Literacy & Technology Instructor's Edublog

Reflections from an Instructor

As time has passed, I have reflected on my students' use of weblogs during fall semester 2003.  The students have moved on to their student teaching experiences and will graduate in May 2004-just weeks away.  As I think of these pre-service teachers who will be in-service teachers very soon, I am excited that the students had the opportunity to learn about and use weblogs with Anne Davis.  To quote Anne,  "It's all about possibilities."  The students learned that thinking of teaching and learning in new ways will open up possibilities in ways we cannot anticipate.  Opening my students' minds to new possibilities has been the number one benefit of the Newbery weblogs project.  Although there were glitches along the way, students realized that problem-solving is a necessary skill in teaching and were able to think through other ways to use weblogs in their classrooms.  The suggestions given at the end of the semester have helped me learn and grow as a teacher.  I will definately use weblogs again in teaching, but will take new knowledge with me about what works best. 

 

Four of my students from fall semester are now completing their student teaching requirements in The Netherlands, England, and Sweden.  When I read their journals, I see how open they are to the possibilities of teaching and learning.  I know their experiences with weblogs enhanced their ability to see those possibilities.

The highlight of the entire project was the field trip to J. H. House Elementary on November 3, 2003.  My students were able to see many, many examples of the use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning.  We observed current events, music, art, language arts, and many more areas of instruction.  My students were interviewed by a group of students taught by Anne Davis.  These fifth graders using weblogs were able to talk with my students about their work.  Isn't that what it's all about?

reflection on the edublog process

I really enjoyed reading each chapter of Number The Stars and then commenting on it. I thoroughly enjoyed other readers' remarks and opinions.

I see a need to have the course instructors set tighter goals for comments and replies. Some of the cohort students were very interested in this project and followed the suggested goals. Others did not complete the assignments or didn't bother until late in the semester. Those of us who properly finished the assignments on time unfairly saw the deadline extended, therefore justifying the delay for those who didn't bother. I would have future cohorts be held more responsible for this kind of assignment. Either deduct points for lateness and non-completeness, or assign points for on time readyness and completeness of the assignment. TOM PLETZ.

Initial end-of-project thoughts

I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks reading and re-reading the posts the students have made on their Literature Circles edublogs.  The best part of this project from a university level, for me, is the number of students that we have gotten involved in actually using weblogs in a way that they are able to see that this could be done with their students when they are teaching.  Having them actually take on all of the roles has been a bit overwhelming to them but it has really made them think about just how they could or should manage it with students.  It also has giving them the opportunity to be in their students' shoes as far as the different roles are concerned.  They have probably learned that some roles will work much better in the classroom and some are much better online. Having students comment on each others posts has provided good feedback and given them a feel for the power of comments.  They have been able to share other good links to websites, they have agreed and disagreed in a professional manner, they have asked questions of each other and gotten good answers, and even though the students found it a little difficult to have to post on every role I think they agreed that the process has authentic value for them as future teachers.

I think the edublogs also provide an avenue for the Georgia State University professors to see areas in students' writing and thinking that could be improved. It gives them an avenue unlike any other - sort of a window to peek into the thought processes of a teacher-to-be as she/he is reading and learning. Weblogs enable them to see the understandings of their students. The more I use them, the more benefits I see.  Now it does take time to sit down and sift through all that but what an incredible way to improve our own program.  You can see strengths and weaknesses in a unique way.

This group of students were great at asking questions about passages they did not quite understand.  They also questioned topics in the books that they felt were too difficult to be introduced to younger children.  They wondered how to handle discussions about sensitive topics and in some cases even questioned if they should.

Connecting the elementary weblog group with these students also added a lot to the project.  As Mary Beth commented, "I thought our tour of House Elementary showed a great example of how the proper use of a student run Weblog could greatly benefit a school. It encouraged student writing and gave complete ownership." Mary Beth would not have been able to make this connection if you were not participating in a weblog herself!

Blogging iin educational settings is not just keeping a diary or a journal.  It is much, much more than that.  It really gives you a way to focus on writing and thinking, I'm pleased with this edublog project.  These are initial end-of-project thoughts.  More later, I'm sure.

