Bud's Blog Experiment

Sleeping

2006-06-21T10:14:00.000-06:00

This blog is sleeping again. Please visit the main blog for everything that I'm up to right now.

The Experiment Returns

2006-03-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

It's time to dust the cobwebs off of this blog, because I've got an idea that belongs in this space. Next quarter, I will return to teaching public speech, a subject I haven't formally taught for a couple of years. I want my speech class to be a combination of writing for public audiences, speaking for public audiences, and learning how to collect and present information in such a way as to be useful for both speaking and writing.
That's where I think the blog comes in.
I want each of my students to maintain a public research blog on the topic or two of their choice. They will collect information in these spaces, link to source material, write reflections on what they've learned. We'll Suprglu the class blogs together to have a class page of knowledge to use to share tips and thoughts. Perhaps, after speeches are given, they will be able to podcast via their blogs, if they so choose -- although I don't know that I want to require that. But then again, maybe I do.
If you are reading this, then I'm guessing that you might have some ideas about how to teach a speech class. What should we be sure to cover? What sorts of topics do you think would be interesting enough for possibly reluctant high school students to study for several weeks?
Ten days to go time. I wonder if this plan will work.

Shhhhh . . . .

2005-06-05T10:04:00.000-06:00

. . ..this blog is sleeping. It'll be awake soon. In the meantime, hop on over to my main blog to keep up with the conversation. Hope to see you there!

Take a Moment

2005-05-19T23:09:00.000-06:00

I don't know how many of you already know this -- but since Anne Davis has been a teacher in our classroom, I thought you might want to stop by her blog and share a kind word.

The class speaks . . .er . . .podcasts

2005-05-17T15:42:00.000-06:00

Yesterday in class, we stumbled into our first podcast. We were talking about how to grade blogs -- and then we got to talking about a lot more. In true Dave Winer fashion, I started the recorder to capture their thoughts.
I was blown away by the words and ideas coming from my students. I am proud of their thinking and the seriousness with which they are treating their education.I only wish the other half of the class had been present for the conversation.
~~Maybe~~ Next time.

Thinking vs. Seeing

2005-05-10T14:00:00.000-06:00

Michael said this a while ago -- and I've been meaning to post it since. It's too good to forget.
We were talking about the differences between blogs and online journals.
He said something like:

An online journal is somewhere someone posts their thoughts when they hope that someone will see them. A blog is where someone posts their thoughts when they hope that someone will think about them.

It's a subtle difference -- but an important one. Thanks, Michael.

Blogging Habits

2005-05-10T13:38:00.000-06:00

Moe had a bit of writer's block at the end of last week, leading us to create a little space to write down our ideas for when you're stuck and blogging.
As always, Nancy had some really good ideas for ways to help get blogging going:

It seems that the only real prompts are things that we read. Could you post interesting links? Maybe furl a bunch of articles that students could read and comment on in their blogs?

She's right, y'all. I've spoken with Tyr, and he's going to try to put a Furl feed onto that wiki page.
In addition, Nancy has some more advice for when you get stuck as a blogger:

What I have noticed in my own blog is that I blog less when I don't have/take the time to read other blogs. That is what has been going on for the last few weeks. So it isn't the habit of writing in my blog that is concerning me but the habit of reading. I need to make more time for that. When I do, the blogging comes naturally.

Both she and I are working on our "blogging habit," trying to make blogging something that we do regularly. I hope that you, too, will continue to write regularly and thoughtfully after this class is complete. Writing is the key solid thinking. Reading is the key to good writing. It's all about reading, writing and thinking.
You can read more of my writing about my thinking about my blogging habit here, if you'd like.
What do you think?

Something to think about

2005-05-09T14:40:00.000-06:00

Hey y'all.
I hope that your weekends were fun and enjoyable -- and that you really got thinking about what "Grade 'A'" blogging looks like.
Either just before or just after you get your thoughts on grades online, I'd liek it very much if you'd take a minute to think about this idea that Will has been writing about lately. It's gotten me thinking and I'd like your opinions on it.
Will writes:

And I know not every student was born to be a blogger. But, I would argue that every student, every person was born to be a contributor, whether that's via blog or wiki or podcast or whatever. We need to create a culture of contribution in our schools where our students' work is non only celebrated but put to use in meaningful ways. Don't just e-value-ate what they do but provide ways for what they do to have long lasting value.

