The RSS Monster

RSS Feeds are eating me alive! Help! My Google Reader is crammed full of delicious morsels that I hesitate to shove down the "delete all" garbage disposal, but I am being gobbled up by all of the tidbits of wisdom and am entirely devoid of any motivation to comment on what I read. ARRRGGGHHH! Any ideas on how to manage this nightmare?

Reflections on Blogging

Blogging, perhaps the nightmare of the traditional publishing house, presents a current technological trend that offers instant author status to any and all who choose to post. In many ways, a classroom blogging assignment offers tremendous potential for a 21st Century learner, but like all techie tools, the experience of blogging is only as good as the assignment. If the assignment itself lacks a connection to the standards, the skills that a teacher is focusing upon, then it can be one more educational practice that feels new and improved but in reality is only new-ish. For instance, following and reading a blog might be a very cool reading choice for a student. Then what?. . . perhaps, an assignment like the one I'm in the middle of, asking students to respond and reflect on blog posts. . . good; I like it. However, what are the expectations of the responses or reflections. Are they being evaluated with a standard of excellence in mind? We have to be ever vigilant as we explore the uses that Web 2.0 presents.
On a more positive note, three of the blog posts that I read highlighted what thrills me the most about blogging: the potential for conversation in an area of interest. In Teaching Brevity, a fourteen year old young man challenges teachers to see the potential of Tweeting as a resource for teaching the skill of brevity. Bravo! Very cool! I found a possible answer for teachers suffering the throes of creating "authentic" assignments in literacy in the blog post entitled
What Did You Create Today? Very cool student-centered questions to consider. The Time Is Now is an excellent resource for a teacher or committee who is searching for a way to pull other teachers into the 21st Century Learning concept. Designing assignments that include avenues for authentic discussion is exciting!

Post to Steve Hargadon: The Lurker Steps Out!

Okay, Steve Hargadon. Carefully, oh so quietly, I am tippy toeing out from behind the safety and the anonymity of my computer screen, beyond the safe haven of lurking. Today, I shall participate, albeit briefly, to comment on your post, "Web 2.0 Is the Future of Education." Currently, the high school where I have been an ELA teacher for more than 18 years, is dancing around the idea of establishing a charter school as a way to create the kinds of classroom experiences that our students must have to be successful participators and collaborators in the world zipping and zinging around them at a rapid fire pace. As an employee of our school district, I know that change is always followed by parental angst, as well as the metaphorical heart palpitations and hand wringing of our faculty. The central chunk of your post, (the ten trends, the bulleted paradigm shifts, and the suggestions for educators, have succinctly given me food for thought as well as an olive branch of sorts to pass to those parents and professional peers who aren't quite sure why we need to make a move at all. Thanks!