Thing #6 Feeding the Reader

Before 23 Things, I did not know about Readers and RSS feeds. After going through Things 5 and 6, I have a new passion.... Google Reader. I have a number of sites I want to keep up with daily. Remembering all the links or even names is a daunting task. If I tried to keep a list, it was a file on my hard drive. With Google Reader, the links are all right there in one place, online, and easy to find. It's fantastic!

I added personal as well as professional feeds.

I have been following Cool Cat Teacher. I enjoy her fresh look at the real world.

A new professional blog I have added to my Reader is Betty's Blog. The voice of her blog is down to earth and easy to read. One entry in particular stands out to me. In Technology Gone Wrong, Betty talks about her iPod breaking and the direction technology is moving. I agree with her assessment:

"Why are educators so set on keeping things the same? We are spending so much money just on testing. What if that money was invested in technology instead? Trust me, cutting edge technology would encourage more learning and career building skills than teaching strategies to figure out the right answers on a test."

Students, young and old, expect technology in this day. I think back to this past school year when a Promethean Board in one of my classrooms wasn't working for a few weeks. It seemed tragic at the time. The technology of the Board keeps them engaged, interested, and focused.

To my Reader, I also added links to blogs by my sister and my daughter, Sarah, who is presently in Ghana, Africa. She is a Sophomore at UT. Prejudice aside, she is a great writer and has very interesting things to say in her blog.

In exploring Google Blog Search, I subscribed to "ESL Google Blog Search." I'm not sure yet what that will produce, but we'll see.

I tried to add a feed to http://www.flashpuzzlezone.com/index.asp. When trying to add it, I got an error message. Don't know what's up with that. Guess I'll try again later.

Overall, I am excited to learn about RSS feeds and Google Reader. I foresee both of them making a profound impact on my life. :)

Thing #5 RSS Feeds

For Thing #5 I set up my Google Reader account and subscribed to the required feeds and some others. I like the concept of RSS and Readers. It is a hassle to go through every bookmark I have when I want to see updates. Feeding them to my Google Reader makes keeping up with my favorite blogs and news easy.

The challenge I see in using RSS is remembering to check the Reader. :) But, remembering to check one site for updates is definitely better than hunting down all my bookmarks.

Students 2oh I enjoyed reading this blog of actual students’ writing. I could relate to the students writing for the blog from a parental point of view. The students were documenting their journey of graduating from high school, applying, and starting college. As a parent I have recently gone through that same process with my daughter, Sarah. She graduated from WMHS 2007 and is now a Sophomore at UT.

Another feed I subscribed to is the Mesquite section of the Dallas Morning News site. I found an article reporting MISD is now allowing facial hair on male employees. From as far back as I can remember starting first grade in MISD in 1965 through 2009 and 24 years' experience as an employee, men in the District have never been allowed to have facial hair. My how times change. The comments after the article were other than complimentary… an example of Darth Commenter according to Cool Cat Teacher.

Thing #4 Blog Uses in Education - Part 2

I enjoyed reading the blogs listed on the 23 Things Discovery Exercise. I read more than five, so I chose five to write about in this blog entry.

Dan Meyer's Blog post, "Why I Don't Assign Homework" put my own opinions into print. Those that CAN do the work will do homework. Those that NEED to do it won't. According to Mr. Meyer, this attitude is doubled in low economic families. From my experience, I agree with him. In an update to his blog, Mr. Meyer said he has changed his opinion somewhat on not giving homework assignments. Since his class is taught in a secondary block schedule setting, he felt 48 hours in between class instruction time was too long to optimally enhance student retention of knowledge. Therefore, he gives two problems for "homework." One is "tough" and the other is "tougher."

Weblogg-ed (Will Richardson): Why Can't We Do This? Hmmm.... plastic or cloth? At first, this entry puzzled me. Why did the instructors include a blog about plastic vs. cloth grocery bags? After reading it 3 or 4 times, I realized the point was not so much the content as it was the style. This blog spoke a lot with a few words. In fact, the majority of the blog was a quote from the New York Times. It was interesting.

Mrs. Edmison's Class: Questions for One of Our Favorite Authors: Grace Lin It was good to see students' writing in a blog. The author's response provided a fabulous opportunity for the students to get up close and personal with her. She shared things with them that I imagine they will always remember.

Mark’s Edtech Blog: Is this SSR 2.0? I love Mark's approach to a relatively new idea… let kids read blogs during SSR/DEAR time. Their interest in reading is higher. They can read and respond to things written by peers. Writing and reading go hand-in-hand. You can’t write without reading what you wrote.

Cool Cat Teacher: Spies Like Us Vicki Davis is thought-provoking author with a deep insight into her subjects. It is a bit scary to read her interpretation of kids' use of technology in schools. If we don't make it OK to use cell phones and Internet, kids will do it anyway. Wouldn't it be better if we as educators acknowledge the technological path we're on and teach students a safe and intelligent way to use it.

Thing #4 Blog Uses in Education - Part 1

Wow! This "Thing" is packed with thought-provoking information and opinions. Blogs in general express opinions as well as experiences and research. That is only the tip of the iceberg. Anything a person chooses to read will give information of some sort. Blogging is a continual interactive process. The more comments a blog has, the more brains are involved in the schema. Related articles are easily accessible through links.

