Lesson Title: How things work
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Podcast
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Physics
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
In this lesson, students will make a video podcast describing/exemplifying how something works. This can be anything from a podcast describing how a wheel works and the physical properties associated with this to exemplifying an example of friction. Students will work in teams of three on this assignment, and all video podcasts will be shared with the entire class.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Module 4- Lesson Plan 1
Lesson Title: Animal Species Profile
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Podcast
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Biology, Wildlife Science, Zoology
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
This lesson will be fairly straightforward. Each student will be required to record a podcast profiling one of their favorite species of animal. Students can choose whatever animal they want; however, each student must have a different animal. The podcast must include a physical description of the animal, its diet, its habitat, and its conservation status/threats to conserving this animal (if applicable).
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Podcast
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Biology, Wildlife Science, Zoology
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
This lesson will be fairly straightforward. Each student will be required to record a podcast profiling one of their favorite species of animal. Students can choose whatever animal they want; however, each student must have a different animal. The podcast must include a physical description of the animal, its diet, its habitat, and its conservation status/threats to conserving this animal (if applicable).
EDIT 564- Module 4- Blue Iguana Podcast
Thanks!
EDIT 564- Module 4: Podcasts
This week's module goes over the effectiveness of Podcasts as an educational tool. I must say I was skeptical about this, as podcasting probably wouldn't come up as an assignment in any course I've ever taken up to this point, but now that I have taken the time to listen to a few of them and read about the technology, I definitely see the strengths of this tool.
Grammar Girl was the first podcast I explored. I definitely think her website and content is very well done. I liked that in addition to the podcasts she offers a written explanation of the content discussed. The podcast I listened to her on her channel was about spaces after periods when typing. Apparently, using two spaces after a period is no longer considered a necessity or even "proper." I do not think most educators are in the loop when it comes to this, or maybe I'm just late. I cannot help myself though, even after listening to that podcast, I STILL am sitting here adding two spaces after each period. I need to spend some time listening to Grammar Girl's other podcasts to see what else I may doing wrong grammatically on a daily basis without even knowing it!
The Stanford University podcasts were pretty standard undergraduate-doctorate level lecture content on a variety of subjects. Undergrad seems like it was so long ago, but I believe some of my professor's at the University of Virginia uploaded and distributed similar content via podcasts. In another online course I've taken at George Mason, all of the lectures were distributed via podcasts so that students could access them on their own time and not have to collectively agree to specific times to hear the lecture via Skype or a conference call. I had to do that for another course, and it was very inconvenient, I wish that instructor used podcasts to record his lectures.
The Blessed Sacrament "Virginia is For Lovers" podcast did not work, but it would have been awesome to hear what 4th graders had to say in response to the Facebook posts.
The Mediatwits podcast about podcasts was interesting, but a little dry in my opinion. The content was great for its target audience, it is just not an area that I have a lot of interest in. It is really interesting how they described the new popularity of podcasts and the reasons why they are once again on the rise. I had no idea there was so much money in podcasts. A very simple technology with very few guidelines becomes a billion dollar industry through subscriptions.
Reptile Radio is the collection of podcasts I explored on my own. Reptile Radio podcasts focus primarily on topics related to reptiles as pets, such as how legislation has impacted the pet industry and why some arboreal species make awesome display animals. One of my co-workers was actually featured on a Reptile Radio podcast that gathered experts on arboreal species for a discussion. SnakesbytesTV is another collection of podcasts that is pretty interesting to me. The host does not follow any standard format, he just decides whatever he wants to film and talk about every Wednesday and posts it...a lot of it is pretty entertaining and he features some gorgeous animals.
I have definitely never spent much time thinking about podcasts, but I definitely see both the educational and entertainment value in them.
Grammar Girl was the first podcast I explored. I definitely think her website and content is very well done. I liked that in addition to the podcasts she offers a written explanation of the content discussed. The podcast I listened to her on her channel was about spaces after periods when typing. Apparently, using two spaces after a period is no longer considered a necessity or even "proper." I do not think most educators are in the loop when it comes to this, or maybe I'm just late. I cannot help myself though, even after listening to that podcast, I STILL am sitting here adding two spaces after each period. I need to spend some time listening to Grammar Girl's other podcasts to see what else I may doing wrong grammatically on a daily basis without even knowing it!
