I have just finished searching through Technorati. I looked for sites such as animal behavior, genetics and simply biology. At first I was disappointed because I could not find the type of blogs that I thought were educational. Many of them are inappropriate for the high school classroom. I am not sure that I would send high school students to this site.
As I continued to navigate around the site, however, I did encounter usable blogs. The problem is that in the process I still ended with areas that would distract students.
I registered and claimed my blog. I even added a widget! Why does this make me nervous? Leaving the security of the privacy of my school district is unnerving. I hope I am wrong.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Thing #13
Social bookmarking will be a tremendous help for me. I have about 133 sites bookmarked and they are unorganized. Some are in folders, but because most of them deal with biology, finding what I want is not efficient. I looked at all of the social bookmarking sites recommended and decided to use del.icio.us.
At first, I was overwhelmed because I imported accidentally all of my bookmarks and I really want to get rid of some of them. Once I navigated through the system and figured this out I realized that I really like this system with the tagging capability.
I use various websites on the spur of the moment in class and to be able to locate a specific one quickly will be helpful. Currently, I am organizing bookmarks according to units. This will be an easy way to share them with my students, as well.
At first, I was overwhelmed because I imported accidentally all of my bookmarks and I really want to get rid of some of them. Once I navigated through the system and figured this out I realized that I really like this system with the tagging capability.
I use various websites on the spur of the moment in class and to be able to locate a specific one quickly will be helpful. Currently, I am organizing bookmarks according to units. This will be an easy way to share them with my students, as well.
Thing #12
Commenting on blogs is more important than I realized. I have read other blogs before, but did not reply primarily because I did not recognize the importance of it. Was I a "LURKER"? Obviously, I was. I just finished reading a post from 2006 on the Cool Cat blog about preparing for the opening of school and found it to be very interesting. I commented (yea!) and oddly enough in so doing I found that I processed in more detail what I had just read. Reflection over how to compose my comment caused me to think about the posting points, a vital part of the learning process. Interesting...... I need to remind students about my experience.
Another point that I noted was that feedback by way of comments helps the blogger to learn and perhaps enhance, modify, and/or affirm what they are practicing. I have had some concerns ab0ut releasing too much information about me. I am hoping that this is unjustified and am moving forward as though my fears are unwarranted. Hopefully, as I continue with my blog, I will see that this is unfounded.
Another point that I noted was that feedback by way of comments helps the blogger to learn and perhaps enhance, modify, and/or affirm what they are practicing. I have had some concerns ab0ut releasing too much information about me. I am hoping that this is unjustified and am moving forward as though my fears are unwarranted. Hopefully, as I continue with my blog, I will see that this is unfounded.
Thing #11
One of the things that I have discovered is how I manage to get caught up in viewing each thing. It would be easy to spend many hours on each of these because each site leads to more interesting information. The Library Thing is one of these. I set up my page and added six books. I stopped there because I began to read reviews of other books. I am not sure how I navigated to the Randy Pausch site (Last Lecture), but I am glad that I did. I read a review that sent me to Carnegie Mellon and I viewed Pausch's charge to the class of 2008. How inspiring to hear again the need to seek your passion. I guess I am ready for school to start.
I want to make available books that my students may want to read or at least be aware of. I am thinking about some required reading, but have not come to a decision at this time. AP biology is very reading intensive anyway so I need to carefully consider how to approach this. Of course, I am open to suggestions or comments.
I want to make available books that my students may want to read or at least be aware of. I am thinking about some required reading, but have not come to a decision at this time. AP biology is very reading intensive anyway so I need to carefully consider how to approach this. Of course, I am open to suggestions or comments.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Thing #10
I made this sign using Custom Sign Generator:
I viewed a number of animations that were humorous and somewhat linked to biology. One in particular was about an insect, very cute; however, I do not know how pertinent it will be in the classroom. The clip is located at http://www.aniboom.com/video/46658/Little-Insect/.
All of the other signs could be used in PowerPoints or ActivBoard flipcharts. Students could also produce some of these images as part of assignments if they link to the topic being covered.
Thing #9
Google Blog search is very user friendly, I think. I found numerous useful blogs such as updates from MIT. I added this to my reader. Topix was interesting, but not as easy to use with regard to biology. I particularly like EurekAlert (also added to my reader) . I found this site using Technorati. EurekAlert is managed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and focuses not only science advancements, but instructional suggestions for teachers and posts for young children.
