Blogs from SED 406-02 students

Dominique
http://dominiquedinitto.blogspot.com/

Denise
http://CirceEffect.blogspot.com/

Jake
http://jakecrowell328.blogspot.com/

Dori
http://dorifurtado.blogspot.com

Emily C.
http://prettynerdyhistory.blogspot.com

Jenna
http://thinkyoucanteach.blogspot.com

Nathan
http://classroomfears.blogspot.com

Amanda
http://amorgan4283.blogspot.com

Emily K.
http://educationessaycfhs.blogspot.com

Kaitlyn
http://kaitalger.blogspot.com

Leah
http://leahturcotte.blogspot.com

Blogs from SED 406-01 students

http://brydamico.blogspot.com

http://letsgetreadytoteach.blogspot.com/​

http://mcsecondaryhistory.blogspot.com/
 
http://nicksed.blogspot.com

http://seced406.blogspot.com​

http://denisesroadtoteaching.blogspot.com/

http://brandon406.blogspot.com

http://aspiringenglishteachertaylorcrosby.blogspot.com/

http://universal-student.blogspot.com/
 
http://pemducation.blogspot.com/

http://ashaw12001.blogspot.com/

http://educationblogcassie.blogspot.com/

http://ateachingandlearningblog.blogspot.com/

http://efisher64.blogspot.com/​

http://amymarques.blogspot.com

http://fortheloveoftenglish.blogspot.com/

http://changeincareers.blogspot.com



 

Spring 14 blogs

Alex
http://alextabersed406.blogspot.com/

Brian
http://brifsblog.blogspot.com/

Chris
http://cfmillertime.blogspot.com/

Caroline
http://theodysseyofcaroline.blogspot.com/

Jean
http://learningishappening.blogspot.com/ 

Karen
http://karenramirezatric.blogspot.com

Kendra
http://kendraleeking.blogspot.com/2014/02/knowledge-forrealistic-expectations-my.html 

Kyla
http://kyleidoscopejourney.blogspot.com/

Lou
http://louculotta.blogspot.com/2014/02/hi-this-is-test.html

Mike

http://mmonteiro2798.blogspot.com/​

Viv
http://vivfullcircle.blogspot.com

Sharing information

What's the best way to have students share information about their blogs with each other? I honestly don't know.

Maybe the best thing is to make it part of the assignment, so that it's ready to go from the very beginning.

I'm open to suggestions...

Tacit vs. Explicit

I can remember, way back in my Toronto days, discussing tacit knowledge. That's the knowledge that is NOT part of the official documentation, but still useful. As you might guess, historians of technology are concerned about this sort of thing because if you study past technologies, and all you have is the official documents, you might come up short when it's time to make things work.

The estimate that I can remember is that tacit knowledge is something like 80% of the total. That's right, the official instructions are usually about a fifth of what a skilled worker knows.
I take two lessons from this.


1) Document what you're doing. Spend the time to make the labels for the folders, and file documents where they belong, etc. The next person will thank you.

2) Share all of those little tricks that you learn. Case in point: If an entire class makes blogs, and they're all on the same wireless router, then Google will interpret that as a spam attack and shut down your access to blogger.

Frustrating, because I tested this exact same thing, and from my office, it works flawlessly every time.
Therefore, make a blog has to be a HW assignment, done at the students' convenience. If I've got time, I'll demonstrate it to them. Won't work any other way.

Here we go...

Not only am I going to be writing the occasional blog post, but I'll be teaching my students to do the same. It won't be boring, that's for sure.

My prediction is that blogger will make the Blackboard discussion board look like a waste of time. What I don't know is how the students will take to blogging. Yes, yes, digital generation and all that, but most of them have only a passing familiarity with digital technology. They can download apps, but certainly wouldn't know how to write one.

'Advancing' technology

I miss chalk. Yes, the side of your hand was covered with it by the end of class, and yes, there was a need to clean the chalkboard constantly. It wasn't perfect. But I want to look at chalk as a technology. You might be used to thinking of technology as something new, but I'm using Ursula Franklin's definition of technology "a way of doing something".

Chalk, along with it's partner the chalkboard, is a way to display an image or text to a group of people. It does the same thing as a flat-screen TV or a LCD projector or a Smartboard. And here's where chalk pulled ahead.

1) Ease of set-up. The chalk is in the tray, and all you have to do is pick it up. No loading, no calibration.

2) Compatibility. All chalk works with all boards. There's no Chalk 2007, and thankfully, no Chalk Vista.

3) Operating costs. A new box of chalk is almost free, and erasers and boards last a LONG time.

4) Troubleshooting. Every possible problem can be fixed with a wet cloth and some elbow grease. Nothing goes wrong, ever.

I understand that there are limitations as well; no technology is perfect. Pictures are difficult, and depend entirely on the skill of the person holding the chalk. But many of you will remember the improvements that did occur, from colored chalk to tools that allowed you to draw a musical staff or a grid for graphing. As with most technologies, there is a considerable amount of time between "What's it do?" and "I'm good at this"

It is important to keep in mind that every time we shift educational technology, we lose some features and gain others. We also restart our own expertise. This begins my attempt with Blogger, and it's a less familiar tool than the chalkboard. Even if it has more potential, the things I can achieve might be more limited.

But, we have to start somewhere.