The Stanford University podcasts were pretty standard undergraduate-doctorate level lecture content on a variety of subjects. Undergrad seems like it was so long ago, but I believe some of my professor's at the University of Virginia uploaded and distributed similar content via podcasts. In another online course I've taken at George Mason, all of the lectures were distributed via podcasts so that students could access them on their own time and not have to collectively agree to specific times to hear the lecture via Skype or a conference call. I had to do that for another course, and it was very inconvenient, I wish that instructor used podcasts to record his lectures.
The Blessed Sacrament "Virginia is For Lovers" podcast did not work, but it would have been awesome to hear what 4th graders had to say in response to the Facebook posts.
The Mediatwits podcast about podcasts was interesting, but a little dry in my opinion. The content was great for its target audience, it is just not an area that I have a lot of interest in. It is really interesting how they described the new popularity of podcasts and the reasons why they are once again on the rise. I had no idea there was so much money in podcasts. A very simple technology with very few guidelines becomes a billion dollar industry through subscriptions.
Reptile Radio is the collection of podcasts I explored on my own. Reptile Radio podcasts focus primarily on topics related to reptiles as pets, such as how legislation has impacted the pet industry and why some arboreal species make awesome display animals. One of my co-workers was actually featured on a Reptile Radio podcast that gathered experts on arboreal species for a discussion. SnakesbytesTV is another collection of podcasts that is pretty interesting to me. The host does not follow any standard format, he just decides whatever he wants to film and talk about every Wednesday and posts it...a lot of it is pretty entertaining and he features some gorgeous animals.
I have definitely never spent much time thinking about podcasts, but I definitely see both the educational and entertainment value in them.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Module 3- Lesson Plan 2
Lesson Title: Color Vision 101
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Image Blog
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Biology, Physics
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
This lesson is designed to help students understand the color spectrum as defined by Newton and the components of our eyes that allow us to see color. Students will be broken up into seven teams (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet). They will have to select images that represent their team's color, and organize them into an image blog. They will present their blog to the class, and this will segue into a lesson about the human eye including lectures on hue, cones, rods, etc.
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Image Blog
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Biology, Physics
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
This lesson is designed to help students understand the color spectrum as defined by Newton and the components of our eyes that allow us to see color. Students will be broken up into seven teams (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet). They will have to select images that represent their team's color, and organize them into an image blog. They will present their blog to the class, and this will segue into a lesson about the human eye including lectures on hue, cones, rods, etc.
Module 3- Lesson Plan 1
Lesson Title: Using Imagery to Understand Amphibian Life Stages
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Image Blog
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Biology, Wildlife Sciences
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
In this lesson, students will create a Flickr account and search for images representing the various life stages of their assigned amphibian. We will cover frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts, including frogs that do not have an aquatic tadpole stage such as Coqui frogs and Neotenic salamanders such as Axolotls so that students really understand the full range of amphibian life stages beyond the traditionally taught "egg-tadpole-frog". Once images are gathered, students will create an image blog on Flickr organizing the images in order chronicling the life stages of their assigned amphibian. Students will present their photos to the entire class, and students are expected to comment on each other's blogs. If students are able to create/upload their own images from the field or from visiting a zoo, aquarium, or nature center, extra credit points will be awarded.
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Image Blog
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Biology, Wildlife Sciences
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
In this lesson, students will create a Flickr account and search for images representing the various life stages of their assigned amphibian. We will cover frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts, including frogs that do not have an aquatic tadpole stage such as Coqui frogs and Neotenic salamanders such as Axolotls so that students really understand the full range of amphibian life stages beyond the traditionally taught "egg-tadpole-frog". Once images are gathered, students will create an image blog on Flickr organizing the images in order chronicling the life stages of their assigned amphibian. Students will present their photos to the entire class, and students are expected to comment on each other's blogs. If students are able to create/upload their own images from the field or from visiting a zoo, aquarium, or nature center, extra credit points will be awarded.
EDIT 564- Module 3: Image Blogs
I'm not a great photographer, but I truly appreciate how technology today allows us to access photos quick and easily and that the online photo-sharing community is generally open to having anyone view their photos. Going through the image blogs in this section, I was truly impressed.
