June 21, 2009

Warlick Chapter 3

I should probably be more encompassing when I blog about a chapter instead of just one of the topics, but this chapter is full of a lot of information, and some of it is starting to be a review from the Richardson book and learning that has taken place in class, but I do want to mention that I am very interested in podcasting. I think that I will incorporate it into the literacy classes next year. We will have students practicing their fluency by preparing short stories, poems, etc., for podcasts. I don't think they will be published. I don't really see a need to publish them. So I guess in a way we are not podcasting, but creating audio files. Then teachers can listen to those audio files to see what fluency problems the students are having. I can work with a student and record them doing a reading fluency progress monitoring probe. Then I can play it for teachers to teach them how I would analyze the probe to determine what the student needs to work on before the next fluency check.

Flickr

The difference I see between Flickr and AP images and clip art is the difference between web 2.0 and web 1.0. As far as I know AP images and clip art don't allow interaction with commenting and asking questions to find out more. Whereas Flickr is interactive and can be used in a classroom privately for students to comment on digital images produced or found by other classmates. The main problem I see with this is that looking at digital images, commenting on them, collaborating etc., has no correlation to achievement tests. So in my literacy coach position next year, I don't think I will be using Flickr. We will be too busy trying to increase reading rate and comprehension of written text, which I think is more important than manipulating pictures. Isn't it interesting how our focus can change based on the position we hold in a school. If I was going to be the teacher-librarian in a school district, I would be more interested in Flickr, but now that I am going to be a literacy coach, I have decided I need to focus on other tools.

Chapter 6 The Social Web Learning Together

In Richardson's introduction is my favorite line from the chapter, "Because of these tools, we can build complex networks of resources to tap into, allowing us to find more information, more teachers, and more learning." p. 86. I am more interested in diigo as a educational networking site than twitter. I think I can convince more educators of the benefits of diigo's bookmarking tools than twitter. One has to start somewhere, and I don't think twitter is the thing to introduce first to teachers who may not have any experience in web 2.0. Diigo on the other hand allows educators to share good websites, good information, etc. I don't have my head wrapped around all of the ins and outs of Diigo yet, but I will. It is a tool worth learning and sharing with other educators.

RSS for News Searches

I forgot to mention my favorite piece of learning from the chapter. RSS Feeds for News Searches. The fact that I can find out when a topic that I care about is in the news the day it is printed, is fantastic.

RSS Where have you been all my life?

I feel like I have been missing out! I had heard the term RSS and it had been explained to me before, but it didn't really sink in until I read this chapter and we set up Google Reader. I am fascinated by the idea of a personal learning space. I just had an interview today to be a literacy coach for a middle school. They asked how I would communicate with all of the teachers I would be coaching. I told them face to face of course, but also digitally. I told them I would probably set up a blog, and I would have all the teacher's subscribe to it. I could post all the information that they needed there. I could have links to research articles that I wanted to share, a calendar of important dates, and the teacher's could leave comments and questions. I hope that it made sense to the people I interviewed with. Then I would see which teachers really like the blog, and I would help them set up RSS feeds so that they could set up personal learning spaces or environments. I got the idea from reading the Girls Write Now Blog and website. It seemed like a very good way to communicate to the group like I mentioned in my last post.

Comparing 2 School Blogs

I don't think this blog is a "school" blog, but it was on the list. It is http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog/ and it is the blog of Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach who has strong credentials in education and technology although it took a bit of clicking to find them. My only complaint is that the title is not very specific as to what the blog discusses. It is 21st Century Learning. The purpose of the weblog is clearly stated on the website, but not until I read some of the posts, did I begin to understand what the blog was about. Once, I did, I enjoyed it and found myself reading longer than I planned. Her blog seems to be read by many people, and she receives two or so comments with each post which I think is a good indication that people are reading her blog. I read some of the comments, and they do seem to indicate that they believe she is an expert in the field of 21st century learning (which I know I would have to read more posts to understand her definition of 21st century learning.)
The other blog I looked at is http://sarahpuglisi.blogspot.com/ Sarah is a teacher and a prolific blogger. She has many resources on her blog for teachers, readers, artists, and writers. She also uses the blog for social information about her life as well, but it is nicely connected to her overall theme of living life to the fullest. She has cancer, and as she says it doesn't define her, but it does define her perspective on "A day in the life."

Comparing Two Education-Related Blogs

I looked at Weblogg-ed Learning with the Read/Write Web, and I do subscribe to it because I feel it has very up-to-date discussions that are relevant to 21st century literacy. I like that Richardson creates links within his blog to further provide information on vocabulary, concepts, and programs that he is discussing. The layout is easy to read.
I also looked at Girls Write Now Blog which I knew nothing about prior to opening it. It is easy to find out what the blog is for. Under the about link, there is very straight forward information about Girls Write Now. The organization is in New York City, and it partners mentors who are accomplished women writers such as magazine editors, journalists, novelists, etc. with high school girls. The purpose is to provide role models, and to assist the girls in their desires to attend college. I learned all of this in just a few minutes. So the blog is very well organized. It is a good example of how an organization can use a blog to communicate to its members, attract volunteers, and provide assistance to its members without having face to face meetings. http://www.girlswritenow.org/gwn/blog/1

URL FOR TEACHER LIBRARIAN BLOG

http://shmsmediacenter.wordpress.com/

Contrasting Blogging to Journaling and Writing

From Chapter 2 of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts by Will Richardson

The connection or new learning for me while reading this chapter is the difference between blogging, journaling and writing. If someone had asked me before reading this chapter, I would have said all were the same thing, skill, and task. I WAS TOTALLY WRONG! Here is what I now understand about the differences of blogging, journaling and writing.

Blogging is a genre, a process of thinking in words. In other words, what I am doing write now. Blogging can be a reflection. It is collaborative and connective writing. In other words it is a conversation. The skills that it takes to blog are different than journaling or writing. A blogger must consider the "world" audience when creating their post. A bloggers goal is to start a conversation. Blogging is a synthesis of the content that the blogger has read, and the blogger may provide links to that content. Blogging can increase the following skills: critical reading and writing skills, increase information management skills, and evaluation of sources.

Again, before reading this chapter, I would have said journaling and blogging are the same. Journaling is similar to a diary. It is a more finished and final than a blog. This happened today, and that happened yesterday. This type of writing doesn't change and evolve with new learning taking place among the people reading it. It is social, and a good task, but not really blogging. This reminded me of a teacher-librarian blog that I found while looking at library websites for my Information Lit. final. I've attached this one here. It is called a blog, but is it really? Especially the twitter feeds on the left. I don't know. Do people really want to know that the school librarian just ate some macadamia nut cookies? I don't know how I feel about that much information on a library web page. Maybe someone else has an opinion on that for me.

Lastly, writing is a monologue according to Richardson and again blogging is a conversation.