So many times I have heard people say it’s not about the tool, it’s about the learning. This I completely agree with, but I sometimes have a hard time working beyond the tool to focus on the learning. I am new to all the tools this year and sometimes I get caught up. I have been wanting to move beyond the tools and get into the learning. I thought I could learn a lot at NECC. Okay, so I didn’t get to physically be at NECC, but that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t be at NECC. First I would like to thank all of the wonderful people that were present who used the tools to stream sessions for the rest of us and our learning pleasure. I caught part of @chrislehmann ’s session live and then returned to watch it again in the archive thanks to Wes Fryer. (view it here) I watched the video, checked out some to of the Science Leadership Academysight and information, took notes, and then commenced to thinking about what I thought I knew. I was very impressed with Chris Lehmann’s presentation. I had never heard of the Understanding by Design. I downloaded information and printed out the UbD in a Nutshell forms. I have really begun to think about how I can use this model to plan projects for my 7th grade Communications classes. Thank you to Chris for getting me thinking.
When I logged back into start this blog, I looked back at a blog post I attempted in May it hit me that I have been asking the wrong questions. I have been saying I would like my students to blog. How can I get my students to blog? What tool should they use to blog? I did have my students blog last year. I believe that it helped improve writing and communications skills. It gave students a voice and an audience. I gave my students prompts on their Think.com site. I had them reflect on a few projects. I said I wanted them to go beyond the writing prompts. But I have not asked, why do I want my students to blog in the future? This past year the main focus was on getting students to connect and communicate and to create a classroom community. Many students were able to share more in writing a blog post than in a classroom discussion. Students were able to share more about their lives outside the classroom with each other. My goal for next year will not only be to sustain the sharing and caring of a classroom community, but also to move beyond the walls of the classroom. Now I struggle with what I would like them to learn beyond the classroom. I would like them to do some wonderful collaborative projects that make them think creatively outside the box. How can I do this when I only have my students for 60 days? So even though I could not attend, NECC has inspired be to do more reflecting and planning for the next school year and technology.
Well here I sit, yet again at my laptop. I am trying out Edublogger for the first time since I set up the account at a conference. It seems so busy and overwhelming to me. Can I learn to blog and set up enough to be able to use this with my students? I really would like to use blogs within my classroom with my seventh graders. Currently, I have them making “blog” posts in 