Blogging About Blogging

• How will you know if this site is helping your users reach the objectives you’ve defined for them?

Initially I will be able to see whether or not my students are reaching objectives based upon what I can see: Are students organizing their postings? Are student responding to quickwrites? Are students fulfilling their homework assignments by posting thoughtful comments on their classmates work? Are students posting completed writing in their portfolio page? Then, over time, I will know whether the site is helping my users based upon how their writing improves over time.

• How will you evaluate what your users are doing?

My students will be graded based upon task completion for most tasks, and based on a rubric for finished writing. Additionally, students will be given some sort of participation credit for keeping their work neatly organized within the filing system.

• How will you introduce this to the class?

I will introduce this site to my students using an LCD projector and a laptop. I will show them how to navigate the site and position files correctly. I do not believe that they will have difficulty with the writing process itself. Most of the difficulty will probably be because they are just learning how to use a Google Site.

• What do you have to do to get permission from the powers-that-be at your school?

The issues I expect that I might have will revolve around site access. Who can access the site, and how will they do so? I think the best way to combat this issue is by creating Google Groups and giving those groups different levels of permissions. For instance students it my class might be asked to join a group called “Quickwrites Online: Students,” to join that group, I would have to approve membership, and once a member of the group the user would become a collaborator. Anyone else who wished to view the site would have to join a group called “Quickwrites Online: Viewers,” members of this group would also be pre-approved, but they would only gain access to view the site. This group would primarily consist of parents, administrators, and teachers. By restricting access I should be able to eliminate most of the privacy concerns that will be raised by parents and administrators. Additionally, as the owner, I would have access to add, delete, and moderate users, as well as to return to previous versions of pages as necessary.

• What tools (or combination of tools) will you use to support the site?

Most of the instruction needed to participate in this site is included in the instructions page, however I will also dedicate in-class instruction time to teaching the use of a Google Site, How to write an effective quickwrite, and how to create finalized writing online.

• What customizations will you need to do to your site?

I feel like I already did a great deal of customizing on the site. I created page templates, added instruction, and set up a filing strategy for students to follow. As students begin using the Google Site I am sure I will identify places on the site which need more instruction than is currently present.

• Are you happy with how well it turned out?

I am very pleased with the way that the Google Site turned out. My only concern is providing enough information and instruction so that students can post their quickwrites to there own section of the page.

• What do you want users to be able to do when they visit this site?

When students visit this site they will be able to participate in an online quickwriting process. This process will require them to learn how to make pages in a Google Site and to use their pages to archive their work. When they have learned the quickwriting process they will also be able to publish their finished writing online. Ultimately, this two will allow students to write on a regular basis, and take risks, and that will happen while the student is creating an online portfolio.

• Is it a recurring effort, or a one-time project?

This website would be used on an ongoing basis throughout a semester by many different students. Like I mentioned above it will truly be a way for students to showcase their published writing as they move through the writing process.

For my final project I have decided to take the quickwrite blog, and make it come to life incarnated as a Google site. I still believe it would be a good project to do using exclusively blogging technology, however I wanted to challenge myself to use another new tool in my final project, Google Sites. So here is, Quickwrites Online.

Analysis

• Who are your users?

My users are students in middle school or high school who are involved in some sort of a writing class. Perhaps creative writing. Some of them are reluctant writers and some already enjoy writing. Just about all of the students using Quickwrites Online could use help finding new and interesting topics to write about.

• What do you want them to be able to do as a result of using your web site?

As a result of using this website the student writers will broaden their writing horizons and embark upon writing experience without feeling pressured to be perfect. Users will be able to create and maintain their own quickwriting page, enabling them to share their online portfolio with anyone they wish.  Also, the student users will achieve a sense of accomplishment at having so much writing, about a variety of topics, online to share. Generally, the students’ writing will improve due to practice and through revisiting writing that they are interested in.

• What have others done that is similar?

I am sure that a similar process to the one I am using has been used by thousands of teachers world wide on an analog, paper and pencil, basis. However, when researching online the closest thing I found to my idea was a page which listed chemistry writing prompts with a comment board allowing people to respond. It did not appear to be a structured quickwriting environment.

• What performance drivers might prevent them from learning with this tool? (skills/knowledge, motivation, environment, incentive)

I think that the largest performance barrier with this quickwrite site might be that students are unfamiliar with how to work with Google Sites. This skills knowledge problem has been addressed to some extent with the inclusion of detailed instructions on the site itself. Also, before ever asking students to go online and use the site I would provide direct classroom instruction on how to use the tool. I could imagine that reluctant users might have a motivation issue with both confidence and value, but I have tried to combat this issue by grading most quickwrites on a credit/no credit basis. Environmental aspects could be a factor depending on the laptops being used for the program. If the students are unable to access the internet or have only limited access the project would be very difficult to accomplish. From an incentive point of view, I believe that incentives are built in by using a specific grading scheme which only issues letter grades for completed writings.

