Ramblings of My MInd

I am forgoing the usual attempt at a coherent post. My mind is a jumble of thoughts, and I am going to spill them. Isn't that my prerogative??

 (sung to the tune of It's My Party... -- It's my blog and I'll ramble if I want to...)

T*O*D*a*Y...

Good things about today ---

1. The BEST thing about today was that my 5th grade class skyped with Laura from 25 Days to Make a Difference. We have been working on our own blog for a difference, 17 Chances to Help. The kids love Laura's blog and they have been having a bit of a back and forth exchange with her via comments and posts. It was one of my students who asked if we could skype with her. I really haven't done much skypeing with my students at all. In fact today was only the second time I have used skype in the classroom and the first time I have used it in this way. Laura was so adorable and sweet. My students were so excited and kept asking her the same questions, like, "How did you get the idea for your blog?" over and over. All in all it was just cool.

2. A friend at work made me lunch. How nice was that?

Frustrations for today...

1. I got a not so nice, "anonymous" comment on the 17 chances to help blog. I think it was from a student in the class. I'm not sure of the motivation for the comment, if it was a passive-aggressive way of complaining about the project or just a misguided attempt at being funny. I don't know if he/she didn't realize the comments were moderated. I don't know. I have heard that a few of the students have complained about spending so much of our lab time working on the blog, but when I asked the whole group about it, I got a positive response, even asking if they can continue in next year. 

It really hits a nerve and illustrates, for me, a piece of the issue of digital citizenship that is being discussed so much lately, especially after the appalling videotaped beating of a teenager last week. Every little aspect of digital citizenship needs to be taught. Here I am, a teacher, used to students complaining about this and that, and a little comment (which was not even THAT bad) really felt like a slap in the face. There is something cowardly about posting anonymously. I would much rather hear students complain directly, and I told them that.

Now this same group will also be working on a collaborative writing project, using google docs to collaborate on a story using the pictures from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. I am really interested and even a bit worried to see how they handle the collaborative aspect of the work. 

2. I am a bit disappointed in the aforementioned group blog project. It was helpful "talking" a bit to Laura's mom, Angela, and reading her post about Laura's blog. I want to do so much more than I am able to do in my 45 minute per week sessions. I can't seem to get the kids to go as deep as I would like them to go. They have a "mitzvah club" as part of their Judaic Studies, but it seems to me that something is missing. They seem to be going through the motions, but not gaining a real understanding of what they are doing. Their writing, their thoughts, even their answers to some of Laura's questions, really make me wonder how our school could be doing a better job of teaching. I don't know if my expectations are out of line for 5th grade... I don't think so, I used to be a 5th grade classroom teacher, but maybe I've lost my sense of the age group? 

Final thoughts:

•I don't know how to address the 45 minutes a week dilemma. I like being the tech resource at the school, even with the limitations. The Judaic Studies teacher who does the Mitzvah Club with the students has no interest whatsoever in integrating tech. She didn't even want to see the blog. I hope to get a grant to continue and expand the project. If I am lucky enough to win a grant, it will give me more options. Maybe I will take it to the afterschool arena, as I did with my student blogging group, the Tech Explorers. I would like us to actually DO some things to help out in our community. I want the students to experience the power of helping and giving, as well as their own power to create, connect and make good things happen.

•As to the issue of teaching digital citizenship, there is a wave building. Talk about using the power of technology to harness the good...I have jumped on board and am expecting quite a ride. Only a few days old, it is called ad4dcss (advocates for digital citizenship, safety and success) and there is already a lot of action afoot.

 

Blogging with Students

Today I started my afterschool blogging club. Known as “tech explorers” these 4^th and 5^th graders (and one intrepid 3^rd grader) began the creation of their own blogs on edublogs.

First of all, some thanks are in order. I have to thank the ever-inspiring Silvia Tolisano (langwitches) for sharing the idea of doing an afterschool blogging group, as well as the practical “how-to” advice she shares on her blog. Thanks also to my principal for agreeing to it, to my assistant, Kim, for helping me set up the blog accounts (and picking up snacks). Most importantly, thank you to my wonderful students for being so excited to be part of this new, fun and creative activity, and thank you to their parents for allowing them to participate.After much thought and a lot of checking out of different options for student blogs I decided to go with individual edublogs accounts for each student. I feel that one of the biggest motivations for blogging is the creative expression, so I want each student to have control over the look and feel of their blog, as well as what is posted. I created user names in advance, and today in class, the students activated their own blogs by choosing a domain name and a title for the blog. They also chose a theme and some wrote an introductory post.

Before we got started with the nitty-gritty, I showed some examples of student blogs. I always start any project or lesson by showing some quality examples. The blogs I showed today were Digital Depictions by Cai (age 9) and some of Silvia’s students’ blogs. We also discussed our Tech Explorers’ Code of Safe Online Conduct. This, too, was the outcome of a lot of thought and exploration of others teachers’ work. Different teachers have different guidelines as to what constitutes online safety. I think that what is most important is that the subject is discussed and re-visited as necessary. I feel so strongly that we need to teach our students to use the emerging technologies thoughtfully.

The students were very excited, and many of them expressed the desire to work on their blogs at home.

I have also started a class blog with my 5th grade class. If you have followed any of my rambling "using technology to do good in the world" posts, this blog, called 17 Chances to Help, is the next step in our tech-related mitzvah project. It is slow-going, as I have retained administrative control over that blog, and I only see the class once a week. But I think we will be working on this project for the rest of the school year. I am interested to see how this project takes shape and what the students learn from it (and, of course, what I learn from it). Please check that blog from time to time as we add content to it. I know the students would really welcome comments.

Using Technology to Do Good

I started something at school this year called "one-click mitzvah."

I work at a Jewish Day School. In Judaism a mitzvah is a commandment. It has also come to be defined as a good deed. 

We set the home page on all of the computers in the lab to The Hunger Site and taught the students to click to give.

So simple. I can not take credit for this beautiful idea. My friend, Eileen, suggested it to me. For the kids it became an immediate habit.

When I demonstrate something to the students in the lab, I have usually already been online that day and have already clicked on the Hunger Site. But if I open my browser and go to another site quickly without clicking to give, the kids yell "one click mitzvah!"

The older students work their way across the top of the page to go to each site in the GreaterGood Network of websites which include The Hunger Site, The Breast Cancer Site, The Literacy Site, The Rainforest Site, The Child Health Site and The Animal Rescue Site. 

There are many other sites for harnessing the immense power of the internet for the greater good, among them freerice.com and dosomething.org.

I see a lot of potential here.