The student model of Jane Goodall's camp in Africa was amazing. It was great to see all of the positive feedback the picture received as well. What I love about this type of image is that it clearly inspired teachers to incorporate this type of activity into their curriculum based on the comments below it. This image can also be of inspiration to students that have to complete a similar model for a course and do not quite know where to start.
The photos displayed in the plant/animal slideshow are excellent. This type of slideshow can definitely serve as a form of inspiration to educators. This slideshow can just as easily be an assignment for an art class or biology class. These photos were obviously taken with a high quality camera, but students or teachers can still be challenged to experience nature with a goal of capturing the living elements at the stages presented in this slideshow as an assignment. Again, really great photos overall.
The Red Rule image blog was interesting. It has a very simple concept, photos that center on the color red. This could also be a fun challenging project for an art class. The lesson could involve gathering a mix of photos that all relate to a specific theme such as camouflage.
Geotagging has become an important aspect of both scientific fieldwork and wildlife photography. It is the most accurate way to report where a photo was taken whether the photo was for research documentation purposes or just leisure. Creating a site that depicts all geotagged Flickr photos is a great way to expose others to the significance of geotagging, including educators and students.
Moving on to the Fliction images...well, these I actually did not quite understand. Maybe I'm overthinking them or maybe my brain always tries to link everything back to science in some way, but these images seemed a little weird or just plain random. There is the possibility that these images have changed since the course first came up with the lesson that included "fliction," but I am not quite sure what the story here was. That being said, this was a good example of how tagging images can challenge the way we think about our content. Were the photos actually connected in some way that those that tagged them understood and I didn't? Yes, that is definitely a possibility.
The image blog I discovered on my own is "Wildlife Wednesday". The blog has not been updated since November of last year, but I liked the concept. Every Wednesday the publisher uploads photos of specific animals and posts fun facts about them to interpret the images. I thought this blog was well done, and I enjoyed the photos from the postings I opened. All content associated with the photos is well done and definitely relatable to wide audience.
The student model of Jane Goodall's camp in Africa was amazing. It was great to see all of the positive feedback the picture received as well. What I love about this type of image is that it clearly inspired teachers to incorporate this type of activity into their curriculum based on the comments below it. This image can also be of inspiration to students that have to complete a similar model for a course and do not quite know where to start.
The photos displayed in the plant/animal slideshow are excellent. This type of slideshow can definitely serve as a form of inspiration to educators. This slideshow can just as easily be an assignment for an art class or biology class. These photos were obviously taken with a high quality camera, but students or teachers can still be challenged to experience nature with a goal of capturing the living elements at the stages presented in this slideshow as an assignment. Again, really great photos overall.
The Red Rule image blog was interesting. It has a very simple concept, photos that center on the color red. This could also be a fun challenging project for an art class. The lesson could involve gathering a mix of photos that all relate to a specific theme such as camouflage.
Geotagging has become an important aspect of both scientific fieldwork and wildlife photography. It is the most accurate way to report where a photo was taken whether the photo was for research documentation purposes or just leisure. Creating a site that depicts all geotagged Flickr photos is a great way to expose others to the significance of geotagging, including educators and students.
Moving on to the Fliction images...well, these I actually did not quite understand. Maybe I'm overthinking them or maybe my brain always tries to link everything back to science in some way, but these images seemed a little weird or just plain random. There is the possibility that these images have changed since the course first came up with the lesson that included "fliction," but I am not quite sure what the story here was. That being said, this was a good example of how tagging images can challenge the way we think about our content. Were the photos actually connected in some way that those that tagged them understood and I didn't? Yes, that is definitely a possibility.
The image blog I discovered on my own is "Wildlife Wednesday". The blog has not been updated since November of last year, but I liked the concept. Every Wednesday the publisher uploads photos of specific animals and posts fun facts about them to interpret the images. I thought this blog was well done, and I enjoyed the photos from the postings I opened. All content associated with the photos is well done and definitely relatable to wide audience.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Module 2: Lesson Idea 2
Lesson Title: How to Make Sugar Crystals
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Wiki
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Chemistry
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
This lesson will allow students to turn one of their favorite elementary school science activities into a "how-to wiki". In this wiki, students will describe how sugar crystalizes, and then create a step-by-step guide uploading their own photos of the process in a wiki. This activity is fairly straightforward, and students should have fun learning/re-learning a simple, fun, chemical process while also developing their skills as wiki creators and editors.