As I stated in my blog lesson plan, I am interested in exploring ways to get students excited in writing. One of the things I  have done manually with my students is a “Round Robin” story telling project. It is a simple idea. A group of four or five people each begin with a blank piece of paper. Each person writes creatively for a specific amount of time. Then the papers are passed around in circle giving students a chance to read what has been written, and then add their own writing to the story. This can last for a relatively short period of time (15 minutes) or a longer period of time (over a span of several days. My plan is to implement this idea in a Wiki format.

The teacher would begin by creating teams of students in his or her class. From there, the teacher would create a wiki, giving each group access to its own space. On the front page of the space the teacher would post a very broad idea or genre to write about (“at the zoo,” “while driving to school”). Then each student in the group would begin a new page within that wiki, and would write the first paragraph of a story. The next day, each group member would work on a different story. Eventually the group members would have a completed story. Once the stories are complete, each student would return to the story they began and would read it, and edit out imperfections. The students would also leave notes in the discussion tab to explore how to improve the story.  Finally, the stories would be completed and the group and the teacher would be able to review the work (including viewing page revisions) to assign grades to the groups.

I believe this activity would be fun and engaging for the students. Also, I believe that it will take a classic idea and make it more gradable than it was previously. This idea would also allow students to continue to participate in this activity without always being physically present. My expected outcomes are that students:

• Students will write creatively
• Students will learn how to think on their feet
• Students will engage in dialog about their writing
• Students will become better editors of their own writing and the writing of others.

As far as risk is concerned; this project will not include the sharing of any personal information, which will hopefully help parents and administrators to be open to the idea. Also, something that will be important to consider is the possibility of conflict between the group members. Whenever students work in teams there is the possibility of conflict. However, using a wiki will help combat any issues that may arise by providing a record of student work and dialog.

As a teacher I am always trying to find ways to motivate my students to write. Though I feel like the writing process is very important I feel it is also important to give students the permission to just write creatively, getting out whatever thoughts are going on in their brain. That is why for both by blog and wiki lesson plans I am going to focus on writing. This first lesson plan for my blog might be entitled “The Quickwrite Blog.”

The idea is simply this: Using a class blog account students will create a “quickwrite” on a topic of the day. For 15 minutes students will write about the daily prompt, consequence free. The purpose of the activity is to get words out of the brain and onto the paper/computer screen.  Students will do one quick write every day except for Monday.  On Monday students will review their quickwrites for the previous week and choose one that they would like to expand on.  That quickwrite then becomes the basis for their large scale writing piece for the week. It will be used to move through the writing process, and form a completed work by the end of the week (Friday, Saturday or Sunday). Throughout the writing process students and teachers will provide editing support, and assistance. On Friday students will publish their finished piece of writing to their blog. They will form  categories on their blogs to make it obvious which piece of writing are completed works and which are quickwrites. From that point, teachers and other students will comment on student writing, providing feedback in the form of comments. Occasionally, (perhaps on a monthly basis) the author will use the feedback provided from other users to redraft a completed work, making it better in the process.

The daily schedule for a class using this blog idea would look something like this (assume the class period is 60 minutes):

• Upon entering the classroom students access the teachers blog, find the prompt of the day, copy it, and begin their own post on their own blog. (Except of Monday)
• Students quickwrite for 15 minutes (On Monday review the quickwrites for Tuesday-Friday of the previous week and choose the prompt for their large-scale writing for the week.)
• Teacher provides targeted instructions (grammar, writing process), 15-20 minutes
• Students engage in writing their large scale writing piece, peer/teacher edit, get feeback from the peers/teacher, 25-30 minutes
• Homework: Work on large scale writing piece, review at least 2 other students’ large scale writings from the week before.

The expected outcomes of this blog project are  for:

• Students to engage in writing without feeling the pressure to be perfect the first time
• Students to have choices about how to engage writing topics
• Students to create an online writing portfolio on their blog
• Students to respond to feedback, improving their writing

There are some obstacles which could make it difficult to put this plan in place:

• This lesson plan is ideal for upper-elementary through high school students in schools where there is a 1 to 1 laptop or netbook program in place.  If a teacher wanted to do this without that level of classroom technology, he or she would have to revise the daily writing expectations, perhaps creating a homework based system, instead of a daily in-class activity.
• Parent/Administrator resistance could be a factor due to the fact that a blog is being used as a mod for learning. In order to prevent blog issues all blogs would be created as part of a “class” using either Edublog Pro or Kidblog.org. Parents and administrators would need to be involved in the discussion of keeping blogs safe for students using moderation tools.
• Copyright issues: The teacher will need to watch out for any writing that may not be the students’ authentic work. This includes keeping track of accidental and overt online plagiarism issues.

