Weblogs

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Hey check it out I am blogging right now!

I gained a lot of insight to not only what you can find on blogs, but also great ways to use weblogs in a classroom.  I like that this chapter pointed out the difference between what was considered a blog and what wasn’t.  For example, it said that journaling was not considered blogging.   Therefore telling your every move of the day is left more for Twitter and Facebook, which fall under social networking, not blogging.  I have heard some people refer to Facebook as a blog, so I like the verification.  I agree that the instant gratification and communication is what makes blogging so unique.  There is a sense of pride in writing when someone writes back to your post with a personal comment or question.  It allows writing and reflection to become purposeful for students.  Both reading and writing is involved in the blogging process, which covers a lot of groups in the literacy world.  The students are reading other blogs and comments, while also analyzing and creating and throwing their own opinion into their blog. -Chapter 2: Weblogs: Pedagogy & Practice 

When it comes to learning how to blog it really depends on the software or program you choose to use.  So far in my blogging experience I have only used blogger.com as a means to blogging, and both instances were for classes here at Lemoyne.  I have not had the opportunity to check out or use EDU blogs, but would like to at some point.  The book explains how to use blogger in depth, and even includes graphics for the beginner blogger. When I used it for the first time I was not really taught how, but instead was left to my own devices to learn.  The way I learn how to use new technology is to play around with all its options.  Last semester my blog took FOREVER to complete because I got carried away with all that I could do and add to my blog.  I added pictures, video clips, sparkling and moving graphics, and an option to feed fish at the bottom.  This semester I hope to add extra things, but hopefully this time it will not take as long because I know exactly what to do.  I really like being able to personalize my blog with the backgrounds and colors, and although this may not be very educational it shows off the personality of a student.  I think that this blog process will be even easier to access and use as the years pass on.

-Chapter 3: Weblogs: Let’s Get Started
 

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                I like that this article pointed out the fact that blogs can become dull and boring for students if they are not used in the correct, most beneficial way.  The teacher in the article decided to ask her students for suggestions on how to use the blog in more thoughtful ways.  By letting students make choices in their own learning they feel like their work is justified, and not just a product of their teacher’s desire.  Just like any “tool” we are given as educators we need to use the tool along with guidance and assessment to make sure the “tool” is helping students to learn. The four blogs to use in an elementary classroom are the classroom news blog, mirror blogs, showcase blogs, and literature response blogs.   I liked this way of categorizing the different ways we can utilize this tool with students, and each one has its own positive qualities.  In my Children’s Literature class we used a literature response log in which we had to find 30 children’s book and summarize and reflect on each one.  It became monotonous, but in the end it will be beneficial to use when selecting worthwhile books for the classroom.  Our goal with blogs is to try to reach a “higher order of thinking.”  Students can be directed towards what to discuss and reflect on to reach this higher level because sometimes students just aren’t at that level yet without some help.  Questioning is a great way to get discussions going to reach the deeper thinking that we all crave from our students.

- HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking     

“One way to enrich a students’ engagement with literature is by developing a depth of knowledge about the author.”  (p. 174) It is a wonderful idea to have students explore an author’s blog of the book they are studying.  I always love knowing about the author because then I could try to figure out why things were written a certain way or what opinions they had on their own story.  A blog gives us the opportunity to find out this information, and that has never been available before.  I remember sitting in class and the teacher saying, “one meaning of the story might be this, or it could be this, but we will never know exactly because we didn’t write it.” It almost gets rid of this “unknown” feeling because we can explore an author’s blog to try to find the answers. 

- Teaching with Authors’ Blogs: Connections, Collaboration, Creativity

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A New Literacies Perspective

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Technology and the web are really becoming an essential part of our world… and education.  The pace at which the web is changing and transforming is incredible.  It began as just an information tool and now has become an interactive means to presenting ideas, opinions, pictures, videos, and more.  It is disappointing, as a teacher, that schools are not using technology and the web to its full potential.  There are the issues of web safety that schools need to watch out for, but sheltering them from most of the resources out there on the web is just going to hinder their progress in this 21^st century, fast-paced world.  Not to mention the fact that they are all using these resources at home without the filters.  It is our responsibility as educators to keep up-to-date with where our world is going, and this includes giving them opportunities to interact with the web in ways that will allow them to be successful when they are out of school. Before we can teach students to utilize these new technologies, we first have to feel comfortable using them.  Teachers are as much new learners to this area as students are, if not more.
-Chapter 1: The Read/Write Web


     As 21^st century educators we need to be ready for some big shifts in teaching that will happen because of the new technologies and web based instruction.  We need to take a step back as “teachers” and “enforcers” and realize we are no longer the “know-all” and “be-all” of learning/content.  There is now a whole world out there on the web for students to go and find their own information whenever they want it.  They don’t have to rely solely on their teachers for answers, but they do have to instead become critical learners.  I was always sure to tell students to analyze their textbooks when reading and look for areas of omission and inaccuracy.  I would definitely want to continue this when teaching them to find accurate information on the web, where anyone can publish facts or ideas.  I think the most important thing to take out of this is, to be a great educator you must be willing to accept change and new ideas in order to be effective to your students.  “If we fail to graduate students who are not able to create, sustain, and participate in these networks in safe, ethical, and effective ways, we’ve done them a disservice.” (Richardson, p.149).
-Chapter 2: What it all Means


      I view “new literacies” as new ways that students are going to have to read, write, listen, and speak using more than just books.  That includes being about to work with websites, blogs, podcasts, presentation media, etc.  For our students to become successful in this competition-centered world they need to feel comfortable using these “new literacies” and realize that they are constantly changing.  We can’t be afraid of the unknown because it is where our world is going.  “Employers now seek individuals who know how to read, write, and communicate on the internet to solve problems.” (Leu, Zawilinski, Castek, Banerjee, Housand, Liu, and O’Neil, p.40) Let’s give our students a fighting chance to achieve in society. 
 -Article: “What is New about the New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension?”

Conclusion:

      I know that it is not easy to veer away from what we are 
used to and what we grew up learning, but it is a necessity to keep up with new technologies.   I still get emotional about the fact that soon we probably will not need paper books to read because of the new technology coming out to read books electronically.  I think we need to be able to feel and turn the pages of a book to really experience it, but in this new world maybe that is not really the case.  We need to have the willingness to accept and embrace the change because if not the world will move on without you.