~ Web
Page students created their Google sites in September. I introduced
blogging in October, beginning with creation of their own personal
blogs. Students blogged on their own sites for three months, then
visited each others' sites to make comments. We've since moved to a
private blog in Blogger (tech and admin request that it stay private,
ick). As I review posts from the fall and recent blog posts, I can see
that student writing skills and post design flare have improved
considerably over the year!
~ How did we approach blogging? (My lessons are copied below if you care to read it.) We explored what blogging is, we set up blog pages on their individual sites, we explored many blogs, and RSS’d our favorites using Google gadgets in their sites. I used Delicious stacks to group blogs for students to jump from. This took a few days of exploring as one link leads to another, etc.
~ In the forum discussions, many students made connections with each other as they shared their blog interests. I learned a great deal about students as I saw their preferences, their interests, their reading habits, their computer and mousing skills. Students felt a sense of community within the blogs as they took note of common authors and the comments and discussions that some posts prompted.
~ As our textbook recommends, I tried to get students to separate the wheat from the chaff quickly as they explored my blog links. I hope my efforts helped students meet one of the 21st Century literacies (from NCTE) to “manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information”.
~ Student responses were insightful as they discovered communities that shared their interests, and many of them are still reading their feeds today. Popular blogs include Digg, Boing-Boing, MTV, Fashion, Deadspin, MovieMix, LifeHacker, DailyKios, TheThinkingStick, Yogscast, and many others.
~This is a bit lengthy, sorry, but I’d like to share and welcome your feedback! I know my Delicious blog stacks need some sorting; I just didn’t have time in the fall to add or delete blog links.
Step 1 - Read about blogging, view videos about blogging
Blogs. What are they?
Explore these sites to get a feel for blogging:
Step 2 - Create a personal blog on Google Site
Step 3 - Explore blogs, post response in Moodle Forum
Step 4 - Blog Connections post in Moodle Forum
Step 5 - What is RSS?
~ How did we approach blogging? (My lessons are copied below if you care to read it.) We explored what blogging is, we set up blog pages on their individual sites, we explored many blogs, and RSS’d our favorites using Google gadgets in their sites. I used Delicious stacks to group blogs for students to jump from. This took a few days of exploring as one link leads to another, etc.
~ In the forum discussions, many students made connections with each other as they shared their blog interests. I learned a great deal about students as I saw their preferences, their interests, their reading habits, their computer and mousing skills. Students felt a sense of community within the blogs as they took note of common authors and the comments and discussions that some posts prompted.
~ As our textbook recommends, I tried to get students to separate the wheat from the chaff quickly as they explored my blog links. I hope my efforts helped students meet one of the 21st Century literacies (from NCTE) to “manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information”.
~ Student responses were insightful as they discovered communities that shared their interests, and many of them are still reading their feeds today. Popular blogs include Digg, Boing-Boing, MTV, Fashion, Deadspin, MovieMix, LifeHacker, DailyKios, TheThinkingStick, Yogscast, and many others.
~This is a bit lengthy, sorry, but I’d like to share and welcome your feedback! I know my Delicious blog stacks need some sorting; I just didn’t have time in the fall to add or delete blog links.
Step 1 - Read about blogging, view videos about blogging
Blogs. What are they?
Explore these sites to get a feel for blogging:
Step 2 - Create a personal blog on Google Site
Personal blog topics:
siblings, parents, chores, pets, dating, music, television, movies,
yard, bicycling, cars, hobbies, make-up, bugs, wood-chopping, cereal
toys, cell phone, iPod, night lights, privacy, sharing, conflict,
responsibilities
School blog topics:
Web Page, computers, library, clothing, lunch, bus, sports, band,
room temperature, 2-minutes, Red Ribbon, teachers, group work,
vocabulary, bells, gym, science, English, Smart Boards, digital cameras
Monday, Oct 24
- Create two blog pages on website
- Create blog post #1 on Personal page
Tuesday, Oct 25
- Create blog post #2 on Personal page
- Create blog post #1 on School page
Wednesday, Oct 26
- Create blog post #3 on Personal page
- Create blog post #2 on School page
Thursday, Oct 27
- Create blog post #3 on School page
- Create blog post #4 on Personal page
Step 3 - Explore blogs, post response in Moodle Forum
** First, browse these links to find a blog that interests you. **
** Second, reply to this discussion **
- Copy the Blog Facts text below
- Click Reply and paste the text
- Fill in the Blog Facts about the blog you selected. You should have 25-50 words in your reply
Blog Facts
- Blog Name:
- Blog URL:
- Blog Author(s):
- Blog Topic(s):
- Are Comments allowed?
- Why does this blog interest you?
Step 4 - Blog Connections post in Moodle Forum
While you're browsing blogs, look for RSS feeds.
- Would you subscribe to some of these blogs? Which ones?
- Would you follow it on Facebook or Twitter?
- Would you register, create an account?
- Blogs are about making connections with people who share your interests. Do you get a sense of community with any of the blogs?
- Are you tempted to become a part of that community by making comments? Or would you just want to feed the blog posts to keep up with the blog, sort of as a bystander?
Step 5 - What is RSS?
~ What is RSS? Really Simple Syndication ~
Blogs (Wikipedia, Blogs in Plain English)
are dynamic types of websites where people join a community to share
ideas on topics of interest. The popularity of blogging has increased
incredibly...
- Technorati Blogging Stats Preview
- View more presentations from Eric Schwartzman
RSS is a way for users to "feed" blogs, to stay aware, to keep in touch with issues that interest them.
Assignment:
Google Site:
- Create a page titled "Feed Me!"
- Change the layout to a one-column with top and bottom frames. These frames are for text.
- In the middle frame, select Insert-More Gadgets
- Search for Simple RSS gadget
- Properties for the gadget - copy and paste four (4) blogs that you'd like to follow
This is fabulous, Louise! You have really embraced the use of Web 2.0 Tools, and you clearly demonstrate that you understand the value of these tools in the classroom!
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