Chapter 3: Weblogs (Get Started!)

Chapter 3 was a quick and easy run through how to best use blogs in the classroom and a listing of some possible blogging sites to check out.  I am still wondering what the difference is between what I am doing with my Edmodo site and what Richardson is describing when he discusses classroom blogs.  The Edmodo site allows me to provide security for my students- no one is going to read what they write but me.  There are, of course, positives and negatives to this.  As Richardson writes, blogging provides good practice of "writing for an audience."  The Edmodo site doesn't let my students write for an audience, which can, in some cases, help their writing.  It also gives value to the assignment- it exists in the real world- not just as an assignment for the teacher.  The negative, of course, is the whole online safety issue.  I've seen first-hand how easy it is for (creepy) adults to attempt to contact (who they believe are) students.  That experience has made me wary of allowing any of my students to have a "public" presence.

What I did like in this chapter was the very detailed explanation of how best to introduce students to blogging.  Richardson suggests that teachers themselves create their own blogs, so that they have experience with what they are teaching.  My questions, when reading this, centered around what I would blog about.  Would I blog about my classes?  Interesting classroom discussions?  My own personal pleasure reading?  And who would constitute the audience?  If I made my blog public, who the heck would want to read about my experiences in class?  So many questions!  All of those possibilities seem to me to be content either not worth publishing, or else I would update so infrequently that it would deem the practice useless (or at least unnecessary at best).

My last thought about the chapter has to do with Richardson's claim that "Giving each student a Weblog basically means a paperless classroom."  The idea of this is so very appealing, but I think the reality is a pipe dream.  There are so many essays and papers in the English classroom, and I would find it very difficult, if not impossible, to correct essays/papers that were turned in solely online.  It may be possible, and I may just be psyching myself out here, but the idea of doing corrections on an essay or paper online makes me shudder.  Correcting would take double the time it takes to do now.  If I had a tablet and stylus and could actually write corrections on the paper, I would consider doing that... but for now, let's just keep the paper in the classroom!  :)

Chapter 2: Weblogs (Pedagogy and Practice)

Chapter 2 had several interesting ideas about how to use Weblogs in the classroom.  As I was reading, I was imagining how to best put these into practice, and I have to admit that I'm still skeptical about using Weblogs effectively in the classroom.  Many of the good ideas that Richardson shares in this chapter have been put into practice in my classroom, albeit in a slightly different format.  I am intrigued, however, by the idea of interacting with the presented material and finding/publishing appropriate support and other links online.  I'll continue to think about how best to incorporate that in the classroom.

The idea of the 'class portal' was a good one, and one that I seem to be able to manage on my classroom wiki site.  I find that the wiki provides everything mentioned, and also has the advantage of being secure.  I know how is viewing the information that I've posted.  The idea of the online filing cabinet is also very interesting.  I love the idea of students recording/posting their assignments online- it would make metacognitive reflection so easy and manageable.  The only drawback to this that I see would be correcting.  Personally, I have a hard time correcting anything on the screen.  This would be difficult for me... but I wonder if I could find ways to make it easier?

Chapter 1: The Read/Write Web

Very interesting chapter and a good run-through of the possibilities that are available for use in the classroom.  I have been using a wiki for a few years now and it has worked wonderfully in class.  I am able to upload extra copies of handouts, study guides, assignment sheets, and other class paperwork, which allows my students to be more responsible with their work.  I have also played around with uploading podcasts of my lectures to the wiki, which allowed students who were absent (or who needed more time to take notes) to listen again to the class lectures.  I have found great success using the wiki in the classroom.

This year, I am experimenting with using Edmodo in my AP classes.  I like the ability to post assignments and have students complete the assignments on the site.  The site also has a grading feature, which I can use to grade the assignments.  So far, the assignments have allowed my students to "blog"... which has been a wonderful assignment.  Each week, they need to write a paragraph-length response to the week's work, including a minimum of one simple, one compound, one complex, and one compound-complex sentence.  Each week, I also throw in a "challenge" (usually requesting the use of some kind of literary device- this week's challenge asked the students to use litotes in their blog!).  I find that this gives the students a few opportunities: they are able to write each week, practicing the writing skills that they will need for the AP exam; they are able to process the week's work, giving me an opportunity for formative assessment; and they are able to get practice writing online, which prepares them for what will become a larger part of their classroom experience in college.

In one of the sections of the chapter, Richardson writes about the Toolbox, in which he lists a number of technologies that a teacher can use.  I am familar with all of those technologies, with the exception of the "Social Bookmarking".  He defines it as a way to create a "personal Internet" (10).  This sounds like a very interesting tool and I would like to learn more about it and how to use it in the classroom.  It sounds like it could be used in researching papers, which would be very handy for my students.

First Post

Here we go...