Benefit of Blogging

     I never knew I would love blogging so much!  At the start of this project I was hesitant to begin, thinking that it would a pain to set up my blog.  However, with blogger it could not have been any easier.  I love the customizable widgets that you can choose from and the colorful templates as well.  It was so easy to create a personal blog without actually having to do much work.
    Over the duration of this project I have come to love blogging.  I find it very therapeutic to blog random thoughts and discoveries (I know I am late to the blogging crazy).  Just knowing that there are people out there to share you findings with is an interesting revelation.  It’s an amazing interconnectedness.  It’s not unlike facebook in that fashion but it somehow seems even more personal (can that be possible).  I think because with blogging you are able to find your voice in writing. It’s not small tweets or tiny quick updates on facebook from your phone, but instead it is your thoughts, fears, questions, and insecurities all written out for the world to see.  When you create a blog you have to find you voice all over again.  What kind of blogger will I be?  Will I be friendly and encouraging?  Cynical and jaded?  Helpful but aloof?  Should my blog be me or another version of me?  So many questions abound but so many answers lie in the act of blogging itself.  Who knew so much could be gained from typing with the hopes that someone is reading.  Who knew Doogie Howser would start a phenomenon?
     If you are interested in starting your own blog, I heavily recommend blogger or word press.  As I already stated, blogger is easy to use and it makes blogging quite simple (I have heard the same for wordpress).  If you are looking for helpful resources, I would recommend A Beginner's Guide to Blogging and How to Blog Effectively.  If you get started on a blog and have any questions feel free to drop me a line and ask any questions.  I'm off to grab some lunch and then maybe more blogging...

More Tweets

I wanted to show you that I am still alive and tweeting.  I think the problem is that I do not have a phone with internet capabilities (I mean, yes it can surf the internet, but I'm too poor to use the data plan feature).  Without a phone or mobile device, twitter loses some appeal.  Especially now that facebook has moved into the "what are you doing right now" territory.  On that note, it's funny how the competition amongst technology powerhouses like twitter, facebook, google, etc have motivated them to continue to evolve.  In this fast-paced culture it seems that you either evolve or you get left behind (R.I.P. myspace).  It's weird to think that somewhere out there is a small start-up company that will one day topple google.  It doesn't seem possible but that's what we said about yahoo...

Anyway, here's what I have been tweeting:

 

I'm going to call on...

So, this next discovery is a little random, but really quite useful.  Now, this isn't exactly web 2.0 technology but I had to share anyway.  Do you ever have the feeling, as a teacher, that you always call on the same students?  Looking for a fun way to get everyone involved in the discussion?  Check out classtools.net and their random name/ word picker.  You can type in the name of your students or upload from another document.

Add the names of the students from your class

Next, you can choose the template you want to use: typewriter or fruit machine.  Then, it will scroll through the list... 

Scrolling through your students

 and then randomly choose one of your students.

Viola!  You have your next student "voluntold" to read the next passage, answer a question, clean up the lab, or wash your car during their recess.  Again, this is not really a web 2.0 tool but it is a fun discovery nonetheless.  Hope you like it!

Writing without Boundaries

Below is a sample of something I made using write board:

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I have also used google docs in the past, especially when it has come to grad school.  It is a marvelous tool that has changed the way I do group projects.  I think before there was always a hesitancy to work in a group to complete a project simply based on logistics and time.  Now, you can work with others without leaving your home.  Google docs and other word processing tools are changing the way we collaborate.

A past project created with Kirstin, Leslie, Patrick, and myself

As stated above, this changes everything in the world of education.  No more will students fear working together.  No more will one student get stuck typing up the final draft while the other group members encourage on the sidelines.  And what about tellecollaboration?  Students can work together who are miles and even countries apart.  They can create a document, edit, and share with the world around them all while learnning about team work and other cultures.  What a fantastic web 2.0 technology!

Google Doc Art!

This video is too cool!  Apparently three artists wanted to show the capabilities of google docs and thus created this video using only google docs.  Pretty fun- thought I'd share.  Let me know what you think!  Ahh technology...

Google Docs and Writeboard

Are you familiar with google docs?  It's an amazing tool that makes collaboration a snap!  Google users (and non-google users) can create a document and then share it with others giving all invited members the authority to add, delete, and edit the document with all changes being able to be tracked.  This document lives in cyber space and not on any one person's hard drive.  How could this be helpful?  Remember being in school and the pain of having to find a time all of your group members could get together to work on a particular project?  Well, with google docs that is no longer a problem.  Simply invite all members of the group into a google doc project and they can edit and tweak the paper to their hearts content. 

Writeboard is similar to googledocs in that many users can create and edit a document together.  The big diference is that unlike googledocs that constantly saves and changes your original document, writeboard continues to make new pages so that users can see the changes made to the original document and go back to earlier version if necessary.  Students do not need a google account in order to use this which is another advantage.  Only those invited by the creator can view the document.

Some helpful links and other fun resources on online word processors:

• Google Tours- A walk-through guide on how to utilize google docs
• Google Doc Help- Have questions on how to use google docs?  check here
• Zoho Writer- Another online word processor

Middle School Moodle Mayham

Now try saying that five times fast....After telling you all about Moodle, I wanted to show you how you can use it in your class.  One of the best ways I have utilized it in my middle school English class is by having interactive message boards with the students.  The students love it and enjoy interacting with one another while getting to discuss literature from class.  Once the students have signed in to the Moodle, I had them read guidelines for Moodle use (midddle school kids can be mean when they think they can hide behind the Internet)

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Next, the students need to select the appropriate board topic:

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Once they've chosen the correct topic they will see the prompt question:

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Now that students understand the topic or posting directions they can begin posting answers and even responding to one another.  You can organize your students by period or even let them discuss amongst your classes.  Other teachers at my school who teach across grade level created a telecollaborative  Moodle by allowing older kids to help younger students with homework questions.  It's pretty neat!  And best yet: the entire site is safe and monitored by you so that the kids have a safe place to interact, blog, respond to message boards, and more.

Sample student work (without names of course):

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Also with the Moodle, teachers can:

• Make quizzes/tests (that are self-graded)
• Create posts where students can upload documents
• Design a calendar of upcoming events
• Have students upload projects/presentations
• Create web pages and wikis students can access from the main moodle site
• Establish a database of student info

Moodle would be  agreat way to create a telecollaborative project between schools as well.  It would require some planning on the part of both teachers but a project similar to the flat classroom project could be housed on the moodle while providing a unique opportunity for student growth and development.