It's a Blog eat Blog World or Thing 2

Who would have believed it? I have turned into a blog addict! It's not that I post so much, but that I have been busy reading all my co worker's blogs. It is SO interesting to learn what they are doing with their students. I am determined to have each of my 46-Hmong 7th graders blog this 4th qtr. They can do it. It will really help them develop their English literacy as well as full sentence development. I think they will really enjoy this and have fun reading each other's blogs. In reading Kevin Hodgson's article entitled: "Bringing the World to My Doorstep: A Teacher's Blog-Reading Habits" I have realized how reading blogs as well as blogging has really changed my life. I feel that my teaching focus has sharpened. I appreciate what others are doing with their classes; I think up more creative activities piggy backing on my co worker's experiences. I love checking to see who has added to their blog, especially my daughter & son-in-law who began their blog on 7/4/08 in order to keep more in touch with family all over the US. After all this time, I am beginning to "get it". What we have been learning in our MILI classes is about the tools of the trade; RSS feeds, delicious, etc. so we can use these tools to not only make our lives easier through higher order organizational skills, but to also teach these tools to our students to help them better prepare for their high school years! When I read about what other teachers are doing, I gain confidence that I can also do these things with my very nice, agreeable willing to work students that I have known & loved for 5 years. Students can really make a difference through blogging as evidenced in the Darfur Project mentioned in the article. I still need to practice and get some of these things down better but I can now see how I can use online tools to become a better teacher. Hmm this is called "social media literacy", interesting. I heard on TV today that email is just so common nature. I guess it is, but it is more or less one on one, unless a person is doing a mass school/business email or a sales type of email. With blogging people can read current as well as older posts to get the big picture. A person can go back and reread previous posts. It can all be done online w/o having to print a thing. I like that as well. We can read each other's "Thing 1's & 2's" in order to gain deeper understanding. It's sort of like having a conversation but without being face to face or on the phone. We bypass the visual and get down to the cognitive. I like the quote from the "Summer Professional Development" article about how using an "RSS reader can save you substantial amounts of time & helps you stay better informed about the topics your favorite websites address." Now I can really use both of those items - time as well as being better informed. I remember a college prof. talking about media literacy the summer of 1976 when I was earning my technology certificate in the summer from the U. We've tried to teach media literacy to students in various forms throughout the years. I don't know how successful we have been. We as Media Specialists have had to wear too many hats to survive in this district. The buck stops with us. Having been involved with both TILT & MILI has really helped me to grow professionally. I really want to be part of MILI next year as well, if that's possible. I feel as if I am finally "taking off" and don't really want to stop. I need to continue with my learning until I feel more comfortable with it. Now I need to work on RSS readers. The best thing about technology is that there is so much free "stuff" for teachers. It is pretty incredible. I will have to readdress some of the questions in this thing after work tonight. Currently I envision blogs being used in education the way we are using blogs with each other. I have learned so much from the insightful articles from Exploradora and Information Woman as well as DWR and others. I have another pineapple upside down cake to take out of the oven. Stay tuned for part 2 of Thing 2.


I like the quote from the "SUmmer Professional Development - Pt. 1 - RSS