Think possibilities!

Good morning students!

It's early Thursday morning and I want you to know that I have been thinking about you all week!  I am delighted that we have your weblogs created!  Now the fun part begins.  Of course, in order to have fun, we have to think long and hard about the content of our weblogs, what we have to say, and what direction we need to head in our weekly sessions.

I have been reading some very interesting posts from some of my weblogging friends this week.  They make me think.  In turn, I will then write on my weblog and others begin to think about what I wrote in response to a friend's post.  Sometimes I write about something I have read that makes me want to explore and find out even more about what I think and others think.  It's a great way to learn - it's real, it's a way to share and grow with others, and it is an exciting way to learn.  Now I have to be motivated, I have to work hard, and I have to really think and write about things of interest to me. What's great about it is that I am part of a community that really cares about education. You won't believe what our main focus is in our edublogging community - you guys and all the students from many different states and countries.  We view weblogs as a place to give you a voice and we want to oversee that process in ways that will make you good thinkers and continue to develop as good citizens of our world. Writing what you think and writing it well can be one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.  What's even better is that we can have a lot of fun on the journey.

One of my many good edublogging friends is Will Richardson.  Now three of you remember him from our NewsQuest group last year and all of you heard what he wrote about our Wrinkles group a little earlier this year.  I want to share something he wrote a few days ago about what blogging is.....

Blogging (from Mr. Richardson's post)

1. Find and read material that is relevant to your life.
2. Capture the essence of this relevant reading, give credit to its source, and synthesize those ideas into a piece of writing that advances a personal, perhaps greater understanding of that topic. 
3. Publish that writing for response and for perhaps pushing someone else's thinking on the subject. 
4. Read some more.

This is what I wrote on my weblog in response to Mr. Richardson's post:

"Will goes on to wonder if this is really even possible in a school setting.  I'm not sure either, especially when many of the things that are relevant to teenager's lives are difficult subjects for us to just give them  free rein to discuss on a school weblog. However, I think we could steer them to issues that should be important to them and work at fostering interest.  This is why I think a school-wide focus on current events is so important.  A base knowledge has to be built. 

The other thing I'm not sure about is whether the students have the developmental skills or readiness or whatever to actually start "blogging."  I think we have to oversee it in our school settings and that means we have to have control and make sure the content fits our curriculum. Of course, I'm coming from an elementary prospective mostly. I'd be interested in what you middle and high school edubloggers think.  Next semester we will be letting some of the preservice teachers have reflective blogs during their student teaching. I'm sure we'll hear their voices!

I am going to try just letting my Wrinkles group explore and then write next week. I'm going to suggest that they think of something they have learned in school this year that is of interest to them and an area that they wish to learn more about. They are so used to not really having many choices of what they will learn and the idea of having a voice is yet again another matter. Just that concept alone is mind-boggling for them. They haven't had enough opportunities to write freely. Giving them a voice should not be as difficult as it is in our schools.  I've been thinking a lot about that lately and need to contemplate that much more!

Next week I may need to help the students with sites about different topics and let them choose as our time is so limited.  Most of these kids don't have computers at home. I'm not sure they are ready for this yet but it won't take long to discover that.  It wouldn't hurt to see their reactions, talk to them about it and see what they think. Hmmm, wonder where it will lead.... I just know that when I ask the students the questions, most of the time they have the answers.  I just have to figure out the right questions (not so easy)  and then listen carefully (again, not always so easy)."

So students, for today......

We're going to talk about all this and work on our new weblogs.  Can't wait!  We may try to "tweak" Mr. Richardson's writing a bit and have a model for elementary kids!  Maybe we can create our own dynamic little community and who knows what all could evolve from such a good learning journey. Many say that it may not be possible and elementary students can't do this. What do you think? 

I know I believe in possibilities and mostly I believe in you! Today we are going to think possibilities!!

Wow! Enough said! I better finish getting ready for school!  See you in an hour or so!

Mrs. Davis