Blogging > random writing

So, recently I read a post talking about blogging in the classroom. At first, I was enjoying the reading. This person used wikis in his classroom and seemed to clearly “get” the so what factor of incorporating web 2.0 apps into the English language arts classroom.

But then I get to the end of the post, asking how to best use blogging in the classroom. Not directly quoted, but close enough so you get the point: “Yeah, it’s good for random student writing, but not really sure of any beneficial ways of using blogs?” Stop. Re-read. Then follow me….

Random student writing? Is that all blogging is thought of? I wanted to scream when I read this. Seriously. Does anyone else think about the term “authenticity” here? Or consider authentic writing as part of blogging? Or is blogging just random thoughts thrown down for no real purpose? OK, yes, I know I have a “Random Me” category now, and I’m the queen of blogging/randomness. BUT what does all of that really mean?

Think, key words: authentic, voice, personal, meaningful. Or perhaps brining the outside in, multiliteracies, multimodal learning.

Maybe it’s just me, but I see real purpose, real learning behind “random writing.” Maybe that’s why I have always liked Peter Elbow’s thoughts on free writing. Maybe I just like the connections blogging makes between the real world and the classroom or the simple fact that if students are writing that’s a good thing…

Literacy is changing as we know it. Learning is changing, too. Writing no longer looks like just pen and paper and essay format. And words are more than just random pieces put together; they are a personal reflection of who we are and who we want others to perceive us as…

A lil’ Christmas remixing

I’ve mentioned before about the idea of remixing and how it can play out in the classroom. Thus, after catching this video in my RSS feed, I just had to include it (hey, it made me laugh AND deals with emerging literacies…). I noted that one of the YouTube tags lists “Chamblee High School” and decided to google it and found that there is a Chamblee High School in Georgia (I’m assuming the same one highlighted in this video, perhaps?).

Anyway, in the good spirits of the holiday season and for the love of remixing, ENJOY!

Bringing the outside in with the visual

I really liked the idea behind this. From visual arguments to writing prompts, I could see the use of these images as being instrumental in the classroom.

Burke’s Ning

Well, since I’m on break, I’ve been able to check out some of the blogs I like to skim through. (Ah, break. It’s such a wonderful thing!)

Anyway, here is a post about none other than Jim Burke himself! If this name doesn’t ring a bell, look him up. Some of you may recognize his name from some of my other posts. (His book is one that I read throughout the semester.)

The ning is becoming an increasingly popular avenue for attracting people into a social networking realm based specifically on what the admin person assigns it to focus on. (Think: facebook for teachers only — well, kind of, but not really.) Burke’s ning can be found here. I haven’t joined yet (though that is on the top of my break to-do list), but definitely think English teachers at any level should check it out. And, I particularly like the focus for “new teachers,” which is mentioned in Burke’s commentary on the EdWeek blog post.

Another reason I find this ning beneficial is because I think as educators, we need to join together and strengthen not only our own pedagogical strategies, but help others see all of the neat things we are doing in our classrooms, too!

So break or no break, check out the ning…

I survived!

That’s right — I survived! Survived what you ask? Well, here’s what I survived:

• 19 GRADUATE credit hours
• MIDDLE school
• teaching engineers

Before I decided to double degree (or whatever you call it), there were many who doubted and questioned my decision. “There’s no way you can do all of that,” and “Are you really sure this is what you want to do?” Well, those were just a few of the comments. Until the start of the semester, I kept quiet. Colleagues asked how I was managing and my response was always the same, “We will know soon enough!” But now that the semester is over, I’m not holding it in — I DID IT!!!

But enough of all that (though it still feels GREAT to hear myself say that I’m done, haha!:-) )…on to my semester reflection!

DISCLAIMER!

OK, yes. I’m the “English/English Ed.” person as my friends call me. And yeah, I am “good” at this “stuff.” BUT, hey, I’m human, too! Reading back through some of my posts (and since it’s that time of the year when final projects, drafts, etc. are due and my technical editing skills are on high alert), I have realized that a few of them do have a few “errors” (gasp! sigh.). However, this is my disclaimer. I’m not always perfect. And if I miss a mistake, my bad, yo! 🙂

Bringing the outside into the class

My cohort recently took a trip to the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Va. Our task was to create a podcast that we could use in our classrooms to walk students through the museum…or be a “teacher in their pocket” as the students walked around the museum.

Thus, my group decided to create a podcast divided into chapters…with each activity a new room that the students would be entering.

Here it is…take a listen! Also, be sure to check out the museum’s homepage. They have a lot of cool interdisciplinary teaching ideas and the opportunity to use videocasts to bring the museum into the classroom is  another great idea to think about.

Taubman Museum of Art

Media and Fair Use

I’ve had this topic on my to-do blog list, but wanted to direct your attention to my colleague’s post on the new guidelines that have been established to help educators in their classrooms.

You can check his post out here.

NCTE Day #4

As many of you all know, I am very interested in multiliteracies, specifically involving the “visual” element. Thus, it was only appropriate that I make my way to a session about using visuals!

Some of the important things I walked away with include the following:

• struggling readers can still “read” books through images –> then the words fall into place
• teachers need to help their students take time to read images (think: picture book, graphic novel, advertisements, signs)

Furthermore, if you don’t think that the visual can be beneficial in your classroom, think about these ideas:

• image arrangement and what that tells the reader
• materials that make up the images and how they can help tell the story
• movement across the page
• art and typeface

We need to use and develop a language of pictures to help students

NCTE Day #3

The morning started off with a session on engaging struggling high school readers with Gay Ivey (from JMU). Here are a few of the novels she suggested:

• Homeboyz
• I Heart You, You Haunt Me
• Stuck In Neutral
• Quad
• Paranoid Park
• Bootcamp
• Out from Bonneville
• Twilight

I really liked her suggestion of including