Making Connections

One of my favorite roles to read are the connections made by the students....

Joan in "Bridge to Teribithia"....

This entire chapter reminded me of Christmas time at my house.  Before Christmas everything is so crazy, but when Christmas day arrives everything just falls into place.  Everyone is enjoying each other's company and just hanging out.  At my house, Christmas time is about getting together and celebrating with family.  I feel that this might have been the same at Jesse's house too.  I really enjoyed reading this chapter because it related to my own life.

Jessica in "Holes".....

In chapter 26, the people of Green Lake kill Sam, a black man, for kissing Katherine, a white woman.  The citizens  believed that it was a sin for whites and blacks to be involved in relationships.  This type of racism was the way our country was only 40 years ago.  People were segregated and prejudice just like in the book.  I'm glad that I don't live in a society that is still like that.  Both in the book and in the past, white people would kill blacks sometimes for no reason at all.  I'm happy that I live in a time when people are open to diversity.  I think that it makes you become a better person to be open-minded to diversity and to celebrate the differences in people.

Brenda in "Missing May".....

In chapter 7, on page 54, Summer says "I saw that grin on his face, that glint in his eyes, and I knew that Ob had suddenly found himself a reason to get out of bed in the mornings, at least for a little while longer." This passage touched my heart. It makes me realize exactly how people feel after they lose a loved one. They feel as if they have no reason to get up and go on each day. Ob looks at Cletus as his savior, his survival. I think sometimes people come along after a loved one has passed in different ways. Sometimes a person will meet another mate to share their life with, and sometimes that savior comes in the package of someone like Cletus. As comical as it may seem, Cletus is just what Ob needs to continue on.

Jamie in "Number the Stars".....

In chapter 3, on page 24, Annemarie's mother says,"Friends will take care of them.  That's what friend do."  This phrase was in reference to what would happen to the Johansens if they lost everything, just as Ms. Hirsch with her button shop.  This made me wonder which of my friends would step up and help me if I were in a time of need such as this. People always assume that nothing bad, such as occurences in this book, would ever happen to them.  I connected to this passage because if made me realize that aside from all of the great belongings I have in my life, my friends and family are the most important asset I will ever possess.  Reading about difficult situations in books forces one to connect to that situation and reflect it in their own life.  This book would work great in a classroom for students to recognize how thankful they should be for their friends, family, and country.

Sandy in "A Wrinkle in Time".....

As Children we have this fantasy that our parents are all knowing, super-human beings. I did not figure out that my parents were not all powerful and knowing until my first year of college. Children figure it out at different times in their lives. Usually it happens when there is a traumatic or enormous change in your own life that we realize that our parents only know so much. Meg was upset with her father because he did not make everything better the second he was rescued. She was still imagining that that her father was going to make all the bad things go away and take them back home, then live happily ever after. It isn't until she realizes that her father can't do everything that she can value her own potential and abilities. -

Erica in "The View from Saturday".....

Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I am a giver. I love to give cards, gifts, and I am always sending someone a note of encouragement or just simply "thinking of you". As I read about Ethan's quest for a gift to take to Julian's tea party, I was reminded of a gift that I recently bought for a baby shower. Ethan knew want he wanted to get- a puzzle. When he went into the store, he found the puzzle that he wanted to get. The white circle puzzle was the one he wanted because it would be challenging to put together. When he asked the store clerk for the puzzle, Ethan just couldn't find one that was in stock. As a result, Ethan ended up with the pink heart puzzle with the small red piece in the center. The gift that I wanted for the baby shower was a leopard fleece blanket, which woud go perfectly in the baby's jungle-themed nursery. I wanted to make this baby a blanket out of leopard print fleece on one side with black fleece on the other as an accent. I already had the black fleece, but every fabric store in metro Atlanta (and beyond) was out of a pretty pattern of leopard fleece. I tried and tried for days, getting more frustrated than Ethan ever thought about being, but I had no luck. I didn't find the fleece in time for the shower, but don't worry- that baby's getting a blanket for Christmas (I've already gotten the fabric)!  