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Wiki
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Chemistry
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
This lesson will allow students to turn one of their favorite elementary school science activities into a "how-to wiki". In this wiki, students will describe how sugar crystalizes, and then create a step-by-step guide uploading their own photos of the process in a wiki. This activity is fairly straightforward, and students should have fun learning/re-learning a simple, fun, chemical process while also developing their skills as wiki creators and editors.
Module 2- Lesson Idea 1
Lesson Title: The Captive Lives of Reptiles
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Wiki
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Biology/Zoology/Animal Husbandry Science
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
In this lesson students will read The Lives of Captive Reptiles by Hans-Gunter Petzold, a staple piece of literature in herpetological husbandry science, and develop a book review in the form of a wiki. Students will respond to and edit each other's posts, and ultimately should have a finalized wiki thoroughly discussing and outlining each component of the book from Boidae male combat to the significance of thermal gradients in the terrarium. This is a very dense book, so while all students will be responsible for completing the reading, a group of students will be assigned as "first-editors" for each segment as we progress through the readings over the course of the semester. For example, five students will start the wiki for pages 1-60, and 24 hours after the posting deadline for these five students, the wiki will be opened up for all students to provide their input on the wiki for this section. The following week, another five students will be assigned as "first-editors" for pages 61-120, and after their posting deadline the wiki will be opened to all students, etc. This will be a great learning exercise for both how to conduct a book review as well a thorough introduction to herpetological husbandry science.
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Wiki
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Biology/Zoology/Animal Husbandry Science
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
In this lesson students will read The Lives of Captive Reptiles by Hans-Gunter Petzold, a staple piece of literature in herpetological husbandry science, and develop a book review in the form of a wiki. Students will respond to and edit each other's posts, and ultimately should have a finalized wiki thoroughly discussing and outlining each component of the book from Boidae male combat to the significance of thermal gradients in the terrarium. This is a very dense book, so while all students will be responsible for completing the reading, a group of students will be assigned as "first-editors" for each segment as we progress through the readings over the course of the semester. For example, five students will start the wiki for pages 1-60, and 24 hours after the posting deadline for these five students, the wiki will be opened up for all students to provide their input on the wiki for this section. The following week, another five students will be assigned as "first-editors" for pages 61-120, and after their posting deadline the wiki will be opened to all students, etc. This will be a great learning exercise for both how to conduct a book review as well a thorough introduction to herpetological husbandry science.
EDIT 654- Module 2 continued.. Research Activity 2- WikiHow
Wikipedia dominates the wiki search process, so it was hard to dig-up wikis that weren't just Wikipedia posts. Using google to search for wikis on various topics, I had to go to page four our five of the results to get past the Wikipedia results. After playing around with some different search terms, I came across wikiHow.com. The wikiHow.com site is a comprehensive collection of wikis on various subjects that involve some sort of skill or instruction. It's kind of like the "For Dummies" books put into a wiki format. I thought this wiki was pretty awesome, although some of the posts are a little more subjective. For example, one of the "how to's" located on the home page is the time of this writing is "How to Live Happily Ever After", if there was a direct formula for that and it only involved following a few quick steps, the world would be a much better place. The more realistic posts are very informative though and the website breaks things up into several categories to make finding the appropriate post easy. For example, searching "How to breed ghost shrimp" will take you directly to the wikiHow someone created for how to breed ghost shrimp. Many of the wikiHow posts also come equipped with pictures to illustrate the "how to" process. I think this has the potential to be a very useful tool, and it could even be a fun challenge for students to create a wikiHow on a process they have mastered.
