Healthy Eating Pyramid

Hello everyone,
If any of you haven't already know, I'm majoring in Physical Education. My hope is to become a physically educated person: Know it, can show it, live it, and love it! So far, I love to live it by working out regularly and play sports, combine with sensible eating. Even though I think most or all of us are very familiar with what's good and bad for us, we sometimes eat too much of one food group, less or another. Just for fun, please check out this website which is a pyramid of healthy eating. Topics consisted of healthy diet basics, the pyramid plan, basic principle of food pyramids, etc, as guide to a healthy eating. Please click on http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy-eating.com.

Posted by Sophia Sek
Etec 414 Mondays

WHOOPS! Blog Post #4- Randy

Due to failure to read instructions, I posted more "specific" stuff on the general class blog. I believe I was supposed to post something more for general class consumption here. SORRY for wasting space and time! Flog the blogger...

Since I'm taking a SPED class, I will sort of cheat and post a web address given by my SPED teacher. It is from the Council for Exceptional Children, and the topic we're currently studying is children with learning disabilities. Now, we're not all going to be SPED teachers, but from what I hear, what with NCLB's push for inclusive models of the classroom, we'll be dealing with exceptional children whether we are specifically trained to, or not...

Laters! (for real this time)

Blog Post #4 - Randy

As I believe strongly in the importance of writing in developing "voice," I tried to find websites related to the tricky job of teaching how to write. First off, I "found" (actually from a "hard copy" flyer in the real world) a website called http://kidstalkstory.com. It is about a program designed to encourage children to write their own life story. (From the flyer): "At Kids Talk Story, we help your child write his or her own life story. In the process[,] we teach grammar, spelling, and punctuation in accordance with Hawaii Department of Education guidelines. When your child completes the story (this typically takes at least 3 months), he or she will receive a beautiful hardcover edition to keep and treasure forever." The program is currently looking for applicants on a part time basis. If you are interested in helping kids to find their story and put it down on paper, I'd strongly encourage you to apply. I have (tonight, actually).

I also discovered a great "system" for teaching, or, at the very least, assessing writing. As everyone knows, writing seems to be a very subjective thing (ask the editors and publishers who attempt to establish a definitive canon of English literature, for example, the creme de la creme of "good writing"; there is NEVER perfect agreement, although there does tend to be a convergence of opinion...). It can be hard to put a finger on what is wrong (or, for that matter, what is right) about a given piece of student writing, and therefore, it can be hard to determine what a student would need to work on to improve. At the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, they've developed a system called "6+1 Trait Writing" (no, it's not because they're abhorrent at math that they don't just call it 7 Trait Writing... It was originally 6, and then after consideration, they added one more). It is a system designed to assess and then presumably work specifically on seven specific traits of writing. Those traits are: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions, and Presentation. There are degrees or levels of development in each trait; for example, beginning writers are assessed presumably as "Experimenting," while advanced writers are assessed as "Experienced."

What is particularly significant about this system is that it "quantifies" writing into scores that can help a teacher determine the strengths and weaknesses of a student. For example, under Ideas for Experimenting Writers, there is the following checklist: "Uses scribbles for writing, Dictates labels or a story, Shapes that look like letters, Line forms that imitate text, Writes letters randomly." If you noticed your student writer exhibiting any of the above qualities when writing, you would circle it. Afterwards, you would count the number of circled entries to determine a score. Of course, if your preschooler were exhibiting any of the above, they'd probably be right (write) on track; if, on the other hand, your high schooler were performing at the same level, then you might need to really focus on this or other aspects more intensely...

Before I forget, let me post the link: http://www.nwrel.org/assessment/about.php?odelay=1&d=1

Also found a blog, http://www.wretch.cc/blog/vivajulian&article_id=1923205, not particularly professional or anything, but it deals with a topic I'm interested in, namely the tools of freewriting and graphic organizing. As an aspiring writer, I once read "Writing down the Bones," which is essentially all about freewriting, and bypassing the internal censor that stifles so much creative (and other) expression. But freewriting alone does not intelligible, intelligent writing make; you do need some sort of structuring tool. Graphic organizing is one. Ideally, you internalize the structure you need to conform to, and the writing becomes almost a natural and spontaneous process... ANYWAY, the blog above seems to be an online English class, with posts discussing recent writing exercises. Nothing particularly new or insightful, but it is always significant reading student reactions to exercises like freewriting or organizing...

Laters!

Web site that will wet your whisle

I found the best site that will help us all it is the Hawaii State Teachers Association. This is site will be come very important to teachers that are becoming teachers in the state. I talks about different things that are happening inside the DOE. It also has keeps you informed about new policies that will help or hinder you in you teaching career. It also has a link to the NEA were you can get more information.

A general education website I found was Carnegie Mellon's Enhancing Education website. The site offers articles and information regarding general tips for educators including tips on designing and teaching your own course. The information given is very practical, pertaining to efficient use of time, knowing your students, and multi-cultural education. The fact that it's from Carnegie Mellon, a university known to be credible, ensures that the information on the site is trustworthy.
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/index.html

A to Z Teacher Stuff is a great online resource for teachers who need lesson plan ideas, themes, tips, worksheets and other teaching materials that can be downloaded. It's a teacher created site and even hosts discussion forums for teachers who want to ask questions or share advice. There are resources for grades K-12 and for every subject/content area as well. A free newsletter is offered so that teachers can get updates and announcements via email. The home page is full of links to resource pages, and items are organized in a directory so it is very user friendly and easy to find the stuff you might need.

Rubrics4Teachers has a large collection of educational rubrics for teachers to use for assessing their students' work. Rubrics are important because they allow us to determine a fair grading system for all students, and gives students the chance to know/understand the components and requirements of the assignment. The site also has a lot of links for teachers like preparation, reference, searching, and interaction tools. Rubrics4Teachers contains links for teacher tools, resources, and other educational materials.