Michelle in "The Giver".....

So many people, even those in college, don't know what they want to do with their lives. I like that about this book, the students did community service and got to pick the areas they wanted to do it in. This idea really gave them a chance to start finding what might be right for them later on in life. Although I don't think we should force this idea on students, maybe we, as teachers, parents, adults, sisters, or brothers should suggest this idea to the young ones in our lives. Even better, maybe we should model this idea for them.   Suni in "The Witch of Blackbird Pond"..... I think it is amazing how hard it is for people to see outside the box.  In chapter 9, pg. 89, Mr. Kimberley, the schoolmaster, condemned Kit for allowing the students to act out the bible as a learning strategies.  Because her idea was new and fresh it was frowned upon.   Kit's experience reminds me of all the ideas and inventions that were ridiculed at first, but later turned out to be great ideas.  Education, for example, is one of those ideas.  When the idea of higher education was first introduced, many people did not see the benefits of it.  They felt that if they could survive with a 5th grade education then why did they need to go to middle, or higher grades.  Today, however, education is very important, and a person may need higher learning in order to be successfull.  I think Kit was doing a good job of not thinking like the ordinary and doing things differently.  She was smart to see that children needed different strategies to learning. What do you think of the importance or unimportance of thinking outside the box?

Learning From Each Other

See here and here for my posts on my EduBlogInsights weblog about Literature Circles. This past week I have been giving lots of thought to the Literature Circles weblog. Students are making good observations. The requirment of two posts and two comments per week is not a lot but the students are frustrated by having to focus a great deal on what they will be posting and this is somewhat taking away the pleasure of reading. Hmmmm. I wonder how it is with the Literature Circles in the classroom. Do students in classrooms feel the same frustration? Also, these books are short for the most part and we adults are used to reading quickly through them. Students in classrooms, on the other hand, seem to enjoy a chapter a day. They anticipate what will happen next and look forward to hearing the book read by the teacher.

I am intrigued with their responses on the idiom searcher and the word wizard. They seem to get a lot of joy out of discussing the words. I have been surprised at some of the words that they do not know. Maybe online it would be better just to focus on vocabulary and make it fun. Maybe not. The die is not cast yet but I feel that we are learning a lot.

I see a lot of thoughtful observations from these preservice teachers on how this might apply to their future classrooms. They have found wonderful web sites that go with the books. They are coming up with many good things. Do we need to just get past the "piecemeal aspect of this type of weblog and focus on what these preservice teachers are learning. Lots of questions, lots of things to think about.

I am very glad that Nancy Peralta is trying this out with a younger group. See The Circle. I am going to share with her what I have learned so far and it will be good to see how her younger students do.

One thing I do know. We need to do more of these type of projects with preservice and inservice teachers. We have these preservice teachers thinking about what they are doing and that's what's important.  We need more of that. It is so wonderful how weblogs let us share the journey and learn from each other.

Weblog Requirements Negotiated!

Today in class we discussed the requirements for our Weblogs.  Reading roles and the tweaking done Friday by Anne Davis and Lynne Jordan were discussed and copies of revised reading roles were provided to cohort members.  The guidelines for comments seemed to be clearer.  Students agreed that two postings per week for a total of fourteen postings is reasonable.  Students will post in each of the eleven departments over the next seven weeks with target ending date of November 18.  Comments may be made on any post or comment with a total of fourteen comments required.  A final post will be expected between Newbery Presentations on December 8 and the final day of the semester on December 12.  We continue to look toward the goal of making weblogs a part of our teaching and learning.

I Think We're On to Something! LQJ

I have spent a  while today looking at all postings and comments as a follow up to my meeting with Anne Davis on Friday.  Because Weblogging is something I've wanted to do for such a long time, I'm feeling on top of the world when I see these postings and comments.  I see how the project has evolved and grown and changed, and I realize this is how learning and teaching should be.  For example, I'm looking for idioms and using idioms like never before ("on top of the world").  We added a department called Idiom Searcher because a student suggested it.  I've learned a great deal from my students in this project, as well as from Anne Davis, of course, that would have not been possible had we not undertaken this project. 