He also says (in a different post):

Whether it's wikis or blogs or podcasts of whatever, I think my new clarion call is that educators must start creating content, good content, and that their students should share in that creation. Tom's also right to say that teachers and students need to learn collaboration with each other, and what better way than to share in the creation of and reflection about curriculum. But regardless the purpose, we need to get our teachers on this train...the sooner the better.

I like what he says about your job becoming that of content creator. I also like that he says that we need to learn how to learn together.
What do you think? Is that a way of learning that you like? Creating and contributing as opposed to being told what's important? Is that how it works in lots of schools?
Looking forward to your input.

Grade "A" Blogging

2005-05-03T15:36:00.000-06:00

Well, it's time.
We've gotten our feet wet and have learned a thing or two about how to blog. Now, it's time to start figuring out how we're going to evaluate ourselves in this little experiment.
I'd like for each member of the class to begin thinking about what they should be evaluated on. Specifically, I'd like to come up with a class rubric for blogging. To do that, we need to know what successful blogging looks like. So, I'm asking each of you, on your own blogs, to define successful blogging.
What does it take to earn an "A" as a blogger? What are the skills necessary to blog well? What do good bloggers never, ever (okay, maybe every once in a while) do? What does "good" blogging look like?
How the heck does one earn an "A" in this class? (Also, while you're at it, I'd like for you to propose a final project for yourself for this class. I'm leaving that wide open for now -- the only requirement is that it somehow advances blogging or e-portfolios at our school.)
I'm curious to see your responses. I'll take what you say and try to draft a rubric. Then, we'll discuss that rubric and edit it into something we can all agree on.
Then I'll start using it.

Moe Doesn't Like my Prompts

2005-05-03T15:14:00.000-06:00

I recently posted some prompts up on the class wiki to help my students have something to write about when they get frustrated or stuck and want to write but aren't sure if they have anything to say.
Moe pointed out that most of them are not really blogging prompts -- they're journaling prompts.
Help us come up with some good blogging prompts? Please? Moe's itching to write; and I'm stuck.

Sample Hosting -- Text

2005-04-28T16:42:00.000-06:00

I learned today how to create a PDF file and post a poem of mine to Ourmedia. Now, I can link to the poem from this blog or my portfolio blog. (I don't really like the idea of using a separate blog for my portfolio, but hey -- this is an experiment, right? Some of my students like the idea, so I'm trying it.) This represents my first real entry into portfolio territory -- I was never required to keep one as a high school student. I think, though, that if I am going to ask my students to keep one, it's only fair that I do so, too. So I'm portfolioing from now on.
Elle has been using FictionPress to host her text -- she's got a screenplay up over there (Man, do I feel a bit inadequate.).
I didn't know the site existed until she mentioned it Tuesday. One advantage of FictionPress? The moment Elle hit "send," her work was out there. Of course, that's also a potentially big disadvantage.
Check out the page on our wiki where we're listing our findings on places that will host content and other ePortfolio resources. Feel free to contribute.

Storing and Hosting and Portfolioing

2005-04-26T15:40:00.000-06:00

Nancy asks:

Do you have other places for them to store the artifacts?

The answer, thanks to some parellel thinking on our part and her's, is yes. (An "artifact", in teacher-speak, is a portfolio item -- something that documents growth or learning.) We've created a space on our wiki that is a collection of links to hosting sites that could be used to store student portfolio work. The only rules for inclusion in that space are that they are free and kid-friendly. Over the next couple of days, we're going to be playing with different kinds of portfolio entries, the goals being to find free spaces that are relatively easy to use. We'll share what we come up with.
Some questions that I want to figure out as we work on portfolios are:

Can we create something for free that is useful as a portfolio? (I'm realizing that I need to write and post a rationale for portfolios as I'm writing this.)
Is the e-portfolio easily updatable? Will students (and teachers) be able to do so without too much time spent on technology?

Still Portfolio Time

2005-04-25T15:55:00.000-06:00

No, really. Maybe I wasn't clear.
Last week, I was asking about portfolios. But you didn't answer.
I'm still asking -- what are the essential components of a useful student portfolio? Since we'll be building our own portfolios this week, I thought that was a good question to start with. Let's hear what you think.
One idea that I have is to simply code all our portfolio entries as such using subject tags. Then we can create a space either in each blog or on a portal page that will only pull up those portfolio entries. But I don't have the technical expertise to do that.
Yet.
Help me figure this one out, gang?

