Thing #10

I have never noticed the "cc" on documents. Copyright is a little daunting at times for me. As an educator, it is difficult NOT to overlook copyright when funds are not always available for each student to have their own copy of something. I like the idea of Creative Commons. It promotes sharing, expanding on ideas, and collaboration. Isn't that what we do now in education? It now has a name and makes it what we have been doing legal.

Thing #9

I found that setting up a wiki is very difficult and frustrating. I hope, with practice, it gets easier. I finally broke down and asked Jennifer Echols to help me - thanks Jennifer. As mentioned in a previous blog, Teresa Wells helped me set up a wiki to use in research to study the Civil War. Our students have learned to post to the wiki as well as to blog about what they had learned. It has been a very frustrating but rewarding experience. They loved it and did an outstanding job. They learned to link and insert pictures to the wiki and blogs. Some of them even responded to my comments and then wanted to see my blog. We have had fun. My wiki page in the sand box is vannkuykendall. One last thing, I FINALLY figured out how to change my background. I have been working on this for weeks!!!!

Thing #8

My first experience with a Wiki was signing up for our library time and I found it very confusing. My second experience was setting one up with our wonderful and patient, librarian, Mrs. Wells to use for research on the Civil War.

I explored every Wiki but there were ones that I liked more than others. I liked the organization of Code Blue where 6th graders were learning about the human body. It was easy to follow and navigate through. It offered many links that would be helpful for the students in their research. I also liked Discovery Utopias. It had "discovery blogging rules" posted by the teacher as well as consequences of any infractions. The rules included safety measures for the students as well as his expectations of the writing. In addition, there were several rules about being "nice" when blogging. The tasks were explained and it was easy to follow. This Wiki had links, suggested books, movies, etc. The students work was creative. I loved the Go West posted by third graders. I liked the way it was set up as well. Each student had an area to research and presented it their way. I could not find what the expectations of the teacher were though. Some students had more pictures and maps while others had drawings. In the other Wikis, the tasks were posted first.

I think that Wikis are a great way to organize research and use as literature circles. I can also see how it can be used with a novel study as in Turn Homeward, Hannalee. I look forward to using it in many ways.

Thing #7

I discovered that I am a lurker. I like to read the information but don't feel the need to post a comment on everything. For some reason, I was nervous posting a comment when I did not personally know the person. I agree with 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on your Blog about not leaving a comment if I must log in. It is not about being lazy, but how uncomfortable I am as it is with my name and password "out there". However, after reading 10 Techniques..., I do realize the importance of commenting and the possibilities of learning more by commenting and receiving the feedback to my comments.

Think #6

I have spent hours adding to my reader. I may have added too many. We will see. This is very addictive and I only looked at the ones from what was posted. It was a little overwhelming when trying to decide what to add. I can't wait to review my reader though. One thing that I did add was the Rotten Tomatoes movie reviews. I never can remember what movies are coming out and what I want to see. Maybe this will help refresh my memory. But, when will I have time with ALL the other subscriptions that I now need to read through. In addition, I subscribed to Children's Books Review. I love children's books and am always looking for reviews before I place them in personal library in the classroom. There were many other blogs that I subscribed to that hopefully will enhance my learning about technology and how to apply it in the classroom.

Thing #5

OK - I must admit that the google reader is awesome. I only had trouble with one thing this time. I must be getting better at this tech. stuff! As I scrolled through the reader, what stood out for me came from three lessons from high school. It was posted from a student discussing his high school career. He talked about how "he lost his will succeed" as a freshman. He found himself in trouble and therefore, skipping school and on his way to becoming a dropout. However, he changes his story and graduates from high school as a successful student. One of the things he talked about was how he learned to value relationships not only with his peers, but with his teachers as well. He talked about the importance of respect and if you show your teachers respect, they will help you in all of your endeavors. It was inspiring to see him change his story. I would like to show it in my classroom to show that even when we make poor choices, we can still turn it around.

Thing #4

I could go on and on reading these blogs and linking to others. As I read them, it struck me that some are like a conversation. You can express your thoughts and opinions in an informal way. In addition, you can link with those who have similar interests. I love the idea of connecting with my students. At our school, we have a book club that meets every week. We are in the process of setting up our blogs. We can then discuss our readings outside the meetings. I love the idea of interacting with our students this way.

As I read the different blogs, I connected to "Why I Don't Assign Homework". I struggle with the concept of homework for our students. I know there are parents who request it but I agree with Dan Meyer. Students who are motivated will return their work while those who are not as motivated, will not. Unfortunately, those are the students that need it the most. They are also the ones who have the least amount of parental support. It is my job to figure out how to motivate the students to want to return their homework.

I also liked the blog, SSR, 2.0. He discusses the change of what we are reading. He even admitted to reading everything but books. By reading blogs and searching the internet, reading the news from the internet allows you to cover so much more. I even find myself listening to books on my IPod to save time. My concern though, is that we might not return to reading books for the rich language that we find in them.

I liked his idea of reading blogs during the SSR time. They could comment on what they read during computer lab or at home.

I love the countless links that can take us anywhere. I agree with Pithy Thoughts, I want to become a professional reader as well.