This week I am a guest in Carla Arena's WebTools4Educators online course. This week the group is exploring educational blogging, and I'm thrilled at the chance to interact with everyone.
One of the assignments for this week is for the participants to create a class blog on Blogger and to write their first post. Carla has asked everyone to make a good first impression by including a picture or embedding a video.
In fact, I am setting up a new blog titled English I Computer Lab Blog for my first year writing class that meets in the computer lab every other week for 90 minutes. Since I've been thinking a lot about the 2007 LwC Cartoon Festival, I was inspired to use the topic of friendship again and to ask students to use the dVolver movie maker. My first two posts are related to this idea.
In the Friendship post, I wanted students to discuss their definition of friendship and also to explore the ups and downs of friendship. In order to catch their interest, I included a picture of one of my best friends and me. The blog is a perfect place for me to share a more personal side of myself and to encourage students to do the same. This post not only opens up the channels of communication, but also engages learners with the material we are working on in class which just happens to be writing definitions!
In the Review a Cartoon post (inspired by Carla R) I wanted students to look at some cartoons that previous students made about friendship using dVolver movie maker. I embedded these into the post and asked students to make a comment. In the future, they will be making their own cartoon, so this preview may get them excited about the project, and will give them a chance to develop multiliteracies.
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Reader, Writer and Read-Write Web
During Week Two of Blogging4Educators, participants are working on choosing a bloghost, Blogger or Edublogs, and getting their new blogs started. It is really interesting to see blogging from a fresh perspective; even though some members feel anxious about their lack of experience blogging, I think it is really interesting to see blogging from a different perspective.
One topic of discussion this week really caught my attention, and that is what kinds of topics to write about on one's blog. The title of our session is Blogging4Educators, so many participants create a blog that has something to do with education. However, there are numerous topics to blog about, including art, sports, culture, travel, family, and other hobbies. What is the important consideration when choosing a topic for a new blog?
In my opinion, blogs should be about topics that interest the blogger. No, not just something interesting to the blogger, but something the blogger is passionate about! For if a blogger blogs about a topic because he or she is "supposed to" the posts will perhaps not reflect the authentic, true voice of the blogger. I have seen this phenomenon in many cases in the classroom. A student writes a paper something like, Well-I have to write a paper about that tells my opinion about ...fill in the blank...
In the same way, when beginning a blog, bloggers should carefully consider what topics are going to inspire them to write, and in turn if that topic and the writer's passion for it will inspire others to read. Writing is two-way communication, yes, but the writer has to have something to say if others are going to be motivated to read and listen. Teachers HAVE to read students' assignments, but other audience's can give up reading and move on to something else that interests them more. Therefore, both the writer and the readers' need to be taken into consideration.
For example, a friend of mine created a blog to practice her Japanese writing. She was really dedicated to improving her language skills and passing the next level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Exam. After she started writing, she invited her Japanese-speaking students to her blog, and they left her comments and gave her feedback on her use of certain Kanji. Although at first the blog may have seemed like it was going to be a blogger writing for herself and her own practice (similar to keeping a journal in another language), in fact, it is read by her students, and perhaps by other language learners too.
There are so many different reasons for writing a blog, so many purposes, and just about every topic has an audience. My advice for new bloggers is to write about what you're passionate about, and the readers and conversations will start to flow! In my case, this blog reflects my deep interest in online professional development and communities of practice. I began it as a place to reflect on these experiences, and I have been so thankful for the comments and conversations that have started here.
How did you choose the topic for your blog? How did the topic, audience, and/or purpose evolve over time?
One topic of discussion this week really caught my attention, and that is what kinds of topics to write about on one's blog. The title of our session is Blogging4Educators, so many participants create a blog that has something to do with education. However, there are numerous topics to blog about, including art, sports, culture, travel, family, and other hobbies. What is the important consideration when choosing a topic for a new blog?
