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Hello world!
May 26, 2008 | | 6 Comments
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May 26, 2008 | | 6 Comments
Welcome to Edublogs.org. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
6 Comments so far
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A reflection on lifelong learning.
If you’re not engaged in some aspect of lifelong learning, you are surely aging very quickly. To be stuck in old knowledge or an unchanging state of mind about oneself and/or the world, is stagnation. What makes Web 2.0 exciting and challenging is that you have to take a risk with new technology and produce some understanding of it for other people to see. There will be progress, struggles, and failures. It sounds like a classroom! Students are at various times progressing, struggling and failing. The most challenging aspect for any learner is to take the risk and push yourself to try something new. The results might be awful but more than likely you learn something really important because of it. It has been a teaching goal of mine to create a community of learners who are not afraid to take risks. Or at the very least, to be afraid but take the risk anyway. I want my students to not see me as “the checker” in the room. I want them to be “planful,” head off in some direction, and make decisions along the way. If I can model how to be a lifelong learner, then I am doing my job. Surely, I cannot be an expert in every topic. I can try to be an expert in metacognition and teach strategies for different kinds of work. It takes strong listening skills to hear what your students are trying to accomplish. By listening and understanding them, their work is validated. When students feel validated, the work becomes authentic.
Thoughts bout Web 2.0
My first reaction to all the tools available in Web 2.0 is how could there possibly be enough time for the upkeep of all this gathering, posting and reflecting of information. But the more I think about it, the more I realize how much time is wasted because so many people are doing things in a mechanical way instead of virtually or digitally. For example, why spend time and resources making copies of classroom materials when everything can be posted somewhere. Students can access what they need as they need it. So much time is wasted on so called accountability in schools: teachers writing lesson plans and answering to administators about curriculum matters. By keeping a blogs and wikis of classroom activities, principals/administrators can access those sites and get a more realistic idea of what’s going on in any given classroom. Teachers would be freed from having to give updates and could focus on setting up the learning environments described in the article.
It is clear that the potential for learning is tremendous. The curriculum could be integrated without having to set up meeting times. The most exciting thing about this kind of thinking is that it truly differeniates learning by allowing students to work to their level in reading and writing. Just as important, it energizes tasks by giving student work authenticity. If you are keeping a blog that has to be updated regularly, you are going to care about how you write. One teacher in the article states that she likes the conversational style of writing inherent in blogs because it leads to more indepth writing as opposed to formal essays and other traditional school assignments. I couldn’t agree more.
The sooner we, as teachers start thinking like this the better. Our classrooms need to be work environments that are infused with purpose and meaning. The possibilities are endless.
Thing 4
Blogging has the power to change how reading and writing is done in schools. It provides a space for sharing opinions and has no choice but to bring out the persuasive essayist in everyone. The main topic of a blog is kind of like the “essential question” that holds together the work. Everyone is answering “the question” and brings his/her personal viewpoint. The conversational style is the complete opposite of toneless school writing. If everyone has a voice, the ability to “publish” as in a writers workshop becomes so easy and vibrant. Everyone gets to share at the same time. Everyone gets a chance to make a meaningful experience out of the topic. And it doesn’t end because like-minded people can go on to collaborate on project work. The article on SSR was very interesting. It really shows the power of the medium. Of course, kids want to see if they had any comments posted on a topic. And the way that you read when reading a blog is different as well. The narrow columns encourage speed reading which is extremely important when you are overwhelmed with information. The ability to find what you’re looking for quickly has to be taught formally to build reading comprehension. By having public discourse, it forces the writer to become more proficient to participate. It has built in incentive.
Hi Joan. Ok no fair, you’re a writer”). I just wanted to blog you. I was successful in putting a link into mine and I thank you for blogging me. I feel like my brain is creaking open. We’re going to do this!
So my husband says I’m “commenting” not blogging you. Aaaah yes, I have a lot to learn. He’s rolling his eyes”).