab - Christian Long
• Webblog-ed - Will Richardson (I was tech support for one of his sessions at BLC07)
• Practical Practice - Dr. Tim Tyson
• Educaiton, Science, and Technology - Jonathan Orr (ME :)

I recommend any of these sites to teachers and administrators.

Just for fun:

Hello

I don't think that I correctly "labeled" my post the last time, professor, so I will enter it again heere. I just saw at the bottom of the text area the "labels for this post' section. I kept wondering why others had the little bright green "topic2" and I had nothing. Here goes!
Sheila

Our City Podcast

Our City Podcast was created by children for children (with the help and support of parents and teachers). The students submitted recordings about the city they live in (along with pictures and wikipedia information). Readers are encouraged to send email feedback to the students who created the podcast. I enjoyed the conversational tone of the the broadcasts. It was apparent that the students worked very hard on producing a clear, concise broadcast. This is a great alternative to encyclopedias for learning about other places, especially from a child's perspective.

Audiobook Podcast & Blog

This site includes audiobook podcasts and blogs for 18 1st grade students. The students shared their stories along with information about themselves ("About the Author"). The site included a teacher description of the activity which was a part of a library project. I thought this was a great way to allow the students to improve fluency and receive feedback from others about their stories. I am sure the families, along with other family members and friends, enjoyed listening to their child's creativity (and voice).

Blogs

How exactly, are you supposed to limit to one particular blog? I don't know.

Beyond the NYTimes I haven't found an author who I am willing to read over and over again. But I've tried to complete the assignment, and I find it pretty exciting to see the possibilities and extensive work people are doing. When do they get the time?

Brian's Education Blog
At first I thought I might have found something worth a check with this blog from Brian Micklethwait, but it kind of follows my initial thoughts of "when do they get the time" His most recent post was August 27, and before that was January 2005. Not to say that things he has (or had) to say are not relavant anymore, but I'm sure some of the issues will change, and I believe the currentness of the blog, and comments are what make it more powerful.

For much more up to date blogs, I think I will be subscribing to:
Cool Cat Teacher Blog
and
Education/Technology - Tim Lauer
I can't really comment much more than to say they both have current, September, posts and look to be very readable.

Educational Vod/Podcasts and Bl/Vlogs

The topics of pod/vodcasts, bl/vlogs are not new to me but as a special education teacher, I guess I have spent much more time concentrating on topics such as data collection and functional behavioral analysis that I have kind of put this type of technology aside. I know typically in the past year and a half when I have been assigned tasks such as this one, I do the work necessary and then later try (if it applies at all) to apply the tasks to whatever I can in my classroom. I thought I would be doing the same with this activity. However, after researching a few blogs and pod/vodcasts I found a site that has inspired me to try some new ideas within my classroom.

For both requirements for this activity I found a website sponsored by an Australian Public School called Orange Grove Primary in Western Australia. This is a K-7 school which uses the web to display virtually all aspects of school life. The two areas that I found most appealing were the blogs and pod/vodcasts sections. I was especially fascinated by the grade 4/5 areas since those are the grade levels that apply to my classroom.

The pod/vodcast section for the month of August is centered around National Reading Day. The year 4/5 students took a book and created a website for this book. The students interviewed the author of the book they chose. Those students turned their interview into a vodcast for students all over the world who are reading this book as well. This was very inspirational to me because it gave me so many ideas for ways I could apply this to my own language arts and literature classes. The students were engaged and genuinely interested in what the author, Elaine Forrestal, had to say about the book.

For the blogs portion of this assignment I also chose to use the year 4/5 Orange Grove Primary students' websites. These students took the book that was chosen for National Reading Day and developed a website that gave chapter summaries, displayed their artwork surrounding the book, and blogged their own reflections for each summary. This was a great way for students to share their thoughts and make inferences and comparisons about the rest of the novel. Many of the goals and objectives in my students' IEPs are geared toward these very same standards. This would be a fun and exciting way to fulfill those goals and objectives.

I team teach science with a general education teacher who is rather technologically savvy so I would like to try this with him first. I think it would be very helpful to have another person to bounce ideas with and troubleshoot with. We could use this technology in our constellations unit as well as our upcoming food chain units. This can seem overwhelming and stressful but I think if you were sharing the responsibilities it might not seem so overwhelming.

Here are all of the links in case one of the hyperlinks do not work:
http://www.ogps.wa.edu.au/room_3/
http://web.mac.com/nationalreadingday/Site/Welcome.html
http://web.mac.com/nationalreadingday/Site/Interview_with_Elaine_Forrestal.html
http://web.mac.com/nationalreadingday/Site/Chapter_Summaries/Chapter_Summaries.html
http://web.mac.com/nationalreadingday/Site/Chapter_Summaries/Entries/2007/7/25_Chapter_1____.html
http://www.podkids.com.au/index.php?post_id=251469

Thoughts, Podcasts and Vodcasts

So, it took me a bit longer to determine exactly what I could share that would be worthwhile. I have listened to various podcasts for a few years now, specifically the numerous NPR shows and Slate.com offerings. One of the downsides of living overseas is the lack of English language radio. I remember when CNN Headline news started airing while I was in Mexico, and what a treat that was, truly, I was very happy. But really, anyone who has watched Headline news knows how often they repeat stories and the limit of the depth just gets depressing.
I've tried using short wave radios to catch VOA or BBC, but you have to know the time tables and frequencies to keep up and it becomes a chase all the time to listen.
Podcasts in this case are brilliant.

I had a hard time finding video podcasts that I could use with students. I have a technology & design class and decided to look for things that I might use with them. I found:
Videos of How Things Are Made
I downloaded a number of episodes and decided that about half would be useful for me in some instances. There is a bridge building explanation that explains in pretty good detail the structure and details of bridges. However there is also a "how clocks are made" video that won't really be so useful. All the videos are sized for the iPod which won't be so helpful in class, but possibly students will be able to view them independently.


TedTalks

This one I found on iTunes

Each year, the TED(Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference hosts some of the world's most fascinating people: Trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses.

Of course the writeup will sound better than the actual show, but the one I watched (John Maeda) was pretty good.

Hope you all find something interesting also.