In my opinion, blogs should be about topics that interest the blogger. No, not just something interesting to the blogger, but something the blogger is passionate about! For if a blogger blogs about a topic because he or she is "supposed to" the posts will perhaps not reflect the authentic, true voice of the blogger. I have seen this phenomenon in many cases in the classroom. A student writes a paper something like, Well-I have to write a paper about that tells my opinion about ...fill in the blank...
In the same way, when beginning a blog, bloggers should carefully consider what topics are going to inspire them to write, and in turn if that topic and the writer's passion for it will inspire others to read. Writing is two-way communication, yes, but the writer has to have something to say if others are going to be motivated to read and listen. Teachers HAVE to read students' assignments, but other audience's can give up reading and move on to something else that interests them more. Therefore, both the writer and the readers' need to be taken into consideration.
For example, a friend of mine created a blog to practice her Japanese writing. She was really dedicated to improving her language skills and passing the next level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Exam. After she started writing, she invited her Japanese-speaking students to her blog, and they left her comments and gave her feedback on her use of certain Kanji. Although at first the blog may have seemed like it was going to be a blogger writing for herself and her own practice (similar to keeping a journal in another language), in fact, it is read by her students, and perhaps by other language learners too.
There are so many different reasons for writing a blog, so many purposes, and just about every topic has an audience. My advice for new bloggers is to write about what you're passionate about, and the readers and conversations will start to flow! In my case, this blog reflects my deep interest in online professional development and communities of practice. I began it as a place to reflect on these experiences, and I have been so thankful for the comments and conversations that have started here.
How did you choose the topic for your blog? How did the topic, audience, and/or purpose evolve over time?
Monday, December 31, 2007
Using Chinswing to create authentic listening materials
What is your favorite sweet? What do you think it represents about you, your life, or your culture?
It is that time of year when I start to think about yummy holiday foods, like Buckeyes! That reminded me, earlier this year, I posed the above question in a on Chinswing. Responses ranged from my memories of Buckeyes from Ohio State, Carla's musings on Brigadeiros from Brazil, and a host of other tasty treats from all over the world!
According to their web site, Chinswing is "a global message board where anyone can add voice messages to ongoing topical discussions" and it incorporates "podcasting, text forums and live voice chat".
The goal of this project was to collect some authentic listening material on an interesting topic for a university course I teach. Students listened to the recordings (7 people in 5 different countries have recorded messages for a total of 17 minutes), and then continued the discussion on our class blog.
By the way, if you would like to record a message about your favorite sweet, go ahead! I plan to use this voice thread again in another class, and I just heard that my proposal for "Using Chinswing to create authentic listening materials" has been accepted for TESOL 2008 Electronic Village Fair!
This post was included in the Teacher Potluck Carnival: New Year's Edition! Check it out!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Week in a Sentence and Happy Holidays!
This week, I participated in Day in a Sentence. Thanks to Kevin for hosting this event and for taking the time to compile and introduce each submission. I first heard about this from Larry Ferlazzo, and then again from Cheryl Oakes; I decided it was time to give it a try. In addition, boiling my week down into one sentence seemed to fit the theme of what I have been doing: being more concise! Let me explain how that all relates to professional development.
In preparation for the Blogging for Educators session I'll be co-moderating, I have been experimenting with Twitter. At first, I thought Twitter will be a great way to update my status in Facebook; however, now I realize that these 140 character posts are a great way to connect and learn with other educators too! I am following some other Twitter users and their twits encourage me to check out some new places online. For instance, Vicki Davis gave a heads up about her recent interview on NPR about blogs and Claudia Ceraso introduced me to Pownce (and while I couldn't look at the item she was referring to, I have signed up for Pownce's waiting list.)
