Starting point
POSTED AT 06:50 PM

rocky

I discovered blogging this summer and wanted to give it a try. Filled with excitement and lots of ideas I created a blog to use with elementary school students. I was so proud of myself for figuring out how find a free account with no ads, chose my style, and have my own place on the internet. I even gave it a fun name: BlogHeads. My idea was to have students Blog (write/share ideas) and think about their writing and ideas (hence the "Heads" in BlogHeads) http://npera1.tblog.com the. I even came up with an avatar, SuperThinker, a blogging SuperHero who on a quest to encourage people to share their ideas.

Then splat--I got stuck. I felt unsure about how to use the blog for instructional purposes, and how to navigate the features. So, I just kept reading blogs, looking for direction. Soon, I came across Will Richardson's blog Weblogged http://www.weblogg-ed.com/ and found pearls of wisdom--"To teach writing, write...To teach blogging, blog." Eureka! I started my personal blog "blahblahblog" http://npera2.tblog.com immediately. It is my place where I explore blogging and connect with other edubloggers. And, guess what? Two days later I began using BlogHeads with students!!!

The Gallery is up and running!
POSTED AT 10:43 AM

rocky

I got the Gallery up and running. The first Album was just a test and contains two pics of our babies--Vanna White, our Pomeranian, and Pance, our Lhasa Apso. Yes, we teachers do have real lives, too!

The second Album, "Scaffolding Writing", is the real purpose for using the Gallery on this site. To begin, I have posted the Expository Writing work of a 3rd grade teacher. This work represents excellent examples of the grade level Backward Mapping writing prompt in action. That is, teachers backward planned the unit writing prompt, then taught it as planned, and these pictures are the work in action.

My hope is that using this blog will inspire teachers to share their work in action so that we can learn what worked well, try out new ideas, and refine our teaching. So, take a look by clicking on Gallery, then clicking on the album, and leave a comment here when you're done.

New Gallery albums
POSTED AT 08:32 AM

rocky

This site ha s really taken off, thanks to Alberto Delgado's post http://educational.blogs.com/edbloggerpraxis/ . I have posted 3 more albums, sharing teacher artifacts in Math, ELD, and ELA. My hope is to create partnerships with teachers who will begin posting their own artifacts and blogging about their strategies.

The journey begins!
POSTED AT 08:53 PM

rocky

Next week I will begin working on Literature Circles with a 5th grade classroom. The teacher is excited about using Literature Circles and will begin with the book "The Chocolate Touch." I suggested she try blogging about her experiences with Literature Circles and how blogging fits in so I've created this page for that purpose.

I will follow Anne Davis' Literature Circles blog http://anvil.gsu.edu/LiteratureCircles/
and her Literacy & Technology Instructor's Edublog http://anvil.gsu.edu/LIterature/ as a resource. She and her fellow teachers are doing excellent work in both blogs--one showcases the student work and the other journals the instructors' developing understanding and application of Literature Circles.

We will probably use BlogHeads http://npera1.tblog.com as a vehicle to introduce blogging, then move students over to a shared journal page (like this one) on this blog. I'm so excited to sink me teeth into meaningful edublogging experience with depth, and hopefully, longevity.

Something new...
POSTED AT 06:02 AM

rocky

Last night I began a shared journal on this blog site--The Circle. I'm going to work with a 5th grade teacher on using a blog with Literature circles beginning next week and The Circle will be our shared blog about the experience. On one of my other blogs, blahblahblog at http://npera2.tblog.com I reflect on my blog learnings and yesterday I posted about a new direction I'm going in, which relates to The Circle as well. I'd love any feedback about using blogs in Literature Circles and blog entries as writing mini-lessons.

I hope more teachers check out tabulas. The offerings are very generous--picture galleries, media files, shared journals, content pages, ad free, privacy settings--much more than I've found in other free sites and the paid accounts are inexpensive and provide even more! The people at tabulas WANT to work with teachers and are very supportive and generous. So, check it out http://www.tabulas.com .

Day 1: Blogging with students
POSTED AT 06:45 AM

rocky

Yesterday I introduced the students to BlogHeads Http://npera1.tblog.com. They learned how to post a Comment and that they can post a Reply to another Comment. They were very excited about their posts and the possibility that SuperThinker, or someone else, might reply.

I faced the same hurdle as in the last class--only two working computers for a class of 30 students. Aaargh!!! It took a long time and students were anxiously waiting. It didn't help that I didn't plan some other blogging/internet background learning activity for those who were waiting.

The teacher and I spoke about how to handle the lack of computers and time crunch aspect and came up with the following:
--Students will use the BlogHeads site during IWT to get familiar with the blogging and to take advantage of mini-lessons that will support their classroom writing project (Expository for the current unit).
--The teacher and I will create a Shared Journal for the class to use. The Literature Circle groups will post on the journal.
--We will move the students toward creating their own classroom blog. Using the same grouping as in the Literature Circle groups, we will create approximately 4 blogging groups = "DramaBloggers" will blog about their drama class, CircleBloggers will blog about Literature Circles, ThemeBloggers will blog about their current unit themes, and OfInterestBloggers will blog about school "stuff" (B-Days, Programs, Class Events, etc).
--The classroom blog ala NewsQuests from Anne Davis will be a wonderful way for students to internalize good writing - beginning with expository articles with attention grabbers, facts and details, persuasive writing, and possibly to narrative posts with character development and dialogue, if we get there this year.

We think this movement will help us maintain blogging and take it from simply answering questions and blogging about posted prompts, to students posting their own questions and answers in a more authentic manner. Also, we don't want blogging to take from the joy of reading the Literature Circle selections, nor to be blogged down with every student trying to post every week with only two working computers. Well, we shall see how it all develops!

Updates...
POSTED AT 09:07 PM

rocky

I've been working with a 5th grade class on BlogHeads http://npera1.tblog.com this week. I've blogged about it on blahblahblog http://npera2.tblog.com and updated The_Circle. Check 'em out. More about our school's writing focus, with new pics in the Gallery, to come soon...

I see you out there...
POSTED AT 09:12 PM

rocky

Okay, okay--I know you're out there. I see the count and know you're all visiting the site and checking out the pics. But, no comments? Not one little itty bitty comment? tsk, tsk, tsk. Sharing is a two-way street so post a comment and let me know what you think, what you're working on, give a suggestion---let's get the dialogue going teachers!
Thank you,
Your friendly neighborhood edublogger