Thing #7a

In my Google Reader, one of the blogs I have in my feed listed the following article (http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=762190). It talks about the positive aspect of teaching abstinence sex education from 10 different authors in 6 different studies. (Disclaimer: I have not read the actual studies so I do not know how accurately they were done but I would assume they are done thoroughly and correctly). The author, Valerie Huber, reported "The most significant finding in terms of the effectiveness of abstinence education was that those students [included in the studies] were less likely to initiate sexual activity or to discontinue [sexual activity], which is exactly the purpose of abstinence education." This article caught my eye for many reasons including the fact that my husband will soon be teaching abstinence to his 7th graders. I hope school districts realize the value of this education and keep it or turn to it if they are doing a different approach.

Thing 8-Stretch

When I looked at Wikipedia I searched for "cell phone" and it came up with "mobile phone". I noticed the majority of the facts were tagged with a footnote that tells where the author got their information. The information presented seemed valid but it is really difficult to tell. Just by reading/skimming I cannot tell if most information is correct even with all the footnotes. If I wanted to/had time I could check out the sources listed and see if they come from a valid study or site. I never noticed the “Discussion” or “History” tab to look at what others have said about it or review previous versions. People were discussing anything from what to call the title of the wiki (cell phone, hand phone, mobile phone, etc.) to adding a feature to an actual phone about typing a novel on your phone. Since the topic is so popular and current there are over 500 pages of revisions (so even more actual revisions). This was very interesting and eye opening. I wouldn’t feel comfortable updating a wiki unless I felt I was very versed in the topic.

Thing #8

From reading about Vicki’s first experience (http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2005/12/wiki-wiki-teaching-art-of-using-wiki.html) with utilizing wiki’s with her students, I think this is a great idea and can be very useful. However, it needs to be used with the right age group and the teacher needs to have a firm grasp on how to use wiki’s before trying to teach the students. The extent that she used this with her students would not work with my first graders.

In this wiki (http://www.ahistoryteacher.com/~ahistory/apwhreview/index.php?title=Holocaust_Wiki_Project) I noticed it is almost identical to the format of wikipedia.com including the tables and image location on the site. What I would change is have it more user-friendly where all the information was one or two clicks away instead of 3 or more clicks away. In Jennifer’s wiki (http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/#toc1) I found it did not look like what I would consider a wiki. It was difficult to navigate and figure out what was a wiki and what was something else. I would have a website and then separate links for my blog, wiki, calendar, etc. in order to make it easier to navigate. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to subscribe to her page to access the wiki or not. I found this wiki interesting for use in younger grades (http://schoolsthen.wikispaces.com/). However, the information is not edited by the students so it differs than many other student produced wikis. The good thing about this site is it allows students to become familiar with the process of wikis and learn something along with it that involves the school community (parents, friends, grandparents, etc.). I would try to incorporate student input by having students write a comparison post in contrast to one put up by an adult to show the difference between school then and now.

I would like to try using wiki’s with my first grade students and this site (http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm) had a few good ideas of what type of wiki to start out with. Some ideas that I might try from this site are making a “virtual tour of [our] school as [we ]study “our community” in elementary grades or creating a “wiki ‘fan club’ for your favorite author(s).”

Thing #7

I know commenting on blogs is important but sometimes it is not as quick as it should be (depending on if the blog allows non-members to post on it without having a member idea; e.g. a blogger.com on a wordpress.com blog). I love it when people post thoughts or comments on mine and it often opens my eyes to new ideas, links, or encourages me to continue in my way. This time it was easier to post comments than other times I have tried outside of this class. I think that fact that we all have the same blogger.com account is helpful.

Thing # 6

I have recently been adding and deleting RSS feeds. I am a hands-on learner and love to play around with things so I can figure them out for myself. However, it took me a lot longer than it should have (1.5 hours!!) to finally stop reading blogs and clicking on links (It is addictive!). I enjoyed this experience and found some very interesting articles that I will have to look into more in the future and how I can use some of the things that they talk about in my class.

One post I found very interesting is how to find and use legal images for your blog (http://literacyispriceless.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/finding-and-adding-high-quality-legal-images-to-your-blogs-papers-and-reports/). I have briefly thought about this but not enough to look for information about it. I am considering having a class blog but not sure on the how and what just yet. When I do I will need to read up on this article and others like it to make sure what I am doing is legal. I am sure I will not need a lot of images as most of the images I will have will be of my students.

I also read this article about using songs to learn academic material (http://literacyispriceless.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/rap-hip-hop-vocabulary-history-and-more-word-up/). Last year I taught 3rd grade and bought a Multiplication Rock CD and the students loved it (they would remind me if I forgot). This is actually the same way I learned my multiplication facts. We are to help students learn and be excited about the material and this is one of the ways to do that. We use little jingles to help student remember things so why not even in upper grades?

THING # 5

In this article http://www.techlearning.com/article/24800 I was intrigued by yet another technology “answer” to a current problem in our schools. There is so much out there that can help our students which is exciting and important. However, before jumping into another program we need to make sure to look at it from all angles and see if this will really help our students in the long run. Is the money worth the investment if you will.

Pearson makes great products like Waterford that Mesquite ISD uses with K-2. Their programs are research based and have great success. However, even with great success it can not be entirely the answer we are in need of. The current product is Prevent which essentially identifies at risk students who are in danger of not graduating and “falling through the cracks” which is not meeting “No Child Left Behind.” I have not done much reading or research on this topic but I believe these programs may be just a band-aid and not the “cure” we need to help our students. If they are identified by Prevent it is not too late but in a sense it could be because nothing was done before this point. I believe the answer to helping our students succeed lies much deeper within our society, teachers, and parents. However, that is a debate for a different blog at a different time.

THING #4

Education blog writing can be a very open type of writing but also a very cautious openness. What I mean is you can’t use names unless with permission and have to be careful how you phrase things. Blog reading is fun in that you can follow someone’s thoughts more than you probably would in a normal conversation. You can jump from post to post or “thought” to “thought.” Commenting on blogs adds a new dimension so it is no longer simply a story or a post, it is more of a conversation that can end when the posts stop. By commenting back and forth, the author and the commentator can elaborate and gain a better understanding. Blogging can facilitate learning in that it is like a person on your level explaining something to you or talking about something you already know so you gain a different perspective.