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"Benefits for creating a classroom environment for student blogging begin with establishing a foundation for their success. Why is this important? Integrating blogs transforms a classroom into a learning community where students become self-directed learners and thinkers. This in turn, causes students to use higher order thinking skills as they create and post entries in their blogs, along with commenting on other student's blogs."

"Assessment of how students meet these goals is done by the students themselves, as for each piece they publish they write a reflection where they identify and explain aspects of their piece that show the following: -evidence of themselves as thinkers -evidence of using revision to improve their writing -evidence of how they worked through challenges I love using this method as a way to assess my students' writing, which I was introduced to last summer at the UNC Charlotte Writing Project. It focuses students attention on their own process, encourages them to try new ideas and approaches, respects their diversity, and guides students in being better able to talk about their own thinking and learning. Up until today, I've been having my students complete this reflective/metacognitive assignment by responding to these directions on their own sheet of paper, which they then would turn in to me. But this morning while I was preparing my class for the day, it occurred to me that Diigo's web highlighter and sticky note tools would allow students to carry out that same assignment without paper. In addition, it would also take students less time to complete, let others read the reflections they wrote, and make it easier for me to access and assess their work. "

One of my favorite video websites is TED. I know many of you are already acquainted with the name but to those who still do not have an idea what TED is all about I would say that you are missing out on an inestimable resource of great videos. TED has been internationally recognized and from different academic and professional bodies as one of the best educational websites. It features interviews with the smartest thinkers of our age. It touches upon every category from entertainment to education. I personally find it the right place to get the necessary inspiration and encouragement to improve and boost my self and professional development.

An interesting speaker/thinker on things educational.