PBS for Teachers

http://pbs.org/teachers/ is a great blog for teachers. It's full of resources for teachers K-12. The website has a menu with links for standards-based resources. The resources are organized by subject (reading/language arts, math, science, etc.). You can also search based on grade level. I clicked om the reading/language arts link and then was prompted to choose a grade range and topic. I chose grade 3-5 and the topic grammar. I was then brought to a page with three lesson plans on grammar for grades 3-5. I was surprised at how easy it was to find lesson plans for specific topics and grades. This site will be useful to me and I think it can be very useful to other teachers since they can quickly search for a lesson plan that pertains to the subject and grade level they are teaching.

Teacher Blogs (post #4)

Even though this stuff doesn't interest me I thought you guys might enjoy this one. It's called the Elementary School Teacher's Blog. It's a helpful website that contains all kinds of hints, tips, and even lesson plans. I hear those lesson plans are important to a teacher huh? There are also links to things like professionalism, new teachers and other teaching websites. I never realized how many components make up being a good teacher. It's pretty interesting seeing what you guys as ED students study. It certainly helps me see things from another perspective.
I also though you might like this one. It's a blog just like ours written by a 4th grade teacher. Seems like her life revolves around teaching and this blog is like her outlet. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing....

Teacer Planet

Teacher Planet is a great website for any teacher in education. Teacher Planet provides and "features over 330 theme based resource pages." The resources pages are listed in alphabetical order, so if a teacher wants to do a lesson on Pyramids of Egypt, they would click on the E for Egypt and then link leads to different lesson plans about Egypt. Besides lesson plans, Teacher Planet has other tools that teachers can use in their classrooms; worksheets, clip arts, and games. But what I found interesting on the website was the section, Jokes 4 Teachers, the jokes are meant to "bring some light-hearted humor into our teaching lives." The jokes are kind of corny but I thought it was clever to use jokes as a teaching strategy. Overall, I thought that TeachersPlanet.com is great resource to use to help teachers in their classrooms.

Website for educators

Wow! I really enjoyed the Art Junction website www.artjunction.org . I didn't get to thoroughly look through this site; however, what I saw I liked. There are projects, activities, and resources available to promote art education that support creative artistic expression and learning of how art influences our lives around the world. Educators are sure to get ideas for lessons which will excite their students' learning. This site also provides cultural exchanges between educators, students, artists, and other professionals, who share their learning experiences and cultural perspectives.

Please take the time to browse around and also participate; it's not all technology based. I especially liked some of the links which mostly was tech based but you would be able to use it: Sketchcast.com, 13 lessons to teach your children about digital photography, the whale hunt (I like the lay out of how they displayed the story but not the content- poor whale but that's a way of life for some people. I would watch what grade you would use it for, possibly students could make a smaller version of some digital sequence of their own lives).

Check out the top of this web page because it has hyperlinks to mission statement, blog, art sparkers another good one, and other great stuff. Oh, Scribbler is fun too, like somewhat like sketchcast. I forgot where I saw this on the site. Have fun! I love art!

"Left Behind," Never! - Post #4

No educator will ever be "left behind" if they stay in touch with the resources available at Education World.

http://www.education-world.com/ provides a ton of resources and links for educators. Take a look. It provides a site guide to help find the topics you are interested in. The main topics include:

• Lesson Planning
• Professional Development
• Administration Issues
• Technology Integration

It also provides interviews and articles related to teaching in Side Chats.

The lesson planning guide had numerous ideas and learning games available for teachers to use on a daily basis. It is fun to see the variety of information and activities avaiable at the click of a mouse.

This site strives to integrate technology with learning material by promoting the use of the internet in the classroom, and giving opportunities for interactive, hands-on learning.

JMV

Blog 4 Discovery Education

Anyone out there has seen the discovery channel knows about their work in educating the general public about animals, oceans, and even nature. Discover Education is a great resource for educators. There are four main links from the website. The first one is puzzle maker, this link creates puzzles for the teacher to give to the students. There are many types of puzzles available such as math squares, criss-cross, double puzzles, and many more. Second, they have the clip art gallery. This site contains thousands of free images that educators can use for their presentation or lessons. Third, there is a link called Kathy Schrock's guide for educators. This site is a list of sites that is useful for enhancing curriculum in teaching and learning. More importantly, they have a lesson plan link for teachers. There are over 500 lesson plans written by teachers. These lesson plans range from Economics, geography, language arts, human body, and many more. Overall, this is a great resource for teachers to check.

teachers count

http://www.teacherscount.org/teacher/
I found this helpful and supportive teaching website for teachers or those aspiring to become a teacher. The website has grants for teacher, discounts on supplies, contests, testimonies, lesson plans, and book and movie reviews. This website is a national social marketing campaign created to support all teachers. The website also has donation options, news and nominations for teachers. I think this website would be beneficial for students who are thinking of becoming a teacher or for any teaching professionals.

Blog Post #4

While surfing through the number of blogs and websites, I came across with this following blog:
http://arch.k12.hi.us/school/ssir/2006/honolulu.html

Probably, some of you are well aware of this web page but I thought maybe I should introduce it just in case. This web page contains all public schools in Hawaii from elementary to high schools and from all districts. Each school's information is hyperlinked to its school's name. Why did I find this site to be important?.. Before an educator come up with curriculum or lesson plans, he/she must know the setting of the school furthermore the classroom. It is quite important to take school's environment and resources, students' community, and so forth into consideration. I truly believe that teachers do not choose this career just for the teaching purpose but truly to help, support, and guide students with all possible resources and helps there are to accommodate with. Those who are planning to teach in certain districts or schools should take a look at it and be familiarize with the school and the community settings to start preparing yourselves.

Jamie's Blog # 4

A good resource for educators in general is the U.S. Department of Education website. This site provides useful information for students, parents, teachers, and administrators. If you go into the teachers section, there are different features including Tools for Success (selected publications) and guides to organizing instruction. Also provided is information and resources on student assessment and standards. It is a great site for all educators because it provides teacher resources based on your content area. Also through content area, this site supplies various links to improving student performance.

The U.S. Department of Education also has information on how to become a teacher (if not already one) and certification requirements by state. They also provide information on continuing education/professional development as a teacher.