I found Syndic8.com to be confusing. I suspect that if I had more time to peruse the format, I would find this helpful because it seems to offer information from other countries which would be helpful in some situations.
I want to mention that in reading the first part of this assignment, I was made aware of the need to choose reliable and challenging blogs and to be aware of what I write in a blog. I guess I planned to use this primarily for students, but to be made aware of the need to write wisely is always important.
I found a blog from a a very conservative group by way of the SBISD site. It was written by a gentleman who takes issue with some of the spending practices in our district. He cited two articles from the Houston Chronicle, one about our district becoming insolvent and the other about a free summer program. His main point is obvious--the public wants to know more about how we spend our tax dollars!
Through traveling around some of the posts that I located, I found information about the homework policy that is being considered for SBISD. The main reason that this piqued my interest is that I often return to school and, surprise!, look what you have to do this year. Maybe I will, at least, think about my assignments as I begin and be sure they continue to be thought provoking, not busy work.
As far as other ways to locate blogs is concerned, I finally paid attention to news sites that I have bookmarked and go to almost every day. By using the blog icon, I was able to add them to my reader and peruse the latest events at one time. My main example of this is Fox News. Having this on my reader and on iGoogle reduces time required to reach a site.
I found Syndic8.com to be confusing. I suspect that if I had more time to peruse the format, I would find this helpful because it seems to offer information from other countries which would be helpful in some situations.
I want to mention that in reading the first part of this assignment, I was made aware of the need to choose reliable and challenging blogs and to be aware of what I write in a blog. I guess I planned to use this primarily for students, but to be made aware of the need to write wisely is always important.
I found a blog from a a very conservative group by way of the SBISD site. It was written by a gentleman who takes issue with some of the spending practices in our district. He cited two articles from the Houston Chronicle, one about our district becoming insolvent and the other about a free summer program. His main point is obvious--the public wants to know more about how we spend our tax dollars!
Through traveling around some of the posts that I located, I found information about the homework policy that is being considered for SBISD. The main reason that this piqued my interest is that I often return to school and, surprise!, look what you have to do this year. Maybe I will, at least, think about my assignments as I begin and be sure they continue to be thought provoking, not busy work.
As far as other ways to locate blogs is concerned, I finally paid attention to news sites that I have bookmarked and go to almost every day. By using the blog icon, I was able to add them to my reader and peruse the latest events at one time. My main example of this is Fox News. Having this on my reader and on iGoogle reduces time required to reach a site.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Thing #8
Once again I am excited to learn about something that I have been seeing for a long time--RSS. I am beginning to feel "in" as far as technology is concerned. My Google reader included folders with blogs for science, news, technology and "fun stuff". It was very easy to set up and organize into folders.
As far as my classes are concerned, I will use Google reader to help me keep students apprised of current events. I plan to ask a question via my blog about some current research article regarding either a concept that we have already covered or one that I expect AP students to have prior knowledge about. One of the science blogs is from Nature, one of the premier journals in science. Hopefully, the real world of research in science will heighten awareness of the burgeoning knowledge base in biology. This type of assignment could also be issued to freshmen biology students by wording the question differently or referring them to a publication such as Science News that is less in depth.
I am clearly not a librarian, but as one who expects students to use the facility, I anticipate students needing access and assistance in researching answers to questions I ask or scenarios that I give them to analyze. Most of the freshmen that I teach would absolutely need direction as they begin to use blogs. I have observed that students are quite familiar with using
computers on a personal level, but to research specific ideas from sites that are reputable is a different level of usage.
As far as my classes are concerned, I will use Google reader to help me keep students apprised of current events. I plan to ask a question via my blog about some current research article regarding either a concept that we have already covered or one that I expect AP students to have prior knowledge about. One of the science blogs is from Nature, one of the premier journals in science. Hopefully, the real world of research in science will heighten awareness of the burgeoning knowledge base in biology. This type of assignment could also be issued to freshmen biology students by wording the question differently or referring them to a publication such as Science News that is less in depth.
I am clearly not a librarian, but as one who expects students to use the facility, I anticipate students needing access and assistance in researching answers to questions I ask or scenarios that I give them to analyze. Most of the freshmen that I teach would absolutely need direction as they begin to use blogs. I have observed that students are quite familiar with using
computers on a personal level, but to research specific ideas from sites that are reputable is a different level of usage.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