In no particular order, here are the Edublog award sites that I engaged in reviewing this week.

Site 1: Adora’s Blog, Student Edublog 2009 Nominee

While visiting Adora’s blog I learned about Adora the “youngest teacher in the world.” Adora is a 12 year old teacher who instructs professionals in the use of technology in education. Her blog features a variety of posts.

While visiting Adora’s blog I commented on her post describing Twitter as a cult.  Though many of Adora’s readers agreed with her point of view, I posted a dissenting opinion stating that I believe that Twitter is more of a fad then a clut. I do not believe that it will have true longevity due to the fact that many other services can easily take its place.

I liked how Adora had a variety of different posts, ranging from personal commentary, to academic discourse, to updates on her professional life. This format kept the blog interesting.

I disliked that there were many technical issues on the site. She posted several videos with audio that was too low to hear, and an embedded Glog that could not be displayed properly given the blog’s formatting.

I may come back to Adora’s blog from time to time, but I do not expect to follow it closely after this exercise.

Site 2: Free Technology for Teachers, Resource Sharing Blog 2009 Winner

On this blog, I learned about a diverse body of resources that have been compiled by teachers for teachers. All of these resources are posted along with ideas for using the resources effectively.

I discussed a posting regarding the creating of a teachers online hub.  I liked the graphic that the user created, but suggested that there are more modes for building an online hub than just using blogs, wikis and websites.

I liked that there were many different resources listed on this site. The lists of  resources did not feel redundant, instead each post covered a new idea from a different perspective.

I did not find anything I particularly disliked about this blog.

I have bookmarked this blog and I plan to use it in the future.

Site 3: Tech Addiction Harms Learning, Most influential Edublog post 2009, runner-up

This post detailed a critical analysis of an article written claiming the Tech “addiction” “harms learning.” This blog response called into the question the professional background and methods of a study which made this claim. The author went to great lengths to obtain the article and give her too cents.

I discussed the need of the media to be critical consumers of research. So often the media reports on articles which, though published, do a very poor job of ethically and effectively reporting findings. I feel it is important that we watch out for claims based upon unsubstantiated and poorly defined research.

I liked that the post of the blog took the time to research a claim that seemed less than accurate and to report the findings to the community at large.

I disliked the title of this blog post. I felt like it was unintentionally vague. As a matter of fact, I almost skipped over the post all together, but I decided to give it a try.

Though I found this post interesting, I do not have plans to follow this blog at this time.

Site 4: Afgahn Women’s Writing Project, Best Group Edublog 2009, nominee

This blog consisted of a writing project by women from Afghanistan. It is something of a living history. It provides narratives on the lives of women in Afghanistan.

I replies to this blog post written by an Afghan woman who lost her father during the pro-Communist movement in Afghanistan. I was moved by the account she gave of her father, and I felt like sharing a comment regarding her post.

I liked that there was a variety of narratives on this site, ranging from poetry, to personal statements, to family history.

I dislike the way that the blog was laid out, the front page felt rather busy, with a variety of different sub headings.

I have not spent enough time on this site to appreciate all that it has to offer. I plan to revisit it to read more of the engaging narratives that it features.

Site 5: Betcha Blog, Individual Blog nominee 2009

From this site I was able to glimpse some more about what a education related topical blog can look like. I was motivated by the posts that I found there, and it gave me some ideas about things I might like to blog about in the future.

I discussed a post that was made about trust and respect in the classroom. I presented my own point of view and how I show respect in my classroom with 2nd graders.

I liked how the author of this blog engaged a variety of topics relating to education that he felt were important.

I did not find much that I disliked about this blog.

I think that I will be likely to continue reading this blog in the future.

tags: EDTEC

I am getting ready to do my lesson inquiry for BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment) in order to clear my credential. Because I am working on that I have been exploring a whole variety of different websites to make interactive, sharable, content for my second grade students. While at the CUE conference, I learned about a website that I have decided to use to make my content using the educational version of Glogster. It is a really neat site used for making, posting, sharing and commenting on interactive posters. I will be designing the lesson to teach my second graders about the life cycle of a butterfly. I will also be sharing it with other teachers at my school site and the Glogster community in general. Does this sound like something I could use for my final project in this class? It isn’t really a blog and it certainly isn’t a Wiki, but it is sort of in the same family.

tags: Classroom, EDTEC

tags: EDTEC