I have just been back through my 179 posts on my blog -(only since the middle of 2009 when I learnt about blogging -relectively and for teaching learning) and at last I realise how powerful it is. Here are a few ideas which I can share if I go ahead with cluster share:
sharing chns.learning with parents
using whanau connections
asking myself questions
challenges from people who visit my blog
notes after school visits
feedback and challenges from our ICT facilitator
linking to things I have learnt from other blogs
times to moan about things to help me move on
sharing times I have used blogging - like travel buddy and responses from the other side of the world
sharing my kids learning
I can go on and on . Wow how powerful blogging is for my own learning. What a powerful form of PD. Do we all use it? Why? Why not?
You have made me really think about how I haven't been back to my blog for ages. You ask why...laziness!!! Also I keep forgetting how it does keep a record of our thinking and how it can change over time. How can we measure our journey if we never put up the milestones, aha's. I have spouted off about how pleased I am with my wiki discussions showing how the children have changed in their thinking, and I forgot I used to be living it too. I am going to dedicate myself tomorrow night to updating my blog and putting up what I am doing. Then I will see if I am truly evolving, or if I am just living on past glories. Am I moving forward... hmmmm, I will see. Thanks for inspiring me.
ReplyDeleteHi Tricia
ReplyDeleteReading this blog entry is really timely for me even though you wrote it a few weeks back. I’m in the middle of a discussion about blogging. Lyn suggests that there are three levels of Blogging activity–
“Blogging 1” – Like putting pictures on a classroom wall, entries on a blog are simply for show, sharing what has been. Little feed forward. More a glimpse back.
“Blogging 2” - Similar to 1 but perhaps including a reflection about what was done, whether it was good etc.
“Blogging 3” – Blog entries are used to question, invite comment and supposedly new learning, feeding forward to make a difference.
Hmmm, did that start a discussion. I envy people who can see so clearly and succinctly. Unfortunately my brain just can’t do that! I try but boy do I struggle!!
I agree that “Blogging 1” can simply appear to be about show ‘n tell but I would suggest that in doing this we are making that judgement based completely on an assumption. The very effort of posting an article in a blog becomes a reflective exercise as we ask - What did we do? What would show this? Which photo should appear? What should I say? etc. All reflective exercises surely? Not only a reflective tone in regards to the task in hand but also a meta-cognitive one as bloggers think about their thinking. Perhaps in many ways Lyn’s Blogging 1 and 2 samples merge in reality? I would be very disappointed if the blog articles were to stay at this level though or even if they began at this level. I have always encouraged students to include a question in their articles. This not only encourages feedback back invites the commenter to become part of the learning network.
Lyn’s suggestions were a good discussion starter. I guess the level of learning and feed forward to be encouraged depends solely on the reasons people are blogging. As teachers we do need to consider a variety of ways blogging can and could impact on learning, i.e. our own, that of our students and that of our learning community’s.
As the discussion ensued I visited your blog. Wow! The answer is so there!! Each point you list here in this article are sooo about feeding forward. In this list you describe how you are using blogging to impact on the future and to assist in further learning.
Have a look at http://verity7math.blogspot.com/ It is interesting to compare this with the SOLO sheet given out on the TO day. What level of questioning and task is involved? As we compare our own blogging activity, it would be interesting to have students do this too, whether or not they have their own blog pages. This could work even if they are simply commenting on another’s blog article. I wonder how analyzing their comments against SOLO would impact to make a difference?
Thanks for posting your article Tricia. It has feed forward into my own thinking – and who knows who else may share this too. Your posting has become part of our discussion today and provided some wonderful illumination. Thank you. I love reading your blog.