Educational website

Many are familiar with the PBS productions on television, but many may not be aware of the website they provide for teachers. This website is great because it provides countless of resources that teachers can use in their classroom. It is easy to find resources because you simply punch in the grade level and content area and instantly (of course depending on your Internet connections) a variety of links and resources will appear. They have many resources and links for K-12 and on many subject matters. I have used this site before and I found it to be quite valuable because it provides a selection of videos that could be used in lessons that you give out. The site promotes multimedia use in classroom which is the idea of our ETEC 414 class as well.

Educators Blog

Educators Blog
This is another site thats similar to the one in my personal post but this is geared toward educators in general. A take on the collaboration blog in the previous assignment, this blog exposes ideas that other educators can take and apply to their own teachings. Many different links connect other sites of information that share teaching theories of new ways of getting across how an educator might be more effective. Check this out sometime!

Wayde Toyama's Blog Post 4

Okay guys,

So checking the comments on my own blog for this class, some awesome dude by the name of Mathew posted a comment telling me to check out flickschool.com. Now this is some interesting stuff. It's all about multi-media information, tips and tricks. I thought this would be good to share for an ETEC class and all. They cover a wide range of things from cool photo tricks to how to use new programs. This site does have a bit of a lean towards film and photography, but I think the information there is pretty cool.

~W

Blog Post #4: Educator Website

I found a website called Education World: The Educator's Best Friend. On this website there are links to lesson planning, professional development, administrator's desk, technology integration, and school issues. I was able to explore some of these links and found teacher templates for worksheets, calendars, awards/certificates for students, flyers/posters/signs, and bulletin board resources. There is a link to testimonies from other teachers called "How I Handled ..." In this section, some of the testimonies I found were, "Bringing Order to Indoor Recess Time", "Adding a New Teacher/Classroom Several Weeks into the School Year", and "Raising Achievement of Students Who Score in the Bottom 25 Percent". I thought this was a good resource, because it's a great way to get advice on different topics from multiple sources in one place. :)

Here's the web address: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/index.shtml

Enjoy! :)

Brian's Post #4

http://chronicle.com/

The Chronicle of Higher Education is the premier publication for college-level educators. There are long articles that discuss key issues facing educators, as well as substantial discussions offering analysis and advice about trends in teaching, technology, assessment policies, and the sometimes insane politics that governs education in the country. Discussions of personal successes and failures pepper the publication and they are often very quick to talk about emerging gadgets and strategies.

One section on the page is devoted to information technology (http://chronicle.com/infotech/) which currently includes a discussion of new ways of accessing library catalogs that allow users to add their own information, a link to writings on distance education. The only problem is that full access to the site must be paid for (although it is available via LexisNexis to UH students). Once signed in, though, it is possible to search the last 10 years of the publication, and all sorts of good ideas.

Blog Post #4

There are many sites that could help educators in general. A really useful site is the National Council or Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), http://www.nctm.org/. This site gives teachers information about standards, future conferences, professional development, and links to other educational sites. What I like best about this site is that there is a link called illuminations which give a list of math lessons (with written lesson plans) and activities that teachers can use with their students.

Resources by Category :)

The blog that I found for elementary teachers is great. I like this website because it doesn’t just focus on academics in the classroom. This teacher values classroom community and “capturing kid’s hearts.” The author has done articles on anti-bullying and the importance of recess. In the articles, she incorporates links to other pages that have inspired her. All of the types of things that were mentioned on her page are extremely important to me, and it is nice to see someone else who cares about the student as a whole. I love children, and I want them to be the best people they can be…not just the best student they can be.

The website that I discovered for educators in general has many great resources. The page is well organized, and the information is easy to find and use. There are specific sections for each grade from preschool to high school, with amazing information about the academic, emotional, and developmental occurrences that take place at each grade. The site contains recent as well as an archive of articles that are widespread in range. Along with the articles, there are online resources for teachers and parents, as well as a school finder based on location and preferences. What is best, though, about this site is that it is free to join. This is an excellent site for teachers.

Jinsook Kim's Blog Post #4

The website Education for All introduces an educational movement, which is aiming to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015, led by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This website provides guiding principles to help educators define norms or decide a course of action at all educational levels. I think that this website is very informative and comprehensive for educators to understand worldwide educational policy and directions.

HSTA.org

It may not be too general of a website but I think all prospective public school teachers should be aware of the unions that will support them. Specifically, The Hawaii State Teachers Association offers insight and guidance to Hawaii's public school teachers. As hard workers, we all deserve the right to be treated fairly and respectfully. HSTA will help you understand your rights as a teacher and help you make a case if you have a grievance. If you think your liberties as a teacher are being jeopardized, your union is the place to go.

Classes logging on to collaboration?

I think its a great way to integrate existing technology into todays teaching and have a new tool to use while learning at the optimal rate. Getting students together physically or meta-physically encourages team building which is essential to tomorrows workplace. Using the internet, students from the other islands can have with correspondents with similar interest and instantaneously, it breaks down those physical barriers where many minds are working together. Ideas can be exchanged to create an even better idea. Ideas that can be built upon through other means of communicating. Through collaboration students have the opportunity to become better students by simply posting a problem or a question that they just can't figure out on their own. Others will come in naturally helping that peer student out. Strangers on the internet help each other out so why would it be difficult to do it when you know that person you're helping? Over time it should become a natural progression into integrating this medium into classrooms, if not already.

Robyn Kaito's Blog Post #4

Another Web site that may be informative and useful for educators is by ASCD, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ASCD is the . The organization was "founded in 1943... is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that represents more than 175,000 educators from 119 countries and nearly 60 affiliates." The Web site offers workshop opportunities to meet leading experts/authors in the field of education and references to resource materials about all aspects of education such as: assessment, effective teaching practices, educational leadership, and other relative topics within the context of "Is it good for the children?” are presented. Current articles pertaining to education are available, as well.

http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/index.jsp/http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Michelle Santiago's Blog Post #4

A website that is great for teachers in general is the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) website. The web address is http://www.aft.org. AFT is a labor union that represents education and healthcare professionals. On the homepage are various links on a specific profession (i.e., higher education, early childhood educators, healthcare, retirees, etc.) and across the top when you click on "teacher" it takes you to a page where there are links of topics that might interest a teacher (tools to help with standard testing, spotlight on books, NCLB, early education, etc.). On the left of the homepage are more links for educators and other professions in general. One is what AFT is all about, another link is about salary surveys, and another is news and when you click on it, it takes you on a page where news articles links are organized by month. They also have a "store" where you can buy AFT apparel/accessories and miscellaneous books and brochures. Check it out :)

Encouraging Collaboration?