Portfolio Time

2005-04-21T15:36:00.000-06:00

One of the goals of this course is for the students and I to come up with a practical way to implement an online portfolio system for our school. I originally thought that a blog would be a perfect tool for such a creation -- online space that is easily editable. Now I think a blog is one piece -- perhaps the main piece -- but we'll need some sort of content storage or hosting situation. I like Ourmedia, and not just because I'm moderating for them. It's completely free for anyone to store just about anything (Of course, there are a few guidelines to follow, but they're fairly common sense.). Also, they're kid-friendly.
What are the other pieces to an online portfolio? I know that students need a place to reflect on their work (the blog), and a place to promote and or share what they've done (again, the blog) -- but I'm not sure what else is necessary for a successful portfolio, except for a portal where all the students' portfolios or blogs are listed for easy access.
What would you think is necessary for an online portfolio?

Class Wiki Now Up

2005-04-18T14:49:00.000-06:00

Hey gang.
I hope your weekend was fun and productive. I thought I'd get more done this weekend than I actually did -- but I still managed to get a little work done. Mostly, I took the time to hang out with my daughter -- who's getting really, really big.
Anyway -- back to work. Some announcements:
* Elle and Moe responded to Will's kind words. Check out his response.
* Will has an essay up that really speaks to why I think blogging is so important -- give it a read here.

On to today's class. Last week, David said:

hey bud we should start having a giant list that we can all enter and add new rules and all they said was no last names and no saying the name of our school and school apropiate correct.
i think that we need to leave it open and flexable so that we can just deal with it when we start to see problems instead of makeing them so defenite and trapping ourselves in and it also allows us to be more open and have really cool stuff going on without much boundaries except the necessary ones that we have to set

He was right, so I created just such a list. It's called a wiki. We talked about them at the beginning of the course. They're webpages that anyone can edit. Go to our new wiki and check it out. Your assignment for today, in addition to posting, is to add your ideas, rules and questions to the class wiki. You're welcome to change the way the pages look, too -- as long as you do your other work FIRST.
As always, I'm eager to see your thoughts.

Posting or Blogging?

2005-04-12T17:42:00.000-06:00

Hey, gang.

I just posted this to my other blog. Hopefully, this will help you as you think about the posts that you're currently writing. Thanks for a good discussion -- I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

It seems like there are lots of people weighing in on what "counts" as blogging. Specifically, Will Richardson has taken the issue on several times, most recently here. I've also been fortunate enough to receive a semi-personal lesson in blogging, which he defines here in another post:

But I've never in my life written the way I write in this Weblog. And frankly, I don't know that I've learned as much from any other type of activity as I have from this type. And I learn when I'm doing just what I'm doing now (sweat on brow.) I'm not journaling. I'm not just linking. I'm attempting to synthesize a lot of disparate ideas from a varitey of sources into a few coherent sentences that I can publish for an audience and wait (hope?) for its response to push my thinking further. That's the essence of blogging to me, and I can't do it without a Weblog. That's the distinction. That's what tells me this is different. And that's what makes me think so hard about the effects that blogging, not just using a blog, might have in a classroom. If we've been blogging without Weblogs in schools all along, then just put me out of my misery now. But I don't think we have.

Will argues that "blogging" is a specific set of skills that are really best utilized in the form or genre of a blog (you can't be a blogger in a notebook, for example) -- and that much of what he sees in schools is journaling, not blogging:

Xanga is not a blog site. It's an online journal site. There is nothing inherently wrong with journaling online (provided it's done with the proper precautions.) But there is something wrong with calling that blogging. And that's what's happening more and more. And the problem comes when parents and principals equate Xanga and other such sites with blogging, which in turn predisposes them negatively toward efforts to use blogs the way we know they can be used.

For better or worse, I agree with him. Blogging is a unique set of skills and much of what my students are doing on their personal blogs (journaling and ranting, mostly, according to one student) isn't really what I'd like to see in the classroom. But I wonder how many students are actually participating in this conversation. Are adults once again making decisions for students without their input? Wouldn't it be terrible if the decisions about blog use in classrooms were all made for students, instead of with them?

I was curious, so I shared some of the debate with my students, and asked them their opinions on the matter -- what uses do blogs have in schools? Are your current uses of blogs something that would be useful for schools now? What would be a way that your personal and public uses of blogs might intersect? Their class discussion was fascinating -- and is important enough that, when their posts are complete, I will share that information with you.

I am currently awaiting their answers on their student blogs. I am eager to see the "second draft" versions of our class conversation.

