Shauna Fisher

The two current book chapters are about using blogs in the classroom and RSS feeds. I am coming around to RSS feeds but I'm still not entirely convinced they are the be-all, end-all that the book claims. I can see the usefulness, don't get me wrong, but I don't know that I'm a person that would use one on a daily basis. That might change if I get a classroom. I'm open to it, lets put it that way.

Image curtsey of Cortega9

I've been doing some research on blogs in classrooms. They do seem to be the trend of the future. I'd have to agree with Brenda Dyck when she says that it might just be the thing to get kids interested in reading and writing again. I like how she points out that it provides an audience, some one besides a teacher reading their work. I think that is something we try to teach to young kids- write to an audience...but what does that mean really? The kids think, my teacher is going to read this so they write to the teacher. Having blog writing means they have an opportunity to really 'get' that they are writing to more than just a teacher. It brings that 'audience' part alive. Her article also shows how the student can get quick feed back and the feedback can keep the discussion going. Really using the top of Bloom's Taxonomy in this use of a blog.

This article by Will Richardson has some other good potential ideas and reasons why blogging AND RSS feeds are useful. Using RSS to subscribe to the kid's blogs is an obvious use but having parents subscribe is an added bonus- they can subscribe not only to the classroom weblog for homework and updates but their student's page to see what they are contributing to class.

And I went to look on Will's page...it's the author of our book for the class. Well who woulda saw that coming?

He is now one of my new favorite people (there is not a mention of blogs but he has a lot of good things to say):


In his article here he has 3 suggestions as starting points for teachers becoming what he calls "connected educators."

1. Thinning the walls of the classroom- having class room participation be more than just 'in the building.' This means collaboration outside the classroom- easy to do with blogs. 
2. Talking to strangers- I thought this was an odd one, especially in light of our discussion on Internet filtering and safety, but as he points out talking to strangers means "teaching them how to find, vet and learn with people they don't know..." Teaching students how to interact on the Internet- again it is there, we need to teach them how to use it. The fun behind this idea is that of pen pals from another state or country. I know one of my classmates is thinking about doing that with her students. I think that's a great way to make safe connections and teach kids how to Interact on the web.
3. Be transparent- basically this means modelling correct behavior and sharing our lives with others. Be a blogger if you expect your students to be bloggers. Show them how its done.

I think this coincides a lot with what was read in the current chapters of our book. All this research has just made me more excited to get integrating and now I've found a new (apparently not new to the community but new to me) voice that I respect.