A class blog can encourage collaboration for a number of reasons. First of all, it is more accessible and convenient for students and instructors to share information. Also, it is easier for students to comment on their classmates' opinions because it is communal information. If students emailed instructors individually, whatever was said would only stay between those two parties. Also, instead of asking questions in class, posting on a class blog is sometimes better because the students may be shy or instructions may just be clearer in writing.

Class Blog

How can a class blog encourage collaboration? A class blog is a great way for to students and teachers to collaborate. For example, teachers can post up a discussion question on the class blog and have the students comment on what they think. It is a great way for students to voice their opinion, and their points across. The class blog is a great tool in the means of communication. Teachers can post up announcements that they forgot to mention during class. Also if students have questions or need help with the assignment, a class blog will be a great way to get answers from a bunch of people versus just one person. Having a class blog also gives practice to people that are not computer savvy. It allows them refine their skills and to learn more about the computer and the internet.
I feel that a class blog is a great way to encourage collaboration, and also enables the class to communicate with one another effectively. A class blog will be great for class discussions, posting assignments, and getting help. A class blog is great way to encourage collaboration.

-Peter

Collaboration?

I think that Blogs can be used for class collaboration. What i would do is that i would post a topic on line and let my students post what they think. They also have them to post one comment of more to incite discussion among my students. Another thing is that blogs could also make comments about what we did in class in a safer environment. This will also make the students more interested and a part of history.

Jamie's Blog #3

A class blog can encourage collaboration because it makes other students accessible to engage in group work or discussion during non-class hours. If students need clarification on an assignment or topic, they can readily turn to their classmates for help (and it is often better to get help from more than one student, just in case). Also, the students can easily communicate with the teacher during non-class hours and vice versa. Teachers can use a class blog to inform students of anything she/he forgot to tell the students in class or to clarify/answer any questions that may have been brought up by the students in their posts. Teachers can also post up assignments or instructions so that students have no excuse of not knowing what to do and teachers can provide links to additional resources that may be helpful for students.

A class blog is also a great way to get participation from everyone- the teacher can post a topic for discussion and have each student contribute their opinions. This way, each student gets the chance to voice their opinions without being interrupted and even the shyer students will feel comfortable since it's not a face-to-face classroom setting. I think that by having a class blog, it will encourage students to interact with other students outside of their cliques and hopefully with this, students will be comfortable enough to work with everyone and be able to openly share ideas without the fear of being ridiculed in the (face-to-face) classroom.

Collaboration.

What is it?
To me it is a way to work together, a way to be connected. Collaboration is:

• Interaction
• Communication
• Sharing
• Dialougue
• Teamwork

I think a class blog has the potential to link us together in ways that may be difficult for us to do in the classroom: It is another learning tool. It gives us opportunities to learn more about each other and our viewpoints, since we really don't have much time to interact or engage in discussion. It also gives opportunities to share information or exchange ideas with one another and to engage in dialouge when a topic is of interest to us. It allows expression without the stress of speaking in class, and gives us time to think and respond without being rushed. As long as students are interested, or better yet, passionate about a common purpose or topic, a class blog will encourage collaboration. I have enjoyed looking at other students' posts since each one answers the Post #3 assignment differently.

Collaboration is meaningful to teachers, for I believe teaching depends on collaboration for sucess. Teachers are bound together with a common purpose: to help students learn and find ways to improve the school system. This "collective focus" requires energy to build partnerships, and involves collaborative planning and problem solving. What a great tool blogging can be for teachers. New technologies can provide new ways to collaborate with interactive on-going dialouge that may be difficult to accomplish in "face to face" meetings. I see blogging as a way to compliment the "face to face" dialouges and planning, but not meant to replace it.

janice (JMV)

Blog #4 Mistake

Hey folks... I just made a mistake of posting the wrong blog... the one I just posted (Hotchalk LessonPlansPage.com) is supposed to be for my personal blog page, but I don't know how to erase it off the page, so I'll just leave it on.

Here is the website I found for educators in general.

I think there are a lot of different resources for educators can get ideas to improve themselves as professionals. I find articles on the students, teaching methods, and other eduational related issues interesting and helpful to better improve myself as an educator. I also find them helpful to think about different teaching styles so I could think of lessons to better promote students' learning. I found Teachers.Net where I found different educational articles that can be helpful for teachers who are concerned about classroom management, students' attitude toward homework or assignments, and teaching tips, and etc. It provides a forum for teachers to coomunicate their ideas/opinions by posting their comments about educational related things. There are intersting video clips and features that I found really interesting to check out; a feature that caught my attention was "25 Ways to Obtain Children's Attention" since I have to teach different lesson to the first graders and I need to get their attention for my lessons. In addition, it also has different lesson plans that can help teachers to prepare their activities for different subjects.