In this day of going green, "No trees were harmed in the making of this blog."

Blogs tend to be more personal and the language less formal than, for example, an encyclopedia or dictionary. This makes them more "reader friendly."

As in my ESL sheltered language instruction, restating an idea in a different way may be the one thing a certain individual needs to gain comprehension of the concept being discussed. Blogging does near the same thing. Many different blogs on the same topic are readily available for review on the Internet, thus allowing the reader access to more "ways to say it" to help ensure comprehension.

One of the main benefits of blogging is that it is interactive and has the potential for update and change on a regular basis.

Thing #3 Blogging Tips

Blogging -

In reading blog posts from two other bloggers, I gathered some interesting ideas.

Blue Skunk says we all want to be heard. Leave a comment: "agree, disagree, add, or just say thanks, but make it heart-felt."


Cool Cat Teacher gives many helpful suggestions in becoming an effective commenter on blogs.

• Be meaningful
• Link to your own blog
• Share about yourself in your blog's profile
• Use a comment tracking service
• Teach kids to comment
• Beware of "Darth Commenter" - "They know the psychological stress that unkind commenting can cause in a new blogger."
• Criticize kindly

Thing #2 "DIL Web 2.0"

Read the article “A Day in the Life of Web 2.0” by David Warlick

Consider the ways in which Web 2.0 tools might change (or have already changed) my professional practice.

From the beginning of my teaching career 24 years ago, technology has drastically changed the world of education. MP3 player, podcasts, and weekly teacher blogs are accessible to parents and students, as well as other teachers. Technology encourages and makes easier for teachers to interact, team plan, create combination assignments across subjects, and plan vertically. This is especially useful to secondary teachers that teach only one subject. Technological interaction will help them work together to create a more complete, well-rounded education for the student.

Social bookmarking is a great time-saving tool that is new to me. I'm excited about the possibilities of its implementation in my own teaching. Teachers access the shared list independently. Transition time in getting information of searches and online materials is markedly decreased, which, of course, makes the school system run more efficiently. As we advance in our knowledge, more families are getting computers and Internet access.

All class assignments turned in as blog entries raises some ideas in my mind. I can see the author’s point in saying the conversational nature of the blog format encourages more in depth writing and thinking on the part of the students. It effects teachers as well. I requires change their way of thinking. This type of instruction trains the student to be more self-sufficient and take an active part in their learning. That is a good thing. Students would also develop better keyboard skills out of necessity. That will be very helpful to them as adults.

Wikis are interactive expanded blogs. Team members can add to the content of the blog as well as comment on other members’ posts. This approach is beneficial for all involved.

The author supports communication through technology. I agree with that concept. I’m not sure about technology being used to the extent the author describes at this point in time, but who knows where our future will take us.

How might I be able to use these new tools to engage today’s “digital learners?”

Engaging students with technology isn’t the difficult part. Keeping them engaged is the challenge. To maintain their interest, technology must be interactive. Some ideas are still relatively new and being explored. When today's students are grown, things that haven't been invented yet will be second nature for them.

What is Web 2.0 role in 21st Century teaching and learning?

Technology is our future. The younger age at which students are prepared to use it, the more adept and comfortable they will be with technology. They will even get adventuresome. Web 2.0 definitely expands opportunities for teachers and students. We’re past the point of paper textbooks as our sole source of instruction.

Why would I want to use these tools?

My role as a teacher of tomorrow's future leaders is to prepare them for what is to come. I believe technology is a great part of that future. Kids are excited about the possibilities. They don't see obstacles. They see opportunity.

Thing #1 Seven Habits of LLL

In reading the introduction in Thing #1, I found the seven habits of lifelong learners very interesting. I could elaborate on all of them, but how about just the highlights right now? :)

Habit #5: Toolbox
Keeping track of all the wonderful resources I’m acquiring as I work through the activities will be the most challenging for me. I tend to be very organized, but can also reach a point of overload and frustration. I started a spreadsheet of account information. It already has nine entries and this is the first day of class! It's also backed up to a thumb drive in case my computer should by some remote chance, crash. Now I just have to remember to enter accounts as I make them!

Habit #2: Responsibility (accept responsibility for your own learning)
Taking responsibility for my own learning is no problem at all. I am very self-motivated to learn everything possible from 23 Things. Technology is fascinating to me, and I always want more. I tend to be adept at figuring it out also. That should come in handy. Besides that, a legitimate excuse for me to be on the computer “playing” is awesome.

Habit #3: View problems as challenges
While all seven and a half habits are important, #3 rises to the top of my list. It has long been a favorite quote of mine in saying “life happens.” I am a person that can go with the flow as long as I have a little processing time before I’m expected to interact in a given situation. Challenges have been abundant in my life, and I’ve made it my personal goal to see them as positive challenges. It is my desire to continue this mindset through 23 Things. LLL (lifelong learning) - here I come!


7 ½ Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind
Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning
Habit 3: View problems as challenges
Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox
Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage
Habit 7: Teach/mentor others
Habit 7 ½: Play