My goal is to have my students realize some of the possibilities of weblogging in their own classrooms.  I'm working now on ideas to make this type project manageable and worthwhile for classroom teachers.  I can certainly speak from my own experience with this first attempt at weblogging --my eyes have been opened in ways I didn't anticipate.  It has, and continues to be, worth the time and effort!

An Intriguing Sample of Newbery Postings

The View from Saturday by  EL Konigsburg

An interesting discussion  follows after Pamela makes an excellent connection post called Competition.  The comments really make you think.  How do you feel about competition?  Good or bad???? Share your thoughts.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Joan's discussion director post entitled What You Value is good.  She moves on to think about her role and others as an encourager to students. I bet many of you out there could give some encouraging thoughts to these teachers-to-be.

Missing May by Cynthia Rylant

Brenda's passage master post named Summer in Wonderland points out a passage she loves. She's not the only one who liked this passage.  See the comments and let us hear yours!

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Sunni asks What is a Pillory? on her Word Wizard post. She notes 

"I had a suprisingly, hard time coming up with a good sentence using pillory.Can you think of any other good sentences using this word?"

Can you help her out by commenting and giving a good sentence with the word pillory?

The Giver by Lois Lowry 

Michelle has a good discussion director post called Age where she wonders about everyone turing the same age in December.  She asks, "How would we suffer from it?  Got any thoughts for this group?

I'll post more another time from some of the other books.  It's interesting to note the roles that the students use more - discussion director, passage master, and connectors initially have been used the most.  Wonder if they find those easier or what?

Comments from those reading this would be wonderful so join their EduBlog and jump into the book discussion or simply comment on what they are doing.  It's fun!

 

A Shift to Blogging the Journey

I am really excited about this particular project.  Yesterday Lynne and I met to put our heads together about our Literature Circles EduBlog.  Now this weblog will shift to become a blog of our meetings, our reflections, and whatever else comes up that seems to be appropriate.  This is my first opportunity to work with a GSU instructor who is willing to make the time to learn how this will work for students.  By that I mean, meeting times where we put it all out on the table, look at it, discuss the process, tweak it here and there, and make decisions based on what we feel will be educationally sound ones for the pre-service teachers. 

By the way, the students are a great group. If you haven't been following along on some of their postings on their Newbery winners, you're missing out!  We are asking them to do at least two posts and two comments each week. I love reading their posts and comments.  Please think about joining and commenting to them.  The University group love hearing from others outside of their group.  They're no different than we are but I think it motivates them and helps them see how you can extend your audience.  So comment away!  I know many of you love good books and these are books you need to read to your children!

Last week was really the first week, even though we had test driven it a little the week before.  Lynne and I worked at making the Reading Roles a little more definitive for the students. See here. Lynne will be going over those roles again when class meets this coming Monday. I like this kind of work where you keep working on making sure it works.  These students are great about giving feed-back to us.

We're juggling making this work for their group as "up-and-coming" educators but always with a mind toward thinking "How will this work for elementary or middle-school students?"  Now I just have to spotlight a few of their posts in my next post!

EdBlogger Praxis - A must read!

Albert Delgado runs a weblog called EdBlogger Praxis.  It is a wonderful site for educators.  It full of links to a wide variety of educational weblogs.  As you continue your journey learning about weblogs, this is a must read.  It is one of the best, no, it is the best site for an overall view of educational uses of blogs in education. He even  has lots of information on various applications other than Manila.  (You don't need to worry about that now, but later you will want to know more.) We all appreciate the time and effort he puts into providing this service for us.  It is a site you want to bookmark.

Al wrote this in response to a post I sent about what all of you are doing with your Literature Circles EduBlogs:

"This is exciting from a classroom teacher and technology perspective. What is great is your student's being open for others to chime in. I hope edbloggers who visit our site will visit your site!"

Thanks, Al!  You're making a difference!