SEEDlings

I really enjoy reading Anne Davis’ blog, Edublog Insights. She had a great post today where she discusses blogs and pedagogy. I’d suggest you all give it a read. If you’re short on time here are some of the highlights of her post.

She begins by discussing the definition of pedagogy.

The Wikipedia definition of pedagogy is the art or science of teaching. Pedagogy is also sometimes referred to as the correct use of teaching strategies. I also found these definitions of pedagogy on the web. There are several at this link.

This one resonates with me:

The strategies, techniques, and approaches that teachers can use to facilitate learning.

From there she outlines the benefits of using blogs for developing pedagogies.

Audience & Comments Having a worldwide audience who can read what students write brings forth recognition for students that can be quite profound. Students are used to the teacher being the only audience for their work. The realization that others think that what they have to say is important is empowering. They are amazed. I recall one student whose highlight for the year was having a high school student say that his writing made a difference. In another scenario I had a group of elementary students who were concerned that their writing would not be good enough for a group of high school students who were reading their blogs. It’s not that they didn’t want to try but what was important to them is that their writing be good in the eyes of their audience. We cannot create that with an audience of one.

Voice – Blogging can give students a totally new perspective on the meaning of voice. They can explore their own learning and thinking and their distinctive voices emerge. Student voices are essential to the conversations we need to have about learning. Blogs give students a place for that voice to be heard by many. Many students that would be hesitant to speak in a classroom will share their ideas on a blog.

Conversations & Dialogue - The dialogue that goes on in our classrooms about our learning through blogging is the key to getting conversations and then postings that promote critical thought by students. Here the teacher is the catalyst for helping develop an atmosphere that encourages and respects the learner and their ideas. Ideas have to be nurtured, explored and discussed. Blogs put us on a learning path together with our students where we can shape new learning environments for the future. Blogs also offer incredible opportunities for dialogue and the social construction of meaning.

Ownership & Choices – Blogs help lead us away from students from seeking to find what the teacher wants in terms of an answer. Students feel more compelled to write when they believe many others may read and respond. They want to do better. Giving students a choice in making their own connections about their learning on blogs paves the way for blogs to be constructivist tools for learning. These attributes are compelling and powerful motivators that help us shape the pedagogy.

Archives – Having records of the learning that is ongoing facilitates learning and evaluation in a much easier and efficient matter. One student put it to me that he could easily find his thoughts on a matter and he could see how his thinking had changed and why. This lets us approach evaluation in reflective ways.

I feel that technology can be leveraged to do many of these things without necessarily using blogs (but blogs do make it a whole lot easier). It is so important that we provide a larger audience for our students work. Our students will truly benefit from the experience.

I assume many of us read the same blogs and one of them is Wes Fryer’s Speed of Creativity. I’ve enjoyed reading Wes’ work for a few months and have been amazed at the sheer volume of postings.

Wes is off the Net this week I presume trying to save his marriage because he blogs way to much and Mrs. Fryer is fried and his put the blog in the hands of Miguel Guhlin.

I just need to say if forced to reduce my blog reading to a minimum I’m keeping Miguel and thanking Wes for the gift. I’m loving Miguel’s style and contributions.

Has anyone else had a similiar experience?

Miguel’s natural home Around the Corner

What’s up with the title?

I believe there exists a myth in public education and I’d love to know if the group can confirm or deny it’s existence.

Let’s call the myth “Out with the cranky and in with the solution.”

It’s hiring season and I’ve often heard people say, “In 10, 5, 3 more years we’ll replaced all the dead wood and we’ll have this young staff full of energy and problem ‘x’ will be solved.” I’ve heard this in two different contexts in the past week and it’s struck me as sadder than it has in the past. It’s akin to saying, “I can’t fix this today, but in 10, 5, 3 years all our problems will walk out the door and the solution will walk in.”

Has anyone ever seen this trick pulled off? Or is this an example of the necessity to put the The Stockdale Principle to work?

Hi all. As I prepare to give laptops to my staff, I’m thinking about the training session they must participate in to get their laptops for the summer. You know, care and feeding of your machine. Does anyone have a basic outline of what they’ve used in the past? Hate to reinvent the wheel and know that so many of you have done this many times before…Thanks in advance for any help, tips/tricks, warnings, or suggestions you have to offer! ~Steph.

Sometimes I look at my bookmarks and think, “Is this all there is? I wonder what’s cool on the Net.” Recently, I found http://www.stumbleupon.com/ which allows me in Firefox only to click a button and be randomly sent to a website in the category I selected.

Once on the site you can rate it, which influences the “stumbles” for the next bored surfer in the que.

My first three stumbles this morning produced two sites worth bookmarking. Your results may vary.

Another posting along the same lines as Steph’s excellent find.

Story Nory iPod ready stories for kids

and how about this? http://www.fromoldbooks.org/

Over 1060 images scanned from more than 80 different old books, most with multiple high-resolution versions and many with text excerpts! They are all public domain (copyright-free, out of copyright) unless otherwise noted, and can be used as historical reference in teaching, royalty-free stock images, scrapbook clip art, or even on your own Web site. ~steph.

(this was a comment that i’ve figured out how to make into a post! yea for me.)

Be sure to listen to Bob and Cheryl’s podcast on Bit by Bit about the DOPA proposal. Write to Congress now!

Bit by Bit Show 27.

John C. Dvorak wrote an article for PC Magazine entitled, “Knowing What to Know - The Cheating Debate.”

Here’s an interesting excerpt from it.

Today’s educational systems just do not get modernity. And by that I don’t mean that people shouldn’t learn calculus or Roman history. I mean they should be encouraged to use the most modern tools available to them to gather, organize, and present information.

That’s the point about not cheating. Let a student go online while taking a test. Why not? Let them do research on the fly while taking a test. What’s the point of memorizing that Ben Franklin was born in 1706 when that tidbit is available online? And knowing the fact itself proves nothing. Higher-education mavens tell us how important it is to learn how to learn. How about knowing what to know? Isn’t that just as important? You wouldn’t think so, as this debate rages.

One thing I can guarantee you: The eventual winner of the debate will be the folks on the modern-technology side of the aisle. Unfortunately, the celebration in the victory circle is still a ways away, and kids will suffer in the meantime.

What are the skills that teachers need to let go of? Are we still doing “old things in old ways” as Marc Prensky would say? Are our students suffering as Dvorak states?

As technology integrators we need to find ways to get teachers thinking about education in the 21st century. I posted a link to this article in our school news on FirstClass and had a great conversation with a teacher in my building about the concepts presented in it. While she didn’t agree with Dvorak, she did rethink some of her thoughts after our discussion.

Doing a presentation and you don’t want the kids to see the background images from your Las Vegas vacation (that stuff really doesn’t stay there, so be careful)?

Use Backdrop and leave the clutter behind.

Another free little app that puts a background between your clutter and what you want to show the kids.

http://www.johnhaney.com/backdrop/