2005-04-12T15:22:00.000-06:00

AudioBlogger

2005-04-08T13:12:00.000-06:00

I spent some time yesterday experimenting with AudioBlogger. It was really easy to setup and now I have a phone number in my speeddial to use for making audioposts on the move. Try it out -- it's totally free, minus the long distance phone call. How might we use this technology at school?

My answers to my questions

2005-04-06T11:44:00.000-06:00

Okay, so it's pretty quiet out there. Elle has posted her responses to these questions -- where are the rest of you?
Here are my answers (in italics) to the questions that I asked you. Still interested in your thoughts . . .

1. Why do you use blogs? What do you currently use blogs for outside of school (If you do)?
I am using blogs right now for two purposes. The first of these is that I am blogging as a way to better understand the potential for the use of this technology in the classroom. I think blogs have lots of potential for schools and learning. My understanding of this potential continues to grow and expand, both because of the blogs that I am reading, and the blogging that I am doing. I'm also using blogging as a way to better understand my teaching and how to get better. Okay, so those are both kind of school uses, but I'm doing much of the work on my own time.

2. What are some reasons why you think blogs might be useful at our school?
See above. Also, I'm hoping that we can use blogs to create a community of learning and learners that is less about the time spent in the classroom and more about the time that you devote to the learning that you want to engage in. How the school will function in that role is, well, largely up to you. Your answers to this question will guide my thinking.

3. What are some potential problems that you see with blogging at school?
I worry about student safety and a school's liability. I want y'all to be safe if we use blogs,; I also want you to be responsible. Some questions that I wonder about: What happens when a school and its teachers and students put their thinking out in public? What happens when you ask a community of young adults to act like young adults and to treat blogging with a great deal fo responsibility? Do we teach to the two or three people who will abuse blogs, or do we teach to the 97% of the school that will treat them responsibily? (Sorry -- bit of a teacher rant there -- igonre if you like.) 4. Should student blogs be made public for the world to see, or just our school community?
I think that most of what we use a blog for can be public. But I also foresee wanting a private space for the stuff that shouldn't leave our school community. The problem is that I can't figure out what kind of stuff that would be. Can you guys help me make a list? Also, why should we hide what we do in our classrooms? Or is this not about hiding?

Interested in your thoughts.

Blog Rules

2005-04-04T08:33:00.000-06:00

Okay,

One more thing to think about as you get started with posting. Remember how I suggested that we'll need to come up with some rules about what is and isn't okay for blogging? Well, a teacher is doing some similar work with a group of middle school students, and here is a post on some of the rules that they have come up with -- so I've got another question:

1. What are some rules that bloggers at our school should follow?

Spring Break -- Time for Some Blog Homework

2005-04-04T08:23:00.000-06:00

This post is primarily for the students currently enrolled in my blogging course, but feel free to keep reading if you'd like.
Gang, I hope that your individual Spring Breaks are off to a great start. I've enjoyed taking a rest from school -- as I'm sure that y'all have. However, there's not a lot of time this quarter, and we've got lots to talk about, so I've got some questions that I'd like for you to respond to. I'd like for you to write your responses as blog posts on your blogs, instead of comments here. But feel free to cross-post (put them both places) if you'd like.
These are the questions that I'd like for you to think about over the next day or two (I'll post my answers to them later today or tonight.):
1. Why do you use blogs? What do you currently use blogs for outside of school (If you do)?
2. What are some reasons why you think blogs might be useful at our school?
3. What are some potential problems that you see with blogging at school?
4. Should student blogs be made public for the world to see, or just our school community?

With each of these questions, please explain your answers. Thanks in advance for your thoughts on these! If you have questions that you think we should answer, post them on your blogs and we'll see them when we check our Bloglines accounts.

PS -- When I was spell-checking this entry, I discovered that Blogger's dictionary doesn't include the words "blog" or "blogging." Weird, huh?

Here We Go

2005-03-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

This post is the first in(on) the blog that I am using with my students in our blogging pilot course. Today, we are experimenting with different fonts and different templates, looking for the right looks for these blogs.
All of my students have their own blogs, and using this space might be difficult for them, as many of them prefer Xanga and other sites more geared towards their personal interests.
Over the next few days, we'll be blogging together and stretching our legs and our academic voices. We're very mindfgul as we begin this learning experience together that other students and teachers might be reading what we're writing, so we're thinking very carefully about our audiences and our writing as we compose.
Oh yeah -- we're also laughing and having a great time!