The link to this website is: http://www.teacher.net
Lori

Blog #4

I found awebsite called Hotchalk's LessonPlansPage.com and I thought this site would be helpful for all the educators who are in K-12 school setting. This site has different subject matter lesson plans that are availabe for K to 12 teachers. It has a teacher discussion forum where they could talk about their strategies, particular teaching methods, what happened in the classroom, and/or many other things that could be helpful for other teachers. Through Hotchalk, teachers can digitally access different standardized curriculums and other supplements that are needed to teach their classroom. This website isn't limited to teachers, but also available to parents, students, and administrators. In addition, this website has links to different educational websites where teachers could get an idea of their lessons planning. I checked out some of the lesson plans, and there was something that I could do with the first graders at my placement. =)

The website link is: http://lessonplanspage.com

Let's Collabo Blog Post #3

A class blog is a great way to encourage collaboration. In addition to the class blog we also have a list of links to each member's personal blog which is awesome in my opinion. Specifically in a small class like this, it's great to have a place where we can all share our ideas outside of class. Sometimes in class we don't have many opportunities to comment on topics in class. With a class blog we have more than enough chances to respond and receive. Sometimes it's easier to share your thoughts and feelings behind your computer screen rather than in front of the whole class. It is for me anyway. I feel that the best thing about a class blog is the fact that we are exposed to so many ideas from all points of view in just one website. It's also a great way to build camaraderie amongst students and instructors. If we feel comfortable with each other then hopefully it will carry on into class time.

www.carla.umn.edu

One of the websites that I found to be helpful is www.Carla.umn.edu. This site is an extremely useful source for teachers especially since we live in Hawaii which is culturally diverse and has many students that are English language learners. The center for Advance Research of Language Acquisition offers users access on the site to various case studies that can provide supplemental knowledge in regards to language acquisition. This website also allows users to access tools such as conferences, seminars, lesson plans, and instructor handbooks that can help teachers move students towards language proficiency.

Blog Post # 4 -- LL

http://www.tolerance.org/

How many of us never have a feeling towards someone or some behavior of “oh, that’s weird”?
None!

The world is the world with diversity but we human is not naturally appreciating this diversity. We have bias towards differences, get worried about the alliances or even worse, hate each other due to the differences. Weirdo = Abnormal by our own ruler
As educators, we feel urged to prepare ourselves and our kids to appreciate this colorful world with diversity.

From the site introduction in Tolerance.org, it is a principal online destination for people interested in dismantling bigotry and creating, in hate's stead, communities that value diversity. Through its online well of resources and ideas, its expanding collection of print materials, its burgeoning outreach efforts, and its downloadable public service announcements, Tolerance.org promotes and supports anti-bias activism in every venue of life.

The site targets on four groups: teacher, parents, teens and kids. As a potential teacher, let’s explore the teacher’s site: (http://www.tolerance.org/teach): it provides educators with educational materials that promote respect for differences and appreciation of diversity in and beyond the classroom. It's interesting to look at the classroom activities to get more ideas about how other expert preparing their curriculums.

Also, the outlook of the website is amazingly mature. Each sub-site can be a integrated site acutually. From the screen shots of each sub-site, we can feel the efforts by the site owner, through the delicated layouts, color themes, structures and contents.

(click the picture to open a window for the sub-sites)
Teachers


Parents


Teens


Kids

Collaboration

I think class blogs can encourge collaboration by sharing information, ideas and concerns among students. Students who have the same interest can keep disucssing their topics more deeply and broadly without any restrictions in time and space. Also, other students can learn something that they don't know or even they haven't thought about, by visiting other people's blogs. I believe that blogs can help students have more opportunities to meet new topics, interesting ideas, and various opinions & concerns. In addition, I think class blogs can make students feel comfortable and close between students or between teachers and students by communicating each other.

A class blog can definitely encourage collaboration amongst the students. A blog is interactive where people can use both words, images, or even video to expand on their thoughts. An online blog can easily connect everyone to one another. The students can view other student's blog and even comment. It can be a democratic atmosphere where students can agree or disagree with ideas. Plus, instead of waiting for the next class time for student to respond to each of their responses, they can at anytime of the week respond to somebody else's blog or comment. Basically, instead of having a class communicate or see each other once or twice a week, a blog allows the class to be together the whole time because they can log in at any time.

Collaboration: another idea

I've been thinking about how the success of collaborative forums (on blogs) is, in a way, similar to the success (or failure) of a democratic government. And, within the educational setting, similar to the success (or failure) of more interactive models of teaching (i.e. getting away from the simple didactic model). Isn't the reluctance to "trust" the validity of the collaborative forum similar to the reluctance to "trust" the stability of democratic governments?

As you know, there are ways that we "tweak" the system to account for and to attempt to mitigate inequities in our society: affirmative action, a stratified tax code. These (ideally) prevent the OVERREPRESENTATION of one group/segment of society. Similarly, in a collaborative blog, there have to be conditions set to prevent overrepresentation... On the other hand, there also must be mandatory guides that confirm participation of ALL (or as many) members as possible, or else democracies presumably fail (or at the very least become of poor quality). It's not mandatory for us to vote, but sometimes I think it should be... But returning to the blog, you need to set requirements to prevent underrepresentation; i.e., you MUST post at least one blog entry, and you MUST respond to at least two entries (similar to the requirements set up in this course).

I was thinking that using the blog itself as a subject for discussion would be fascinating in a lot of classrooms (primarily in the humanities). For example, in a Social Studies class discussing differing types of government:

you could have the class break into two or three groups. One group would follow a dictatorial model (I don't know, I'm not much of a history buff). This group would be "taught" a lesson based more or less on a didactic pedogogical model (i.e. teacher speak, student shut up and listen). Then, another group would follow a more collaborative model online in a blog. This group, presumably, would follow a more democratic model, and would "discuss" the same topic given by the teacher in the previous group. While the first group would get the "info" straight from the source, it would need a restriction of being unable to collaborate or do personal research. The second group, on the other hand, while lacking the "info" provided by the teacher, would be allowed to collaborate and do personal research. At the end of a given time period, both groups would be quizzed. The results could be compared, and, more importantly, the experiences of the different "interactive/governmental" models could be discussed.

I think that "priming" the class with such a project would (perhaps) allow students to see the advantages and disadvantages of the collaborative (democratic) model. And it could potentially bring home the fact that for collaborative forums to work, there MUST be certain rules (etiquette) to ensure the success of all. Students THEMSELVES could articulate those rules based upon their experiences (it seems so much more effective for students to determine rules for themselves [with guidance, of course]).

