Thing 2

I have run across numerous blogs of various natures while searching for something online. One I read last year (I think) was someone’s journal of the move from Atlanta to rural West Virginia to homestead- raising all their own food. I can’t remember how I found that one, but I grew up in WZV and now live in GA, so it was fun to read. I have friends who have blogs about their families; I was downloading digital scrapbooking freebies the other day and found some of the designers are now including them on their blogs.
I haven’t really done much of my own blogging; I feel like I don’t have time with keeping up with my own family and my students and such, but I found some interesting examples while browsing those listed for us.
Some thoughts on two of them:
12. Why Can’t We Do This?
I don’t know if I like the idea of a tax on plastic bags- not because the government is telling us what to do, as one comment said, but because it could be a VERY expensive trip when I forget my reusable bags!
4. SP-817 Math Blog: Boeun's Scribe for December 4th
I love the idea of having a student write a review of what happened during the day in class. It’s a great resource for absentees or for students who want to refresh their memories of homework assignments. Plus, the scribe has a chance to put together some resource material for classmates, an invaluable experience for those who do the searching. We all know that teaching is the best way to learn! And, I’m assuming, the scribe chooses another student for the next day? Interesting idea…
I appreciated comments made by educators about learning and the profession, SSR online- cool idea, if you have enough computers in your room! I’m feeling inspired to incorporate blogging in my classes. I actually had started one last spring for my astronomy classes for us to communicate about our stargazing activities. Students were supposed to observe the sky for 15 minutes a week and write about what they saw, so I thought maybe starting a blog with my own observations would help inspire them to get out and look, and then we could develop a conversation about what we saw. We didn’t get far with it, but I’ll try again next time.

Thing 1-B

I was introduced to wikispace during my first semester at AHS. I had been out of the classroom for a year and a half; I had maintained a much used website for my students previously. In just that short break from teaching, Web 2.0 had changed… well, everything. The media specialist set up spaces for my astronomy classes and we used the sites frequently. I mostly used it to post guided web assignments with web addresses (so they wouldn’t have to worry about typos in the address bar!). We didn’t get very interactive with it, but it was an introduction for me. Most of my training encouraged teachers to guide students very carefully to the information they were to find, to prevent inappropriate websites from appearing. It makes me nervous to turn my students loose with a general assignment, but I had some success with one I tried last spring, so I’m feeling a little braver to let the students to the discovering.
In the past, I had students create a web page as a presentation method for a project in Ecology. Students usually enjoyed the project thoroughly and were glad to gain some experience in technology as well as learn about human impact on the environment. The web pages weren’t much more than a poster that had a web address, but, again, that was in the dark ages. I’m a bit intimidated by all the new tools at there, and daunted by things like computer accessibility for my classes and time teaching them how to use a tool (if they don’t know already). I am surprised how students can use technology all the time –iTunes, facebook, MySpace- and yet not be able to find a simple bit of information quickly. But if I can choose one or two ideas to use in the semester, or maybe add something new every unit or two, the task might not seem so daunting. I like to everything right now, so I get overwhelmed! I liked the idea about the team built study guides mentioned in Warlick’s article. I think developing a wikispace for each class will be a good place to start and, as I see what the students are comfortable with and able to do, and I can find a direction for our journey as we use these new tools.
I would like to use Web 2.0 tools because today’s students are accustomed to such dynamic interactions online. My students in the past generally appreciated the website I maintained, but it was very much a window shopping experience- get on, find the vocabulary words, find the notes, find the new project. With Web 2.0, we can communicate with each other- students can interact and help each other with their understanding of the course. I taught an online biology course and I’ve taken several online classes- it’s amazing how you really can connect with people you never see face to face. so the experience could really enhance what happens in the classroom, too. (Oh, and for what it’s worth, my husband and I met online- pre- eHarmony, at that! You should have heard what my students back then thought! :)

Thing 1-a

Hi! I teach science at AHS- Astronomy, Biology, and Anatomy & Physiology. I came to AHS in January 2008, so I have 13 1/2 years experience total. That half year just throws things off :)
I just finished renewing my certificate and thought this would be an excellent opportunity to build up PLUs for the next go-round. I took some time off to be with my children (hence the half year) and had a bit of a scramble to get my credits in on time. Hopefully, I'll do better this time.
I am hoping to expand my use of the web with my students through this class. I had a class website for years, but so much capability has developed, such as blogs and wikis, since I first started builing my site that I need to expand. I'd like to find some things to make my class site more usable for my students (plus, I'm transferring my site to my own domain name, so hopefully working on assignments for the course will encourage me to get my site going before August!).
Lori