EDIT 564- Module 2: Wikis
I have always been all the fence about wikis (specifically Wikipedia), and in all my years as a student only one teacher of mine has ever incorporated the use of wikis into the curriculum and encouraged using wikis as a research tool. Reflecting on the articles citing the potential inaccuracy problems with wikis, I found that these scenarios are ultimately my hesitation with relying on wikis as a scholarly source. In Danah Boyd's article, "on being notable in Wikipedia", she cites several inaccuracies regarding both her personal and professional life that were posted as facts on Wikipedia. If I were doing a research paper on Danah Boyd, if I trusted Wikipedia as a source for factual information I may have included information on my paper that was incorrect. That being said, I am not entirely against wikis/Wikipedia. The graduate course I took that required students to create a collaborative wiki with the instructor as the lead editor was very interesting; however, this wiki was private and other than the instructor only those enrolled in the course could view/edit entries. When it comes to Wikipedia, I do believe that it is generally a trustworthy source to look up quick facts about something that you may be at least somewhat familiar with so that any glaring inaccuracies will pop right out. There was an instance when I was asked to do a last minute talk to a group of students about Teleost fish. I literally had 10 minutes to throw something together for a group of twenty middle-schoolers. Giving an overly scientific talk would not only be boring, but would also go over a lot of the kids heads. I turned to Wikipedia to jot down some quick easy facts about Teleost fish that I could combine with what I would normally include a more scientific talk about them to come up with a decent talk that I hope the kids enjoyed. Generally speaking, I have found that Wikipedia entries related to wildlife and natural history are fairly accurate as there are plenty of peer-reviewed scientific papers out there to validate all of the information posted on a Teleost fish Wikipedia page, for example. Going back to the Danah Boyd article, I think there is probably more inaccuracies on recent notable figures, such as pop culture figures, politicians, etc. who are still living and portrayed in a certain light due to the image the media portrays of them.
Taking a look at the PlanetMath Wiki, I was definitely impressed. This is a great resource for many important math-related topics from the description of rational integers to Multiple Recurrence Theorem. This wiki has a lot of activity and appears to be used heavily by those at all levels from students to those with a PhD and many years of professional engineering or teaching experience. A math wiki is somewhat similar in terms of "minimal room for error" as a wildlife wiki is today. Though there are always changes and advances in these fields, inaccuracies are easily caught by those that use this information for professional purposes daily.
Taking a look at the PlanetMath Wiki, I was definitely impressed. This is a great resource for many important math-related topics from the description of rational integers to Multiple Recurrence Theorem. This wiki has a lot of activity and appears to be used heavily by those at all levels from students to those with a PhD and many years of professional engineering or teaching experience. A math wiki is somewhat similar in terms of "minimal room for error" as a wildlife wiki is today. Though there are always changes and advances in these fields, inaccuracies are easily caught by those that use this information for professional purposes daily.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Module 1- Lesson Plan 2
Lesson Title: Life in the Trees
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Weblog
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Wildlife Science, Biology
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
In this lesson students will create a blog post about an arboreal species assigned by the instructor. They will have to describe the animal's habitat, and what features make it adapted for life in the trees. Student's will also be expected to include general natural history information on the animal assigned. Upon conclusion of this lesson students should have a solid understanding of the various adaptations exhibited by arboreal species and why they are needed for these tree dwellers to survive.
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Weblog
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: Wildlife Science, Biology
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
In this lesson students will create a blog post about an arboreal species assigned by the instructor. They will have to describe the animal's habitat, and what features make it adapted for life in the trees. Student's will also be expected to include general natural history information on the animal assigned. Upon conclusion of this lesson students should have a solid understanding of the various adaptations exhibited by arboreal species and why they are needed for these tree dwellers to survive.
Module 1- Lesson Plan One
Here is my first idea for a lesson plan involving the Web 2.0 tool of blogging.
Lesson Title: What Makes a Reptile a Reptile?
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Weblog
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: General Science, Biology
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
In this lesson, students will first pick a reptile. The specific animal selected is not important, it is the way the students describe what makes this animal a reptile in their blog post. Students will include a picture in their post of the reptile they chose, and write out the specific features of this reptile that make it a reptile versus a mammal, bird, fish, or amphibian. Students must also define each feature. For example, if a student chooses a Tokay Gecko and says it's a reptile because it has scales, they must define the term scales and then elaborate on reptile scales specifically. To gain of a further understand of the important role reptiles play in the environment, students must also include in their post where the animal is from, what it eats, what its predators are (if any), and describe a conservation issue related to the specific reptile or its habitat. At the end of this lesson, students should have a general understanding of what specific features an animal has to have to make it a reptile, and the important role reptiles play in our world.