Collaboration

I have to agree with Tyler on this. I think that class blogs ideally could have all students collaborate together, however it doesn't seem very realistic. Blogs seem like they would be effective, in a sense that all students, outgoing or shy, can participate with ample time to gather their thoughts and ideas to the questions. However, students are also lazy. They can skim other students responses and summarizes those. They can just right anything (who says white man can't rap???), since they assignment is a credit/ no credit grade. I think that real, present interaction within the classroom, perhaps in small groups since our class size in rather large, is more engaging and encourages more collaboration :) See you in class everyone!

Collaboration

I believe a class blog encourages collaboration by providing the space and time for students to communicate with one another outside of class. Students that are not comfortable speaking in class may feel safe to contribute their knowledge and ideas. Also, the more students actively participating, the more enriching will be the results of their collaborations whether it's to solve a problem or to share on a particular topic.

Wayde Toyama on Blog Collaboration

I feel that a class blog can be very encouraging to collaboration in the way that it allows for instant, spontaneous ideas to be posted for everyone in the group to read and comment on. This can be useful to any club or group. For example, class mates doing a project can post questions or suggestions for each other; such as ourselves. The only problem that I see is that maybe the blog can become off topic or some people might be too shy to post anything fearing what others in the group may think.

BTW: did everyone hear the unfortunate news about the ACM (Academy for Creative Media) Some guy named Wayde Toyama made an interesting comment in the Ka Leo. Feel free to see my blog for more info.

BK-Concerns, then Encouraging Collaboration Paragraph

Plainly and simply, I am skeptical of the blog medium as a classroom tool; but rest assured, after a short list of explanations voicing my concerns, I shall do my best to answer the prompt.

1) Blogs are not free–they require access to technological apparatuses including (but not limited to) A computer-like device with internet software and connectivity, electricity, etc.

2) Valuable class time is required to teach blog set up, procedures, and etiquette, taking away from actual content knowledge time.

3) Support (particularly from parents and administration) for the blog genre as a credible pedagogical tool may be unsubstantial.

4) Ethical issues involving research-content censoring and entry/comment censuring must be addressed. (Keep in mind, teachers in this day and age have send waivers home to allow students to view video content if anything presented in the video could be constituted as offensive)

5) Publicity.  If control measures are not accounted for and taken, all content on the internet is public domain and people outside of the intended audience may make posts (if allowed), comment/flame (if allowed), modify, etc. content or elements of a page, anonymously even (if allowed... think bathroom walls) which could lead to humiliating or inappropriate experiences.

All in all, is it really worth all the trouble?  As a future English teacher, I'd rather have students compose their thoughts/arguments (think broad definition) with pen and paper (or optional printed formats) and have them provide feedback in class in groups in a "safe" environment.  The blog can be a useful feature of the "virtual" classroom that replaces my "classic" methodologies with distance learning work-arounds, particularly with mature participants.  Perhaps reading more posts on the issue (or comments) will help me see benefits to the blog system.  I invite comments.

Now, in my opinion, a class blog encourages collaboration conceptually.  The class blog links all members of a group together, allowing for convenient exploration of individuals' blogs as well as providing a forum for said members to discuss such topics as this very controversy (again, broad definition).  A class blog also encourages collaboration by providing a level of anonymity where contributory content is judged for what is present (without the added implications of physical appearance, skin color, gender, sexuality, etc.) allowing for potentially "freer" discourse from individuals.  And the class blog encourages optimal collaboration by allowing individual contributers to find a chunk of time that works best for themselves.

Blog Post #3

I've been (under)utilizing blogs in a couple of the acupuncture classes I teach. Perhaps it is because the students at ICAOM are not tech-savvy, but only a few students requested formally to be members of the class blogs I set up. Originally, I intended to use the blogs as an electronic copy of notes and quizzes I would create for the class (when students were absent from class, it was notoriously difficult for them to get a copy of class notes for themselves; I figured the blog would eliminate the necessity for a "paper chase" on their part). Also, as some material in the class would be videotaped, I felt it would be ideal to post videos on the blog that students could view at anytime, instead of burning DVDs for each and every student (I hadn't the time, nor the resources). Again, I have been under-utilizing the blogs even in this capacity...

As far as utilizing blogs as a collaborative forum... I would have to say that it depended on the subject, and how it was organized. Of course, classical pedagogical models (the didactic model) are precisely NOT suited for collaboration, and would likely only utilize the interactive capabilities of blogging in a very limited way (probably "vertical" interaction, between the teacher and individual students). Also, "projects"/questions that are designed to solicit a single "correct" response are also not as appropriate for blog collaboration; I think that in most cases, the brightest student(s) would contribute their solutions, leaving the remaining students "in the dust."

The collaborative nature of blogging is thus best-suited for projects that are open-ended and creative (i.e., not so clear-cut, "right-wrong", and more about individual expression). I'm aspiring to be an English teacher, so my brainstorms in this regard tend to be colored by my subject:

1) You could have an ongoing creative writing project, in which each contributed post would have to "play off of" and continue the plot of previous posts. At one point in time, I actually contributed to a similar sort of project, back in the days of "listservers" and "newsgroups." It was an interesting experience, allowing for individual creative expression, within the constraints of the existing storyline. The feedback was great as well; the other writers would critique or praise elements of each contribution. The success or failure of this type of venture, of course, depends upon the "spirit" of it; if the teacher or members are too critical and heavy-handed, then it kills the openness and enthusiasm of all students.

2) You could request students to post instances of pop-culture that fulfilled certain criterea. For example, you could ask students to find song lyrics/raps that demonstrated iambic/trochaic meter. Perhaps you could even have students post video/audio of the actual song/rap, demonstrated how the accentuations fell... This, however, is less of a collaborative effort, and more about individual responses to a general query... Nevertheless, this would also work in the blog, because the query solicits open individual responses, not a fixed response.

3) For an analysis of a piece of literature, the class could be broken into different groups, each assigned to research some aspect of the work in question. For example, one group might research the historical context of the work; another might research the work's place in literary history; another might research the work with respect to the author's biography, etc. After each group presented their research on the blog, discussion could be solicited to encourage students to analyze the piece of work with respect to what they see on the blog, a sort of "tying-together" of the researched info. Sounds ambitious, but I think given the right circumstances (and the right students), it could be a fruitful project.