Meanwhile in the classroom, I was looking for a new and different way for students to write about stories. The holidays are a great time for sharing stories! After reading "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", I asked students to share some of their favorite stories with me. Their choices ranged from Disney movie plots, to Japanese folk tales, to graded readers they had read in class. Instead of having them write detailed accounts of the story, and urging them to add *more details*, I had them write quick Story Pyramids. Although story pyramids are often used for younger learners in language arts class, I thought they would be a useful exercise for older students as well, since the word limitation puts the pressure on students to choose specific words, and to carefully consider their word choices. According to a lesson plan on Hotchalk, a story pyramid is constructed as follows:
1. name of main character
2. 2 words describing main character
3. 3 words describing setting
4. 4 words stating problem
5. 5 words describing an event
6. 6 words describing another event
7. 7 words describing another event
8. 8 words describing the solution
In short, by challenging ourselves and our students to adhere to character and/or word counts, we can make connections in new ways and add variety to every day tasks! Happy Holidays, everyone!
In preparation for the Blogging for Educators session I'll be co-moderating, I have been experimenting with Twitter. At first, I thought Twitter will be a great way to update my status in Facebook; however, now I realize that these 140 character posts are a great way to connect and learn with other educators too! I am following some other Twitter users and their twits encourage me to check out some new places online. For instance, Vicki Davis gave a heads up about her recent interview on NPR about blogs and Claudia Ceraso introduced me to Pownce (and while I couldn't look at the item she was referring to, I have signed up for Pownce's waiting list.)
Meanwhile in the classroom, I was looking for a new and different way for students to write about stories. The holidays are a great time for sharing stories! After reading "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", I asked students to share some of their favorite stories with me. Their choices ranged from Disney movie plots, to Japanese folk tales, to graded readers they had read in class. Instead of having them write detailed accounts of the story, and urging them to add *more details*, I had them write quick Story Pyramids. Although story pyramids are often used for younger learners in language arts class, I thought they would be a useful exercise for older students as well, since the word limitation puts the pressure on students to choose specific words, and to carefully consider their word choices. According to a lesson plan on Hotchalk, a story pyramid is constructed as follows:
1. name of main character
2. 2 words describing main character
3. 3 words describing setting
4. 4 words stating problem
5. 5 words describing an event
6. 6 words describing another event
7. 7 words describing another event
8. 8 words describing the solution
In short, by challenging ourselves and our students to adhere to character and/or word counts, we can make connections in new ways and add variety to every day tasks! Happy Holidays, everyone!
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Get Hip to Learning English!
The first semester of our school year has just ended. One of my major goals for the term was to use blogging with my students. I started a class blog at Motime called Get Hip to Learning English IES. Overall, it was a good experience, thanks mostly to the comments of great friends from online communities of practice! The students felt really encouraged to know that they were making connections with a larger audience.
There are some points that I want to improve about the blog for next semester. First, I want to make it more visually appealing and interesting, so students won't lose interest. Second, I hope to use the blog to conduct a collaborative online project with a guest or guests from another country. Finally, I hope to get students more involved in generating content for the class blog, or to have them start their own individual blogs. In addition to those items, I want to become involved in Dekita, and help students to create some relationships with student bloggers in Japan and other countries.
By the way, I chose the title "Get Hip to Learning English" because "to get hip to something" means to become more aware and appreciative of it (M-W Dictionary).
Since I'll be continuing the same blog with the same students in our next semester beginning in September, I'm looking forward to the chance to work toward the above goals. Please share your reflections or suggestions about blogging with students!
There are some points that I want to improve about the blog for next semester. First, I want to make it more visually appealing and interesting, so students won't lose interest. Second, I hope to use the blog to conduct a collaborative online project with a guest or guests from another country. Finally, I hope to get students more involved in generating content for the class blog, or to have them start their own individual blogs. In addition to those items, I want to become involved in Dekita, and help students to create some relationships with student bloggers in Japan and other countries.
By the way, I chose the title "Get Hip to Learning English" because "to get hip to something" means to become more aware and appreciative of it (M-W Dictionary).
Since I'll be continuing the same blog with the same students in our next semester beginning in September, I'm looking forward to the chance to work toward the above goals. Please share your reflections or suggestions about blogging with students!
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