Lesson Title: What Makes a Reptile a Reptile?
Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Weblog
SOL and Secondary Objectives Related to the Lesson: General Science, Biology
Brief Description of Overall Lesson:
In this lesson, students will first pick a reptile. The specific animal selected is not important, it is the way the students describe what makes this animal a reptile in their blog post. Students will include a picture in their post of the reptile they chose, and write out the specific features of this reptile that make it a reptile versus a mammal, bird, fish, or amphibian. Students must also define each feature. For example, if a student chooses a Tokay Gecko and says it's a reptile because it has scales, they must define the term scales and then elaborate on reptile scales specifically. To gain of a further understand of the important role reptiles play in the environment, students must also include in their post where the animal is from, what it eats, what its predators are (if any), and describe a conservation issue related to the specific reptile or its habitat. At the end of this lesson, students should have a general understanding of what specific features an animal has to have to make it a reptile, and the important role reptiles play in our world.
Edit 564 Module 1 continued- Research Activity
Below I will discuss a number of blogs I sorted through to get a better understanding of how teachers blog and how blogs can be used to educate others in a creative way...
The first blog I had the pleasure of researching was Will Richardson's blog. Will Richardson, author of the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, is obviously well-versed on the topics of blogging and education, and one the "godfathers" of successfully incorporating web tools into the classroom and instructing others how to do it as well. His blog is very personal, yet informative and relatable at the same time. He has some very progressive ideas on education, as noted in his second to most recent post, "The Uncommon Core". I went back through some of his archived Ed Tech posts as well, and it is amazing to see the response he has gotten worldwide through using Web 2.0 tools. I will definitely be going back through his old posts as I proceed through this course and look to get some blogging inspiration, sadly his most recent most says he is taking a break from blogging.
On to the next blog, David Warlick's "2 cents Worth" blog. This blog seems to have a lot more of a political tone to it. The author has a somewhat fearful and pessimistic attitude toward the future of education. As am I not a teacher, a lot of this was news to me, but is our education system headed on a downward spiral? Are we not properly preparing the youth for the future? He had a post of the importance of better catering the system to ensure that students in low income districts receive better resources to ensure a cycle of decline isn't continued in these communities; I thought that was a great point. Overall, his blog seemed to offer a lot of critique of the education system that gives both those on the inside and outside of the education system many great points worth considering. He also touches on fun topics such as photography. I really liked the broad range of topics this blog covered and the author's ability to express so many different feelings in a worthwhile manner.
J. Scott Hambrick's blog was my next stop. This blog was a little less complex than the Richardson's and Warlick's but I do not think that is a bad thing. It seems to be a reoccurring theme in these blogs to bring light to problems in the United States' education system and challenge readers to think about certain topics related to what, how, and if students are learning.
The fourth blog visited today was Eduholic by Emmet Rosenfeld. This blog was a lot less political than the other three, and seemed to mostly reflect on the day to day life of a teacher. I thought his posts were generally light-hearted and interesting, in one post he even talks about decorating his office. I thought this blog was great insight into the day-to-day life a teacher, and I think some of his blogging techniques can be used to open the world up to what those that work with wildlife experience daily.
The last two education/teacher-related blogs I explored today were Coleen McNeil's blogs, Saints Go Global and The Saints Life. These blogs focused more on specific students and topics related to their journey as students. I liked how much this blog involved current students and recent graduates. This blog is a good example of how to get students involved with blogging in an interesting and safe manner. The stories were very personal and I would have found many of the posts helpful as a high school student because they incorporate actual students' experiences. I also wish I was able to be a part of her class, that is awesome that at a such a young age these students are able to explore places like Italy and Romania on field trips across the globe.
To wrap it up, I will post my thoughts on one of my favorite blog's, Lebeau Le Blog: What the Hell Happened to...? (WTHH) This blog features actors that were once on the road to superstardom and suddenly disappeared or did not achieve the success many thought they would after their breakout roles. Some of my favorite WTHH posts are Val Kilmer, Ralph Macchio, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. This blog is purely for entertainment, but I find myself not able to stop reading posts even when it's about an actor I am not that familiar with. The author has a great sense of humor and keeps all of his posts interesting, which is difficult considering some of them span 10+ pages.