4) Again, this is less of a "collaborative" project; but I think this sort of thing is well-suited for blogs. Over the course of reading through a given piece of literature, students are told to post their impressions and questions, AND respond to the impressions and questions of their peers. The teacher would, of course, view the blog, but as much as possible, would not respond with the "authorative interpretation" (unless, of course, the blog entries began to degenerate into mush). This would force a certain level of collaboration on the part of the students in comprehending and appreciating a work. Care must be given that a spirit of respect be maintained in such a forum; it's always too easy for the "smart student" to put down other students... Perhaps there should be a limit as to how much any one student can post, to give others (perhaps even force others) to respond...

5) Finally, a potentially dangerous use of collaboration. You could use a blog to discuss problems with class organization (what is taught, the syllabus, etc.). I say this is dangerous because it can potentially undermine the "authority" of the instructor (if you're into such a model). However, I believe that in some situations (with some students), this can make the class a truly worthwhile and enjoyable experience. Students can debate about which works should be read and studied and WHY (THEY advocate their literary preferences); they can also debate about what THEY feel is important to know in the subject of English (i.e., they THINK ABOUT what is relevent to their own situations). As with the previous example, a spirit of respect has to be maintained in such a discussion/"collaboration."

Well, those are some of my ideas.

"Collaboration," it should be kept in mind, can swiftly degenerate into chaos if: 1) students don't have a clear idea about the purpose of the collaborative project; 2) students don't have a clear sense of how to participate respectfully in a democratic forum; 3) students either don't have a minimum or maximum requirement of participation (i.e., to avoid both the underrepresentation of the "shy" students and the overrepresentation of the "cocky" students).

Blog Post #3

I find blogs to be very helpful because it allows a person to express their feelings and opinions through writing, for there may be some things that are too difficult to say out loud. I think that a class blog can encourage collaboration because it makes it easier for us to write down and share our thoughts. People learn in different ways. Some are visual learners while others enjoy having lectures. Some like to talk and others may not. I, personally, can be very shy. When I am in class, I often would sit quietly at my desk and not say anything, even when the teacher calls on me. I don’t like to be put on the spot and I feel really uncomfortable when people are looking or staring at me; waiting for me to say something. A class blog can help eliminate my feelings of insecurities. I will probably feel much more comfortable sharing my thoughts and ideas through writing. Ultimately, a class can get much closer because blogs are something that every student can take part in.

Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it...

Who says white dudes can't rap? Meh.

Anyhoo, I've chosen to play devil's advocate regarding our posts on how blogs can encourage collaboration. I've come from a history of web surfing where I can browse blogs and forums for years and not even bother to participate. It's not that the content isn't inviting it's that by the time one has read through most comments, so many points of view have already been expressed. At that point, I feel like it's almost silly to add my two cents worth. Reading the comments is entertainment enough.

I also feel like blog/forum comments tend to end up as contests between two people and they end up coming off as idiots. This is easy to understand as the internet is so anonymous and we tend to think it's easy to insult who we can't see.

Now this isn't to say that a blog can't be successful. I think a smaller, concentrated blog, like our class blog, could be effective because we all have something in common and we aren't faceless individuals posting random ideas.

Are my points valid or am I full of it? I'm curious to know if any of you routinely post on a blog or forum. Care to share?

Peace and smiles,

-Tyler

Class collaboration

Well, in order to describe how a class blog promotes collaboration, I thought it important to know exactly what the word collaboration meant. It is a long word and has many meanings, but my favorite way to look at it was through this definition- Collaboration is a process where two or more people work together toward a common goal by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. (Wikepedia) A class blog would be the perfect means to encourage collaboration because everyone has access to the same information, there are blogs of similar interests, and each person contributes. A class blog combines different opinions and points of view into one place so it is collaborative by nature. Then, when people observe other's blogs and provide feedback and understanding, as well as recieving input on thier own ideas, collaboration is strengthened.

Blog Post #3: Class Blog

I think a class blog can encourage collaboration in a couple of ways. The first way I think a class blog can encourage collaboration is through class discussions. In a class blog, the teacher can post a discussion, and have all the students comment on the discussion, what their opinion is on the topic. I think of this working the same way the discussion board on WebCT works for our classes here at UH. That way each student participates, and everyone in the class can see how each student feels on the given topic. Or a class discussion can be run the same way we're doing this blog post. If you give the students an assignment to post on the class blog, I think that can help to encourage collaboration in the classroom as well. Another way I can see a class blog encouraging collaboration in the classroom would be for the students to work as groups and use the blog as a class project. For my case, my focus is history, so I could have my students create blogs regarding U.S. Presidents. I could assign a different president to each group, and have each group post a blog on the U.S. President they were given. Then I could have each student comment on at least two other groups' blogs. That way the students collaborate in their groups to create their post, and I still can know that each student has participated in the project by the comments they leave on other groups' blogs. I think there are other ways that a class blog can encourage collaboration, you just have to be imaginative and creative to figure them out.

Brian's first class blog post

A class blog can encourage collaboration the same way that many other communication tools can, by encouraging communication between members of the class and, perhaps, people who are outside of the class who want to participate in various ways. I think that a blog is useful specifically because it records a shared conversation that can be reread and responded to as the class progresses. So the blog is like a conversation with a note-taker following close-by. And blogs also can encourage a more focused kind of engagement with the problems at hand: they are not just informal conversations (although they can be) and they are not just written like formal essays either (although they can be). So it is not simply that blogs allow collaboration, but they also allow a specific kind of collaboration that creates a shared learning environment.

Blog post #3

A blog creates the medium of communication community where the author and the viewer may share thoughts, insights, and ideas. A class blog likewise serves the same pros and it even encourages collaboration by allowing an easy access to fellow classmates to view his/her own blog in sharing their resources and insights. Also, when a particular group assignment is given, students in ETEC 414 could view/edit what each member of the group has come up with and compare and contrast and further on editing process by posting comments on them. Surfing through several people's blogs, I found interesting sources and ideas that I might apply to my future teaching career. Also, I highly believe in the team teaching where two or more teachers gather together to share thoughts and ideas and collaborate lessons and what not to teach class more effectively.

