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—(July 2008) It seems these days a lot of teachers are interested in bringing blogs into the classroom. I say, start today, but start by creating your own blog to fully understand what a blog can do. I am a huge fan of blogging. Blogs are very easy for people to have a web presence (no need to know html), and are especially fabulous for teachers and students. Blogs can be free, too. Edublogs provides free blog space for teachers and gives great support in the classroom. Blogger has free blogs, too. In my experience, when students publish their writing online, they take extra care in getting it right (revising, editing, even composing). They may even write more. More and more teens are writing in their own web spaces outside of school too. And, what's more, they share what they write with their peers (peer review). They instinctively use the Web to create their own communities (social networking). The best thing about blogging is the fact that it can bring people together. Reading and commenting (the key part) on others' blogs creates shared experiences and understanding. A Wiki class: Using Blogs and Wikis in the classroom. August 2008—First Day: Connections. We welcome our new 9th graders to SFHS. The best thing about the new school year for everyone, not just for students, is that we all have an opportunity to begin anew, to reinvent ourselves. Here are some suggested ways to start fresh and have a great year: * have a more postive attitude June 2008—English teachers, if you're not checking out Web English Teacher on a regular basis, you are missing one of the great resources out there. Students, you have to read at least one book this summer. And while you're at it, why not read two? ALA (American Library Association) has some good recommendations as does TeenReads. Why not visit your local library? Books can be like vacations, too! As for me, I'll be reading, blogging, gardening, and thinking about the upcoming school year (but maybe not until August). April is National Poetry Month March 2008—Poetry is one of my joys and it seems that I don't enjoy it as much as I wish I could. I listen to Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac on my iPod, but inconsistently. I wish I could find a way to integrate poetry into my every day life. I am glad for National Poetry Month as it gives me an excuse to celebrate poetry. Please visit the page I made for the occasion. Also, please do put a Poem in Your Pocket on April 17 and share it with your friends and family. January 2008— I am excited as always for change. One big change will be the outside accessibility of our Moodle. I will help lead an inservice session on how to use Moodle on February 15. It is a step in the right direction. I may be preaching in the Polliwog a bit about stretching our Web 2.0 wings in the upcoming months. I believe so strongly that we must integrate new technology to enable collaborative voices. Our kids are digital learners and we've got to reach them how they learn. — Our technology specialist talked with us at our kick off breakfast, which may not sound that exciting, but he's a very smart guy and awfully funny, too. He made the point that teachers get the chance to restart each year, that we get to try again, or reinvent ourselves. He's right. I try to make this point with 9th graders, especially, that their first year in high school is a chance for them to rethink who they are and who they want to be. They can leave their middle school personas behind them and become someone new. There is such hope and optimism in the prospect of beginning again. Whatever we failed to do before, we can try to make it right now. We're luckier than most in this sense. I wish everyone wonderful new beginnings. August 1, 2007—Is it vanity or curiosity that leads me to Google myself? Either way, the experience is revealing, and what I find is not always what I expect. Lately, I've been bothered by the use of the words "adapted from" when I find my lessons republished elsewhere. I have never been stingy with my lessons, but I do say to link to my site. I wish more people simply made links. Adapting does not mean taking something word for word and republishing it as your own. I would expect adaptations to look similar but to be different--noticeably different. I have even seen my own work under someone else's copyright. Sharing is fine--stealing is not, and adapting seems to be an ambiguous concept. —CyberEnglish students used a Wiki this year to publish their articles and letters to the editor for a project with our Media & You unit. What I really liked was the immediacy that we used to have with web pages. Since we have a slower publishing method these days, we have lost some of the currency that we used to have. The idea that writing on the web is out there for everyone to see is a critical aspect of CyberEnglish, so frequent updates are really important. I liked how the Wiki facilliated this. Another good thing about the Wiki is that it can be edited from home. Our students can't edit their websites from home. And teams can work on the Wiki, though not all at once on the same page. I think students liked their Wiki experience. It's a different form of web publishing than they were used to, but it is good to branch out to try new things. Moodle
Exam Students watched two video clips, read an article and a letter from a teenage girl to Frontline about the program. There were multiple choice questions about the texts and two essay questions, one of which was a response letter to the girl who had written the letter. I liked the idea for a couple of reasons, but the main one was that it was so "Cyber" and kept with the spirit of our class. Web
2.0 and education The report says that students must know more about the world, be creative thinkers, become smarter about new sources of information, and develop good people skills. The authors specifically cite Web 2.0 tools, like wikis, in helping students learn and be ready for the future. It is a validation to know that CyberEnglish has been helping students become global students for years. This year, I am continuing to explore how Web 2.0's collaborative tools can help our students learn and grow. Last summer, three of my AP students used a wiki to create a project on Sophie's World. This year, another teacher and I are experimenting with Moodle in our classes. We have added some content to Wikiwog about this process. CyberEnglish
in the news As to be expected, Ted clarifies the reasons he's still so passionate about CE. The audio interviews are well worth listening to if you have an interest in CyberEnglish. Links to these teachers web sites are in the right column (see main page). There are other CE teachers there as well and all of them integrate technology into their English curriculum. Follow
Mr. Brown's Adventures |