That's all I have for now!!!
Kyle
The first blog I had the pleasure of researching was Will Richardson's blog. Will Richardson, author of the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, is obviously well-versed on the topics of blogging and education, and one the "godfathers" of successfully incorporating web tools into the classroom and instructing others how to do it as well. His blog is very personal, yet informative and relatable at the same time. He has some very progressive ideas on education, as noted in his second to most recent post, "The Uncommon Core". I went back through some of his archived Ed Tech posts as well, and it is amazing to see the response he has gotten worldwide through using Web 2.0 tools. I will definitely be going back through his old posts as I proceed through this course and look to get some blogging inspiration, sadly his most recent most says he is taking a break from blogging.
On to the next blog, David Warlick's "2 cents Worth" blog. This blog seems to have a lot more of a political tone to it. The author has a somewhat fearful and pessimistic attitude toward the future of education. As am I not a teacher, a lot of this was news to me, but is our education system headed on a downward spiral? Are we not properly preparing the youth for the future? He had a post of the importance of better catering the system to ensure that students in low income districts receive better resources to ensure a cycle of decline isn't continued in these communities; I thought that was a great point. Overall, his blog seemed to offer a lot of critique of the education system that gives both those on the inside and outside of the education system many great points worth considering. He also touches on fun topics such as photography. I really liked the broad range of topics this blog covered and the author's ability to express so many different feelings in a worthwhile manner.
J. Scott Hambrick's blog was my next stop. This blog was a little less complex than the Richardson's and Warlick's but I do not think that is a bad thing. It seems to be a reoccurring theme in these blogs to bring light to problems in the United States' education system and challenge readers to think about certain topics related to what, how, and if students are learning.
The fourth blog visited today was Eduholic by Emmet Rosenfeld. This blog was a lot less political than the other three, and seemed to mostly reflect on the day to day life of a teacher. I thought his posts were generally light-hearted and interesting, in one post he even talks about decorating his office. I thought this blog was great insight into the day-to-day life a teacher, and I think some of his blogging techniques can be used to open the world up to what those that work with wildlife experience daily.
The last two education/teacher-related blogs I explored today were Coleen McNeil's blogs, Saints Go Global and The Saints Life. These blogs focused more on specific students and topics related to their journey as students. I liked how much this blog involved current students and recent graduates. This blog is a good example of how to get students involved with blogging in an interesting and safe manner. The stories were very personal and I would have found many of the posts helpful as a high school student because they incorporate actual students' experiences. I also wish I was able to be a part of her class, that is awesome that at a such a young age these students are able to explore places like Italy and Romania on field trips across the globe.
To wrap it up, I will post my thoughts on one of my favorite blog's, Lebeau Le Blog: What the Hell Happened to...? (WTHH) This blog features actors that were once on the road to superstardom and suddenly disappeared or did not achieve the success many thought they would after their breakout roles. Some of my favorite WTHH posts are Val Kilmer, Ralph Macchio, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. This blog is purely for entertainment, but I find myself not able to stop reading posts even when it's about an actor I am not that familiar with. The author has a great sense of humor and keeps all of his posts interesting, which is difficult considering some of them span 10+ pages.
That's all I have for now!!!
Kyle
Module 1: Weblogs 101- Introduction
Hello! I have never been much of a blogger, but I am giving this a shot for an interesting graduate school course I am taking. I hope to be able to incorporate blogs into my wildlife career, which focuses specifically on reptiles and amphibians. Just to give a brief introduction, my name is Kyle Miller and I work as a Zookeeper in Washington, D.C. I love all animals but reptiles and amphibians are a life-long passion. The projects I am focusing now are Cryptobranchid captive propagation and endangered mountain viper conservation. I also love giant constricting snakes, and am always looking to get involved with projects involving Green Anacondas, Burmese Pythons, African Rock Pythons, Reticulated Pythons, and Australian Scrub pythons. Hopefully I will be able to use blogging to promote and raise awareness to conservation or research initiatives involving my favorite species and their habitats.
KYLE
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