MPCS Bookmarks

I started out tracking their work through my Google Reader account

I quickly discovered viewing their posts in the Reader wasn’t sufficient.

The Reader still works wonderfully for reading comments,

As for assessing the blogs, working with the students, we designed rubric: Blogging Writer’s Checklist.

Utilize peer revision.

Let students choose which posts they want me to grade.

Group students in learning communities to monitor and encourage each other.

Hold student-led writing conferences.

biggest motivation for my students

has been having someone comment on our blogs

“comment blog,” an idea I got from Alan Levine, edublogger who devotes a week every year to commenting on others’ blogs. This will not only allow them read and explore other blogs, but will hopefully drive readers to their own blogs.

As a student, I like the idea of peer revision, student-lead writing conferences, and group work in class.

I wish our class could pair up with a couple other classes who are doing the same thing

I feel that I have grown as a writer because of this, we all have.

offer a safe environment

instructional know-how

o What do I have students do with them? o How do I grade them? o How do I monitor the barrage of posts and comments? o Where do they fit in my curriculum? o How do I manage class time? o How do I teach students how to be safe online? o What can I do to keep students from getting burned out on blogging?

If teachers had someone to work with, someone to guide them through the set-up and management of blogs, to show them how to implement them in their classrooms, with their students, with their curriculum—would more teachers be blogging? Would there be greater numbers experimenting with wikis, podcasts, video production?

what I’m describing is an Instructional Technologist

are adding these technology/curriculum specialists—educators who can work alongside teachers to support them and encourage them to undertake adventurous technology-rich activities, activities like those described by Clarence Fisch where students interact in “live blogging” to discuss Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind.

If more schools hired Instructional Technologists, would more teachers be clamoring to the keyboard, rushing to web 2.0 sites, designing activities that allow students to design, create, produce, evaluate, synthesize, publish?