Class blog

In my opinion, a class blog can encourage collaboration by sharing ideas and thoughts by other people.  Instead of trying to find out a person's blog, everybody's blog will be available on one page.  A class blog can take in different forms.  For example, ETEC 414 class blog can be used so we can ask each other questions and share our thoughts on specific projects where we could give and receive help.  Another example can be that a classroom teacher can create a class blog and parents can visit to communicate with the teacher and to find out about their child's activities for the day.    Parents could leave comments about what's happening at home if they feel like the teacher has to know for any particular reason.   I also think that the teacher and parents can share how they can work together to better help the child and his/her learning both at school and at home.  I think a class blog can certainly encourage collaboration as long as its used for the purpose it is made for.  

Class Blog

I think there are numerous of ways a class blog can encourage collaboration. A class blog is a place where everyone in the class can come together and share their thoughts. By doing so, the students can learn and get to know the students from their class by reading their blogs. This provides a different type of opportunity for students to interact with one another besides the usual classroom gatherings. A class blog also encourages collaboration because students will be able to comment on blogs which further interaction and exchange of ideas. This can also branch out collaboration in the classroom, where the students might discuss what they read on the blog to their classmates. Having a class blog is essential especially with this whole blogging project so that students can share with others what they have found by providing references or links to other sources.

"Stop; Collaborate and Listen..."

Some of you may not remember or have even heard of Vanilla Ice, but the title of my post is taken from the first line of his hit song, and I think it sums up neatly how collaboration should work and how class blogs can facilitate this process.
Blogs do kind of make you stop--stop to read/listen/view what is important to you, especially if it is meant to be utilized for the class. Blogs, by their very nature, are also automatic forums for discussion, because of the opportunity to post comments to a published post.
Class blogs, therefore, can encourage collaboration by creating buzz topics that are relevant to the content of the course and/or interests of the students and having students post opinions, comments, experiences, etc. about the topic. Then, a dialogue is created with responses to the original posts and this allows students to benefit from each other's ideas, opinions, and experiences.
I'm finding that this kind of interaction is beneficial because I can share the limited experience that I have with others as well as learn from others who have more experience. In the field of education, first-hand knowledge of all aspects of the rigors of teaching is a valuable tool to those of us who have yet to set foot in a classroom.

Class Blogs: How can it encourage collaboration?

I think class blogs encourage collaboration by giving people the opportunity to express their own opinions in a sort of discussion format without having to do so in a specific time (like in chats). It is also the one place everyone in class can go to to find all the links to all the blogs each student in class had created and it is the one stop place to find the class' personal blogs. Students can also post questions and answer questions without the fear of speaking out to the whole class, for many people are uncomfortable asking questions during class. Also, the material posted on class blogs get a much larger audience than a personal blog would typically have because for sure more people are visiting a class (group) blog to post their own thoughts and to read what other people had written.

Robyn's Post #3

A class blog can encourage collaboration by allowing everyone an opportunity to express their opinion without having the pressure of speaking/sharing in front of a large class/audience.  It can be empowering to respond to other blog posts.  The thoughts and ideas posted on blogs will likely spawn other ideas, as well.   Blogs can especially encourage collaboration in an online learning community/class where face to face interaction is limited. 

Class Blog

A class blog can encourage collaboration in many ways. In my opinion, the most useful way to use a class blog is to actually keep the parents of the students informed about the class’ progression. A teacher can upload reminders and assignments for both the students and the parents to view and receive. Parents can comment on minor issues involving their child’s progress. Students, who are absent, can be informed of what was covered in class by accessing class notes and asking questions in the online blog. Finally, students can assist one another by discussing topics covered in class and share valuable resources and links during a major assignment.

Blog Post #3 - LL

I was still getting those annoying group emails these days. A community created an email list and all or part of the members can send the group emails. It did enhance the efficiency of the information sharing, but sometimes those emails might be just annoying.
Whenever I got this kind email, I was always thinking that we should get a group blog, so that the non-important information can just be shared online and whenever the community members have time, they can just open the browser and visit it by themselves.
The blog wins for its non-synchronicity. And the learners have its choice of time to learn.

But sometimes, if we are not an active learner, or we are not used to learn with computer's assistance, the learning blogs might be not helpful at all. Take this blog for example, there might be someone forgets to view the blog and post their homework on time, but it’s not their fault. Since our computer never knows when to visit this blog and when life is getting busy, visiting blog might be list in the bottom of our doing-list. Then this blog learning can be very negative.

How to enhance the collaboration? Instructor plays the major role and as an instructor(I assume that most of us will be an instructor someday in near future), we may need to:

1. Send the notification email
If the blog is a blog for reading and commenting purpose, then we might need to send some notification email for students if the “deadline” is drawing near.

2. Encourage students commenting
It’s common that if student A comments on student B's post and B will comment back to A’s blog post. If the whole class is doing comments, the blog will be alive and interesting.
So encourage the class to comment each other and I believe that commenting each other is a magic tool to bring the blog alive.

3. Ask help
As an instructor, it might be a powerful role in the class. Asking help can bring close to students, to show the instructor is the same as students and we both sometimes need help.
The best result is the students are willing to offer helps and solve the problem. The worst is no one answers and the blog dies at where it started. There is a risk here but worthy to try it out.

4. Make another account.
It's not an honest way but if the learning blog is really inanimate and no one jumps up to say anything, making up another account is doable choice for setting up a learning environment. People sometime don't join the discussion because they might think it is awkward to discuss since no one else is doing that.

Alright...that's all what I can think about this topic without checking any other references.
I am sure there are many issues in this topic and collabarative learning is getting popular these days.
One of the ICS professors is doing the research on this topic and here is his group website:
http://0-lilt.ics.hawaii.edu.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/lilt/
Hope it is helpful for our learning group!
Liu Liu